The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on December 7, 1862. While tactically indecisive, the battle secured the Union control of northwestern Arkansas.
John Alexander McClernand was an American lawyer and politician, and a Union Army general in the American Civil War. He was a prominent Democratic politician in Illinois and a member of the United States House of Representatives before the war. McClernand was firmly dedicated to the principles of Jacksonian democracy and supported the Compromise of 1850.
Amasa Cobb was an American politician and judge. He was the 6th and 9th Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court and the 5th Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska. Earlier in his life, he was a United States Congressman from Wisconsin for 8 years and served as the 13th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly. He also served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.
William Vandever was a United States representative from Iowa and later from California, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The Miller–Davis Law Buildings, known commonly as the Miller Davis Building, are located on Main and Front Street in the McLean County, Illinois city of Bloomington. The law offices served future Supreme Court Justice David Davis and future Illinois State Senator Asahel Gridley. The buildings became a gathering place for local lawyers such as Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas.
Daniel Weisiger Adams was a lawyer and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
The 95th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan was an Indiana lawyer, antebellum United States Navy officer, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was among a handful of former Navy officers who later served as infantry generals during the war.
Leonard Swett was a civil and criminal lawyer who advised and assisted Abraham Lincoln throughout the president's political career.
The 114th Illinois Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment from Illinois that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Formed in September 1862, the regiment served in Ulysses S. Grant's Central Mississippi campaign, in the Vicksburg campaign, at Brices Cross Roads, at Tupelo, in the 1864 Missouri campaign, at Nashville, and at Spanish Fort. At Nashville, the unit participated in the decisive attack on Shy's Hill. In 1865, the regiment was reassigned as pontoniers. The regiment was mustered out in August 1865.
John Eugene Smith (1816-1897) was a Swiss immigrant to the United States, who served as a Union general during the American Civil War.
John Dunlap Stevenson was an American attorney, politician, and soldier in the U.S. Army in two wars. He was a brigadier general of volunteers during the American Civil War. In 1866 he was nominated and confirmed for appointment as brevet major general of volunteers.
William McEntyre Dye was a soldier from the United States who served in military capacities around the world. He became a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, a colonel in the Egyptian army and military adviser to the King of Korea.
David Addison Weisiger was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. Weisiger served as a second lieutenant in the 1st Virginia Volunteers, an infantry regiment, during the Mexican–American War. After the war, he became a leading businessman in Petersburg, Virginia. Between 1853 and 1860, he served in the 39th Virginia Militia Regiment, rising from captain to colonel. After the Civil War, he was a bank cashier at Petersburg, Virginia and a businessman at Richmond, Virginia.
Thomas Hart Taylor was a Confederate States Army colonel, brigade commander, provost marshal and last Confederate post commander at Mobile, Alabama during the American Civil War. His appointment as a brigadier general was refused by the Confederate Senate after Confederate President Jefferson Davis failed to nominate Taylor, apparently following Davis's appointment of Taylor to the rank. Nonetheless, Taylor's name is frequently found on lists and in sketches of Confederate generals. He was often referred to as a general both during the Civil War and the years following it. Before the Civil War, Taylor served as a first lieutenant in the 3rd Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Mexican–American War. After that war, he was a cattle driver, farmer and lawyer. After the Civil War, he was engaged in business in Mobile, Alabama for five years, and after returning to Kentucky, was a Deputy U.S. Marshal for five years and was chief of police at Louisville, Kentucky for eleven years.
Lyman Munson Ward was an American farmer, Republican politician, and Union Army colonel in the American Civil War. He served four years in the Michigan House of Representatives, and received an honorary brevet to brigadier general after his service in the war.
The Battle of Van Buren was fought at Van Buren, Arkansas, on December 28, 1862, during the American Civil War. After defeating Confederate forces led by Major General Thomas C. Hindman at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862, Union forces under Brigadier Generals James G. Blunt and Francis J. Herron prepared for a raid against the Confederate positions at Van Buren and Fort Smith. Disease, lack of supplies, and desertion had previously forced Hindman to begin withdrawing most of his force from the area. Setting out on December 27, the Union troops struck an outlying Confederate cavalry unit near Drippings Spring, north of Van Buren, on the morning of December 28. The Confederate cavalry fled to Van Buren, which was then overrun by Union troops.
Friend Smith Rutherford was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He commanded the 97th Illinois Infantry Regiment during the Vicksburg campaign. On June 18, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Rutherford for appointment to the grade of brigadier general of volunteers and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on June 28, 1864. Rutherford's appointment was dated June 27, 1864 and it was to rank from June 28, 1864. His appointment was made and commission issued without knowledge of his death on June 20, 1864. Since Rutherford had died, the confirmation technically could not be given and the commission could not become effective. Nonetheless, several sources list Rutherford as a Union Army general, although historian Ezra Warner does not.
Battery E, 1st Missouri Light Artillery Regiment was an artillery battery unit from Missouri that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 1st Missouri Light Artillery Regiment formed on 1 September 1861. The battery participated in Frémont's expedition to Springfield in October 1861. This was followed by actions at Prairie Grove and Van Buren in December 1862. The following year, the battery fought at Cape Girardeau, Chalk Bluff, Vicksburg, the Expedition to Morganza, Brownsville, and Fort Esperanza. After performing garrison duty at Brownsville, Texas, the unit was mustered out in June 1864. For a few months at the end of 1864, a Pennsylvania battery took the name of this unit.
The Battle of McGuire's Store was fought at McGuire, Arkansas, near Elkins, between Union forces led by Brigadier General Francis J. Herron and Confederate forces under Colonel Jesse L. Cravens during the American Civil War. The skirmish was the result of an attempt by Union Brigadier General John Schofield to trap a body of Confederate cavalry reported to be at McGuire's Store. In the event, the operation failed when Herron's column took the wrong road and approached from the west instead of the north. Herron's well-equipped troops attacked Cravens' poorly armed and demoralized Texas cavalrymen and drove them off. This minor clash and other events caused Confederate Major General Thomas C. Hindman to suspend his intended advance to recover northwestern Arkansas and withdraw to the Arkansas River. Ironically, most of Schofield's soldiers also retreated to Missouri after the fight. Though the clash was minor, it marked one pulse of the ebb and flow of the war in northwest Arkansas.
Brigadier General of Volunteers 