people don't realize this is a beyond a collegiate level of detail for the information you present kudos to you, i hope you achieve all your goals and are a source of learning for decades to come. thank you for such an informative experience
My great grandfather fought with the 48th Indiana at Pea Ridge, then later at the siege of Port Hudson. This according to his diary...he later married a Cherokee woman snd moved to Kansas and wound up living in a cave in the side of an arroyo.
I would love to read it that's amazing I have my great great grandfather WW2 note book and his father's WW1 notebook and I have a family members not exactly what he would be to me lol to far back but he was a child at the time of the civil war and talks about seeing it all the time from his front yard and his mother and him housing southern troops and also taking care of wounded
The Irish got y’all over there by the way (they even gave up the milk and beer). Blame things such as the licensed copy of Notre Dame. Do [religious] works, accept no [reward] (they preplanned out your own [home/work] life [its a slave society after all]). Target? Where does a specific concentration of foreigners get/mix?
The 48th indiana never fought at pea ridge. I also infact had a great great great grandpa who was in the 48th as a teamster. He didn’t see much combat and was behind the lines at the time of battle. After the war he moved to wisconsin where my great great grandpa was born. My great great grandpa who fought in ww2 briefly talks about his service in the civil war in his diary.
Van Dorn learned the hard way the lieutenants study tactics while generals study logistics. Not knowing where you supply train is should be a courts martial offense.
This is incredible! Carr did himself proud in his defense of the tavern, and in the cautious retreat from it when he knew his position was finally being tested. Glad to hear he got a promotion and respect from his soldiers for his wise actions.
@@Jordan-Ramses I wouldn't say more experienced but just better officers, but yes other than some arguments about the confederate soliders of the east being more early recruits to cause an more motivated you can see that a lot of the best union commanders were out west
The General was my Great Great Great Grandfather and something would quickly happen to me or anyone else who called him by any other name in his presence... no matter how much one might agree with it he was deeply religious and a military man. In fact, he did do himself proud with it so much so he changed his name to "The General" -Carr. That's the name and how he wanted to be remembered.
I visited pea Ridge in 1988 while staying at a little place called ward I come from Australia and was greatly honoured to visit pea Ridge, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, absolutely fantastic and have always loved American history great video thankyou .
Back in the Summer of 1994, I was a student at the US Army Engineer Officer Advanced Course. It was taught at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. While there, every student had to research and write a Battlefield Analysis Paper. One of the guys in my class - [I'll call him George] wrote about the Battle or Pea Ridge. He wrote that Jefferson Davis, was the President of the Federated States of America, and Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States of America. He was told to re-write his paper. (He got a 16% on his first effort). I was instructed to help him re-write it. It took me many hours on a Saturday to re-write it for him. The next day - we drove down to the Pea Ridge National Battlefield Park. And we talked with the National Park System (NPS) Rangers, so that they could look over his paper. While the NPS staff was correcting his re-written rough draft, we did the driving tour. George asked me to stop at various points. Okay, we did. George repeatedly asked - where were the dead bodies? can we see them? where was the blown up trees? Finally - I stated - "George the battle was fought in 1862, in late winter. This is July 1994. 130 years after the battle. The dead are buried. The blown up trees have disintegrated into fertilizer that the new trees are feeding off of. If you want to go down into the draws/ravines/gullies - be my guest. I'll stay up here. Down in those places you'll find - ticks, chiggers, poisonous snakes, poison oak, poison sumac and poison ivy". We drove back to the Park Rangers. They returned George's rough draft. On the back of every page they made notes. When we got back - George got the opportunity to re-write his paper I think that the best that he got was a 70%. Which was passing, but just barely.
@@indy_go_blue6048 It really is sad, Pea Ridge is one of the most fascinating battles of the war to me and it’s lucky to even see it mentioned in most historical discussions.
This is the most comprehensive account of the battle, especially from the southern side, that I have ever heard. The author does an excellent presentation.
Dude the amount of detail you put in these is absolutely amazing, the quotes, the units involved in major battles to firefights, the times these specific engagements happened and the narrating is on point the fact you point out the individual unit formations really hits the point home that this is a civil war between Americans not just a group of armies with people from all over but if men probably all from the same towns and general area. Also I like you break down the chain of command when talking about individual brigades and who they are attached too. Amazing work man I’ve been binge watching your videos the last 6 days
Largest battle of the Civil War fought west of the Mississippi. One of the few battles in the Civil War where the Federals were outnumbered, but still won.
Good commanders and brave soldiers, and good tactics and a good position makes a huge difference. This similar to Gettysburg in a way. A huge artillery barrage, combined with an infantry assault. This could've been Gettysburg...the Federals pulled it off. Lee, did not.
Wow, this channel is absolutely amazing! Just like Epic History Tv, but for the Civil War! Thank you so much, this channel’s videos are truly a treasure! Such a cinematic presentation of this battle, I felt like I was watching a movie lol. Great job!
To think I barely came across this little channel. He is so good at the details and covers not just the big battles but those that never get the spotlight.
Thank you sir for this post. We lost a family member to injuries at Pea Ridge. I'll watch again and do some more research on his involvement. Appreciate you!
i am a self appionted student of the civil war never heard this one before thank you for a detailed presentation of a battle in missouri first time i have heard of this battle thank you.
Very well narrated and highly detailed. I found this a real pleasure to listen to, while I learned of an important battle fought in this less well known theatre of operations!
Pikes Cherokees were some bad Mama Jamas, loved this narrative on the battle of Pea Ridge. Rebels had bad terrain to deal with, with a hard time getting there artillery placed and lack of leadership once their own Generals decapitated themselves from their Commands.
Just occasionally it would be a good idea to put up an strategic map so that the tactical maps can be easier understood, ie. to maintain overall context. Just the icing on the cake is all :-)
I've seen a number of these battles throughout history videos. The maps, narration and attention to detail here is excellent. The best I have seen. Liked and subscribed.
This is a great channel definitely up there with kings and generals and binkos battle grounds I honestly don’t no y the views are so low when the quality is so high definitely a good find ....recommend and share with your friends
Sarah I have a playlist of some 160 ACW videos. Would you believe that Warhawk never came up on my recces until a week ago? Too many cat videos and buy/rent this videos I guess.
High level of scholarship and very attractive production values! Appreciate the focus on “the war in the West” where the Union actually won the war. Why else was Grant ultimately brought East? Of course because the West produced the victory, that’s why. I for one don’t need to hear or see any more about the supposed genius of Lee and Jackson. Thanks.
The reason Grant was brought east is for the exact opposite reason: The war would had to be won in the east. Lincoln and the Northern public understood that the war wasn't over until Robert E. Lee's army was destroyed. The battles in the east were drastically more important for the morale of both sides and nearly everyone understood this at the time. Somehow, you don't.
@@WarhawkYT I've got $20 for you once you get to Prairie Grove. An extra $10 if you include Cane Hill leading up to it. I practically live on the PG battlefield.
@@ProfessorTravis I got to visit your fine battleground a couple of years ago. Loved it, although I was feeling sick...I need to get back sometime when I’m in better health. I was drawn by the story of the superhuman march of the Army of the Frontier, and I must say that for a small, relatively obscure battle, the site is excellent and very well preserved and the museum is very good. Highly recommend it to any and every civil war student.
Use to live in Fayettevile so I've been to the Prairie Grove and Pea Ridge sites. Was a really well put together video. I don't know how I'm just now finding this channel.
Both of my relatives John C. and William Perkins Black were the 1st Two Brothers to receive the Medal of Honor for their actions at Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove. .at first they thought JC had lost his mind, riding to the front of the line and 1 by 1 picking off Rebels with his repeating rifle..lots of heros in those battles and Thanks for the Awesome details and narrations..all superb!
I live about 2 hours away from this battle site! I drove by it but I need to check it out! Nice video! I really couldn't imagine marching though that area of the Ozark Mountains!
I have to say, this is exactly what I've always wanted. Going over the battles. Now if you'd do big picture movements at the army level that would be the icing on the cake. For real though, excellent vidoes.
42:55 those stubborn Union gunners remind me of that one extra in the movie Gettysburg, who just keeps pouring canister into Confederate ranks during Picket's charge. if you've watched the movie 40 times, you know who I'm talking about.
I just wanted to thank you ahead of time for this video about Pea Ridge..one of my great uncles received the medal of honor for his heroics in this battle, and later his brother for the same in another battle and win for the North..the first two brothers to receive this honor Were both Captains in the Union Army. God rest their souls. From the Black Family Thanks and God Bless You! @WarhawkYT
I grew up in pea ridge and I lived about 15 miles northwest of the national military park we were always going out there because the drive through is free and you pay to go into the museum and it's definitely a different feeling when your there I just wish that they would stop the burning of the woods every year and the Reenactment with gun fire because I honestly feel that it disrupts the peace of those who died there and just incase no one knows the Elkhorn tavern burned during the war but was rebuilt which is what stands there today
Arkansas in the Civil War is very interesting. I lived there for a few years and I noticed that even recently the attitudes of people in the state toward the USA and CSA reflect anger at whichever side occupied their area during the war.
I live in NW Arkansas. I feel as though I've been to the Pea Ridge Military Park now, although I have only drove past so many times without ever stopping. That may change now, once the Coof has subsided. Thank you Warhawk!
Pfff you’ll be fine. Trust me, the living corpse of my 103yr old grandpa stuck in wheelchair and nursing home... testifies you will be fine. They tell us he had the coof at some point. Go out now. Without a mask. Put your faith in God you’ll be fine.
I grew up in pea ridge so growing up we always went to the military park and there is an overlook in the park that will take your breath away I've always wanted to take my boyfriend and I can't wait for him to see it
Having been to several civil war battlefields Gettysburg, Shiloh, Maintained by the National Park Service and Prarie Grove by the Arkansas State Parks, Bryce Crossroads in Mississippi by the Mississippi State Park Service Pea Ridge by the National Park service I much prefer how well kept how well preserved Pea RIDGE and Shiloh are Maintained by the National Park Service. Moreso than Gettysburg... PEA RIDGE IS AMAZING IN how rugged the terrain is!
I live about 15 miles the battlefield, and I know it pretty well. The park office had the bullet that killed Ben McCullough. The Ranger said it was a head shot. I saw the bullet on display. The narrator said it was a heart shot. Either way, Texas lost a helluva man! Deo Vindice.
If the ranger says the man who killed McCullough was a sharpshooter (when he wasnt) it will tell you who is correct. Although the Pvt who made the shot, made a damn good shot, he wasn't a SS. He wore blue, not green. Berdan SS wore green.
My ggg grandpa was in the 36th IL Infantry, Company G. His company was one of the two (the other being Company B) thrown forward as skirmishers that killed McCullouch. My grandma told me they never were quite sure who actually killed him. During the battle, he was shot in the heel. My ggg grandpa went on to serve at the battle of Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga (injured during Longstreet’s assault), Missionary Ridge, and the entire Atlanta campaign. He went in as a private and returned home as a first sergeant. My grandma liked to tell us that his biggest complaints about the war weren’t the battles, but wet feet and all of the walking.
I live in pea ridge and one time my friend and I were smoking on a dirt road towards Missouri and a whole bunch of confederate soldiers passed by and we had to stop. We got home and thought we were tripping out but then found out they were doing a civil war reenactment lol
Would have liked to have seen some photos of the battlefield or maybe a topographic map of the area to get a better idea of the terrain. Other than that great work...now I have a much better idea of what took place there in 1862.
Van Dorn was an example of the "Peter Principal" - promoted to a level of incompetence. It is still questionable whether Pike's Indians scalped anyone - he denied it in public, in writing.
Of course Pike did but factually his Indian soldiers did mutilate and scalp Union soldiers, often helpless because of injury. His other actions proved he was a black mark on the Confederacy and over 150 years later, the city of Fort Smith (south of Pea Ridge) finally acknowledged his actions by officially changing the names of an elementary school and other sites bearing his name.
This battle was just one piece of bad luck after another for our Confederate Army. From the loss of 3 senior leaders to the lack of communication and general disorganization that stemmed from the decapitation of our leadership.
It was confederate misfortune combined with strong union leadership. If the union commanders hadn't made such good use of such outnumbered groupings on the first day, they may never have had a chance.
I am glad to see attention, or even acknowledgement, that there was a Trans Mississippi and Far West in the Civil War. Good work. Most attention goes to the war in the East, especially Virginia. A major road in Arlington, Virginia, is named after Earl van Dorn. Many streets and buildings named after Confederates are being changed, but I think that van Dorn Avenue should retain the name, in appreciation of his ineptitude that made the UNION victory at Pea Ridge possible. By the way, van Dorn died the death of a true cavalier, shot to death by a jealous husband. He died during the war, but not from Federal fire. Maintaining the name would also be a warning to straying spouses.
Imagine having so little faith in your troops you tell them to just sit down while you go blindly forward in a movement to contact because you don't trust them to do the job...and leave no contingency orders.
Superb as per usual, Saris! If I may ask, what prompted you to make a video combining both parts? Also, do you plan on making a video combining all three parts of Shiloh?
Being a big fan of @historymarche, they would usually merge all their parts together into single video for those wanting to watch it all in a single sitting. Of course!
Fun fact: Elkhorn Tavern sits next to part of the Cherokee Nation’s “Trail of Tears” Route that goes North towards Springfield, Missouri. The road was also used by the “Butterfield Overland Mail Company, aka “Overland Stage Company.” Elkhorn Tavern was also a rest/food stop used by “Overland Stagecoaches.” I Don’t know if the road is still visible today, but I walked a short distance on it in the late 1980s when I visited Pea Ridge National Battlefield...
Great video keep up the the good work. I want to recommend a good book. In Deadly Earnest THE MISSOURI BRIGADE. Written by Phil Gottschalk. It really helps to tell the story of unit(including its involvement in pea ridge) through out the war. On a final note I would be awesome if you could cover the battle of pilot knob (in Missouri).
These videos are awesome, i have to watch twice because there is so much detail. Have you covered the battle at prairie grove ark. ? G G grandfather fought there with the 94th Illinois.
Just visited the site today, it surprised me how close their lines were and how small the area was. Beautiful place but surreal to know that such a dramatic event occurred there.
Have been a serious reader of the Civil War since mid-70's in 5-6th grade, Bruce Catton, and since, many, many, Civil War books and TV - Ken Burns, Battle Cry of Freedom, Army Staff College papers from greaduate school, Pea Ridge is one I have never, N.E.V.E.R. benn able to really understand becuasue of the terrain and distances, just too confusing. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I may repeat what Medievalist wrote, "This is literally the best video about the battle of Pea Ridge out there!" Most of what I know about this battle was from Shelby Foote's "Civil War - A Narrative," which I had assumed was well researched and presented. You, sir, have surpassed Mr. Foote's work. Looking forward to moving up along the calendar of your other works. Is it your intention to cover all significant engagements or just those that have not had the notoriety of the more well know known battles?
Very impressive video I live in S/W Missouri but I do most of my business in Pea Ridge Arkansas it would be nice to see a overlay of map from today Thanks
This is what I was raised on, too. It's claptrap, turns out. Union had several extremely competent commanders as well as several flamboyant ones. They were more professional, but the personalities are there if you look.
you comment this on the battle of pea ridge. of all the battles you could choose to say this on. this is one where clearly the tactical and leadership qualities of union officers carried the day
I can see a lot of tactical blunders both sides made but at the over-over-overarching level, why didn't van dorn ask price to engage curtis in a running retreat feint while macculloch seizes and occupies cassville? The main strategic blunder I see both sides making over and over again is that they aren't routinely sending messengers so that their senior level officers know what is going on.
Whenever there is a mistake that seems obvious in the ACW, especial early on, it can usually be attributed to a lack of experience in the common soldiers, in thr officers, and especially in the staff. Before the war the army was small, just over 15000 men and with no plans to mobilise. So when faced with a continental level conflict with hundreds of thousands of men, it is normal that mistakes due to inexperience happen. Also, if he did want a retreat feint, he would have to communicate to lower level commanders, and they might not be able to carry that out. And to the common soldiers, a feint retreat can turn into a real rout if inexperienced.
@@emperorpenguin3845 essentially the point of the hypothetical plan would be to keep curtis occupied while leading him back towards van dorn's forces in fayetteville, while macculloch sweeps into cassville and occupies it. So the hypothetical outline of how it would go on would be, price engages curtis in a running retreat fight leading curtis towards van dorn in fayetteville, where price rejoins van dorn and engages from a position of strength in fayetteville, while this is ongoing, macculloch travels to and seizes cassville, after which macculloch sends an emissary to curtis to demand an immediate and final surrender of curtis and all men under his command. I'm torn between I feel like this could possibly work and 'it is overly complex to carry out'. Needless to say the outcome of the battle of pea ridge, and possibly the overall war, would have been very different if this was done, and a lot different if it was successfully done. Your comment also illustrations one of the four essential things any military victory must have; well trained, well organized, competent officers.
May I suggest a video on the Battle of Fort Macon? This successful campaign in eastern nc, eventually lead to burnside being picked as commander and chief,,,,,,, we all know how that went. Cough*cough* Fredericksburg
The commander in chief is always the President. Burnside was only the commander of the Army of the Potomac, he didn’t have any control over Grant in the West at the time
