Pulaski Arkansas Battery
Wilson's Creek
In the opening moments of the battle, Union infantry swept back Southern cavalry, over-running two camps and topping the crest of Bloody Hill. Nothing stood in the Federals' way. At the bottom of Bloody Hill lay the main Southern camp, virtually defenseless.
Then, from the top of the small ridge to your right, Captain William E. Woodruff's Pulaski Arkansas Battery opened fire, enfilading the entire length of the Union line. These four cannon forced a halt in the Federal advance. As a result the Southern infantry was able to organize a line of battle and attack the Union line.
The trail beginning here leads to the site where the Pulaski Arkansas Battery was positioned, also to the site of General Sterling Price's Confederate headquarters on the opposite side of Wilson Creek. The round-trip walk to both sites is about one mile.
An Ironic Footnote
Before the Civil War, the bronze guns of the Pulaski Battery were under the command of Captain James Totten of the U.S. Arsenal of Little Rock. When war threatened, Arkansas secessionists took control of the arsenal, but Captain Totten remained loyal to the Union. Here at Wilson's Creek, Totten commanded a Union battery across the creek on Bloody Hill, and found himself opposing his old guns manned by his old friends.
Marker is on Tour Road, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
