page_title: Bledsoe's Missouri Battery
section_title: 1862
hierarchical_section_title: Bledsoe's Missouri Battery / Service history / 1862
caption_attribution_description: English: Iuka-Corinth Campaign of the American Civil War, part 2.
context_page_description: Hiram Bledsoe's Missouri Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Missouri State Guard and the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was formed when the Missouri State Guard was formed as a pro-secession state militia unit in response to the Camp Jackson affair. As part of the Missouri State Guard, the unit was engaged in the Engagement near Carthage and the Battle of Wilson's Creek during mid-1861, before fighting at the Battle of Dry Wood Creek and the Siege of Lexington later that year when Major General Sterling Price led the Guard northwards towards the Missouri River. After the Missouri State Guard retreated into Arkansas in early 1862, Bledsoe's Battery served during the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge in March. The battery, as part of the Army of the West, transferred across the Mississippi River into Tennessee in April, where it left the Guard to enter Confederate service on April 21.
  The battery served in Mississippi during much of the rest of 1862, serving as part of the Confederate rear guard after the Battle of Iuka in September and seeing action at the Second Battle of Corinth.
context_section_description: In February 1862, Price was forced out of Springfield by pressure for Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis.  On March 2, Price combined his forces with those of McCulloch and Major General Earl Van Dorn to form the Army of the West.  With Van Dorn in command, the Confederates moved towards Pea Ridge, Arkansas, where Curtis was encamped.  During the ensuing Battle of Pea Ridge, Bledsoe's Battery, which was still part of the Missouri State Guard, was commanded by Lieutenant Charles W. Higgins.  On the first day of the battle, March 7, Bledsoe's Battery was engaged in an artillery duel with the 1st Iowa Battery.  Several other Confederate and Missouri State Guard batteries were engaged in the action: Guibor's Battery, Clark's Battery, Wade's Missouri Battery, and the 3rd Missouri Light Battery.  The Iowa battery ran low on ammunition, had a cannon disabled, and was forced to retreat.  Later that day, as Price's infantry prepared to assault a Union position near the Elkhorn Tavern, Bledsoe's and Clark's batteries and the 3rd Missouri Light Battery shelled the Union position in an attempt to soften resistance.  The barrage had a demoralizing effect on the Union troops, and Price's infantry was eventually able to capture the position.  The next day, a Union counterattack broke the Confederate line, and Bledsoe's Battery was part of the last stage of the Confederate defense.  The battery resorted to firing fragments of metal such as pieces of chains and metal tools during the last moments of the defense. As the Army of the West fled in retreat, Bledsoe's Battery was one of the last Confederate or Missouri State Guard units to leave the field.  Four men of Bledsoe's Battery were wounded at Pea Ridge.
  After the defeat at Pea Ridge, the battery accompanied the Army of the West when it was transferred across the Mississippi River into Tennessee.  On April 21, while at Memphis, Bledsoe's Battery left the Missouri State Guard to join the Confederate States Army; another Missouri State Guard unit transferring to Confederate service was consolidated into Bledsoe's Battery at that time.  By May 5, the battery had relocated to Corinth, Mississippi, where a muster was held; 53 men were members of the battery on that date.  The Army of the West, under the command of Price, began preparing for an offensive movement and occupied Iuka, Mississippi in September.  Van Dorn was in the area with another force, and Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant moved against Price in an attempt to destroy the Army of the West before it could be joined by Van Dorn.  Grant's plan consisted of a two-pronged attack: Major General E. O. C. Ord was to attack Price from the northwest, and Major General William S. Rosecrans was to attack from the south.  However, Price attacked Rosecrans on September 19, bringing on the Battle of Iuka.  An acoustic shadow prevented Ord from hearing the sounds of the battle, and Price was able to escape from the trap.  The next day, Bledsoe's Battery, which was not engaged at Iuka, was part of Price's rear guard as the Army of the West left the Iuka area.
  After his escape from Iuka, Price was able to join forces with Van Dorn.  With Van Dorn in charge, the Confederates attacked Corinth, which was now held by Rosecrans, on October 3.  During the ensuing Second Battle of Corinth, Bledsoe's Battery was part of Brigadier General John C. Moore's brigade of Brigadier General Dabney Maury's division; Maury's Division was in the center of the Confederate line.  During the afternoon of October 3, Guibor's Battery was involved in an artillery duel against Battery I and Battery K of the 1st Missouri Light Artillery.  This smaller action soon grew to include 31 cannons, as Landis' Missouri Battery, Wade's Battery, Bledsoe's Battery, and five more Union guns joined the fray.  Eventually, the Union pieces ran out of ammunition, and the Confederates were able to make an infantry charge.  The Confederates were able to drive the Union troops from their outer works into their inner works, but attacks against the inner works the next day failed.  The 
caption: Map of Iuka and Second Corinth
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