County of park: Benton County
Location of park: Entrance on US-62, S. of Garfield and N. of Leetown
Phone: (479) 451-8122
Park Hours: More complicated that windows below allow, see all hours
My words first, you can drive the battlefield areas..(not Ford Road) and see many of the skirmish sites, and can stop at the west overlook, the east overlook and battle view overlook.
To actually see where the cavalry rode, and the flanking movements, etc...you have to walk. If you walk allow at least 6 to 8 hours to finish it all.
I have walked it twice, both times with a Boy Scout Troop.
In addition for the full battle picture you should also visit the battlefield of Wilson's Creek in Missouri (Springfield). From the front of the post office at Wilson's Creek is the Telegraph Road, same Telegraph Road that comes up to Elkhorn Tavern here on this battlefield. A friend and I walked the Telegraph Road between the battlefields...interesting. No real road any more, but you can follow the ruts, through fields and yards etc. You have to ask a lot of people for permission to pass. The all said yes.
Marker text: On the morning of March 8, 1862, the Union Army was positioned approximately as indicated on the above photo. Confederate positions were largely along a line beginning east of Elkhorn Tavern, and running in this direction along the base of the ridge. Other Rebel units were positioned along the east half of the ridge crest.
"By the spring of 1862, Union forces had pushed Confederates south and west through Missouri into northwestern Arkansas. On the night of March 6, 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn and his 16,000-man Army of the West set out to counterattack the Union position near Pea Ridge. Hoping to move quickly, in a fateful decision, Van Dorn ordered the supply trains far to the rear. Learning of Van Dorn’s approach, some 10,000 Federals in Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis' Army of the Southwest marched to meet the Rebel advance the next day. The forces met near Elkhorn Tavern just three miles south of the Missouri border and fighting quickly ensued. Two Confederate generals, Brig. Gens. Ben McCulloch and James McQueen McIntosh, were killed in the action, halting the Rebel momentum. By nightfall, the Confederates controlled Elkhorn Tavern and the Telegraph Road. Curtis consolidated his force during the night, and the next day, counterattacked near the tavern and, by successfully employing his artillery, slowly forced the Rebels back. Running short of ammunition due to the absence of supply support, Van Dorn abandoned the battlefield, leaving Arkansas virtually defenseless. With the Confederate defeat, the Union controlled the border state of Missouri for the next two years." ~ American Battlefield Trust
"Keeping Missouri in the Union was one of the prime objectives of the Federal government during the first year of the Civil War. It was the reason for the Battle of Wilson’s Creek near Springfield, Missouri in August of 1861, and it was one of the reasons for the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas in March 1862.
"The Pea Ridge Campaign began Christmas Day 1861 when General Samuel R. Curtis was appointed to command the Federal Southwestern District of Missouri. His main objective was to drive out the Confederates, and by mid-February, 1862 his troops had chased Major General Sterling Price and the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard into Arkansas.
"In the Boston Mountains south of Fayetteville, Price joined forces with Brigadier General Ben McCulloch, and on March 4th, this combined 16,000 man army marched north under the command of Major General Earl Van Dorn.
"Their mission was to force their way back into Missouri and capture St. Louis, but Curtis’ 10,500 Federals were waiting on the bluffs above Little Sugar Creek, not far from Elkhorn Mountain, part of the larger Pea Ridge plateau." ~ Legends of America