Van Dorn Flag
This flag is on display at the Old State House Museum
in Little Rock.

I, W. C. Thompson...

Part III -- Battle of Wilson's Creek

By Larry Jameson

Our regiment was assigned to Brigadier General Nicholas B. Pearce, a very likable and patriotic fellow from up in Benton County.

The ladies of Little Rock have been very busy making uniforms for the volunteers. These wonderful southern ladies are buying material with their own money and fashioning the uniforms. They’ve even been shipping them to Fort Smith by boat to help clothe the troops who are gathering there.

The good people of Missouri really didn’t want to be involved in the War. They haven’t taken a stand for the Union, and they haven’t taken a stand for the Confederacy, either. Missouri has a State Guard that will fight with us and a Home Guard that will fight on the side of the Yanks.

Captain William E. Woodruff, Jr. has taken his Pulaski Artillery with their 12-pounder howitzers and brass 6-pounder cannons on the Tahlequah steamboat headed for Camp Walker up in Benton County. It seems that just about everybody around here is headed to northwest Arkansas.

Yep, the 5th left Little Rock for Fort Smith. Before we left, we all made sure our knapsacks were full. Underwear, socks, soap, towel, comb, brush, mirror, toothbrush, paper and envelopes, pens, ink, pencils, blacking, photographs, smoking and chewing tobacco, pipes, twine string and cotton strips for wounds and other emergencies, needles and thread, buttons, knife, fork and spoon were carried by most. Some took more; some, less. At 15 to 25 pounds, each man tried to measure his stamina as much as his needs and, certainly, his pocketbook.

We tied blankets to the outside of the knapsack and, of course, there was the haversack containing our rations and a canteen of fresh water. As to the weapons, some carried shotguns whiles others had flintrocks and pistols. We had yet to go into actual battle. We had not been subjects of a forced march. In the future, still, was our first confrontation of the enemy. We would learn not to carry so much.

From Fort Smith we moved northward up over the Boston Mountains. The flat land of Ouachita County sure would have made for an easier walk. But everybody was really enthusiastic. Mostly when someone talked, they talked of the war that was to come. Drummers and fife players kept us on pace, and I can’t tell you how many times the men sang, “The Girl I Left Behind Me.”

We stopped at Camp Walker in Benton County for training. None of us had much military training. But the rows and rows of white tents and the beat of the drums and the constant tramping of feet as men drilled let us know war was at hand. The new flag of the Confederate States of America waved in the breeze. When the wind blew just right, we could hear the rolling thunder of big guns in the distance.

Major General Price arrived with his Missouri troops. Lots of units are gathering here. Something big is being planned. About the 20th of July, Generals Price, Pearce and McCulloch have a meeting and plan a strategy for Missouri. However, Missouri has not seceded from the Union and President Jefferson Davis has told McCulloch to stay out of Missouri until a formal request is made for assistance.

General Price has already skirmished some with the Union forces under Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, and General Pearce also knows the Union commander. Lyon’s Army of the West is marching toward southwest Missouri. Pearce knows Lyon as a graduate of West Point and a bitter black republican who hates all things Southern, especially the idea of state’s rights. Price was in attendance at Planter’s House in St. Louis when Lyon told Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson that he would see every man, woman, and child in the state dead before Missouri would secede from the Union. And they knew the fanatical Lyon meant it.

We moved from Camp Walker a few miles to Camp Stevens where we trained the 3rd Louisiana. Word comes that Governor Jackson has asked that we come to the aid of his state. Units began moving out on the 29th of July. Then, on the last day of the month we headed for Cassville, Missouri.

When we finally arrived at Cassville in Barry County, it was a happy bunch of guys to know that we could stop walking for a while. Missourians seemed to be coming from everywhere; some came into camp carrying pitchforks and clubs. While I don’t know how many of those noble men intended to fight with whatever means they could, I do know that General Pearce loaned General Price a thousand flintlocks with bayonets.

Got word about General Beauregard and his battle at Manassas. That really got everybody stirred up to know that we destroyed the enemy. If only they’d had food and water so they could have chased the Yankees all the way to Washington. There’s a lot of guys here saying if they’d have been there they wouldn’t have stopped till they knocked on ol’ Abe Lincoln’s door.

‘Course, ol’ Abe must have pretty much thought about that happening since he fired his General. (Gen. Irvin McDowell)

They’ve divided us into three divisions, and a lot of men were moved out of their old unit into new ones. I’m still with Dockery. Generals McCulloch, Pearce and Price will be in command of the different units. General Pearce has located as many bullet presses as he was able to find, and the men are laboring night and day making bullets. He told those Missourians who don’t have guns to stay a day’s march behind the rest of us.

From time to time, we can hear the tat-tat-tat of rifle fire. And I’ve seen a few wounded men. On the 4th of August the order came down that we would begin moving out at midnight. The advance group will be the Louisiana platoons and Woodruff’s Little Rock Battery.

Colonel Gratiot's regiment is to follow behind Woodruff by 200 yards. Colonel McRae's battalion will fall in behind them, and he’ll be followed by Colonel Weightman's command of infantry and artillery. Our infantry group under General Pearce and Reid's battery will be in front of General Price's command of infantry.

In order to keep everything as quiet as possible, we’ve been told there will be no singing and no drums. The cavalry will be last, probably because you can’t tell a horse to be quiet, and we’ve got more men in the cavalry units than we do the Infantry. Of course, about 2,000 of the cavalry from Missouri don’t have any guns.

Colonel Churchill's regiment of Arkansas Mounted Riflemen will lead the cavalry. The line will continue with Colonel Carroll's regiment of cavalry, Colonel McIntosh's regiment of Mounted Riflemen, Colonel Greer's regiment of Texas volunteers and General Price's command of cavalry.

The wagons are all being left behind along with a few troops to protect them. We’ve been told to take one day’s cooked rations and a canteen full of water. It sounds like they expect us to do battle before our next camp.

Go to Wilson's Creek, Part II