Battle of Prairie Grove The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on 7 December 1862 , that resulted in a tactical stalemate but essentially secured northwest Arkansas for the Union . Strategic situation : Union . In late 1862 Confederate forces had withdrawn from southwest Missouri and were wintering in the wheat - rich and milder climate of northwest Arkansas . Many of the regiments had been transferred to Tennessee , after the defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge in March , to bolster the Army of Tennessee . Following Pea Ridge , the victorious Union General Samuel Curtis pressed his invasion of northern Arkansas with the aim of occupying the capital city of Little Rock . Curtis ' s army reached the approaches to the capital , but decided to turn away after a minor yet psychologically important Confederate victory at the Battle of Whitney ' s Lane near Searcy , Arkansas . Curtis reestablished his supply lines at Helena , Arkansas , on the Mississippi River and ordered his subordinate , General John M . Schofield at Springfield , Missouri , to drive Confederate forces out of southwestern Missouri and invade northwestern Arkansas . Schofield divided his Army of the Frontier into two parts , one to remain near Springfield commanded by General Francis J . Herron , and the other commanded by General James G . Blunt to probe into northwest Arkansas . Schofield soon fell ill and overall command passed to General Blunt . As Blunt took command , the two wings of his army were dangerously far apart . Strategic situation : Confederates . Confederate General Thomas C . Hindman was an aggressive commander who had just been relieved of overall command of the Trans - Mississippi District . Hindman had issued a series of unpopular , but effective , military decrees which gave political opponents ammunition to have him removed from overall command . Hindman maintained a field command of Arkansas troops and , becoming aware of the Union Army ' s precarious tactical position , convinced his replacement to allow him to mount an expedition into northwest Arkansas . Hindman hoped to catch the Union army in its divided state , destroy it in detail , and open the way for an invasion of Missouri . Maneuvering to battle . Hindman ' s force gathered at Fort Smith , Arkansas , and sent out approximately 2 , 000 cavalry under General John S . Marmaduke to harass Blunt ' s forces and screen the main Confederate force . Unexpectedly Blunt moved forward with his 5 , 000 men and 30 artillery pieces to meet Marmaduke . The two clashed in a nine - hour running battle known as the Battle of Cane Hill on 28 November 1862 . Marmaduke was pushed back but Blunt found himself 35 miles deeper into Arkansas and that much farther from the remainder of his army . On 3 December Hindman started moving his main body of 11 , 000 poorly equipped men and 22 cannon across the Boston Mountains toward Blunt ' s division . Blunt , disturbed by his precarious position , telegraphed Herron and ordered him to march immediately to his support from Springfield . Blunt did not fall back towards Missouri but instead set up defensive positions around Cane Hill to wait for Herron . Hindman ' s intention was for Marmaduke ' s cavalry to strike Blunt from the south as a diversion . Once Blunt was engaged , Hindman intended to hit him on the flank from the east . At the dawn of the 7th of December Hindman began to doubt his initial plan to move on Cane Hill and instead continued North on Cove Creek Road with Marmaduke ' s men in the front . Why Hindman changed his mind is not known , but it is believed , as all generals , that he began to doubt his initial strategy . Little did Hindman realize though that this move would prove useful and allow his cavalry to strike an early deadly blow to the 7th Missouri and the 1st Arkansas . Meanwhile , Herron ' s divisions had performed an amazing forced march to come to Blunt ' s rescue and met Marmaduke ' s probing cavalry south of Fayetteville , Arkansas . Hindman ' s characteristically aggressive nature seems to have failed him at this moment . Afraid that Blunt would be able to attack his rear , and facing Herron to the north , Hindman chose instead to set up a defensive position atop a line of low hills near Prairie Grove , Arkansas . The battle . The battle opened on the morning of 7 December with Union General Herron crossing the river and deploying his footsore troops on Hindman ' s right . Herron opened an intense two hour artillery barrage on the Confederate position singling out individual Confederate cannon and concentrating on taking them out of action one at a time . By noon , the devastating barrage had disabled most of the Confederate artillery and forced many of the Confederate troops to shelter on the reverse slopes . Seeing the effect of his artillery , Herron ordered an advance on the hill rather than waiting for Blunt to arrive . His troops first encountered Confederate cavalry in the Borden wheatfield at the base of a ridge overlooking the prairie . Herron took these advanced troopers to mean that Hindman was planning to attack and capture the Union artillery . So Herron sent forward two regiments from his own 3rd Division to assault a Confederate battery near the Borden house . When his men arrived on the hill they found themselves under a fierce Confederate counterattack from three sides by Maramaduke and Brigadier General Francis A . Shoup . Half of the attacking Federals were wounded or killed within minutes , most near the Borden house . As the surviving Federals rolled back down the hill toward the safety of Union lines , Confederate soldiers spontaneously pursued and attempt to break Herron ' s lines . Herron ' s artillery loaded with canister caused terrible damage to the unorganized Confederates and repulsed their attack . Herron feared the Confederates would make another rush at his artillery and preemptively ordered another charge . This time two regiments were selected from Daniel Huston ' s 2nd Division . Again near the Borden house , hand to hand fighting ensued . The Federal troops repulsed one counterattack before falling back towards Herron ' s artillery . Again the pursuing Confederates rushed the Union guns but were repulsed by troops from Colonel William W . Orme ' s brigade . Meanwhile , Blunt realized that Hindman had gotten past his flank and intercepted Herron . Furious , he ordered his men to march to the sound of the guns . Not knowing the precise location of the fighting , the Federal troops ignored roads and traversed through farm fields and over fences straight toward the sound of battle at the double quick . This movement was probably initiated by Colonel Thomas Ewing and the 11th Kansas Infantry . While Blunt did not order the maneuver he quickly endorsed it even chastising a regimental commander for not showing enough initiative when he failed to follow the unorthodox procedure . Blunt ' s forces arrived on the field just as Hindman was ordering another attack on Herron ' s forces . Blunt ' s division slammed into the surprised Confederates and drove them back onto the hill . The heaviest casualties of the battle were felt during this attack by the 10th Missouri Confederate Infantry , which was caught in the open , at the flank of the Confederate forces . Blunt aligned his two brigades and sent them forward toward the Morton house on the same ridge to the west of the Borden house . Blunt ' s forces fought somewhat sporadically until being recalled off the ridge . Mosby M . Parsons ' Rebel brigade swept across the farm fields of prairie toward Blunt ' s artillery . Once again the Union soldiers and artillery repulsed the attack and darkness put an end to the fighting . During the night of 7 December and 8 December Blunt began to call up his reserves . Hindman on the other hand had no reserves remaining , was low on ammunition and food , and had lost much of his artillery firepower . Hindman had no choice but to withdraw under cover of darkness back towards Van Buren , Arkansas . The Confederates reached Van Buren on 10 December , demoralized , footsore , and ragged . By 29 December Blunt and Herron would threaten Hindman at his Van Buren sanctuary and drive him from northwest Arkansas permanently . The aftermath . Federal forces suffered 1 , 251 casualties and Confederate forces suffered 1 , 317 casualties . In addition , Confederate forces suffered from severe demoralization and lost many conscript soldiers during and after the campaign . Though the battle was a tactical draw , it was a strategic victory for the Federal army as they remained in possession of the battlefield and Confederate fortunes in northwest Arkansas declined markedly from that point on . The Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park is nationally known as one of the most intact Civil War battlefields . Active efforts are underway to acquire additional land for the park and preserve its integrity . The park is located just outside of Prairie Grove , Arkansas , about 10 miles west of Fayetteville , Arkansas . The Prairie Grove order of battle has been compiled by the historians at the park .