Battle of Pea Ridge
or Elkhorn Tavern, Arkansas
MARCH 6 - 8, 1862

No. 56.

Confederate orders. General ORDERS No. 7.

 HDQRS. TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT,
Van Buren, Ark., March 16, 1862.

The major-general commanding this district desires to express to the troops his admiration for their conduct during the recent expedition against the enemy. Since leaving camp in Boston Mountains they have been incessantly exposed to the hardships of a winter campaign and have endured such privations as troops rarely encounter.

In the engagements of the 6th, 7th, and 8th instant it was the fortune of the major-general commanding to be immediately with the Missouri division, and he can therefore bear personal testimony to their gallant bearing.

From the noble veteran who has led them so long to the gallant S. Churchill Clark, who fell while meeting the enemy's last charge, the Missourians proved themselves devoted patriots and staunch soldiers. He met the enemy on his chosen positions and took them from him. They captured four of his cannon and many prisoners. They drove him from his field of battle and slept upon it.

The victorious advance of McCulloch's division upon the strong position of the enemy's front was inevitably checked by the misfortunes which now sadden the hearts of our countrymen throughout the Confederacy. McCulloch and McIntosh fell in the very front of the battle and in the full tide of success. With them went down the confidence and hope of their troops. No success can repair the loss of such leaders. It is only left to us to mourn their untimely fall, emulate their heroic courage, and avenge their death.

You have inflicted upon the enemy a heavy blow, but we must prepare at once to march against him again. All officers and men must be diligent in perfecting themselves in knowledge of tactics and of camp discipline. The regulations of the army upon this subject must be rigidly enforced.

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By order of Major-General Earl Van Dorn:

 DABNEY H. MAURY,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

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GENERAL ORDERS No. 15.

 HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE WEST,
Priceville, July 17, 1862.

I. It having been satisfactorily proven to a court of inquiry, convened for the purpose of investigating the conduct of certain men, formerly members of the artillery company known as Hart's Battery, at the battle of Elkhorn, that those men were guilty of no misconduct on the battle-field, it is hereby ordered that they, viz, Charles E. Steele, M. M. Tice, W. D. Moore, John Kennedy, B. L. Alien, William Masterson, N. B. Milton, and James Pitkins, be, and they are hereby, relieved from the censure contained in General Orders, No. 10, dated Headquarters Trans-Mississippi District, Van Buren, Ark., March 22, 1862, disbanding Hart's Battery Light Artillery "for shameful conduct in the presence of the enemy."

II. The court of inquiry of which Captain Guibor is president is hereby dissolved.

By order of Major-General Price:

 THOMAS L. SNEAD,

Assistant Adjutant-General.