June 25, 2011

On the final day of the Battle of Pea Ridge on March 8, 1862, a massive artillery duel between Union and Confederate forces began at approximately 8:00 a.m. Twenty-one Union guns were placed on a hill in the middle of Cox’s field, an area today known as Welfley’s Knoll. The cannon shown here at Pea Ridge National Military Park are located in that field at the site where Battery A, Second Illinois Light Artillery, more commonly known as the Peoria Battery, had been placed.