PRAIRIE GROVE : Preserved battlefield celebrates 100 years
Posted on Monday, December 1, 2008
PRAIRIE GROVE — The faint rumble of traffic along U. S. 62 is one of the few intrusions on what is described as one of the country’s most intact battlefields of the Civil War.
Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park sprouted from the preservation of not quite 10 acres purchased 100 years ago by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The park’s anniversary will be celebrated this weekend as part of the re-enactment of the battle.
On a quiet November day the peaceful hillside, with its panoramic view of pastures and forest, exemplifies small town life in the Ozarks. Fat brown squirrels scamper along the hills where two armies collided, spilling the blood of 2, 700 fathers, uncles, brothers and sons.
“The people that started this were wives, mothers and sisters of men who fought in what they thought was a good and just cause,” said Donna Schwieder, president of the Prairie Grove chapter of the organization.
Schwieder said that the group purchased the land as a way to honor the veterans. Early members held picnics for the veterans reuniting on the battlefield, she said.
The original 9. 75 acres is now the center of the 838-acre state park. The park was maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy until 1971, when it was transferred to the state Parks Department, according to the organization.
Members continue to support the park however they can, Schwieder said. The group donated proceeds of a cookbook it published to celebrate its own 100 th anniversary two years ago.
Several people will be wearing period attire next week while greeting participants in the re-enactment of the battle fought Dec. 7, 1862.
Education is also important to members, who are dedicated to defending the honor of the men who fought, Schwieder said. It is important that people know the cause of the war is too often oversimplified, she added.
Too many people think the war was only about slavery. If that were the case, Schwieder said, then it would cause one to wonder why slaves in northern states were not freed by the emancipation proclamation.
“The cause of the war depends on what book you read,” said C. W. Webb, a Civil War buff who has volunteered at the park’s museum for more than 20 years.
Webb collects artifacts from the war and takes part of his collection to the museum once a month from April to October. He’s partial to Confederate soldiers but respects them all, he said.
“Both are as important as the other because both was fighting for what they thought was right,” Webb said.
The items Webb has collected would have been carried by a soldier, he said. Those are his favorite and predominately what he takes to the museum.
In his years as a volunteer he’s been surprised by the diversity of visitors. He’s shared his collection through an interpreter on more than one occasion, he said, recalling one Taiwanese family that stopped by while on a month-long vacation.
It’s important that people visit the battlefield so they can learn from history, Webb said.
“But we’re still having more wars and more wars,” he said. “It don’t seem like we’re learning too quick.”
The battle of Prairie Grove came nine months after the Confederate forces lost at Pea Ridge. Union forces spent the day trying to claim the hill where the Archibald Borden house stands.
The Union troops were unsuccessful in their attempts to take the hill, but the Confederates left the field after midnight, having exhausted their ammunition, which gave the Union a strategic victory.
The B orden house was burned by Union forces the day after the battle, but was rebuilt on the same site following the war. The new house still stands atop the hill but is in need of repair, said Jessee Cox, park superintendent.
Years of cooperation between the community and parks officials culminated in the preservation of one of the most intact battlefields in the nation, Cox said. Despite the growth of Northwest Arkansas, encroachment has been kept to a minimum, he said.
The park is grown and maintained according to master plans, Cox said. No more acquisition of land is planned, though there are many other projects in the works, he said.
The park has $ 159, 000 approved for the design phase of the improvements, Cox said, and once complete, appropriations will be sought for construction.
Plans are also under way to improve the museum and Latta Barn, which was moved to the park to aid in teaching visitors the impact the war had on civilians.
Depending on the weather, the re-enactment may draw 2, 000 to 3, 000 people, Cox said. The re-enactments take place every other year, but this one will include special events to commemorate the park’s anniversary.
Artist Andy Thomas will unveil a new oil painting of the battle and will be signing limited edition prints, Cox said. The unveiling will take place on Saturday, though the re-enactment also will take place Sunday, marking the 146 th anniversary of the battle. Re-enactments will begin at 1 p. m. each day, though the festival will begin at 7 a. m. each day. Visitors will be charged $ 4 for parking during the event but entrance to Hindman Hall Museum will be free. More information about the festival is available by calling (479 ) 846-2990. More information about the park can be found at www. arkansasstateparks. com / prairiegrovebattlefield.
To contact this reporter: awallworth@arkansasonline. com
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