The Civil War Muse

Sites of Interest

• The Wire Road

Although this online tour stops at a number of locations along the Wire Road, the best resource for the Wire Road is the tour guide written by Hess, Shea, Piston, and Hatcher in their Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on Wire Road (This Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil Wa) .

The Union Army of the Southwest would travel down the Wire Road (also called the Telegraph Road), an old road in Missouri and Arkansas. It followed an old Native American route, the Great Osage Indian Trail across the Ozarks and became a road along a telegraph line from St. Louis, Missouri to Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was known as the "Wire Road" while the telegraph line was up, but when the line was later removed, it simply became known as the "Old Wire Road".

Until the mid-1840s, the road was used primarily by the Army to move supplies and correspondence between Springfield, Missouri and the garrison at Fort Smith, Arkansas. During this period, it was referred to as the Military Road. In 1838, thousands of Cherokee Indians moved along the Military Road near the end of their forced exodus from their ancestral homes in Georgia and the Carolinas. Due to the extreme hardships endured along the way, the route, including the Military Road, became known by the Cherokees as the Trail of Tears.

As the frontier moved west and the threat of Indian attack diminished, the Army reduced its presence in the region. The road, now known as the Springfield to Fayetteville Road, became the region's primary route for commerce with Missouri. Small towns began to develop along the road, including Bentonville, the region's second largest community and the county seat for Benton County. From 1840 to 1860, Benton County's population increased over 300% as the road brought settlers to the region, many of them farmers and hunters from Tennessee.

The Butterfield Overland Stage began running along the road in 1858. Two years later, in 1860, the region's first telegraph line was strung along the road, giving the road its last, and most enduring name - the Telegraph or Wire Road. The line ran from Springfield, Missouri to Fort Smith, but was cut less than a year later when Arkansas seceded from the Union.

• Earl Van Dorn Grave Site

Wintergreen Cemetery, 613 Greenwood Street, Port Gibson, Mississippi 39150

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• Samuel R. Curtis Grave Site – Oakland Cemetery, 1802 Carroll St, Keokuk, Iowa 52632

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• Samuel R. Curtis Statue – Victory Park, Mississippi Drive, Keokuk, Iowa 52632

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• Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument – Iowa State Capitol Grounds, East 9th Street and Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309

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• Franz Sigel Grave Site, Woodlawn Cemetery, Webster Avenue & E. 233rd Street, Bronx, NY 10470

Plot: Section 100/113, Holly Plot, Lot 10563 NW

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• Franz Sigel Monument, Forest Park, Grand Dr. & Union Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri 63116

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• Franz Sigel Statue, Riverside Drive and West 106th Street, New York, New York 10025

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• Sterling Price Grave Site – Bellefontaine Cemetery, 4947 W Florissant, St. Louis, MO, 63115

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• Price Monument – Springfield National Cemetery, 1702 East Seminole Street, Springfield, MO 65804

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• Sterling Price Museum – 412 W Bridge St, Keytesville, Missouri 65261

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General Sterling Price Museum is open from May 15th to October 15th, Monday through Friday, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• James McIntosh Grave Site - Fort Smith National Cemetery, 522 Garland St, Fort Smith, AR 72901

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SECTION 3 SITE 1267

• Benjamin McCulloch Grave Site - Texas State Cemetery, 909 Navasota Street, Austin, Texas 78702

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Section:Republic Hill, Section 1 (C1), Row:N Number:4

 

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