Cavalry Holds the Line

"Down to meet them like an avalanche our own infantry swept. They met, the shock was terrible, but, broken and rent, our boys drove them back and followed at the charge. Again and again they returned to the right, and again and again were they repulsed with great slaughter."

The element of suprise in battle can work as an indispensable asset.

After opening the battle at dawn against unsuspected Federal cavalry on Fayettville road, Confederate Colonel Joseph Shelby's cavalry brigade dismounted and deployed in this area. Armed mostly with shotgunsl, Shelby's troopers patiently waited for the Federals to come into view. When the Federals launched a second assault, the Confederates got their chance. The 450 men of the 26th Indiana Infantry "eagerly and fiercly" advanced up the ridge but got the shock of their lives when they found over 1,200 Missourians and Arkansans waiting for them in the woods.

Colonel John Clark, in command of the 26th Indiana, displayed "remarkable coolness and deliberation" despite having his sword belt ripped away by a bullet and three holes shot through his coat. With the "bullets flying seemingly thick as hail," Clark soon ordered a retreat and "nearly evryone was struck either in his person or clothing." The 26th Indiana lost almost half of their regiment within minutes of cresting the hill.