The 2nd and 3rd Missouri Divisions led by Brigadier General Francis J. Herron were stationed just southwest of Springfield Missouri when they received a call for reinforcement from General Blunt in Canehill. Upon receiving word on December 3rd, Herron set out from Springfield in a long, arduous march of 110 miles. Herron's march would later be recognized as one of the most outstanding marches in all of the Civil War. Herron's troops covered 110 miles in 3.5 days marching into the area around Prairie Grove on the morning of December 7th. Upon entering Prairie Grove, Herron's troops were severely depleted with some brigades loosing over half of their men enroute from the north. For those men that did complete the march, they were starving and exhausted when they entered into battle on the morning of the 7th.