County of marker: Benton County
Location of marker: Telegraph Rd. (old Wire Rd.), N. of Elkhorn Tavern, Pea Ridge Battlefield Park
Marker erected by: National Park Service
Marker text:
Williams Hollow
Confederates set up a field hospital here on March 7
Confederate Retreat
Union Victory
March 8, 1862
Running out of ammunition, the Confederates began to withdraw about 10 a.m.
1. A small force near Elkhorn Tavern covered the retreat.
2. The main body of the army retreated eastward over the Huntsville Road.
3. Rebel stragglers, including some of the artillery units, moved north along this road toward Missouri.
4. Pursuing Union troops followed, unaware tht most of the enemy had made good their escape."
~ National Park Service
"Around 9:30 a.m., Cearnal's cavalry battalion in Price's advance guard bumped into a company of the 24th Missouri Volunteer Infantry in Cross Timber Hollow. Soon after, Carr arrived at Elkhorn Tavern with Dodge's brigade right behind. Carr spread out his regiments facing north along the edge of the plateau near the tavern and pulled the 24th Missouri back to cover their left flank at the base of Big Mountain. The Union 4th Division commander then sent the 1st Iowa Battery's four guns forward to slow the Confederate advance.
"At this point, Van Dorn, instead of rushing Carr's badly outnumbered force with all 5,000 of his available soldiers, became cautious and ordered Price to fully deploy his division, with the Missouri State Guard divisions on the right and the Confederate Missouri brigades on the left. When the Northern guns began firing, Van Dorn ordered his own artillery into action. Soon, 21 Southern guns were pounding the Iowa cannoneers. By the time Price's infantry finally began edging uphill toward the Yankee guns, they met Carr's men advancing downhill in an aggressive counterstroke. The Confederate advance stalled near Elkhorn, but Price's left flank units were marching up Williams Hollow further to the east. Once this force reached the plateau, Carr's right flank would be turned.
"By 12:30 p.m., Carr's second brigade, Vandever's, arrived at Elkhorn. The Union division commander immediately launched this unit in a counterattack on Price's right flank. Superior numbers of Southerners eventually forced Vandever to pull back a short distance uphill. At 2:00 p.m. Van Dorn found out that McCulloch's division would not be meeting Price's at Elkhorn. At this time, Henry Little, on his own initiative, waved his 1st Missouri Brigade forward and the Rebel advance began to roll uphill. These events finally convinced Van Dorn to take more aggressive action.[31] Price was wounded but remained in charge of his left wing while Van Dorn took tactical control of the Confederate right wing. But more time was lost in reorganizing Price's division to attack. Meanwhile, Curtis was rushing small units to Carr's assistance as quickly as he could. Carr himself was wounded three times: in the ankle, neck and arm, but refused to leave the field. In 1894 he would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions this day.
"When Price's left finally emerged from Williams Hollow and attacked about 4:30 p.m., Carr's line was outflanked. On the right, Dodge's brigade collapsed after putting up a terrific fight at Clemon's farm. On the left, in equally hard fighting, Vandever's men were steadily pushed back to the tavern and beyond. In the center, Little led his men forward into the teeth of Federal artillery. After being forced back from position after position, Vandever's men finally halted the Confederate drive at Ruddick's field, over a quarter mile south of the tavern. There they were joined by Dodge's men, part of Alexander S. Asboth's 2nd Division and Curtis. At 6:30 p.m., Curtis launched a brief counter-attack, but soon recalled his men in the dark" ~ Wikipedia