Fiery Finale on Ruddick's Field

The first day's fighting ended at sunset on the large open field below, after the half of the Confederate army that had circled completely around Big Mountain had fought hard all day to force their way up the long mountain hollow leading to Elkhorn Tavern. As the late winter sunlight faded, Union troops pulled back from Elkhorn Tavern and prepared for a last-ditch defense along the tree line bordering Benjamin Ruddick's cornfield. Federal gunners set their cannon wheel hub to wheel hub and waited for the final massive Confederate assault. The white-clad soldiers of the Missouri State Guard who made that last charge were hungry and worn out by the three-day, sixty-mile march from the Boston Mountains. Desperate men on both sides knew that what they could do in those last fifteen minutes of light might determine victory or defeat.

Garfield, Arkansas · United States