Pea Ridge, chain of hills, NW Ark., where the Civil War battle of Pea Ridge (or Elkhorn Tavern) was fought Mar. 6–8, 1862. Earl Van Dorn, leading a large Confederate command, which included Sterling Price's retreating Missouri forces and Ben McCulloch's army, attacked the strongly entrenched Union army under Samuel Ryan Curtis. The Confederate wings, becoming separated, were crushed on successive days. Pea Ridge was the first decisive victory won by the Union army W of the Mississippi; not until Price's raid (1864) did the Confederates again try to carry the war to Missouri in force.
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