Battle of Jenkin's Ferry

Frederick Steele

The Red River Campaign in western Louisiana was turning into a disaster for the Union at the end of April, 1864. Frederick Steele's movement south was stopped at Camden, Arkansas. There he was running low on supplies, hemmed in by Confederate forces, and two large foraging expeditions had been badly defeated at Poison Spring and Mark's Mill. Therefore he ordered his army to fall back on the morning of April 27. The Confederate army under Sterling Price and Kirby Smith started after him and rain began to fall, making the campaigning hard for both sides. The southern cavalry under Fagan, who had defeated the Federals at Mark's Mill, were unable to destroy the Federal supply depots, cut off the Union retreat, or even join Smith in time to take part in the battle that was fought.

Jenkin's Ferry Battlefield. Source. 

As Price's men continued their pursuit on the morning of April 30^th, they encountered the Federals behind hastily constructed earthworks near Jenkins' Ferry. Steele had picked a position to stand a fight to try to halt Price's pursuit. The place was well chosen, as the front was only 400 yards wide and the flanks were guarded by natural obstacles that limited Confederate movements. As infantry arrived on the field, Sterling Price sent them forward to attack the Federal position. Although it did not take them long to engage the Federals, the attacks were too uncoordinated to make any progress. The field was soon covered in smoke, and the Confederate attacks had to be made over open ground, covered in mud and water.

Kirby Smith

After these fruitless assaults, Kirby Smith arrived with a complete division from Texas, but he sent them in piecemeal, a brigade at a time. The southerners took heavy casualties, but were unable to break the Federal line. Finally by 3 pm the Union forces fell back, bringing with them all the cannon and wagons they could drag out of the mud. Although Steele had by no means crushed the Confederate forces, he was successful in slowing the pursuit and giving his men time to escape. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Confederates reported 443 casualties, but this did not include any from the Texas division. The Federals reported loosing 521 men, but this number also is likely incomplete.

Although the Confederates were not able to destroy either Steele's or Bank's army in the Red River Campaign, it was still an impressive success. Both expeditions were defeated, and at the end of the campaign the Confederates detached 20,000 to send to Johnston's army in Georgia, and prevent 10,000 Federals from joining Sherman on that front.  

Battlefield Monument. Source.

Battle of Mark's Mill

After advancing to Camden, Arkansas, Union General Frederick Steele had discovered the Red River Campaign was in shambles, with Banks retreating back to New Orleans. Steele was running out of supplies, but a foraging expedition he sent out was crushed at the Battle of Poison Spring. The Federals were still low on supplies, so Steele sent out another column to try to bring supplies from Pine Bluff. The force was made up of 1,800 men under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Drake. The journey was uneventful until the morning of April 25^th, 150 years ago today, when the Yankees were just a few miles from their destination. However, unbeknownst to the Federals, 5,000 Confederates were not far distant.

Mark's Mill Battlefield. Source. 

As the Union troops pressed forward they passed empty Confederate camps. This was reported to Drake, but he ignored the evidence of a large rebel force in the area, and determined to press on. As the 43^rd Indiana, which led the Federal column, entered the clearing of Mark's Mill, they encountered dismounted Confederate cavalry. The Union soldiers pushed them back, with the help of the 36^th Iowa, but when more Confederates arrived on their right the tide of battle turned and the Federals fell back through the clearing. As they fell back they were hit on their left by more Confederates. With double the enemy's numbers, the Southerners gradually surrounded a large part of the Federal force. Confederate General Cabel wrote in his report:

[Our] killed and wounded … show how stubborn the enemy was and how reluctantly they gave up the train. Men never fought better. They whipped the best infantry regiments that the enemy had (old veterans, as they were called), and then in numbers superior to them.

For four hours the battle raged until finally the Federal troops surrendered who could not escape the encircling greybacks. The Union lost between 1,100 and 1,600 men, most of whom were captured, the Confederates 41 killed, 108 wounded, and 144 missing.

Drake

Although this had been called the greatest disaster for the Union arms in the West, it had some good results in the campaign for Frederick Steele. The Battle of Mark's Mill delayed the Confederate forces enough to give the main Union body time to make its escape from Camden.  

Campaigning in Arkansas

Plan for the Red River Campaign

The state of Arkansas did not see much fighting during the Civil War, compared to states like Virginia and Tennessee, but one battle was fought there 150 years ago today. The Union plan for the Red River campaign was for two forces to converge on Shreveport, Louisiana. One army under Nathaniel Banks coming up from New Orleans, and another under Richard Steele coming down from Arkansas.

Steele

Steele began his movement from Little Rock on March 23, 1864 with about 8,500 men under his command. The march was not easy. The Federals were moving through barren country and had to ward off attacks from Confederate cavalry. Nonetheless they pressed forward, and reached Camden, Arkansas on April 15. He found no supplies there, and a few days later received the news that the campaign was in shambles. Banks had been defeated at Mansfield and was in retreat, and Confederate forces under Kirby Smith were moving to cut off Steele's retreat.

Williams

The Federals were running low on supplies, so Steele sent out 1,200 men under Colonel James Williams to forage the area for supplies. They had completed their mission, and were returning with 200 wagons full of food, when Confederates attacked. Two Confederate divisions under John Marmaduke and Samuel Maxey struck the Federal column in the flank and rear at Poison Spring. The Federal party was driven into a swamp, loosing 300 men and the supplies they had gathered. This was just the beginning of the disaster which awaited Steele's expedition.

Battle of Arkansas Post

Union ironclads bombard the fort

The Union army under John McClernand and William Sherman began arriving at Arkansas Post on January 9th. The Confederates had built Fort Hindman on a 25 foot bluff on the Arkansas River, with a mile view of the river in each direction. Manned by only 5,000 dismounted Texas cavalry and Arkansas, it did not stand a chance against the 30,000 bluecoats and 13 gunboats.

On January 10 Flag Officer David Porter sailed in his fleet, and bombarded the rebel position heavily. Porter late wrote in a congratulatory address:

In no instance during the war has there been a more complete victory and so little doubt as to whom the credit belongs. Our ironclads and gunboats knocked the fort to pieces, dismounting every gun (eleven in all), while our lightdraft vessels and the ram Monarch cut off the retreat of the enemy, throwing them back upon the army, who captured them by hundreds.

It was thought that the fort had been pummeled into submission, as most of the guns were silenced, but the fort was not done for, and the fight was renewed the next day. Brigadier General Thomas Churchill, the Confederate infantry commander, was determined to hold out to the last. But as the Union troops advanced under cover of fire from the ironclads, white flags were shown along the walls of the fort. Although Churchill wanted to fight to the last, the fort's commander had determined to surrender. The Confederates lost 5,500 in this battle, most of which surrendered, the Federals suffered 1,047.

Churchill

McClernand Heads for Arkansas Post

In the Battle of Chicasaw Bayou on December 29th, Sherman had met a bloody repulse in his effort to capture Vicksburg before Christmas. Now John McClernand arrived with more troops to take over the army which had been swiped from him by Grant and Sherman. He called the new force the Army of the Mississippi, and was sure that he wanted to use it to attack, only he was not sure what. Sherman convinced him to attack the Confederate Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post, one of the first settlements in that part of the nation. It was garrisoned by 5,000 Confederates, and was a major threat to McClernand's supply line. It was 150 years ago today that Union army set out for this Confederate outpost. However, McClernand and Sherman made the mistake of not letting Grant know of the movement until January 8th, well after it began.

Battle of Prairie Grove

The Confederates forces under Thomas Hindman were moving toward the smaller Union army under James Blunt in northern Arkansas. However, the Confederates encountered a reverse, when a large cavalry column under John Marmaduke was driven back at the Battle of Cane Hill on November 28th. Undeterred, Hindman set out with his main body on December 3rd. He had 11,000 men and 22 cannon. Blunt, with only 5,000 men and 30 cannon, did not fall back. Instead, he telegraphed for other Union troops in Arkansas to join him, and remained in a defensive position around Cane Hill.

Hindman

Hindman's plan was to send Marmaduke with the rebel cavalry to strike Blunt from the south as a diversion, while he hit the Federal flank from the east. However, as he drew close to the Yankees he changed his mind and decided to continue on around Blunt, receiving word that the Union reinforcements were arriving. Francis Herron, upon the receipt of Blunt's order, relentlessly pushed his men on a forced march so that he could arrive in time for the battle. Hindman, loosing his usual aggressive nature, took up a defensive position in the low hills of Prairie Grove.

Blunt

Herron began the Battle on December 7th, deploying his tired troops on Hindman's right and commencing a two hour artillery bombardment. Seeing that his artillery had been very successful, destroying the rebel guns and forcing the infantry to lie down on the reverse slope of the hill, Herron ordered an attack to make use of this opportunity without waiting for cooperation from Blunt's forces. However, the first two regiments set forward met disaster near the Borden House, meeting a counterattack from three sides. The Federals fell back, and soon were running back in disorder to their lines, having lost about half their number. Trying to make the most of this gain, the Confederates launched a disorganized attack on Herron's line, but were driven back by canister from the Yankee guns.

Herron ordered two more regiments to attack in the area of the Borden House, hoping to forestall any movements the Confederates might make. Again they were driven back after fierce fighting, and then drove back a southern counterattack. By this time Blunt realized that Hindman had bypassed his position, and so ordered his troops to march to the sound of fighting. Ignoring the roads and just marching through the fields, his leading elements arrived on the Confederate flank just as they were preparing to launch another attack. They surprised the Confederates and foiled their attack. The fighting continued to sway back and forth until nightfall put an end to the battle.

Herron

Although tactically the battle was a draw, neither army having won a clear victory, the Union certainly won strategically. The two Union forces had been able to join without being first destroyed by the Confederate attacks, and Hindman saw no choice but to retreat with no reinforcements or ammunition available to continue the battle on the morrow. He arrived with his defeated army in Van Buren, Arkansas on December 10th, and near the end of the month was driven out of the nortwest part of the state completely by an advance by the Yankee forces.

Battle of Cane Hill

In early 1862 the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas had been fought, resulting in Confederate defeat. Now a Confederate army under General Thomas C. Hindman was advancing to try to regain that lost ground. He moved with 11,000 troops into the northwest corner of the state, where he planned to attack 5,000 Yankees under Brigadier General James G. Blunt, who were 70 miles from any reinforcements. Hindman sent Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke ahead with 2,000 cavalry to hold Blunt in place while the rest of the Confederates came into position.

Blunt, however, did not sit passively and wait for Hindman's plan to work. He headed south, and encountered Marmaduke 35 miles south of where the Confederates had expected. The outnumbered rebels were surprised by the Yankee attack on November 28th, 150 years ago today. Marmaduke ordered Col. Jo Shelby to delay Blunt and cover the retreat of the main Confederate force. Although the fighting stretched for nine hours as Blunt pursued the Confederates for 12 miles, there were few large clashes and the casualties were light. The Union lost 41 killed and wounded, and the South 45.

Although he was successful in driving back Marmaduke's thrust for the time being, the attack left Blunt even further from reinforcements. The campaign would culminate in the Battle of Prairie Grove, just nine days later.

Battle of Elkhorn Tavern

150 years ago today in Arkansas a 16,000 man Southern army under under General Earl Van Dorn attacked the flank of a 10,000 man Federal army under Samuel Curtis. Van Dorn's night march had placed them directly in the rear of the Northerners. Van Dorn decided to divide his army, sending McCulloch to attack by a different road. However, the Federals were not where he expected them to be. Curtis did not think Van Dorn would be rash enough to march into his rear, but he still sent one third of his army north to Elkhorn Tavern to protect his supply wagons from the Confederate column.

McCulloch

A Federal brigade reconnoitering stumbled upon McCulloch's entire force, and although they were hopelessly outnumbered, they set up a battery of artillery and opened fire. McCulloch sent 3,000 cavalry to charge the brigade, and they completely overwhelmed the Federals. But now a crisis occurred. McCulloch went forward to reconnoiter, and was shot by the Federal skirmishers. However, he was out of sight of the army, and for an hour his men remained in position waiting for orders. Command fell to General McIntosh, who rode out to see the Federals' position, just as McCulloch had done. He too was shot, only 200 yards from his chief. The command went to Herbert, but he did not know he was in command. He advanced with his own troops, but the Federals were now reinforced. There was a hard fight in the woods. One soldier said that the air was “literally filled with leaden hail. Balls would whiz by our ears, cut off bushes closely, and even cut our clothes.” Herbert finally withdrew from the attack. For the rest of the day, most of this wing of the Confederate army was idle, with no one knowing who was in command.

The other half of the Confederate army under Price and Van Dorn also encountered Federals before they reached the entrenchments. Van Dorn was surprised at this, and although he was usually very aggressive, this day he moved cautiously. He did not organize a general attack until one hour before dark. The Confederates became disorganized as they moved forward, and the Federal troops started out holding their own, but finally Van Dorn's greater numbers crushed the Northern line. The Confederates chased the Federals through the buildings around Elkhorn tavern, and formed a line on the high ground there. Van Dorn could not find McCulloch's division, which he should have met there. However, he decided to attempt to continue on the success he had gained in the fading light. But the Federal line had been reinforced, and their artillery tore huge holes in the 3,000 advancing men. They continued on until they were within 50 yards of the Federals, for at that moment the infantry opened fire. Unable to stand up to the artillery and infantry, the Confederates fled for the rear. Night had fallen, and the first day of the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, or Pea Ridge, was over.

Preparations for Elkhorn Tavern

During 1861 and the first months of 1862, the Northern armies had driven the Southern sympathizing Missouri militia out of their state. Samuel Curtis continued on with 10,250 men and 50 cannon into Arkansas. The Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department was Major General Earl Van Dorn. To resist Curtis, Van Dorn had gathered 16,000 men. This would be one of the few times during the Civil War where the Southerners would have more men than their Union opponents.

Curtis picked the best defensive position he could find and waited for Van Dorn to attack. Van Dorn did not want to attack the Federal entrenchments frontally, so he planned to march around Curtis' position and strike his army in the flank and rear.

The Confederates undertook a night march to the Union flank 150 years ago today. Like many Civil War Van Dorn's men were much slower than expected. The roads had been obstructed by Curtis, and Van Dorn had no engineer corps to handle clearing the roads. It was a terrible march for the men, with one third of them falling out of the ranks before arriving at their destination. However, they were able to get in a wonderful position. On the morning of March 7th, they would be directly in the Federal rear. It seemed all but certain that victory was at hand for the Confederates in Arkansas.

Arkansas Secedes, War Declared on the United States

Arkansas Militia

150 years ago today, both Tennessee and Arkansas voted to secede. Both were border states, and did not secede because of Lincoln's threat to slavery. They remained in the Union until Lincoln said that they must raise troops to attack their neighbors in the South. At that point they seceded, along with Virginia and more to come.

Arkansas said in their Ordinance of Secession:

[Abraham Lincoln] has, in the face of resolutions passed by this convention pledging the State of Arkansas to resist to the last extremity any attempt on the part of such power to coerce any State that had seceded from the old Union, proclaimed to the world that war should be waged against such States until they should be compelled to submit to their rule, and large forces to accomplish this have by this same power been called out, and are now being marshaled to carry out this inhuman design; and to longer submit to such rule, or remain in the old Union of the United States, would be disgraceful and ruinous to the State of Arkansas:¹

While the legislature of Tennessee was favorable to secession, they did not actually secede on this day. They called for a public vote on the issue instead.

On the same day Jefferson Davis signed a bill declaring a state of war with the United States, since they were being attacked by them. It said:

Whereas, the earnest efforts made by this government to establish friendly relations between the government of the United States and the Confederate States and to settle all questions of disagreement between the two governments upon principles of right, justice, equity and good faith, have proved unavailing, by reason of the refusal of the government of the United States to hold any intercourse with the Commissioners appointed by the government for the purposes aforesaid or to listen to any proposal they had to make for the peaceful solution of all causes of difficulties between the two governments; and

Whereas, the President of the United States of America has issued his Proclamation, making the requisition upon the states of the American Union for seventy-five thousand men, for the purpose as therein indicated of capturing forts,  and other strongholds of the jurisdiction of, and belonging to the Confederate States of America, and has detailed Naval armaments upon the coast of the Confederate States of America, and raised, organized and equipped a large military force to execute the purpose aforesaid, and has issued his other Proclamations announcing his purpose to set foot a blockage of the ports of the Confederate States;
...
The Congress of the Confederate States do enact, that the President of the Confederate States be, and he is hereby, authorized to use the land and naval forces for the purpose of ... resisting and repelling in such manner as he may deem advisable any and all acts of hostility or aggression that may be committed by said government.²

1. The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the year 1861 (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1867), vol. 1 p. 23.
2. Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1904) vol. 1, p. 177-181.