Battle of Massard Prairie (148th Anniversary)

Massard Prairie Battlefield Park
Fort Smith, Arkansas

Today marked the 148th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas.

Fought on July 27, 1864, the engagement was a significant cavalry action fought across miles of prairie on the outskirts of Fort Smith. It was a major Confederate victory and resulted in the virtual destruction of Mefford's Battalion of the 6th Kansas Cavalry.

The battle began when Brigadier General R.M. Gano's Confederates swept down the ridge from today's Fianna Hills community on the southern edge of Fort Smith and caught the Federal forces camped at the Picnic or "Diamond" Grove on Massard Prairie completely by surprise. The Union troops had just moved their herd of horses out onto the prairie to graze when the Confederates struck:

...As soon as the alarm was given that the enemy was in the prairie, which was about 6 a.m., I sent immediately for the herd, which had been out grazing since daylight, and was about three quarters of a mile southwest of camp. I formed my men on the right of camp to protect my herd as it came in and until it could be secured, but before the horses could be brought up the enemy charged on us, which stampeded the herd and left the men on foot to fight as best as they could. - Lt. Jacob Morehead, 6th Kansas Cavalry.

Gen. R.M Gano, CSA

Sweeping around the Union right to the sound of the Rebel yells of his Texans, Gano had stampeded the Federal herd and closed in on the Federal camp before Major David Mefford could get his men organized to save the horses and resist. As he approached the grove, Gano detached part of his column to drive right into the center of the trees as he struck the camp on its western flank.

At the same time, Colonel S.N. Folsom led the 1st and 2nd Choctaw Cavalries (C.S.) in a devastating attack on the Union left. These were the same men who exacted had such fierce revenge on black Union troops at the Battle of Poison Spring for attrocities in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations that they were later accused of massacre.
Charged on right, left and center, the Federal lines collapsed and blue-clad cavalrymen began a desperate attempt to escape to safety across the prairie. By the time the fighting ended, three companies of "Arkansas Feds" (Union soldiers from Arkansas) had evaporated so completely they were not even mentioned in Union reports of the battle. Of the roughly 200 men (four companies) of the 6th Kansas Cavalry engaged in the battle, 144 were killed, wounded or captured.

To read about the Battle of Massard Prairie, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasCW4. Also please consider my book, The Battle of Massard Prairie. It is available in both book and Kindle editions by following these links:

Book - The Battle of Massard Prairie ($14.95)
Kindle - The Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas ($4.95)

Massard Prairie book Free today only for Kindle Users!

The Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas is available FREE today only for users of Amazon's Kindle readers or free Kindle software as part of a special promotion at Amazon.com.
The book actually tells the story of two battles: The Battle of Massard Prairie and the Battle of Fort Smith. These two encounters were part of a demonstration carried out by Confederate forces in late July and early August of 1864 against the Federal forces occupying Fort Smith. They were wildly successful.

The Battle of Massard Prairie was fought on July 27, 1864, and resulted in the virtual destruction of an entire battalion of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry (U.S.). Sweeping down from the hills on the south side of the modern city of Fort Smith, Confederate cavalry forces hit the Federal camp on Massard Prairie from three sides. The Union force broke and was chased down and scattered in a cavalry battle that swept across miles of open prairie. A Confederate victory, the battle was an important prelude to the Battle of Cabin Creek in Oklahoma the following month.

The Battle of Fort Smith was fought just a few days after the action at Massard Prairie and was largely a demonstration against the southern defenses of Fort Smith. It resulted in the capture and destruction of Union supplies and the safe evacuation of pro-Confederate citizens from the environs of the city.

Together the two battles forced Union commanders at Fort Smith to draw in their forces, opening the door for the subsequent Confederate victories at Flat Rock and Cabin Creek in the Cherokee Nation. Cabin Creek may have been the largest supply seizure of the war by Southern forces.

To download the free Kindle version of the book, please click here:
The Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith

If you do not have a Kindle reader, you can download the free software for your computer, tablet, iPad, smartphone, etc., at Amazon.com.

The book is also available in a print edition for $19.95.  Please click here to order:
The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas

Enjoy your free reading and Merry Christmas!

Mystery Soldiers of Massard Prairie - Fort Smith, Arkansas

Massard Prairie Battlefield Park

One of the more intriguing mysteries of the Battle of Massard Prairie, which took place at Fort Smith on July 27, 1864, originates from the reports of Confederate soldiers that the overran parties of "Arkansas Feds" as they moved in to attack a battalion from the 6th Kansas Cavalry.

The terms "Arkansas Feds" and "Mountain Feds" were often used by Southern soldiers to describe Arkansans who either evaded service in the Confederate army or deserted from their units and joined the Union side.

According to several eyewitness accounts of the battle, the "Arkansas Feds" were taken by surprise and broke and ran. The Confederates did not immediately pursue them as the Kansas cavalrymen had formed a line of battle through their camp at the Picnic or Diamond Grove (site of today's Massard Prairie Battlefield Park). Union reports, however, make no mention at all of any Arkansas Union troops being present at the battle. All of which begs the questions: Were there "Arkansas Feds" on Massard Prairie? And, if so, who were they?

The answer seems to be yes, there were several companies of Arkansas Federals camped on Massard Prairie at the time of the attack.

On July 5, 1864, about three weeks before the battle, 100 Arkansas Unionists signed a letter to the editor of the Fort Smith New Era newspaper complaining of the disrespect being shown them by Union soldiers from Northern states and by the citizens of Fort Smith. The men were members of the 4th Arkansas Infantry (U.S.). The letter was dated from the men's camp at "Mazard Prairie."

This short-lived regiment was formed early in 1864 and merged with the 2nd Arkansas Infantry (U.S.) in October of that year. At its greatest strength, it included around 173 men, including officers and a surgeon, making up three companies.

Massard Prairie at Fort Smith, Arkansas

Coincidentally, the sites of three additional company-sized camps have been found at Massard Prairie, opposite or south of the branch from the main camp formed by four companies of the 6th Kansas Cavalry. This would have placed the men of the Arkansas battalion directly in the path of the Confederate attack and these men would have been the first hit, exactly as Southern accounts reported.

This evidence provides strong support then for the presence of the 4th Arkansas Infantry (U.S.) as well as the 6th Kansas Cavalry at the Battle of Massard Prairie. The scattering of two battalions of Federal troops instead of just one makes the Confederate victory there even more impressive and significant.

To read more about the battle, please consider my book:

The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas


The book is also available as an instant download for Amazon Kindle:

The Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith

You can also learn more about the battle by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasCW4.

Murder at Massard Prairie - July 27, 1864

Massard Prairie

The 27th of this month will mark the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, a remarkable cavalry battle fought at Fort Smith in July of 1864.

One of the little known aspects of this engagement is the alleged murder of Southern deserters that took place as Confederate troops stormed down the mountain from what is now the Fianna Hills subdivision onto the prairie in the first stages of their attack on the Union camp on the prairie.

The target of the Southern attack was the "Diamond" or "Picnic Grove" on Massard Prairie. An area of large trees on the otherwise open prairie, the grove was the site of a camp then occupied by a battalion from the 6th Kansas Cavalry along with several companies of the short-lived 4th Arkansas (U.S.).

As the Federals were about to discover, they were in a dangerously exposed position. They had been sent there to protect the herd of horses being grazed on the prairie and until the morning of July 27, 1864, were living a fairly good existence out on the prairie.  A small stream flowed through their camp, providing good water, and the Union soldiers routinely raided area farms for beef and other foodstuffs.

Massard Prairie Battlefield Park

Some of these farms also provided food and other supplies to Confederate deserters. And to their misfortune, a group of these men had come in from the hills south of Fort Smith that morning to obtain food at the homes of John Barnes and Flem Johnson. These houses were located on the southern end of the prairie. Fifteen year old Joseph Barnes, a nephew of John Barnes, later described his first sight of the Confederate cavalrymen coming down the mountain onto the prairie. He had been sent out to keep lookout while a group of deserters got breakfast at the house:

...While they were getting breakfast, I saw a string of Rebels coming down the hill on the [South] side of the field. I ran to my uncle and said, "I see a bunch of Rebels coming yonder." They men made a break for the brush. Jonathan Glenn ran up the road to the West to cut into the brush and, as he did not see some of the Rebels, they got him. The others got away.

The soldiers seen by Barnes were members of Folsom's Choctaw Brigade. As their homes and farms had been severely looted during Union raids the previous winter, they were not kindly disposed towards Federal soldiers or Southern sympathizers.  As one group swarmed around the Barnes house, a second detachment rode on to the nearby home of Flem Johnson, who "had the pneumonia and was expected by everyone to die."

According to Joseph Barnes, the soldiers found Johnson in bed and too sick to run from them. His account states simply that, "Rebels carried Flem out of his bed in the house and set him up against a tree and shot him to death."

The fates of the other men captured in and around the houses that morning are not known. Having quickly carried out the events described by Barnes, the Choctaws joined the main body of Folsom's column, which had been ordered to sweep around to the right and strike the east side of the Union camp at the Picnic Grove.

If you would like to learn more about the Battle of Massard Prairie, please consider my book on the engagement (also available in Amazon Kindle format at a reduced price). You can also read more at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasCW4.

New Webpage Available on the Battle of Fort Smith

Continuing with my efforts to provide more information on the history of Arkansas online, I have a new webpage up on the Battle of Fort Smith. This is an extension of the pages I have put up over the last couple of years on Fort Smith and the Battle of Massard Prairie. You can check it out at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/battleoffortsmith.

This engagement took place on July 31, 1864, when Confederate forces led by Brigadier General Douglas H. Cooper launched a major demonstration against the fortifications protecting the southern approaches to Fort Smith. Inspired by General R.H. Gano's successful attack at the Battle of Massard Prairie four days earlier, Cooper hoped to surprise outlying Union picket posts, capture livestock and supplies and provide an opportunity for pro-Southern families in the area to evacuate.

Moving up at dawn, the Confederate struck from multiple directions at once. One column, led by General Gano, crossed over to Massard Prairie again hoping to repeat the success of the 27th. A second small party, composed of Native American riflemen, moved down the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Poteau and Arkansas Rivers to fire into the main garrison of Fort Smith. The two largest columns, meanwhile, moved up the Fort Towson (today's Towson Avenue) and State Line roads. The advance was led by the famed Cherokee, Brigadier General Stand Watie.

The fighting went about as Cooper had planned. For the next several hours, the Confederates battled a force of Federals who came out of the Fort Smith defenses to fight. Their mission accomplished, they finally withdrew after capturing or destroying an estimated $130,000 in Union supplies.

To learn more, please visit the new page on the Battle of Fort Smith at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/battleoffortsmith.

Massard Prairie, Part Four - The Attack on Fort Smith, continued...

The halt by Confederate troops to collect supplies, arms and food abandoned by the retreating Federals gave the Union forces in Fort Smith time to the attack.

Rallying on the hill around Fort No. 2, the Federals reorganized and - with reinforcements coming up from the main garrison - moved forward to renew the fight. Advancing to a hill about one mile south of the fort, a section of the 2nd Kansas Battery took up a position from which it could fire on Watie's Confederates. Two companies from the 1st Kansas Infantry (Colored) moved up in support of the battery. The entire operation was carried out under fire from the Confederate guns on the next hilltop south.

One of the Confederate shells exploded near Colonel Judson of the 6th Kansas Cavalry, a fragment wounding him in the left leg. Despite his injuries, however, the colonel remained on the field for the rest of the fight.

The four Union cannon were of better quality and range than the Confederate guns and this superiority soon began to tell. Unwilling to sacrifice his own cannon for the sake of a demonstration, General Cooper ordered the Southern howitzers to pull back. As they were doing so, a Union shell exploded directly over the Confederate battery teams, killing 3 men and wounding another. A second shot decapitated one of General Gano's men. After completing his work on Massard Prairie, Gano had come across the ridge to join the fight.

The effectiveness and range of the Federal artillery convinced Cooper to end his demonstration and pull back. Leaving sharpshooters from his Native American units to hover around the edges of Fort Smith, he effectively pinned the Union troops in position while he withdrew the main body.

Losses in the fight had been relatively light considering the sizes of the two forces engaged. The Confederates suffered one killed, one mortally wounded and five wounded. Union forces lost 11 men killed and wounded, at least one of them killed.

With minimal losses, Cooper was able to achieve his goal of giving pro-Southern families in the area a chance to evacuate. Several moved out under the cover of his troops. His men also inflicted terror on pro-Union families living on the battlefield, burning their homes and carrying away livestock and supplies.

As the Confederates pulled back from the edges of Fort Smith, they heard the sounds of heavy artillery fire coming from the main fort. They later learned that Captain Gunter and his Cherokee troops were amusing themselves by firing into the fort from the cover of trees across the Poteau River. The Federals responded by rolling cannon out of the fort and firing at the smoke of the Cherokee rifles. The Indian soldiers simply changed positions and continued their sniping, leading to more artillery fire. Otherwise, though, the Massard Prairie expedition was over.

I'll look closer at the results of the attacks in the next post. Until then you can learn more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardindex or by reading The Battle of Massard Prairie, available for either at the upper right of this page or at www.amazon.com.

Battle of Massard Prairie, Part Three - The Attack on Fort Smith

The stunning success of Gano's attack on the 6th Kansas Cavalry at Massard Prairie awakened the Confederates to the potential of additional attacks on the Union forces at Fort Smith.

Anxious to inflict additional damage, capture more supplies and create an opportunity for pro-secession families in the area to evacuate, the Southern commanders contemplated the situation and decided to try a second attack. Commanded in person by General Douglas H. Cooper, the Confederate troops moved up to Cedar Prairie on the Fort Towson Road due south of Fort Smith.

While Cooper believed that he might be able to break through the defenses of Fort Smith, he also recognized that doing so would result in severe casualties to his own command. Instead of attempting such an attack, he decided instead to send troops to demonstrate against the southern edges of Fort Smith from all directions. Gano was sent to occupy a position on the mountain overlooking Massard Prairie (today's Fianna Hills subdivision). From there he sent Lieutenant Colonel Jack McCurtain down onto the prairie with his force of Choctaw soldiers. McCurtain found the former camp of the 6th Kansas now abandoned, but did manage to captured a few horses, a drove of cattle and 11 Union soldiers.

At the same time, the 2nd Creek Regiment and a few Cherokee soldiers were sent up into the Poteau Bottom opposite the Poteau River from the main garrison of Fort Smith. Taking up positions along the bank, they fired across into the garrison, creating "great excitement and some consternation."

As these activities were underway, Cooper advanced up the Fort Towson (today's Towson Avenue) and State Line Roads toward the Federal positions along the south side of Fort Smith. The historic city had been enclosed with a semi-circular line of rifle pits that connected strong redoubts or forts placed on high points around the city. One of these, Battery Number Four, stood on the high hill near today's intersection of Towson and Dodson Avenues. Because the fort was manned by African American troops, the hill was described in Confederate reports as "Negro Hill." The photo above was taken from a position near the site of Battery Number 4 at the top of the hill looking south down Towson Avenue, the route by which part of Cooper's force attacked.

Advancing on the morning of July 31, 1864, Cooper's forces overran a Union picket camp about 4 1/2 miles south of town and continued to drive up the parallel roads toward Battery Number Four.

Led by Brigadier General Stand Watie, the Confederate advance struck hard and fast, quickly closing in on the Union lines. Overrunning a Union camp and driving the Federals to their entrenchments, Watie and his men fell back to the camp they had captured where they sat down and enjoyed a "plentiful dinner" just prepared by the Union soldiers. They also captured a vast supply of camp equipment and other supplies, the value of which was estimated by General Cooper to be in excess of $130,000.

To support the attack, Cooper ordered forward two batteries of light artillery to take position on a hill overlooking the camp captured by General Watie and facing the hill topped by Battery Number Four. Wells' Texas Battalion, the Choctaw Brigade and the 1st Creek Regiment were ordered forward to support the guns.

I'll continue with more on Cooper and Watie's attack on Fort Smith in the next post. You can always read more on the Battle of Massard Prairie by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Battle of Massard Prairie Anniversary is Monday

Monday, July 27th, is the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas.

Fought on a broad prairie that was then on the outskirts of the important western Arkansas city of Fort Smith, the battle involved one of the last great open field cavalry charges in American history. It also marked one of the few occasions during the war that Union soldiers were documented as having scalped and mutilated Confederate dead.

The battle took place when a large Confederate force commanded by Brigadier General Richard L. Gano, who previously had served as an officer under the noted Southern cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan, stormed down from today's Fianna Hills ridge and swept across the open ground of Massard Prairie. The dramatic open field charge caught a full battalion of the 6th Kansas Cavalry and several companies of Union cavalry from Arkansas completely by surprise.

The Arkansas Feds, as they were called then, fled precipitately ahead of Gano's charge, but the troopers of the 6th Kansas tried to make a stand. Quickly surrounded, they bolted to the north in a dramatic effort to escape. The fight continued for nearly two miles across the open prairie before the main body of the Union troops surrendered. Virtually an entire battalion from the 6th Kansas Cavalry was captured, killed, wounded or scattered.

I'll take a closer look at some of the more interesting aspects of the battle over the next couple of days, but if you would like to read more, please consider my book The Battle of Massard Prairie. You can also order at www.amazon.com or learn more about the battle by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardindex.

If you are in the area, this weekend would be a great time to take a few minutes and walk the battlefield at Massard Prairie Battlefield Park, located near the intersection of Morgan and Red Pine in Fort Smith.

Battle of Massard Prairie now available through Amazon

I'm pleased to let you know that The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas is now in stock and available through www.amazon.com.

They can deliver the books by Christmas, so if you would like a copy as a gift for someone else (or for yourself!) there is still time to order. Just follow the link above and search for "battle of massard prairie."

The book is also available at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Northwest Arkansas and at the Fort Smith Museum of History in Fort Smith.

Published earlier this year, the book explores the July 27, 1864, Battle of Massard Prairie. Fought on the outskirts of Fort Smith, the battle was an overwhelming Confederate victory and was unique from a number of perspectives. You can learn more about the battle itself by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

New Review of Battle of Massard Prairie Book

Just a quick note to say thanks to the folks with the Northwest 15th Arkansas Infantry for the very kind review of my latest book, The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas.

They featured a review of the book on the front page of their September newsletter and were very kind in their remarks.

The organization is involved in WBTS reenacting in Arkansas and Oklahoma and you can learn more about them by visiting their website.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book, it is available in the museum at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Northwest Arkansas and at the Fort Smith Museum of History in Fort Smith.

Paperback copies can be purchased online by clicking here.

Harback copies are available directly from the printer by clicking here.

Cooper's Expedition to Fort Smith - Part Six

As they fell back from their victory at Massard Prairie, Gano's men passed over the ridges and open prairie to the Devil's Backbone (seen here).

Still hoping to draw a Federal pursuing force into an ambush along the commanding ridge south of Fort Smith, Gano moved slowly, making sure the Federal cavalry under Col. Judson was able to clearly see his men.

The very rear of the Confederate column skirmished with the oncoming Union troops, but it really amounted to little more than a sporadic exchange of shots with no casualties reported.

The Union officers simply were too stunned by the defeat at Massard Prairie and too concerned about the possibility of further disaster to engage in a spirited pursuit. Before they approached close enough for Gano to launch his planned ambush, they turned back to Fort Smith. In subsequent reports, they blamed the condition of their mounts for their lack of more aggressive action.

Realizing that there would be no pursuit and no second battle, Gano crossed his men over the Devil's Backbone to James Fork, a branch of the Poteau River and camped near the river that night before returning back to the main base at the old Choctaw Council House.

The stunning success of the attack on the 6th Kansas battalion at Massard Prairie electrified the main camp and news traveled like lighting across the mountains and prairies to the headquarters of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department and from there on east where it was recounted in newspapers as far away as Augusta, Georgia, and Richmond, Virginia.

The victory led General Cooper to begin considering a second aggressive action against Fort Smith, a move by which he hoped to secure even greater results.

We will have more on that when our series continues. Until the next post, you can read more about the Battle of Massard Prairie and related events by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Cooper's Expedition to Fort Smith - Part Three

The Confederates moved into position for their attack on the Union camp at Massard Prairie during the night of July 26, 1864.

Led by guides, Gano's men experienced considerable difficulty getting into position due to the darkness and confusing road and trail patterns. Finally, though, they camped during the early morning hours in a position they believed to be only four miles from Camp Judson.

Daybreak, however, revealed that they were still more than 8 miles from their destination. Despite this disappointment, the Confederates were still anxious for action and Gano got them up and moving.

Pushing northeast from Cedar Prairie, they rode up onto the ridge just south of Fort Smith that is now the site of Fianna Hills subdivision, a large suburban neighborhood. From the crest of this ridge they could look out over Massard Prairie and clearly see the cluster of trees at the Picnic Grove, where the Federal troops were camped.

Gano's plan called for a textbook double envelopment of the Union camp. One column of men, led by Colonels Folsom and Wells and consisting largely of Choctaw troops, was ordered to sweep to the right and strike against the left flank of the Union camp. A second column, led by Gano himself and composed primarily of Texans, would at the same time sweep to the left and strike the right flank of the Federal camp. This latter column would also detach a smaller force to advance through the grove and strike the Union force from the front.

With these arrangements made, the Confederates moved down the slope of the ridge and began to move into the open prairie. As the ground leveled, they urged their horses forward and began one of the great open field cavalry charges of the war in the west.

Our series will continue with the opening shots of the Battle of Massard Prairie. To read more before the next post, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Cooper's Expedition to Fort Smith - Part Two

We're resuming now our series on the Confederate Expedition against Fort Smith during the summer of 1864. I'm sorry I haven't been posting over the last few days, but hopefully we can catch up.

As his scouts and raiding parties brought information back to headquarters from their forays around Fort Smith, General Cooper developed a plan for an attack that he felt might have a reasonable chance of success. Union troops had ringed the town with a strong line of earthen fortifications and the Confederate force was not of sufficient strength to storm the works without sustaining great losses.

Instead, Cooper learned from his scouts that the Federals had moved several large bodies of troops into exposed positions around the town. Forage had grown so short at Fort Smith that Union commanders had little choice but to do this in order to save their horses and other livestock. The Southern general developed a plan for attacking one of this outlying camps, hoping to inflict damage and draw a pursuing Federal force into an ambush on the Devil's Backbone ridge south of Fort Smith.

The plan was placed in the quite capable hands of Brigadier General R.M. Gano. A native Kentuckian and resident of Texas before the war, Gano had achieved distinction east of the Mississippi as an able cavalry commander under the famed John Hunt Morgan.

Orders were sent for a striking force to assemble on the Poteau River in the Choctaw Nation on the afternoon of July 26, 1864. When Gano reached the launching point for the raid, however, he found that fewer troops had arrived than expected. Considering his options, he decided to alter the plan for the attack. Instead of carrying out Cooper's original plan (which called for a decoy force to lead pursuing Federal troops into an ambush while a larger Confederate force closed on them from the rear), Gano decided to strike a camp that scouts reported was in an exposed position on Massard Prairie.

This camp was Camp Judson, occupied by acting Major David Mefford's battalion from the 6th Kansas Cavalry. Assigned to a position at the "picnic" or "Diamond" Grove on Massard Prairie, an open grassland southeast of Fort Smith, the battalion was guarding a herd of horses that was being grazed on the open range. The battalion consisted of four companies from the 6th Kansas. Three companies of Arkansas Federal recruits were also camped at the position.

Our series will continue throughout the day on Sunday with a series of posts about the Battle of Massard Prairie. To read more until the next post, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Civil War Anniversaries in Fort Smith

The anniversaries of two of the most significant events in the history of Fort Smith - the 1864 Battles of Massard Prairie and Fort Smith - will pass over the next two weeks and I thought it might be interesting to mark the occasion with a new series.

Beginning tomorrow, I will start a series on Gen. Douglas B. Cooper's 1864 Confederate expedition against Fort Smith. I've previously devoted some attention to the Battle of Massard Prairie here, but this series will be more wide-ranging and will look at the expedition as a whole.

Over the next two weeks, please stop by for a continuing discussion of both battles, as well as an overview of Cooper's movements and their significance as preliminaries to the dramatic Southern success at the Second Battle of Cabin Creek a short time later.

Also, if you are interested in learning more on the expedition, please consider my recent book The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas. For more information, please click here.

Scalpings at Massard Prairie

The 27th of this month will mark the 144th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas.

The engagement took place when Confederate troops led by Gen. R.M. Gano swept down on the Union camp of Mefford's Battalion from the 6th Kansas Cavalry at Massard Prairie, a vast grassland on the outskirts of Fort Smith.

An overwhelming Southern victory, the battle was unique for a number of reasons. Among the most morbid, however, was the fact that it resulted in one of the few documented cases of scalping by Union soldiers during the Civil War.

After overrunning the Union camp and pursuing retreating Federals across miles of open prairie, the Confederate force withdrew quickly from the scene before Union reinforcements could reach the scene. Due to the speed with which they left the battlefield, Gano's men left a number of dead and seriously wounded soldiers behind.

According to 15-year-old James Robert Barnes, who witnessed the battle from the nearby home of his uncle, the Confederate dead were scalped by men in the Union force after the fight:

Someof the Federals with the artillery were Cherokee Indians, the White soldiers called the Cherokee "Pin Indians"...The Pin Indians cut a patch of scalp about the size of the palm of their hand off the top of the dead Rebels head, taking the scalp with them.

The bodies were then piled into a trench on the battlefield and buried.

This brief passage is the only known eyewitness account of scalpings carried out by Union troops in Arkansas. Confederate Native American soldiers were accused of scalping Union soldiers at the Battle of Pea Ridge. The Pea Ridge incident was widely publicized, but the Massard Prairie scalpings never entered the popular media of the time.

If you are interested in learning more about the Battle of Massard Prairie, please consider my new book: The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas. The book can be purchased online by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardbook. It is also available at the bookstore at Prairie Grove Battlefield Park in Northwest Arkansas.

Proceeds from each copy sold help fund the development of a driving tour at Cane Hill Battlefield in Washington County, Arkansas.

Massard Prairie, Part Five

This is part five of a continuing series on the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas. To read the previous posts, please scroll down or check the archive section.

It is a little known fact today that in 1864, Fort Smith stood at the very edge of the United States. Directly across the river from the fort was what during the 19th century was called the "Indian Territory," a large area of land set aside for the displaced members of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee and Seminole Nations, as well as a number of other peoples forced into the region.

The photograph above shows a reconstruction of the survey marker dividing Arkansas from the Choctaw Nation. The flat stone area next to it marks the site of the original wall of Fort Smith. Both can be seen at Fort Smith National Historic Site.

A large force of Choctaw Confederates took part in the Battle of Massard Prairie, forming the main force of the right or eastern-most wing of Gano's attack. As the general and his Texans struck the west side of the Union camp at Massard Prairie, the Choctaw horsemen swept around the grove to strike the east side of the camp.

The result was a well-conducted envelopment of the 6th Kansas Cavalry. The Union battleline soon found itself assaulted on both flanks and under fire from a third, smaller column that Gano send through the grove to attack the center. The Union left flank, facing heavy attack from the Choctaw column, was the first to give way. Although acting-Major Judson, commanding the 6th Kansas, supposedly gave orders for his entire battalion to retreat, the orders were not conveyed up and down the line. As a result, Judson fell back with the two companies on the left, leaving the two right companies to face Gano's full attack.

Our series will continue. Until the next post, you can read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie. Also please consider my new book, The Battle of Massard Prairie, now available by following the same link. Proceeds from the book support historic preservation efforts in Arkansas, including the new Cane Hill Driving Tour project.

Massard Prairie, Part Four

This is part four of a continuing series on the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas. To read the previous posts first, please scroll down the page or consult the Archives section.

The Confederates swept down from the nearby ridge at first light, forming into two attack columns and storming across the open prairie for the Union camp at Picnic Grove. They scattered a picket post on the Jenny Lind road and the sounds of gunfire alerted the officers of the 6th Kansas Cavalry that they were coming.

An eyewitness visiting one of the scattered families that lived along the southern edge of the prairie remembered that the Confederates rounded up deserters that had showed up that morning from their hiding places in the mountains looking for breakfast. At least one man was dragged from his house and executed.

Company B from the 6th Kansas Cavalry formed in line and moved forward to meet Gano's column as it thundered across the prairie. The soldiers hoped to protect the herd of horses until it could be driven in and protected, but the Confederates quickly cut off and captured the horses.

Fighting developed between the men of Gano's column and the men of of Company B. This alerted the rest of the camp that the battle was underway and the remaining three companies from the 6th Kansas formed in a ragged line of battle through the center of the camp (the site is seen in the photograph above). Meanwhile, Gano detached a portion of his column to form a third attacking force. This detachment struck the grove and advanced on the center of the Union camp while Folsom's column hit the Federal left flank. The fighting soon became general up and down the line.

The Battle of Massard Prairie was underway.

Our series will continue in the next post. Until then, read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie. Please also consider my new book - The Battle of Massard Prairie - now available by following the same link. All proceeds benefit historic preservation efforts in Arkansas, including the new Cane Hill Battlefield Driving Tour Project.

Massard Prairie, Part Three

Continuing with our series on the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas, this photo is a close-up view of the plaque on the UDC monument on the battlefield..

As darkness fell on the night of July 26, 1864, Gano's men began their approach on Fort Smith. The general planned to let his men rest once they reached a point about four miles from the Union camp at Massard Prairie. In the darkness, however, the guides became lost themselves and the Confederates spent much of the night stumbling around looking for the right road. Finally assured that he was in the right place, Gano ordered his men to get some rest.

Two hours later, they were back up and in their saddles and ready to move out. It was quickly discovered, however, that instead of reaching their planned jumping off point four miles from Massard Prairie they were actually twice that distance away.

Determined to strike as quickly as possible, Gano continued forward. The advancing Confederates scattered a small party of Union pickets and rode up over the mountain on the south side of Fort Smith where the Fianna Hills subdivision is located today. Reaching the crest of the mountain, they could look out across the broad expanse of Massard Prairie and see the Union camp at the "Picnic Grove."

General Gano divided his command into two columns. The first, under Colonel Folsom, would swing to the right and strike the left or east side of the Union camp. The second, commanded by Gano in person, would swing to the left and strike the right or west side of the Union camp.

With their plans clear, the Southern horsemen started down the slope of the mountain to begin their attack at Massard Prairie.

Our series will continue, but until the next post you can read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie Also please consider my new book, The Battle of Massard Prairie, now available by following the link. All proceeds from the book benefit historic preservation efforts in Arkansas.

Massard Prairie, Part Two

This is part two of a series on the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas.

By July of 1864, the Federal troops at Fort Smith were suffering from a critical shortage of hay for their livestock. To alleviate the situation, Gen. John Thayer sent large detachments of troops out onto the surrounding prairies. The primary responsibility of these units was to guard herds of cows and horses sent out to graze and to protect haycutting parties contracted to bring in as much fodder as possible.

Confederate scouts soon reported to Gen. Cooper that large detachments of Federal troops had taken up positions at several locations around Fort Smith. The presence of a battalion of the 6th Kansas Cavalry was noted at Massard Prairie and a second detachment of "Arkansas Feds" (Union soldiers from Arkansas) was reported camped a few miles south of town.

Deciding to move on the latter group, Cooper ordered Brig. Gen. R.M. Gano to assemble a force of roughly and launch an attack. The plan called for the Confederates to divide into three groups. Lt. Col. Jack McCurtain would take position on the Devil's Backbone, a prominent ridge south of Fort Smith, and prepare an ambush. His force consisted of a battalion from the Choctaw Nation that would soon become the 3rd Choctaw Cavalry. A second party, composed of men from the 2nd Choctaw Cavalry, commanded by Col. S.N. Folsom would advance to the outlying camp and try to trick the "Arkansas Feds" into pursuing them.

If Folsom was successful, the Union troops would follow him into the ambush at Devil's Backbone. The rest of the force, composed of around 500 soldiers from the Gano's Texas Brigade, would then swing in behind the Federals and pin them against McCurtain's men on the ridge.

When the strike force assembled on the afternoon of July 26, 1864, however, Gano quickly realized that the strategy was not likely to work. The force that assembled was smaller than expected, so he used discretion to alter the plan. Instead of trying to draw out the Arkansas Union troops, Gano decided instead to combine his force with Folsom's and attack the camp of the 6th Kansas Cavalry at dawn the next morning.

Our series on the Battle of Massard Prairie will continue in the next post. Until then, you can read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie. Also please consider purchasing my new book, The Battle of Massard Prairie, now available by following the link. Profits from the book are being donated to historic preservation efforts in Arkansas.

The Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas

Beginning tomorrow I will be starting a series on the Battle of Massard Prairie. Fought on July 27, 1864 on the outskirts of Fort Smith, this battle was one of the few overwhelming Confederate victories of the Civil War in Arkansas.

Although it was not as bloody as other major Southern victories like Poison Spring or Marks' Mills, the fight at Massard Prairie was a significant and fascinating engagement. It involved an open field cavalry charge that stretched across miles of open prairie and resulted in one of the few documented cases of Union troops scalping Confederate dead. Massard Prairie was also an important preliminary to the highly successful Cabin Creek Campaign and contributed significantly to the success of that operation.

Check back tomorrow for part one of the series. Until then, if you would like to read more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.