Editing Second Battle of Springfield (section)

==Prelude==
On December 31, 1862, three columns of cavalry under the command of [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] [[Brigadier General]] [[John S. Marmaduke]] left [[Pocahontas, Arkansas]] and [[Lewisburg, Arkansas]], and moved north on separate roads toward [[Missouri]] and the [[Union Army|Union]] supply line. Marmaduke's immediate objective was the destruction of the Union Army of the Frontier's wagon trains and supply line between Rolla and Springfield. If successful, Marmaduke would cause elements of the Army of the Frontier to withdraw from Arkansas and pursue Marmaduke's Division.

Marmaduke's main column proceeded north through [[Forsyth, Missouri]], where Marmaduke learned from scouts that the Union army's major supply depot at Springfield was weakly defended. To clear the way for his Confederates, Marmaduke marched on [[Ozark, Missouri]]. The Union garrison stationed at Ozark withdrew and the [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]] burned its abandoned fort. A second column, commanded by [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Emmett MacDonald]], destroyed the Union fort ("Fort Lawrence") at Lawrence Mill on Beaver Creek, about {{convert|10|mi|km|spell=in}} southwest of [[Ava, Missouri|Ava]]. A dispatch to the third column under Colonel [[Joseph C. Porter]] directed Porter to join Marmaduke at Springfield rather than at Hartville. If everything went as planned, all three commands would converge on Springfield in an attempt to capture the city's lightly defended warehouses of military supplies.