Indiana 2nd Independent Light Artillery (Union)

Prairie Grove

Nine months after their victory at Pea Ridge, the Union Army of the Frontier in the area was geographically divided. One division under Brig. Gen. James Blunt remained in the northwestern part of Arkansas, and the second under Brig. Gen. Francis Herron was stationed around the Missouri capital of Springfield. The Confederates, hoping to use Arkansas as a base for operations into the border state of Missouri, looked to defeat the Union armies in the area. Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman gathered a Confederate f…READ MORE

Devil's Backbone

Confident that they had cleared Confederates from the Indian Territory of modern-day Oklahoma, Federal commander Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt turned his attention to the Rebel presence around nearby Fort Smith, Arkansas. Capturing the fort without incident the morning of September 1st, 1863, shortly after the Confederates evacuated it, Blunt ordered a pursuit of the fleeing Rebels. Col. William Cloud organized a 1,500-man column of two cavalry regiments and an artillery battery and headed south. Fifteen miles…READ MORE

Nashville

Despite a series of defeats in the closing days of November, 1864, Confederate Lieut. Gen. John Bell Hood continued to drag his bloodied Army of Tennessee, approximately 30,000 strong, north towards Nashville. The city was protected by 55,000 Union soldiers, which should have precluded further offensive operations, but Hood was determined and his situation was dire. Hood reached Nashville on December 2nd and staked out a position south of the city, hoping to draw the Union forces into a costly attack. Ulys…READ MORE