War in the West provides an adequate overview of these campaigns in Arkansas, but leaves the reader wanting more. By the end of 1862, war in the Ozark Plateau was on the backburner Missouri was safely secure for the Union and Confederate authority in Arkansas was rapidly diminishing. Union superiority of artillery, a common theme in Arkansas, also proved an important factor. Shea gives high praise to Union division commanders Francis Herron and James Blunt whose relentless energy and aggressiveness prevented Hindman from achieving total victory. Shea describes Pea Ridge as a boxing match with lots of sparring whereas Prairie Grove was a pure slugfest with extremely high casualty rates considering numbers involved. Months later, a new Confederate force under the command of Thomas Hindman sought to also attack isolated Union commands which resulted in the Battle of Prairie Grove. This departure of troops, however, did leave Arkansas defenseless. Eventually, Van Dorn led his remaining forces across the Mississippi River to assist Confederate forces there but they arrived too late to participate in the crucial battle of Shiloh. Union General Samuel Curtis outgeneraled Van Dorn and brought his divided forces together to defeat and ultimately rout the Confederate army at Pea Ridge. Van Dorn, leading the other wing, was unaware of this development and launched disjointed attacks on other Union forces. His second in command was killed shortly afterwards leading to a lack of leadership and a lost opportunity to bring victory. One of Van Dorn’s wings, led by Ben McCullough, who had led forces to victory at Wilson’s Creek, attacked an inferior Union force, but McCullough was quickly shot and killed. Seeking to attack isolated Union forces, Van Dorn sought to split his force to achieve victory. Confederate forces under Earl Van Dorn failed to capitalize, however, on this rare advantage. Perhaps these were deemed important to the series, but we would have preferred them in an appendix rather than interspersed throughout the text.Īs for the battles, Shea states no Confederate Army ever marched off to battle with greater relative numerical superiority than the one that fought at Pea Ridge. Personally, we found these disruptive to the book’s narrative and too long.

As part of the “Civil War Campaigns and Commanders” Series of short, introductory volumes on a number of significant campaigns, the book also contains brief biographies of all the key leaders, both North and South. Shea, who co-authored the definitive book on Pea Ridge with Earl Hess, provides a concise summary of the battles of Arkansas.

Pea Ridge by William L. Shea