Battlefields and Art Preserved--Trip 3

"Bright and early," as the saying goes. Today wasn't bright. Fog blanketed the landscape, resulting in less than a quarter mile of visibility and a 200-foot ceiling. And we didn't hit the road particularly early. At 8:00 a.m. there wasn't much reason. Weather reports said the clouds would lift and predicted temperatures in the high 70's. By 9:00 a.m., thirty miles from Carthage, the sun broke through and the fog lifted.
"What I thought was interesting," said Andy as he drove, "was that the humidity in Carthage was 100 percent and it wasn't raining. Theoretically, I didn't think that could happen."

As we follow Telegraph Road along
Pea Ridge, we stop to rescue
a box turtle that had lost his way.

Blue sky showed through the clouds layer as we crossed the Arkansas border.
"Motorcycles," said Andy. "We've seen a lot more of them here."
"It's summer?  Less snow?" I suggested.
"Those were Harleys too," he added, as a couple bikes passed us on Route 62. Twelve more were parked in the Visitor Center lot at Pea Ridge National Military Park. The longer we stayed, the more bikers showed up.

Fences mark the Union line as they face
Confederates coming from the woods.

An action-packed movie with quotes from the journals of battle survivors oriented us about Pea Ridge and provided the historical background concerning the 1862 Civil War battle. Ranger Bethany explained that here about 10,500 Federals under the command of Brigadier General Samuel R. Curtis clashed with 16,000 Confederates, commanded by Major General Earl Van Dorn. Van Dorn planned to make quick work of the Union by using a lightning strike into Missouri and capturing St. Louis. Curtis, already dug in across Van Dorn's path on the bluffs above Little Sugar Creek, was expected to take the Mississippi and split the South in half.

Union artillery makes the difference in this battle of
the Civil War on Pea Ridge. The cannon were cast in 1862.

For Van Dorn, a frontal assault on the Pea Ridge plateau and Elkhorn Mountain was suicide. So the cocky general swung north to attack from behind. The troops, already hungry, weary and cold from their difficult three-day march, lagged behind Van Dorn's schedule. On March 7, 1862, when Van Dorn planned to attack, McCulloch's forces were miles away. He decided to temporarily split his forces to march McCulloch west and Major General Sterling Price east around Elkhorn Mountain to meet at Elkhorn Tavern. The delay gave Union General Curtis time to prepare for the attack.
Union regiments under Brigadier General Albert Pike stalled McCulloch even further by engaging him near Leetown. Here McCulloch and McIntosh were killed and the ranking Confederate colonel, captured. With their command structure practically destroyed McCulloch's men scattered. Some of them later joined Van Dorn and Price, who slowly but steadily pushed the Federals back until nightfall.
The next morning Curtis counter-attacked and the two-hour barrage broke the Confederates' will. Van Dorn ordered his troops to withdraw. When the Battle for Pea Ridge ended, most fighting moved east of the Mississippi River. Missouri remained with the Union, even though the state declared political neutrality. Men from Missouri fought on both sides as the Civil War continued.
So many IF's...:
IF general Ben McCulloch had not dressed in a black velvet suit, he might not have been so visible to Union soldiers as he reconnoitered the woods and the enemy position on March 7.
IF Brigadier General James McIntosh had not dashed out in front of the men just a short distance away, he too might have survived to lead those 6000 Confederates.
IF Major General Earl Van Dorn had not been so arrogant, his men would have followed him and he would have dominated.
IF Van Dorn had not marched his 16,000-man army 60 miles in three days, left all food, tents, supplies and extra ammunition behind and expected the freezing men to charge into battle, he probably would have won.

Volunteer David displays the equipment used by a Civil War
surgeon during and after the Battle of Pea Ridge.

IF Officer Black had not challenged two Confederate officers face to face, the Union would have lost six cannon vital in the final Union artillery barrage that crippled the Confederate line.
We followed the driving tour through the 11 tour stops.
Elkhorn tavern, located on Telegraph Road, with the skull and horns of an elk on the roof peak, was reconstructed as a replica of the original, which was burned to the ground by Confederates in 1863, because the Union used it as a telegraph station.

Elkhorn Tavern, named for the elk skull and horns on the roof,
replicates the original gathering place, hospital and
telegraph office the Confederates burned down in 1863.

Here, Volunteer David offered fascinating tidbits of history about the war. Dressed in woolen leggings and a vest, he gave us a personal account of how barbaric the civil War actually was.
1.  He said that books that suggested Union war dead numbered 640,000 were probably inaccurate. It was probably closer to 1.1 million. And Confederate records were all lost when Richmond burned, so we really have no idea how many died.
2.  The nations of the world were very interested in our Civil War because they depended on Southern cotton to supply the textile mills of the world. Many of them sympathized with the South as a result.
3.  Elkhorn Tavern, used as a hospital, became a center for amputation since soft bullets did so much damage shattering bones. Doctors just cut off arms and legs. Little anesthetic. No antiseptic.
4.  The amputated limbs were tossed out the window until the pile was so high it had to be shoveled to clear room for more.  I had heard the same story about what is now the administration building at Gettysburg College, said to be one of the most haunted places in the world.
5.  "The books tell about how the people on the field the next day saw wild pigs gnawing on the dead bodies and the discarded limbs," said Volunteer David.
6.  He also showed us a bullet with markings. "Most people think it is teeth marks from patients who bit down to keep from biting their tongues. More current research shows it is the teeth marks from pigs who chewed on the bodies. Bullets like these were found everywhere in the fields for years after the Battle of Pea Ridge."
7.  Volunteer David showed us the surgeons tools. He also said that more people died of diarrhea and dysentery than were killed by bullets.
8.  Diseases like typhoid, fever, cholera and syphilis plagued soldiers, as well. "The image of the pure, innocent farm boy gone to war was not an accurate picture, more than likely," he said.
What an eye-opening few minutes!  This is how to hook kids on history.
Ranger Bethany thanked us for coming and mentioned the 2012 Federal Recreation Lands Photo Contest.

From the fourth floor entry,
Crystal Bridges Art Museum looks like a city of the future.

Bikers dominated the road as we headed for Bentonville. We learned later that it was the annual gathering in Fayetteville of bikers, and we were told that 425,000 were expected. Our motel in Bentonville was full, the overflow from Fayetteville no doubt.  They come every year for the weekend to hang out together, listen to music and share stories.
"Watch for Crystal Bridges," demanded Andy, as we headed through Bentonville. "It's supposed to be on this road."
I put down the old GPS and complied. Soon enough I spotted the sign. The Museum of American Art, an imposing glass structure, features more than 400 works by American masters that highlight the scope of American art and history.
We checked in and headed for the restaurant. Rarely have I felt so cultured and elite and high class. Paradoxically, dressed in blue jeans and tee-shirts, we sipped Chardonnay and sampled French pastry at a high tea table next to a 20-foot sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, Alphabet/Good Humor, 1929.

The Portrait of George
Washington by Gilbert Stuart
cost tens of millions of dollars.

Then, amid crowds of people, we browsed the newly opened museum for two hours. The collection, arranged in chronological order, tells the story of America's history as seen by its artists. An amazing picture, I want to return tomorrow for more.
"That one was displayed in the New York Public Library," said Andy, pointing to the Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1797. "I don't remember exactly what she paid, but it was in the thirty millions."  The sign said that this portrait was the face of Washington that was used for the one dollar bill, and the painting was one of the "Greatest Hits" of the museum collection.

The interior view promotes
a sense of futuristic beauty and peace.

       Other "Greatest Hit" paintings were Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait's The Life of a Hunter: A Tight Fix, 1856, and Thomas Hart Benton's Ploughing It Under, 1934, reworked 1964. I photographed Asher Brown Durand's Kindred Spirits, 1849, a painting I had often shown in American Literature as an example of Romanticism and Transcendentalism; Winslow Homer's The Return of the Gleaner, 1867; Mary Cassatt's The Reader, 1877; and Frederic Remington's Cowpuncher's Lullaby, 1906.

Sculptures add dramatic touches to the architecture.

In the wing of more modern artists I took pictures of Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter, 1943, the image we saw in the park outside of San Francisco; Andy Warhol's Dolly Parton, 1985; Andrew Wyeth's The Intruder, 1971 and Airborne, 1996; and Nick Cave's extremely colorful fabric statue Soundsuit, 2010.  We made a second pass through all the rooms.  "I was told that you should just look at the paintings you really like and study those at some length," said Andy.
"I want to see them all!" I said. "But I understand because it's all just too overwhelming."

The Robert Indiana sculpture, world famous,
shows what life is all about!

Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Let's go outside and see the sculpture before the rain sets in," suggested Andy.
We walked through the gardens, looking at the flowers and the art pieces. The Robert Indiana Love statue attracted many who wanted pictures taken. Too bad that the grey skies reduced the impact of the beautiful surroundings. "Let's come back tomorrow morning," I suggested. "Maybe we will have some blue skies."
Andy thought about it briefly. "Sounds like a plan," he said.