At Pea Ridge, General Franz Sigel ordered the Union gunners positioned here to concentrate on first one Confederate target, then another. Two hours of methodical, massed cannon fire shattered enemy battle lines and morale, marking the first time this practice was used effectively in a Civil War battle. Sigel, the second highest ranking Union officer in the Army of the Southwest, had learned artillery handling as a young officer in Germany and worked his way along the lines, moving from cannon to cannon. Private Samuel McKay of the 37th Illinois Infantry Regiment recalled seeing Sigel sight one piece and send a shot into the Confederate guns that had driven the Union troops back, where it tore among the men and horses, killed and wounded both, and exploded in one of the caissons, after which Sigel, watching the effect through his glass, said, 'Dat de shpot, Sergent; just put 'em right in dare.'