Pea Ridge AR001

supportedunresolved Curtis learned of the enemy's rapid approach from scouts and fugitive citizens about 2 p.m. on March 5, and on the morning of the 7th ascertained the flanking movement designed to attack his right and rear. Van Dorn says prisoners assured him he was not expected in that quarter, that his dispatch to McCulloch was never received, and that he learned only about 3 p.m. that McCulloch, McIntosh and Hebert had been killed. NPS says the Federals learned of Van Dorn's approach and marched north to meet him.

Reported knowledge in interested accounts and a summary; no message chain inspected.

supportedunresolved Van Dorn says that on the night of the 7th his ammunition was almost exhausted, his ordnance officer could not find the wagons sent with the subsistence train to Bentonville, most troops had been without food since the morning of the 6th, and the artillery horses were beaten out; on the 8th his batteries retired one after another with every shot expended. Curtis says scarcity of forage made him spread his troops, and that on the evening of the 7th Asboth's battery ran out of ammunition and he could not find another cartridge. NPS says Van Dorn abandoned the field running short of ammunition.

Condition statements from interested reports and a summary; no ordnance or supply return inspected.

supportedunresolved Curtis says he chose Sugar Creek, in conformity with the orders of 'the general' of February 22 (not named in the passage), to make a stand against any odds, and on the 7th ordered a change of front and an attack from his new center before the enemy could form. NPS says Van Dorn set out on the night of the 6th to outflank the Union position in two columns; Van Dorn says he attempted to beat the enemy at Elkhorn and, on the 8th, resolved to withdraw.

Stated aims; not evaluated.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen and live results are Union victory. Curtis's March 9 report says the whole rebel force was routed and retired in great confusion 'but rather safely'. Van Dorn says he was not defeated but foiled, and that he inflicted a heavy blow and compelled the enemy to fall back into Missouri. NPS says Van Dorn abandoned the field; its closing sentence on Union control of Missouri is a campaign claim, not a tactical result.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.

disputedpost_outcome Frozen: 5,949 total (US 1,349; CS 4,600). Live: 3,384 total (US 1,384; CS 2,000). Curtis wrote on March 13 that his killed and wounded would exceed his estimate of 1,000, and put the March 6 rear-guard loss at some 25 killed and wounded; he says the enemy's loss was much greater but could never be reported. Van Dorn's March 18 letter gives his loss as not more than 800 or 1,000 killed and wounded and 200 to 300 prisoners, and the enemy's as about 800 killed and 1,000 or 1,200 wounded and about 300 prisoners; his March 27 report gives about 600 killed and wounded and 200 prisoners, and the enemy's total loss as about 2,000. The compiled Union return (not selected) is garbled in OCR.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. The frozen CS 4,600 is not found in the inspected passages; its basis is not established.

supportedunresolved The frozen rows list Van Dorn (Major General) and Curtis (Brigadier General); the live page gives Curtis no rank and the NPS description styles him Major General. Curtis says he called his division commanders to Asboth's tent and directed the change of front, selected Osterhaus to lead the central column, and answered Carr's appeal with the order to 'persevere'; he says Sigel deferred his march from Cooper's farm until 2 a.m. on the 6th. Van Dorn says he was with Price's Missouri division throughout, had directed McCulloch to attack the Union left, and that the deaths of McCulloch and McIntosh and Hebert's capture left the right wing without a commander.

Command actions reported by the two commanders; subordinates (Sigel, Carr, Davis, Osterhaus, Price, McCulloch) are attributed actors, not rated. No listed commander receives automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field names the Army of the Southwest against the Army of the West without counts; the live field reads 24,250 (US 10,250; CS 14,000). Curtis reported 12,095 men and fifty guns on February 12, but says his force in Arkansas on March 7 was not more than 10,500 cavalry and infantry with forty-nine guns, after garrisons; a detachment of about 250 did not arrive until after the battle. He had heard the enemy put at 20,000 to 30,000 on March 6 and later estimated it at least 30,000 or 40,000. Van Dorn's March 9 telegram gives the enemy about 20,000; his March 27 report says his whole force was about 16,000, that he went into action with less than 14,000, and that the enemy was variously estimated at 17,000 to 24,000.

Returns on different dates, strength after detachments, and estimates of the other side. None is adopted as a matched opening strength.

supportedunresolved Curtis says he selected Sugar Creek as the strongest of several strong places, that his divisions felled trees to block roads (Dodge's obstructions delayed the flanking column some two hours) and threw up breastworks on the headlands on the 6th, and that his rear lay on the broken plateau of Pea Ridge with Cross Timber Hollow beyond. Van Dorn describes a strongly entrenched Union camp and, on the 8th, a new and strong Union position.

Works built on March 6, inside the frozen interval, and a position taken by the defender; interested reports, no map verification. Phase unresolved.