In late December 1862, Brigadier General James G. Blunt applied considerable pressure to Northwest Arkansas by pressing southward with 8,000 troops and 30 pieces of artillery. Major General Thomas C. Hindman, Confederate commander of the army in Northwest Arkansas, ordered Brigadier General John Sappington Marmaduke to move rapidly and “strike the enemy in the rear or flank, in order to withdraw the heavy masses (infantry, cavalry, and artillery), under Blunt, then moving toward the Arkansas River, back into Missouri.”
While leading a portion of his cavalry division north into Missouri in early January, 1863, Marmaduke learned the supply depot at Springfield, Missouri was weakly garrisoned. Up to this point, Marmaduke’s force consisted of two independent columns; the first, under his immediate command, and a second, under Colonel Joseph C. Porter. The two columns left at separate times from Arkansas and planed to rendezvous at Hartville, Missouri. Believing he could capture Springfield, Marmaduke turned away from Hartville. Marmaduke attacked Springfield on January 8, 1863. Marmaduke had hoped to surprise Springfield’s garrison, but Union Captain Milton Burch’s Company H, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry Regiment, while scouting near Dubuque, Arkansas, on January 6, 1863, had detected Marmaduke’s movements.
Burch’s warning message to Union Brigadier General E. B. Brown at Springfield allowed for the Enrolled Missouri Militia to concentrate their forces at Springfield. Heavy fighting began around 1pm when Confederate Colonel Jo Shelby launched regiment-sized attacks in succession against the Union’s east flank, left center, right center, west flank, and a second time against the right center as he probed for weaknesses in the Union battle line... Continue reading »
