Young boy witnessed infamous battle

On March 7, 150 years ago, an 8-year-old boy left his family’s farmhouse, which sat on what is now Greer Street in Pea Ridge, and took out on a journey across fields and through fruit orchards and oak, elm and walnut groves, following the sounds of gun and cannon fire. He knew what was happening; he had heard the adults talking about a clash of two armies just a couple miles from his home.

He got as close as he dared to the bloody battle that was happening in the fields, woods and orchards around the village of Leetown and Elkhorn Tavern, and then he climbed high into a tree to watch it unfold. And this innocent child then observed the cannonballs as they roared with fire and smoke out of cannons positioned along the front lines, followed by explosions and a showering of dirt and even the mangled bodies of soldiers when they hit their targets. He saw the smoke and heard the crack of the rifles and watched as men fell to their deaths on the field of battle. This was an adventure he would remember the rest of his life.

I do not know if he was alone on his journey that day or if he went with his two older brothers, Charles and Napoleon. But decades later, this boy, Horace H. Patterson, would tell his grandson Cecil Patterson, my greatgrandfather, about it. And then, long after Horace died in 1938, it was a story Cecil continued to tell his own grandchildren.

What is remarkable is not this story itself. There are likely thousands of similar stories passed down by families who lived in areas torn apart by the Civil War. No, the remarkable part is that if Horace Patterson were to follow the same path he took on March 7, 1862, today and climbed in a tree near where the one stood when he was a child, he would instantly

recognize the spot where he watched a battle play out 150 years earlier.

Through the efforts of dedicated local supporters, families with a devotion to maintaining their farming lifestyles and the decision more than half a century ago to preserve the scene of the battle as the Pea Ridge National Military Park, the site of the Battle of Pea Ridge is one of the best, if not the best, preserved Civil War battlefields in the nation. It is not a perfect replica of the way it was in 1862, invasive plant species have been a problem and much of the plentiful apple and peach orchards that were primary crops in the area at the time have disappeared. But great strides have been made to remove the invasive eastern red cedar and to replant the native tallgrass prairie. Additionally, local groups have helped in replanting historically known apple and peach orchards, retaining a landscape that would remain familiar to Horace Patterson, nearly 75 years after his death.

But, there is one major threat that continues to loom over this location that was consecrated by the blood and lives of more than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers. Anyone who lives in Pea Ridge, or Rogers, or Bentonville should easily be able guess this threat. Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, thanks to the success of locally headquartered companies like Walmart and Tyson Foods. And though the growth has slowed a bit because of the recession, development continues to inch toward the Pea Ridge National Military Park.

While the land that the park itself sits on is protected from development, the land that surrounds it is not. In a few years, if the right actions are not taken, this sacred place could be surrounded by housing developments, strip malls and gas stations, forever spoiling a landscape that has remained relatively unchanged for 150 years. If you need a concrete example of this type of bad development, all you have to do is go to Gettysburg, the best known of all Civil War battlefields. As you stand in that battlefield, looking across the landscape where Maj. General George Meade’s Union troops defeated Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army, turning the tide of the war in favor of the Union, you are struck not just by the intensity of the battle that was once fought there, but also by the fast food restaurants and tourist traps that are built right up to the edge of the park’s border, a disturbing sign of unchecked and inappropriate development.

The Pea Ridge battlefield deserves better than to have the farmland surrounding it, some of which has been lovingly tended for generations by the same families, to be hacked up and cluttered with inappropriate developments and industrial complexes. With the right planning, Pea Ridge, Garfield and Rogers will be able to continue to grow, while their crown jewel, the Pea Ridge National Military Park, is protected. Forward thinking by of elected officials, landowners and other lovers of the history and beauty of the Ozarks can ensure that the landscape that Horace Patterson saw in 1862 will remain to be seen and enjoyed by future generations of his own family and everyone else that loves and appreciates the rich and vivid history that make this area the wonderful and unique place that it is.

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Editor’s note: This article, written by Jeff Billington, was submitted to the Pea Ridge TIMES for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge. It is being republished in recognition of the 160th anniversary of the battle.