Gen. James Blunt - 06820
“You will soon hear of one of the damnedest fights or foot races that had taken place lately.” – U.S. Gen. James G. Blunt
Physician Blunt was a Kansas abolitionist who, with John Brown, aided slaves escaping into Canada.
According to a Federal soldier, he was also, “a hearty fighter and seemed to think that it was the height of strategy to get himself surrounded by the enemy and fight his way out.”
Blunt placed his men in a defensive position around Cane Hill and announced, “I have decided to hold on at all hazards.”
The December 7, 1863, Battle of Prairie Grove, Ark. raged until dusk. The Confederates had hoped to drive the Federals out of Arkansas.
Instead, as a civilian described it, the Battle was the “deathblow to rebel hopes in Arkansas.”
