The 1862 battle of Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas was one of the largest Civil War engagements fought on the western frontier, and it dramatically altered the balance of power in the Trans-Mississippi. This study of the battle is based on research in archives from Connecticut to California and includes a pioneering study of the terrain of the sprawling battlefield, as well as an examination of soldiers' personal experiences, the use of Native American troops, and the role of Pea Ridge in regional folklore. "A model campaign history that merits recognition as a major contribution to the literature on Civil War military operations.--Journal of Military History "Shines welcome light on the war's largest battle west of the Mississippi.--USA Today "With its exhaustive research and lively prose style, this military study is virtually a model work of its kind.--Publishers Weekly "A thoroughly researched and well-told account of an important but often neglected Civil War encounter.--Kirkus Reviews "Offers the rich tactical detail, maps, and order of battle that military scholars love but retains a very readable style combined with liberal use of recollections of the troops and leaders involved.--Library Journal "This book is assured of a place among the best of all studies that have been published on Civil War campaigns.--American Historical Review "Destined to become a Civil War classic and a model for writing military history.--Civil War History "A campaign study of a caliber that all should strive for and few will equal.--Journal of American History "An excellent and detailed book in all accounts, scholarly and readable, with both clear writing and excellent analysis. . . . Utterly essential . . . for any serious student of the Civil War.--Civil War News

William Shea offers a gripping narrative of the events surrounding Prairie Grove, Arkansas, one of the great unsung battles of the Civil War that effectively ended Confederate offensive operations west of the Mississippi River. Shea provides a colorful account of a grueling campaign that lasted five months and covered hundreds of miles of rugged Ozark terrain. In a fascinating analysis of the personal, geographical, and strategic elements that led to the fateful clash in northwest Arkansas, he describes a campaign notable for rapid marching, bold movements, hard fighting, and the most remarkable raid of the Civil War.

In the summer of 1861, Americans were preoccupied by the question of which states would join the secession movement and which would remain loyal to the Union. This question was most fractious in the border states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. In Mi

A useful guidebook for the significant Civil War battles of Wilson's Creek, Pear Ridge, and Prairie Grove.

“Elkhorn Tavern has the beauty of Shane and the elegiac dignity of Red River without the false glamour or sentimentality of those classic Western films... Mr. Jones is at home among the ridges and hardwoods of a frontier valley... He holds us still and compels us to notice what we live in.”—The New York Times Book Review From Douglas C. Jones, an author the Los Angeles Times called "a superb storyteller and authentic chronicler of the American West," comes a classic Civil War novel, long out of print but considered one of the great titles of the genre. With her husband gone east to fight for the Confederate Army, Ora Hasford is left alone to tend to her Arkansas farm and protect her two teenage children, Calpurnia and Roman. But only a short distance away, in the shadow of Pea Ridge, a storm is gathering. In a clash to decide control over the western front, two opposing armies prepare for a brutal, inevitable battle. Beset by soldiers, bushwhackers, and jayhawkers, the Hasfords' home stands unprotected in what will soon be one of the worst battlegrounds in the West.