Carthage artists Andy Thomas points out a detail as he talks about one of his paintings that will help visitors to the Pea Ridge (Ark.) National Military Park visualize one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Globe/T. Rob Brown

"Digging In" by Andy Thomas

"Van Dorn's HG" by Andy Thomas

"Enemy is Behind Us" by Andy Thomas

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- Visitors to Pea Ridge National Military Park soon won't have to rely on their imaginations to re-create the Civil War battle there. Instead, they'll see paintings by Carthage artist Andy Thomas transporting them back to the March 1862 battle.

Thomas has completed a series of 10 paintings that tells the story of a battle that brought nearly 26,000 soldiers to the mountains of Northwest Arkansas.

While the originals hang in Thomas' studio on the east edge of Carthage, high-resolution versions of the paintings are being encased in fiberglass to become outdoor exhibits throughout the park.

Steve Black, chief ranger for Pea Ridge, said exhibits with Thomas' artwork will be placed at key locations throughout the park "to tell the story in a much more dramatic fashion than anything we've ever had before."

Thomas is known for works including his paintings of Civil War battles west of the Mississippi -- works that requires historical research. Before he ever picked up a brush, he spent more than a year studying the battle through books and with experts, even though he was familiar with the Pea Ridge story after painting a mural, "On the Battery," for the park's visitor center.

Much of that work was done with Doug Keller, park historian, Thomas said.

"He probably knew as much about the battle as anyone, and we had the book by William Shea, (Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West, by William L. Shea and Earl J. Hess) which has a terrific battle description, and Doug had access to several (Civil War) re-enactors," Thomas said.

He said he also worked with local residents Steve Weldon and Steve Cottrell, both involved in Civil War research and longtime re-enactors. Working with re-enactors is important, Thomas said, because they provide an accurate description of how it was in the field, and how to handle equipment, which isn't found by studying Army manuals of the time.

"There's a reason they call it living history," he said. "Re-enactors want to make it as accurate as possible and they have a better idea of what an Army in the field actually looked like at that time, because they've camped out, handled those weapons and marched in the rain and snow."

Army manuals from the time, for example, tell a soldier to use both hands to tamp down the packing in a Civil War cannon.

"But that's not the way they did it because explosions were so common and they would have lost both arms," Thomas said.

"He tries hard to do the proper research and make sure it's depicted the proper way in his paintings," said Steve Weldon, Jasper County archivist who worked at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. "It's a great thing when there's someone in the region to correctly depict Civil War battles west of the Mississippi because they were different from those in the East, there was nothing generic about them."

Because of those details, one of the battle scenes took Thomas a month and a half to finish, even though he often was painting 10 and 12 hours a day.

"I start with a general painting -- the rifles start out as sticks -- and go back and correct the details. It lets me be an artist," Thomas said.

One painting shows Major Gen. Earl Van Dorn, Confederate commander, sitting at a campfire reading a message that has just been delivered by a young courier. He learns that Union troops are advancing, he realizes his troops are not properly supplied for the battle and the concern is evident on his fire-lit face.

The battle lasted about a day and a half, starting out in a picturesque setting on freshly fallen snow and ending as a muddy, sloppy miserable affair, Thomas said. An estimated 6,000 soldiers -- 4,600 Confederates and 1,359 from union forces -- died in the battle.

The battle held Missouri for the union and allowed Federal armies to continue their offensive throughout the Mississippi River Valley.

Thomas said he took pictures of the battlefield to make sure his paintings reflected the terrain.

"Now it's a field filled with deer; my objective is to make them understand what took place there," he said.

Thomas' paintings take on added significance because the military park has so many more trees now than it did when it was a battleground, said Black, the park ranger.

"Andy's paintings allow visitors to be transported back to that time," he added.

Black said a number of the exhibits will be ready to be unveiled the weekend of March 4 and 5, around the 144th anniversary of the battle.

To make the project less costly for the park, Thomas has retained ownership of the paintings and sold the rights. But he and his wife, Dina, hope all 10 paintings will someday belong to Pea Ridge.

"Originally, for cost reasons, they wanted five paintings and five drawings," he said. "This allowed me to do 10 paintings. At this point, we could sell them, but we'd rather get them donated back to the park or to a museum. That will take some time, but we're not in a hurry."

To go ...

Located off U. S. . Highway 62 near Garfield, Ark., Pea Ridge National Military Park is open year-round from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Andy will be exhibiting in the main gallery at Spiva Center for the Arts, 3rd & Wall, Joplin, Mo. January 27 – March 3, 2006

www.andythomas.com