$Log1 <FONT=HelpText,C,20,20,20> March 7th, 1862
Northwest Arkansas, south of Elkhorn Tavern along Telegraph Road
 
<FONT=HelpText,L,20,20,20>        
      By the morning of March 6 the regiments and batteries of the Army of the Southwest were filing into place on the high ground north of Little Sugar Creek. Among the last to arrive were the footsore soldiers of Colonel William Vandever's brigade, who covered the forty-two miles from Huntsville in only sixteen hours. Curtis was an engineer, and he personally laid out a line of earthworks atop the limestone bluffs. All that day the Union soldiers prepared rifle pits and redoubts and cleared fields of fire as they awaited the arrival of the enemy. It was hard work, but few grumbled, for the labor kept them warm and the fortifications promised a measure of safety in the fight to come.
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$Curtis <FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>Curtis Headquarters <FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>Northwest Arkansas
8:00 a.m., March 7th, 1862
<FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>General Curtis
      My Division is approaching the Sugar Creek line.  I am moving to the center rear and awaiting further orders sir.
 
<FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>
Brig Gen Franz Sigel
Commanding Officer
1st Division, Army of the Southwest
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$Curtis2 <FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>Curtis Headquarters <FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>Northwest Arkansas
10:30 a.m., March 8th, 1862
<FONT=MsgFont,L,20,20,20>Colonel Curtis
      We have recaptured Elkhorn Tavern and the enemy is beginning to retreat along the roads both north and east.  What are your orders sir?
 
<FONT=MsgFont,R,20,20,20>
Brig Gen Franz Sigel
Commanding Officer
1st Division, Army of the Southwest
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$Variant1 <FONT=HelpText,C,0,200,255>Grognard
<FONT=HelpText,L,0,200,255> 
  This variant very difficult.  In general, the Rebels first attack and annihilate your flanks, then crush your center position from three sides.
 
  To opt out of this variant, click 'Restart Current Level' in the in-game Menu/Load Game options.  Chances are one in two that the other (easier, but still difficult) variant will load.  The other variant will not display this message.
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$EndMajorFail <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and suffered a major defeat.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office, but an anonymous source was quoted as saying, "An inquiry will be forthcoming, as certain officers should be removed from command immediately."  The flower of our youth has died on the field of battle.  A retreat is probable.  We must be prepared for the worst.  Heavy casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndMinorFail <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and suffered a minor defeat.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues.  A retreat is possible.  We must be prepared for the worst.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndDraw <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>A battle in the West was fought in northwestern ARKANSAS today.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues, but victory or defeat is still unknown.  We wish good fortune to the troops on that faraway field, and as always we must be prepared for the worst.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndMinorSuccess <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and achieved a minor victory.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues, but there is a long road to march before we see the end to this struggle.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndMajorSuccess <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>In northwestern ARKANSAS, near the MISSOURI border, our forces met the enemy in battle and achieved a major victory.  Reports are just arriving by telegram to this office as the fight continues, but there is a long road to march before we see the end to this struggle.  Casualty lists are to follow...
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$EndKilled <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>Today our side lost another valiant officer at the Battle of Pea Ridge, in ARKANSAS - BRIGADIER GENERAL SAMUEL RYAN CURTIS
Commander, Army of the Southwest
Samuel Curtis was born in New York in 1805. He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, graduating in 1831, but left the Army soon after. He moved to Ohio, where he worked as a lawyer, a civil engineer, and a railroad promoter. Publicly, he was methodical, precise and formal; in private, however, he enjoyed long walks, collecting wildflowers and writing to his family.
During the Mexican War, he served as a military governor of several occupied cities. After the war, Curtis moved to Iowa and, in 1856, was elected to Congress as a Republican. He was a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln and was considered for a cabinet position in the new administration. When war broke out, he raised the 2nd Iowa Infantry and was assigned to organizing the chaotic affairs in Saint Louis. General Halleck gave Curtis command of the Army of the Southwest on Christmas Day, 1861.
 

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$BattleInfo <FONT=EndFont,L,0,0,0>WE devote page 196 to an illustration of the great battle fought by General Curtis at Little Sugar Creek, in northwest ARKANSAS, on 6th, 7th, and 8th March. The official report of General Curtis is as follows:
HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF THE SOUTHWEST, LITTLE SUGAR CREEK, ARKANSAS, March 9, 1862.
GENERAL,—On Thursday, the 6th inst., the enemy commenced an attack on my right wing, assailing and following the rear-guard of a detachment under General Siegel to my main lines on Sugar Creek Hollow, but ceased firing when he met my reinforcements about four P. M.
During the night I became convinced that he had moved on so as to attack my right or rear, therefore early on the 7th I ordered a change of front to the right, my right, which thus became my left, still resting on Sugar Creek Hollow. This brought my line across Pea Ridge, with my new right resting on Head Cross Timber Hollow, which is the head of Big Sugar Creek. I also ordered an immediate advance of the cavalry and light artillery, under Colonel Osterhaus, with orders to attack and break what I supposed would be the reinforced line of the enemy. This movement was in progress when the enemy, at eleven A. M., commenced an attack on my right. The fight continued mainly at these points during the day, the enemy having gained the point held by the command of Colonel Carr, at Cross Timber Hollow, but was entirely repulsed, with the fall of the commander, McCulloch, in the centre, 
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