The legendary Elkhorn featured prominently during the battle of Pea Ridge (or Elkhorn tavern, depending on where your sympathies lie). The two day engagement (March 7 & 8, 1862), which won the state of Missouri for the Union, saw the tavern change hands twice. It can still be visited today on the Pea Ridge battlefield in Arkansas.

Before the confrontation, the union forces used the tavern as headquarters for the Provost Marshal of General Samuel R. Curtis' federal troops. It is possible the tavern itself housed confederate prisoners. The grounds of the tavern were also being used as a camp for ordinance and supplies while the owners were still in residence.

On the morning of the 7th, the tavern came under attack from elements of Confederate General Van Dorn's army. Only two companies of federal infantry were posted to guard the wagon and supplies.

As shells burst among the teams, the drivers panicked and bailed out as horses scattered. The infantry expecting reinforcements, held on valiantly until overwhelming numbers forced them to relinquish the grounds and supply camp. One round shot went clear through the tavern itself.

The site then became HQ and hospital for Van Dorn. The capture of a divisions worth of food stuffs provided quite a feast that evening for the victorious confederate troops. Victory was short lived however as Van Dorn neglected to bring up his own ammunition re-supplies which were twelve miles away. By 10 a.m. on the 8th, the confederates with ammunition depleted were forced to withdraw in the face of Union counter-attacks. The owners of the tavern remained inside (hiding in the basement) throughout the entire engagement.

The building remained in Union hands and served as a telegraph station. As Union forces mustered for the battle of Prairie Grove, the Yankees left the tavern on December 6. It was burned down three days later by confederate partisans.

Subsequently the Elkhorn tavern was rebuild by the owner on the same foundation, modeled after the original structure.

Note: This history came from the book, Elkhorn Tavern by John. H. Bond.

CONSTRUCTION

A Model in 15 mm scale provides some interesting challenges. If detailed in the same way as a 25 mm building, the process could take longer since tiny pieces are harder to cut and assemble. The question arises on how to detail the model without having to take as much time as a larger structure.

I have developed a technique of portraying the details that do not require hand laying of individual clapboards and roof singles. The solution is to double scribe the features on to matte board.

Matte board or art board is the stuff picture framers use to matte the painting or print in its frame, sort of a frame within a frame. It is essentially a quality cardboard with a thick paper laminate.

To scribe the sidings of the tavern, I first draw the elevations (sides) of the building on to the board. In Fig. 1 the door openings and windows are just blocked in without cutting them out. At this point (with nothing cut) the scribing takes place.

With a metal straight edge ruler (Fig. 2) score horizontal lines about a 1/8 inch apart. If the spacing is done by eye it gives the clapboards a more uneven look, which adds character. Always use a fresh, sharp X-acto blade and gently score the lines without cutting too deep - just cut into the paper laminate. When the lines are completed, cut out the sides of the building as well as the door and the window openings.

With another tool (I use a dental pick, but a sharp pencil will work as well) go over the X-acto lines, this time lifting the top layer of paper slightly (Fig. 3). It's a bit tricky - don't pull the paper layer off completely, just raise it enough here and there to suggest old clap boarding. Do not go all the way to the very edge so each board is well anchored. If a board does come completely off, it can be glued back on or left it off for even more texture.

The roof is characterized the same way. With the X-acto score the pattern of the tiles in about 1/8 inch squares. Double score just the bottom of the tiles to pull them up a little. Don't do this to every tile, skip a few here and there, again trying to produce an old, natural looking roof.

The balcony and porch floors are executed with the double score method, just like the walls.

At this point the walls and roof could be assembled, but if a roof is wanted, proceed as follows.

Trace the outline of each wall section onto foam core. Foam core is a styro foam laminated on both sides with heavy paper( the material I make most of my models out of) and comes in 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" thickness. A sharp X-acto is all that's needed to cut it. One of the great things about this material is that the paper can be peeled off to expose the foam. With the foam exposed, bricks or stone work can be scribed right into the foam with a dull pencil.

When tracing the wall sections (Fig. 4), leave a 1/4" exposed on the bottom to scribe the foundation stones into it. By making a foam core substructure, it added 1/4" thickness inside the building for durability and gave a more substantial wall thickness for the lift off roof to rest against (Fig. 5). The roof also had foam core supports.

For the chimney (Fig. 6), carve the basic shape in 1/2" foam core, peel of the paper and then scribe the stone work with a pencil.

The balconies are made by cutting the banisters and supports from 1/16" bass wood with an X-acto (surprise!). The balcony flooring, made from Matte Board, is about 3/4" deep and the balconies about 1/4" high to accommodate the bases and the height of the figures. Assemble the parts of the balcony separately so as to glue them into place fully assembled. It's much easier this way.

For the final assembly, the walls are glued to a Matte Board base. Glue the windows into place - they were purchased at a model train shop, add the doors and shutters (scribed matte board) and then paint the Matte Board surfaces with thinned down Elmer's Glue. This serves to strengthen the score lines and add more texture to the finish.

Prime the balcony, roof, chimney and the tavern itself with black household paint (water based). When dry, glue everything together.

Painting was easy with a dry brush technique leaving all the score lines black. Next terrain the base to match your figures. All that is missing was the "elk horn" that gave the building it's name!

There is a famous painting of the battle that shows the building with its elk horns on the roof ridge. In the painting they are shown as gigantic. Now living here in Brooklyn, I have to admit to never have seen an elk, but I can assume the artist took a little artistic license with the size.

Make the elk horns out of clay with a wire armature. It may take a little time to not make them look like Bull Wrinkle's but with a little effort you should capture the right feel.

DIMENSIONS:

Width: 5 1/2"
Depth 2 1/2"
Height of chimneys 4"

SUPPLIES:

matte board
foam core (optional)
bass wood for balconies and posts
Elmer's glue paint

TOOLS:

X-acto
steel ruler
pencil
dental pick (optional)

Special thanks to David Hoover of Texas who commissioned the model and provided me with historical information and photographs of the tavern.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com