ackground and Significance of the Battle of Pea Ridge / Elkhorn Tavern
The Confederate strategy was simple yet grand in scope. Advance northward through Missouri, defeat the Federal forces there, and take St. Louis. The Confederacy thus hoped to command the gateway to the west, a vital commercial and shipping center, and the middle reaches of the Mississippi River as well as the mouth of the Missouri. Then, move east across the Mississippi River and inflict a decisive defeat on Union forces driving south through Tennessee toward Mississippi. Southern aspirations were summarized by Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn, who said: "I must have St. Louis.....Then Huzza."[1]
“Van Dorn clearly understood the strategy and its significance for him and his government. Military success for the Confederacy in the west meant accolades for himself throughout the South and possibly final victory in the war for Southern secession from the Union. All that stood in the way of Van Dorn and the Confederates were the outnumbered Union forces in Missouri under the command of Brigadier General Samuel Ryan Curtis.
The Confederacy had high hopes for its winter 1862 campaign in Missouri. The state was politically, economically, and militarily important to both the North and the South. Missouri protected the western flank of the newly formed Confederate States of America. The Mississippi River crossings and ferries were the strategic links between the eastern and western portions of the Confederacy. North to south, the river was a crucial artery of commerce and transportation. Southern capture of the vital river port and industrial center at the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers was a grand prize for the Confederacy and the ambitious General Van Dorn.
