The Slaughter Pen

"It was as brave a fight as men ever made, but here it did not avail. They performed deeds of valor almost incredible, and shed their blood in torrents, but it was all useless."

The apple orchard to your right is where some of the heaviest loss of life occured during the Battle of Prairie Grove. The 19th Iowa Infantry accompanied the 20th Wisconsin up the hill and displayed "a boldness and assuance that argued a certain belief of easy victory." The 19th Iowa marched into the orchard from the northeast corner and came into view of 750 Confederates crouching behind fence rails. These men belonged to the 22nd and 29th Arkansas Infantry regiments and had formed an "L" shaped line wrapped around the southwest corneer of the orchard. The Iowans unknowingly walked right into a Confederate crossfire and were now fighting for their lives in "a perfect slaughter pen."

The Confederates rose and poured "incessant fire" into the stunned Federals. Lt. Colonel Samuel McFarland, in command of the 19th Iowa, was killed in the first volley; the leaderless Iowans then struggled to hold their own. It wasn't long before the Federals broke and ran back towards the Borden house. The Arkansans hopped the fence and charged "across the orchard, firing and yelling like savages."

The Iowans briefly reformed beside the house but were quickly swept down the hill by the charge. Out of the 350 Iowans entering the orchard, 193 were killed, wounded, or missing. The 19th Iowa Infantry suffered a casualty rate of 55 percent, the highest of any regiment at the Battle of Prairie Grove.