Battle of Round Mountain

The Army of the Frontier was a Union army that served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War. It fought in several minor engagements in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Kansas. In June 1863 the Army was discontinued but many of its regiments were formed into the District of the Frontier.

History

Background

During the American Civil War, on March 7 and 8, 1862, the Union Army of the Southwest defeated the Confederate Army of the West at the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas. This victory secured control of Missouri for the Union and opened the path for the Union to eventually capture Arkansas.[1] After Pea Ridge, the Confederate commander, Major General Earl Van Dorn moved his army east of the Mississippi River, stripping Arkansas of most of its Confederate troops and military supplies.[2] On May 31, command of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi District was given to Major General Thomas C. Hindman,[3] who rebuilt Confederate strength in Arkansas, as well as outburts of pro-Confederate activity in Missouri.[4] However, Hindman had outraged many prominent Arkansas civilians, and he was replaced by Theophilus H. Holmes, who was promoted to lieutenant general and sent to Arkansas.[5]

Hindman moved about 6,000 men into southwestern Missouri in early September.[6] The Union forces in Missouri were commanded by Brigadier General John M. Schofield,[7] as the District of Missouri in the Department of the Misssissippi.[8] The neighboring Department of Kansas was commanded by Brigadier General James G. Blunt.[9] In response to Hindman's incursion, on September 19, the Union recreated the Department of the Missouri, which continaed the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, the Indian Territory, and the city of Alton, Illinois.[10] Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, the victor of Pea Ridge, was placed in charge of the new department, which it was hoped would unify Union leadership in the region.[11] Curtis took command on September 24, and on September 26 sent Schofield to Springfield, Missouri, to command Union operations there. Blunt and his force, known as the Army of Kansas, was sent to join forces with Schofield, who commanded two divisions, which were led by Brigadier Generals James Totten and Francis J. Herron.[8]

Formation

Part of Blunt's army was defeated on September 30 in the First Battle of Newtonia. The next day, the combined forces of Blunt and Schofield, with Scholfield in overall command, was named the Army of Southwestern Missouri. Two days later, Blunt and Totten's troops were reported to be stationed at Sarcoxie, Missouri, with Herron's division on the Cassville Road. On October 4, Blunt and Totten moved towards Newtonia, and the Confederates abandoned the town and fell back into Arkansas. The Army of Southwestern Missouri was renamed the Army of the Frontier on October 12; on that day Blunt's division was at Keetsville, Missouri, and Totten and Herron at Cassville.[8] Blunt's division was given the designation of the First Division, Totten's the Second Division, and Herron's the Third Division, although Blunt's division was commonly known as the Kansas Division and the other two as the Missouri Divisions.[12]

Advancing, the Army of the Frontier entered Confederate territory on October 17, where the men camped on the old Pea Ridge battlefield, with army headquarters in the Elkhorn Tavern.[13] The army's communication and supply lines were kept over two routes: Blunt was supplied Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Fort Scott, Kansas; while the other two divisions were supplied through St. Louis, Missouri; Rolla, Missouri; and Springfield.[14] Confederate Colonel Douglas H. Cooper and part of the Confederate cavalry were preparing for an offensive against Fort Scott. James S. Rains and the rest of the Confederate force moved in the opposite direction. Schofield decided to split the Army of the Frontier, sending Blunt and two of his three brigades after Cooper, while Totten and Herron pursued Rains.[15] Both wings of the army left the Pea Ridge area late on October 20.[16] Blunt defeated Cooper on October 22 in the Battle of Old Fort Wayne.[8] Totten and Herron reached Huntsville, Arkansas, that same day. Schofield called of the pursuit, having reached the end of his logistical framework, and believing the Confederates had withdrawn enough to no longer be a threat, withdrew Totten and Herron in the direction of Fayetteville, Arkansas.[17]

Prairie Grove

Blunt wished to attack Fort Smith, Arkansas, while Schofield wanted Blunt to be stationed in the northern portion of the Indian Territory. Schofield further wanted to keep the army's other two divisions in northwestern Arkansas. Schofield was able to easily communicate with Curtis because of a rebuilt telegraph line along the Telegraph Road, and Curtis wanted Blunt to remain stationed along the Indian Territory/Arkansas border and for the other two divisions to be withdrawn back into Missouri, so that they could be transferred to service in the Vicksburg campaign.[18] Totten's division was at Osage Spring, and Herron's at Cross Hollow, Arkansas.[19] On October 27, Schofield went to Osage Spring to begin the process of withdrawing the two divisions into Missouri,[20] but learned that Confederate cavalry was in the Fayetteville area. Schofield planned a converging attack on the Confederates with Totten and Herron's men, but the plan did not go through as expected and Herron's men fought and won the Battle of McGuire's Store on October 28.[21]

After occupying Fayetteville, Schofield panicked at rumors of a Confederate advance and withdrew from the city. Blunt's division moved to a position where it would better support Schofield's two divisions, with the Army of the Frontier on October 31 being arrayed with Totten at Osage Springs, Herron at Cross Hollow, and Blunt near Bentonville, Arkansas. On November 3, Blunt and Schofield held a conference with Curtis at Elkhorn Tavern over the telegraph line, where Schofield asked for and received permission to withdraw back to Missouri. Beginning on the next day, Totten and Herron's divisions made a forced march back to Springfield; Schofield had been alarmed by false rumors of a Confederate campaign against that city. November 6 saw Blunt with his division still in Arkansas with 6,200 men, Herron camped on Crane Creek with 2,800 men, and Totten on the Spring River with 4,600 men.[22] Blunt's men were 15 miles (24 km) south of Maysville, Arkansas, at Lindsey's Prairie. As of November, the Army of the Frontier was organized with three brigades in Blunt's division, three in Totten's division, and two in Herron's, although one of Totten's brigades remained in Springfield and did not participate in field maneuvers.[23]

The plan was for Totten and Herron to spend only a little time at Springfield, and then move east to Helena, Arkansas, to join the Vicksburg operations.[24] Schofield was ill, so Curtis ordered Totten to take his division and Herron's to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as part of the transfer; the two divisions left Ozark, Missouri, on November 14.[25] Confederate cavalry under Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke moved into the Cane Hill, Arkansas, area in early November; the threat posed by this movement to Blunt led Totten's eastwards movement to be cancelled. By November 18, Totten's divisions were back at Cassville. After receiving news that Marmaduke had withdrawn,[26] Schofield turned over command to Blunt and left for St. Louis on November 20.[8] Totten, who had unpopular with his men and who had a drinking problem, was ordered to St. Louis for court martial duty on November 27.[27]

The Battle of Prairie Grove in 1862 was the army's finest moment of the war. During the campaign General Schofield was in St. Louis due to illness, and General Blunt assumed temporary command of the army.[28] Daniel Huston, Jr. temporarily replaced Totten in command of the 2nd Division. Both the 2nd and 3rd Divisions were then placed under the overall command of General Herron.

Herron replaced Schofield as commander in March 1863. In May of that year the army's 2nd Division under William Vandever fought the Battle of Chalk Bluff against a Confederate raid under John S. Marmaduke. The army as a whole was dissolved on June 5, 1863, yet remnants were formed into "Herron's Division" and sent as reinforcements to the Siege of Vicksburg.

Commanders

Major Battles

District of the Frontier

On June 6 the remaining units in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, formerly belonging to the Army of the Frontier, were organized into the District of the Frontier with General Blunt in command. The district was part of the Department of the Missouri and was composed of the Indian Territory, western Arkansas, southwestern Missouri and southern Kansas.

With troops from this district Blunt fought and won the Battle of Honey Springs in 1863, but suffered a defeat at Baxter Springs later that year. Blunt was relieved of command in January 1864. At the same time the District of the Frontier divided up. The Indian Territory and Fort Smith, Arkansas, were designated the District of the Frontier in the Department of Kansas and placed under the command of Colonel William R. Judson. The areas in Arkansas were designated the District of the Frontier in the Department of Arkansas and placed under the command of General John Milton Thayer. Thayer's troops were attached to the VII Corps during the Camden Expedition as the "Frontier Division".

On February 23, 1864, Blunt replaced Judson in command of the District of the Frontier, Department of Kansas. Blunt commanded until April 17 when his district was discontinued. Fort Smith was transferred to Thayer's district and the rest of the Indian Territory was divided among other districts. Thayer's District of the Frontier continued until February 1, 1865, when it too was discontinued.

Commanders

  • General James G. Blunt (June 9, 1863 – January 6, 1864) part of the Dept. of Missouri
  • Colonel William R. Judson (January 6, 1864 – February 23, 1864) part of the Dept. of Kansas
  • General James G. Blunt (February 23, 1864-17 April 1864) part of the Dept. of Kansas
  • General John Thayer (January 6, 1864-February 1865) part of the Dept. of Arkansas

Major Battles

See also

References

  1. ^ Shea & Hess 1998, pp. 34–37.
  2. ^ Shea & Hess 1992, pp. 286–289.
  3. ^ Shea 2009, p. 4.
  4. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 6–8.
  5. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 8–10.
  6. ^ Shea 2009, p. 14.
  7. ^ Shea 2009, p. 16.
  8. ^ a b c d e Welcher 1993, p. 177.
  9. ^ Shea 2009, p. 17.
  10. ^ Welcher 1993, p. 92.
  11. ^ Shea 2009, p. 21.
  12. ^ Shea 2009, p. 29.
  13. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 29–30.
  14. ^ Shea 2009, p. 32.
  15. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 34–35.
  16. ^ Shea 2009, p. 46.
  17. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 47–48.
  18. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 50–51.
  19. ^ Shea 2009, p. 48.
  20. ^ Shea 2009, p. 51.
  21. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 54–59.
  22. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 61–64.
  23. ^ Welcher 1993, pp. 177–178.
  24. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 64–65.
  25. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 66–67.
  26. ^ Shea 2009, pp. 70–71.
  27. ^ Shea 2009, p. 72.
  28. ^ "Army of the Frontier (USA), Civil War, Facts, Significance". American History Central. Retrieved 2021-05-07.

Sources