The Elkhorn Tavern, shown
above, stood on the farm where the main battle of Pea Ridge was fought,
March 7, 1862, the first battle on Arkansas soil in the War between the
States. Elkhorn Tavern was then a famous inn, kept by Uncle Joe
Cox. After the war it burned by bushwhackers, but the chimneys and
foundations remained, and the structure was rebuilt to the original
pattern. Below is a marker erected to commemorate this historic
site.
The war came swiftly to
Arkansas after its secession. But before the state left the Union,
there was in early 1861, a stir of excitement in Little Rock that
threatened a clash of arms. The arsenal, held about 75 federal soldiers
under Capt. James Totten, was the cause.
As the time for Lincoln’s
inauguration drew on, a belief spread that the Northern troops had been
stationed in Little Rock as a warning against a secession movement.
Fiery words were spoken by Arkansans whose heart beat with the Southern
cause. A mass meeting assembled in Helena, and passed a resolution
calling on Governor Rector to take possession of the arsenal. It
offered him 500 men for the purpose.
The governor declined to act
stating, however, that he would resist any attempt to reinforce the
federal command. Still the high feeling persisted. It was further
inflamed when, about February 1, 1861, a rumor came that a steamboat
carrying several hundred troops, was bound up the Arkansas river to
reinforce Captain Totten.
Hundreds of armed men poured
into Little Rock, grim of face and resolute in bearing. Throngs milled
through the streets, watching the river for the federal steamboat
reported to be approaching. Scowling glances were bestowed on the
arsenal, and here and there someone advised taking it immediately,
before it was reinforced.
The Little Rock council
hurriedly convened, and adopted a resolution declaring the gathering in
the city was disrespectful to state authority. Then, as the rumored
addition to the arsenal garrison failed to appear, the excitement calmed
down. A meeting was held, which requested Governor Rector to demand
that the arsenal be surrendered. This the governor did, and on February
8, Captain Totten and his men marched out, and made camp on the river
bank below the city.
About February 1, 1861,
The Federal troops evacuated the Little Rock Arsenal with the honors of
war, and Captain Otey, with a detachment of Phillips County Guards,
occupied the post on behalf of the state.
The situation which had worn
so ugly a look ended in a sort of holiday event. A Southern historian
writes that as Captain Totten and his troops withdrew, they were
“accompanied by quite a procession of citizens who admired the officer’s
manly deportment, and who presented him with a beautiful sword as a
token of their appreciation and friendship.” Gallant and warm-hearted
was the breed that built Arkansas.
There would be no profit in
following the detailed advance and decline of Southern fortunes on
Arkansas soil. A broader picture presents the essential facts – the
shining, daring courage of the men of the state who followed the Stars
and Bars, and the feats of valor they performed with so little of
material resources on which to draw.
