The Battle of Pea Ridge Elkhorn Tavern March 6-8, 1862 Nearly a month after initiating their campaign against Confederates in southwest Missouri, Gen. Samuel R. Curtis’ Union Army of the Southwest had pushed into Arkansas and established a defensive position on the bluffs overlooking Little Sugar Creek. At the same time, Gen. Earl Van Dorn was appointed to take command of Confederate forces in the trans-Mississippi with the objective of destroying Curtis and his 12,000 Fede