While returning from visiting Grant in Columbia, Missouri, we made a side trip to dig up some of Sue's family roots. The bloodline took us to Savannah, Missouri where Sue's Great Great Grandfather, Lewis Maris farmed after returning from fighting in the Civil War. Though Lewis Maris was born in Pennsylvania, he moved to Missouri in 1857 and when the nation turned to a bloody Civil War to settle its differences over slavery, he threw his lot and loyalty in with his neighbors who had come to Missouri from Kentucky & North Carolina; joining the Missouri State Guard, allied with the Confederacy and served as a lieutenant under General Sterling Price.
Fort Scott (www.nps.gov/fosc/) was built to be a permanent in eastern Kansas as an outpost separating the European population to east and the relocated Indian population to the west. Fort Scott was intended to enforce the "Permanent Indian Territory", a solution put in place by the Andrew Jackson administration to provide the Indians who were driven out of the southeast along the Trail of Tears and relocated beyond European settlement to the west. The "Permanent Indian Territory" did not last long as European settlers ignored the restrictions and overran the Indian Territories. Acknowledging the failure of the "Permanent" solution, the government abandoned the fort, and auctioned off the building to the civilian population. The US Government then re-established Fort Scott as a major supply hub to equip Union soldiers in the campaigns throughout the western theater of the Civil War.
Maris and the Missouri State Guard engaged Federal troops in numerous engagements. Lewis Maris was capture and sent to Johnson Island on Lake Erie as a prisoner of war after likely being captured when Vicksburg fell to General Ulysses S. Grant on July 4th, 1863. After visiting Lewis & Martha Maris old farm and their final resting place in the Savannah cemetery, our last stop was to Pea Ridge National Battlefield in very northwest Arkansas, a battle in which Lewis Maris fought.
On the way to Pea Ridge from our overnight stay in Overland, Kansas (outside Kansas City), I stopped for gas in Fort Scott, Kansas. Sue noticed the sign that pointed to the Fort Scott National Monument and suggested we not leave until taking a look. We topped off the tank and spent a little more than an hour viewing the restored grounds of Fort Scott, and we were glad we did.
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| Fort Scott, Kansas Headquarters & Entrance into National Monument |
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| Powder Magazine Dragoon Quarters to the right & Officer's Quarters to the left |
Fort Scott (www.nps.gov/fosc/) was built to be a permanent in eastern Kansas as an outpost separating the European population to east and the relocated Indian population to the west. Fort Scott was intended to enforce the "Permanent Indian Territory", a solution put in place by the Andrew Jackson administration to provide the Indians who were driven out of the southeast along the Trail of Tears and relocated beyond European settlement to the west. The "Permanent Indian Territory" did not last long as European settlers ignored the restrictions and overran the Indian Territories. Acknowledging the failure of the "Permanent" solution, the government abandoned the fort, and auctioned off the building to the civilian population. The US Government then re-established Fort Scott as a major supply hub to equip Union soldiers in the campaigns throughout the western theater of the Civil War.
In the afternoon we arrived at Pea Ridge, Arkansas (www.nps.gov/peri/) and toured the museum and the battlefield. Pea Ridge Military Historical Site preserves over 4,000 acres that have been untouched since the battle. Sue's Great Great Grandfather, Lewis Maris fought on the very ground on which we stood. We drove slowly from Union general, Samuel Curtis' entrenched south-facing line across the important "telegraph road" where he hoped to engage Confederate General Van Dorn moving north from Arkansas to retake control of Arkansas and Missouri. Gen. Van Dorn left his supply wagons behind and drove his troops at a feverish pace, intending to out-flank Curtis and attach with his 16,500 soldiers from the north, Curtis' rear.
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| Elkhorn Tavern Much as it looked to Sue's Great Great Grandfather Lewis Maris who stood on this ground fighting under the Missouri State Guard Flag |
Curtis was able after an unorganized onslaught by the Confederate forces, Curtis was forced back, but managed to regroup in the night and with his outnumbered 10,500 soldiers lined up shoulder-to-should in a solid line; and attacked Van Dorn's line at Elkhorn Tavern and drove the Confederates from the field. A Union victory against superior numbers that essentially ended the rebel threat west of the Mississippi River in March, 1862.
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| Elkhorn Tavern Union & Confederate soldiers fought for two consecutive bloody days riight in front of the Elkhorn Tavern March 1862 |
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| Union Batteries lined up hub-to-hub Mercilessly shelled Confederate Positions at the base of the Cliff The Confederates retreated under artillery fire to Elkhorn Tavern Where the Entire Union Line of 10,000 Men charged and Drove General Van Dorn's Army from the Field of Battle Pea Ridge - Day 2 |
General Van Dorn had much of his command removed and shipped to the east. After several more defeats in engagements with Union generals, Gen. Earl Van Dorn was not trusted with the army and was given a cavalry command. Earl Van Dorn set up his HQ in Spring Hill, Tennessee, where it might be said that he focused his tactics on conquering the ladies in town - unmarried and married. A reporter at the time dubbed General Van Dorn as "the terror of ugly husbands." And so it came to pass, Earl Van Dorn was shot to death in his office by a local physician who explained that the General had "violated the sanctity of his home." The doctor who fired the shot was at first arrested - but was never even tried in court.
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| Pea Ridge Monument Erected by Union & Confederate Veterans Returning to Pea Ridge on the Fiftieth Anniversary (1912) "The Proud Gray and The Unsullied Blue" as carved upon the monument |
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