$Hindman <FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>HDQTRS, Hindman's Corps <FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>Northwest Arkansas
1:00 p.m., December 7th, 1862
<FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>General Hindman
      The enemy has moved up the valley threatening our right flank.  Two regiments are fast approaching and Blocher's Battery may be their target.  What are your orders sir?
 
<FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>Respectfully,
Brig Gen. Francis A. Shoup
Commanding Officer 
Shoup's Division, Army of the Trans-Mississippi
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$Hindman2 <FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>HDQTRS, Hindman's Corps <FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>Northwest Arkansas
2:30 p.m., December 7th, 1862
<FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>General Hindman
      Scouts report an enemy column approaching from the northwest along Rhea's Mill Road.  They are moving toward our left flank.  What are your orders sir?
 
<FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>Respectfully,
Brig Gen. Francis A. Shoup
Commanding Officer 
Shoup's Division, Army of the Trans-Mississippi

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$EndMajorFail <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and suffered a major defeat.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office, but an anonymous source was quoted as saying, "An inquiry will be forthcoming, as certain officers should be removed from command immediately."  The flower of our youth has died on the field of battle.  A retreat is probable.  We must be prepared for the worst.  Heavy casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndMinorFail <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and suffered a minor defeat.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues.  A retreat is possible.  We must be prepared for the worst.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndDraw <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>A battle in the West was fought in northwestern ARKANSAS today.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues, but victory or defeat is still unknown.  We wish good fortune to the troops on that faraway field, and as always we must be prepared for the worst.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndMinorSuccess <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and achieved a minor victory.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues, but there is a long road to march before we see the end to this struggle.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndMajorSuccess <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and achieved a major victory.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues, but there is a long road to march before we see the end to this struggle.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndKilled <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>Today our side lost another valiant officer at the Battle of Prairie Grove, in ARKANSAS.  
Major General Thomas Carmichael Hindman, 
...was a prominent attorney and Democratic politician prior to the Civil War. In the crisis prior to that war, he was a major player in bringing about the state’s secession. He subsequently served in the Confederate army as a brigadier general, playing a prominent role in the defense of Arkansas and later serving in the Army of Tennessee.
Thomas Hindman was born on January 28, 1828, at Knoxville, Tennessee, one of Thomas Hindman and Sallie Holt Hindman’s six children. His father was a planter and a federal agent for Indian affairs in Tennessee. In 1841, his father purchased a new plantation in Ripley, Mississippi, and the family moved there. Hindman went to local schools, and then, like the children of many prominent Southern planters, he went east to study at the Classical Institute in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
Hindman demonstrated his aggressive and militant spirit early in life. In 1845, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Second Mississippi Volunteer Infantry that had been organized to fight in the Mexican War. He found little opportunity to realize his military ambitions, however. His unit was assigned to garrison duty at Monterrey, and his writing skills led to his appointment as the regiment’s adjutant. By the war’s end, he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. After the war, he returned to Ripley, where he passed the bar exam and began a career as a lawyer. He also became involved in politics, linking himself with the Democratic Party, and was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1854. Contemporary politics often involved personal slurs, and in his early career, Hindman showed himself willing to defend his honor in fights or on the dueling field.

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$BattleInfo <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>On Dec. 7, 1862, 
Confederates from the newly formed Army of the Trans-Mississippi, led by Major General Thomas C. Hindman, and Union forces from the Army of the Frontier clashed on the open corn, wheat, and hay fields southwest of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The opposing forces had previously fought several minor engagements in Missouri and Arkansas. The battle opened with Confederate cavalry routing some Union cavalry a few miles south of the Prairie Grove Church. The southerners lined up along the Prairie Grove ridge, stretching from the Borden House to the Morton House. There they repelled two bloody attacks by Brig. Gen. Francis J. Herron's Federal troops who had just crossed the Illinois River from the north. The Confederates counterattacked after each Union assault, only to be thrown back by the Union cannons on the north side of the Borden cornfield, which devastated the rebel regiments as they came out of the woods into the open farm fields in the valley. About 2:30 p.m., Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt's Federal troops arrived from Cane Hill and attacked the Confederates on the western end of the ridge near the Morton House. This fighting continued until dark with no advantage gained by either side.


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