The Battle of Dripping Springs, Arkansas
Battle of Dripping Springs, In Depth
Dripping Springs Crossroads
View from the ridge looking down
at Dripping Springs Crossroads.
A portion of the hillside has been
cut away.
View from the ridge looking down
at Dripping Springs Crossroads.
A portion of the hillside has been
cut away.
The Van Buren Road
The road from Dripping Springs
to Van Buren ran south through
the gap in the ridges. The
Confederates fell back rapidly
down this road and were
pursued in force by the Federal
cavalry.
The road from Dripping Springs
to Van Buren ran south through
the gap in the ridges. The
Confederates fell back rapidly
down this road and were
pursued in force by the Federal
cavalry.
After the Battle of Prairie Grove, the Confederates under Major General Thomas C.
Hindman fell back across the Boston Mountains to Van Buren. The Federals, under
Brigadier Generals Blunt and Herron, remained at Prairie Grove and in nearby
encampments. Neither side knew what the other might do next.
For the Federals, the ferocity with which Hindman had advanced out of the
mountains and fought them was troubling. They were equally vexed by the success
with which he got his battered army off the field and back into the mountains. When
scouts brought in intelligence that the Confederates were being reinforced and
planning a second attack, Blunt and Herron listened carefully. They had already
considered following Hindman to his base at Van Buren, but the weather in the
weeks after the battle did not allow. On Christmas night, as the weather improved,
they agreed upon a plan that would lead them south to the Arkansas River.
General Hindman, meanwhile, was in no way prepared for a renewal of the fighting.
Union intelligence to the contrary, his army was disintegrating rather than growing:
After the battle of Prairie Grove, having returned south of the mountains, I found it
impossible to forage Marmaduke’s cavalry in Northwest Arkansas, and accordingly
ordered him to Lewisburg, 100 miles below Van Buren. My force being thus reduced
and continuing to diminish in strength daily by desertions and a frightful increase of
sickness, the latter caused by the unprecedented hardships to which the men had
been exposed, the former resulting principally, in my opinion, from the non-payment
of the troops and the consequent sufferings of their families, I decided that it was
advisable to keep my main body on the north side of the river, and, therefore,
crossed it to the south side, and went into camp in the vicinity of Fort Smith.
Hindman’s decision to move his army across the Arkansas placed the natural
barrier of the river between his men and the Federals at Prairie Grove. It was wise
that he moved when he did.
Even with the Arkansas River as a natural moat, Hindman was aware of the danger
that Blunt and Herron posed to his army. To help provide advance warning should
they cross the mountains, he had placed the 1st Texas Partisan Rangers, a cavalry
unit, at Dripping Springs on the main road connecting Van Buren with the mountains.
The commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel R.P. Crump, was further
ordered to place a picket guard at Oliver’s Store, closer to the mountains at the
confluence of Cove and Lee Creeks, and to station similar parties on any other road
by which the Union army might approach.
To further protect his supplies and wounded in Van Buren itself, Hindman placed an
infantry regiment and section of artillery in the town.
Blunt and Herron marched out from their camps at Prairie Grove, Rhea’s Mill and
Cane Hill on the morning of December 27, 1862. Herron moved his men down the
old Telegraph road, while Blunt swung across Reed’s mountain to Cove Creek,
which he followed through the mountains. Their total force numbered 8,000 men and
thirty pieces of artillery.
It had snowed the week before the march and there was still snow and ice in the
mountains when the Union soldiers broke camp. Most of the participants who left
eyewitness accounts remember the bitter cold of that first night on the march and the
ordeal of splashing back and forth across Cove Creek:
By ten o’clock we struck the head of Cove Creek. It winds through the mountains in a
southerly direction, and as it is fed by mountain streams, now regular torrents, it of
course increased in volume as we descended it…. We had crossed it when we
bivouacked at ten o’clock that night, according to my count, thirty-three times.
Things were no better for the men in Herron’s column. Instead of following the icy
creek, they were marching up and over the mountains:
We crossed the mountains in the night, and was more of a contract than I had yet got.
It required 12 horses to draw the artillery over, and sometimes 50 men on a rope, in
addition. The feat, however, was accomplished without losing anything.
Despite the ordeal, the Federals made it over the mountains and the two wings of
the army met at Oliver’s Store at 3 o’clock on the morning of December 28th. The
cavalry picket General Hindman had ordered posted there was nowhere to be found.
What the Federals did find, however, was information on the actual location of Crump’
s cavalrymen. Whether this intelligence came from a deserter, a civilian, or their own
scouts is unknown, but according to Herron, they learned specifics about, “their
camps, pickets &c.”
Taking advantage of this new information, the two Union generals pushed forward in
person with around 3,000 cavalrymen and four howitzers. The rest of the column was
ordered to follow as rapidly as possible:
The general and I pushed on, striking their first picket 3 miles from Oliver’s. After
firing upon us, they ran, we following them into the camp at Dripping Springs. Here a
regiment was formed in line, but our cavalry charged and drove them in great
disorder, capturing wagons, tents, and all their camp equipage complete.
As soon as he learned from his pickets that the enemy was approaching, Lieutenant
Colonel Crump sent a rider to inform General Hindman. According to the general’s
report of the affair, this courier reached him at 10 a.m. This is a bit confusing since
Blunt says he attacked the Confederates at Dripping Springs at the same time, but
the two men could have been keeping different times on their watches. In those days
it was common for people to set and keep their watches on their “home” time,
regardless of where and how far they traveled. Consequently, many Civil War reports
give different times for the same events.
A member of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry left a somewhat more detailed account of the
Battle of Dripping Springs. Beginning with the spotting of the Confederate pickets
three miles below Oliver’s Store, he wrote:
Our movements gradually quickened, and shortly our cavalry was in full gallop, which
was kept up for five or six miles and until we camp in sight of the enemy’s camp at
Dripping Springs. In the meantime Gen. Blunt, who had kept up with us, sent back an
order for the artillery and infantry to move forward with a quick step. The enemy,
under command of Col. Crump, of a Texas cavalry regiment, were encamped along
the north side of a hill, and immediately north of their camp were several fields with
intermediate spaces covered with undergrowth of woods.
The account goes on to relate how the Union soldiers crossed through the fields,
throwing down the fences that blocked their way, and formed into a line of battle at a
trot. Once this maneuver was complete, they:
…Charged across the field in a full gallop, and when within fifty years of the enemy’s
camp delivered a volley into the ranks of those who had formed in line and thought of
making a stand. The Second Kansas Cavalry took the left of our line, and the Sixth
Kansas cavalry and several companies of the Third Wisconsin cavalry the right. After
firing a few rounds from our carbines, Gen. Blunt ordered the bugles to sound the
charge, and with gleaming sabers we dashed forward like a whirlwind, throwing up a
perfect cloud of dust. The enemy did not wait to feel the edges of our sabers, but fled
in the direction of Van Buren, and in their flight left their tents, amp, and supplies of
every kind in our possession.
Despite the broken nature of the ground, the Federal cavalry maintained a
semblance of a line of battle as it moved forward and over a steep hill south of the
Confederate camp. Once they cleared the crest of the hill, they could see the dust
rising from the hooves of the Confederate horses and realized they were in full
retreat for Van Buren.
The battlefield at Dripping Springs is not preserved today, but much of the scene can
be viewed from public roads in the area.
Hindman fell back across the Boston Mountains to Van Buren. The Federals, under
Brigadier Generals Blunt and Herron, remained at Prairie Grove and in nearby
encampments. Neither side knew what the other might do next.
For the Federals, the ferocity with which Hindman had advanced out of the
mountains and fought them was troubling. They were equally vexed by the success
with which he got his battered army off the field and back into the mountains. When
scouts brought in intelligence that the Confederates were being reinforced and
planning a second attack, Blunt and Herron listened carefully. They had already
considered following Hindman to his base at Van Buren, but the weather in the
weeks after the battle did not allow. On Christmas night, as the weather improved,
they agreed upon a plan that would lead them south to the Arkansas River.
General Hindman, meanwhile, was in no way prepared for a renewal of the fighting.
Union intelligence to the contrary, his army was disintegrating rather than growing:
After the battle of Prairie Grove, having returned south of the mountains, I found it
impossible to forage Marmaduke’s cavalry in Northwest Arkansas, and accordingly
ordered him to Lewisburg, 100 miles below Van Buren. My force being thus reduced
and continuing to diminish in strength daily by desertions and a frightful increase of
sickness, the latter caused by the unprecedented hardships to which the men had
been exposed, the former resulting principally, in my opinion, from the non-payment
of the troops and the consequent sufferings of their families, I decided that it was
advisable to keep my main body on the north side of the river, and, therefore,
crossed it to the south side, and went into camp in the vicinity of Fort Smith.
Hindman’s decision to move his army across the Arkansas placed the natural
barrier of the river between his men and the Federals at Prairie Grove. It was wise
that he moved when he did.
Even with the Arkansas River as a natural moat, Hindman was aware of the danger
that Blunt and Herron posed to his army. To help provide advance warning should
they cross the mountains, he had placed the 1st Texas Partisan Rangers, a cavalry
unit, at Dripping Springs on the main road connecting Van Buren with the mountains.
The commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel R.P. Crump, was further
ordered to place a picket guard at Oliver’s Store, closer to the mountains at the
confluence of Cove and Lee Creeks, and to station similar parties on any other road
by which the Union army might approach.
To further protect his supplies and wounded in Van Buren itself, Hindman placed an
infantry regiment and section of artillery in the town.
Blunt and Herron marched out from their camps at Prairie Grove, Rhea’s Mill and
Cane Hill on the morning of December 27, 1862. Herron moved his men down the
old Telegraph road, while Blunt swung across Reed’s mountain to Cove Creek,
which he followed through the mountains. Their total force numbered 8,000 men and
thirty pieces of artillery.
It had snowed the week before the march and there was still snow and ice in the
mountains when the Union soldiers broke camp. Most of the participants who left
eyewitness accounts remember the bitter cold of that first night on the march and the
ordeal of splashing back and forth across Cove Creek:
By ten o’clock we struck the head of Cove Creek. It winds through the mountains in a
southerly direction, and as it is fed by mountain streams, now regular torrents, it of
course increased in volume as we descended it…. We had crossed it when we
bivouacked at ten o’clock that night, according to my count, thirty-three times.
Things were no better for the men in Herron’s column. Instead of following the icy
creek, they were marching up and over the mountains:
We crossed the mountains in the night, and was more of a contract than I had yet got.
It required 12 horses to draw the artillery over, and sometimes 50 men on a rope, in
addition. The feat, however, was accomplished without losing anything.
Despite the ordeal, the Federals made it over the mountains and the two wings of
the army met at Oliver’s Store at 3 o’clock on the morning of December 28th. The
cavalry picket General Hindman had ordered posted there was nowhere to be found.
What the Federals did find, however, was information on the actual location of Crump’
s cavalrymen. Whether this intelligence came from a deserter, a civilian, or their own
scouts is unknown, but according to Herron, they learned specifics about, “their
camps, pickets &c.”
Taking advantage of this new information, the two Union generals pushed forward in
person with around 3,000 cavalrymen and four howitzers. The rest of the column was
ordered to follow as rapidly as possible:
The general and I pushed on, striking their first picket 3 miles from Oliver’s. After
firing upon us, they ran, we following them into the camp at Dripping Springs. Here a
regiment was formed in line, but our cavalry charged and drove them in great
disorder, capturing wagons, tents, and all their camp equipage complete.
As soon as he learned from his pickets that the enemy was approaching, Lieutenant
Colonel Crump sent a rider to inform General Hindman. According to the general’s
report of the affair, this courier reached him at 10 a.m. This is a bit confusing since
Blunt says he attacked the Confederates at Dripping Springs at the same time, but
the two men could have been keeping different times on their watches. In those days
it was common for people to set and keep their watches on their “home” time,
regardless of where and how far they traveled. Consequently, many Civil War reports
give different times for the same events.
A member of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry left a somewhat more detailed account of the
Battle of Dripping Springs. Beginning with the spotting of the Confederate pickets
three miles below Oliver’s Store, he wrote:
Our movements gradually quickened, and shortly our cavalry was in full gallop, which
was kept up for five or six miles and until we camp in sight of the enemy’s camp at
Dripping Springs. In the meantime Gen. Blunt, who had kept up with us, sent back an
order for the artillery and infantry to move forward with a quick step. The enemy,
under command of Col. Crump, of a Texas cavalry regiment, were encamped along
the north side of a hill, and immediately north of their camp were several fields with
intermediate spaces covered with undergrowth of woods.
The account goes on to relate how the Union soldiers crossed through the fields,
throwing down the fences that blocked their way, and formed into a line of battle at a
trot. Once this maneuver was complete, they:
…Charged across the field in a full gallop, and when within fifty years of the enemy’s
camp delivered a volley into the ranks of those who had formed in line and thought of
making a stand. The Second Kansas Cavalry took the left of our line, and the Sixth
Kansas cavalry and several companies of the Third Wisconsin cavalry the right. After
firing a few rounds from our carbines, Gen. Blunt ordered the bugles to sound the
charge, and with gleaming sabers we dashed forward like a whirlwind, throwing up a
perfect cloud of dust. The enemy did not wait to feel the edges of our sabers, but fled
in the direction of Van Buren, and in their flight left their tents, amp, and supplies of
every kind in our possession.
Despite the broken nature of the ground, the Federal cavalry maintained a
semblance of a line of battle as it moved forward and over a steep hill south of the
Confederate camp. Once they cleared the crest of the hill, they could see the dust
rising from the hooves of the Confederate horses and realized they were in full
retreat for Van Buren.
The battlefield at Dripping Springs is not preserved today, but much of the scene can
be viewed from public roads in the area.
by: Dale A. Cox
Copyright 2005 by Dale A. Cox
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