Nice Article in Times Record on 1861 seizure of Fort Smith

Barracks Building at Fort Smith

The Times Record had a nice article from Rusty Garrett yesterday on the seizure of Fort Smith in 1861 by state forces.

To read it, please click here.

The focus was the movement by state militia troops to seize the military post, although Arkansas had not yet seceeded from the Union. Upon hearing that hundreds of militiamen were on their way to Fort Smith under Colonel Solon Borland, Captain Samuel D. Sturgis, who soon became a Union general, ordered the evacuation of the post by his two companies from the 1st U.S. Cavalry.

Leaving just hours before the arrival of the state forces, Sturgis and his men set off across the border into the Choctaw Nation, carrying what supplies they could in 20 wagons. The evacuation took place at 9 p.m. on the night of April 23, 1861, just 10 days after the surrender of Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Among the few men left behind was Captain Alexander Montgomery, the assistant quartermaster. He provided the following report of the arrival of Colonel Borland and the Arkansas militiamen:

Quartermaster's Storehouse at Fort Smith

About two hours after his departure a body of troops under the command of Col. Solon Borland, aide-de-camp to his excellency the governor of the State of Arkansas, accompanied by the adjutant-general of the State, arrived in steamers and took possession of the post, making me a prisoner of war, under authority and by direction of the governor of the State. Maj. R.C. Gatlin, Fifth Infantry, who happened to be in the garrison at the time on a visit, was also made prisoner of war. On giving our parole that we would not fight against the State of Arkansas or the Southern Confederate States during the existing difficulties between the latter and the United States, unless exchanged, we were permitted to go at large. The force under Colonel Borland consisted of 235 men, rank and file, with battery of artillery. Colonel Borland demanded and has taken possession of all the public property at the post and in its vicinity, inventories of which will be forwarded to the proper bureau.- Capt. Alexander Montgomery, April 24, 1861.

You can read more of the official reports on the capture at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortsmithseizure3.

You can also learn more about the entire history of Fort Smith by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortsmith.

The Seizure of the Arkansas Cannon in 1861

On April 17, 1861, a mob of citizens stormed aboard two steamboats tied up on the waterfront at Cincinnati, Ohio. The vessels were the Glendale and the Ohio No. 3. On board they carried a massive shipment of armament and supplies including field guns, similar to the one shown here that is on display at Fort Smith National Historic Site.

The 23 large boxes of supplies were being shipped from New York to Arkansas to fill an order placed in February of 1863 by Governor Henry Rector. Although Arkansas had not yet seceded from the Union and would not do so until May, the governor and other key leaders of the state were doing their best to prepare for the war that they felt would unavoidably reach Arkansas. A large shipment of miltiary supplies was contracted from a firm in New York for delivery as soon as possible.

The shipment aboard the steamboats included artillery carriages, ammunition, arms and field guns. There was also a large number of training manuals for use in drilling the state's raw militia.

By the arms and other supplies made their way to Baltimore and across the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to the Ohio River, the North was up in arms over the Confederate bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. A mob stormed aboard the steamboats and seized all of the military materials, which included only part of the the total order.

The shipment was soon seized by the U.S. Marshal at Cincinnati persuant to the orders of the U.S. District Attorney there. This led to a court battle over the true ownership of the cannon and other material. It ultimately was ordered to be returned to the New York firm that had shipped it. The guns were provided to New York artillery units and went on to serve against Confederate forces during the war.

To read a full 1861 account of this unusual episode, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/arkansascannon.

The Southern Seizure of Fort Smith, April 23, 1861

Even as Arkansas deliberated the critical move of joining her sister Southern states in leaving the Union, the clouds of war loomed on the state's western borner.

The U.S. Army maintained a garrison at Fort Smith in 1861 and pro-secession leaders in Arkansas realized that as long as Federal troops held the fort, it would be a thorn in the side of their dreams of an independent Southern nation.

As a result, the state called out its militia and organized a military force to take Fort Smith, fully realizing that if the fort's garrison resisted, war could result even while the state was still part of the Union. Led by Colonel Solon Borland, the Arkansas troops left Little Rock and headed up the Arkansas River by steamboat. The force of infantry and artillery grew as it moved. In a final stop in Van Buren, for example, additional militiamen joined Borland's force.

Well aware that Borland was coming, Major Samuel Sturgis of the 4th U.S. Cavalry deliberated what to do. Finally deciding that he could not hope to hold the large fort with the small command at his disposal, Sturgis decided that the time had come to go. As Borland's command steamed up the river, Sturgis gave the order for his men to prepare to evacuate Fort Smith.

Major Sturgis and his men left Fort Smith at 9 p.m. on the evening of April 23, 1861, heading for Fort Washita in what is now Oklahoma. Behind they left a couple of officers including the post quartermaster, a few soldiers, the women who did the post laundry and the sick men in the hospital.

Borland's men came off their boats just 2 hours after the U.S. soldiers left, claimed possession of the fort for Arkansas and took the few men remaining there as prisoners of war. They were quickly paroled and at least one, Major Richard C. Gatlin who was visiting the post, soon resigned his commission and went on to become a Confederate general.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortsmithseizure3.

Fort Smith - The Old Barracks

Continuing our look at Fort Smith National Historic Site, this brick structure is the highly altered barracks building of the old fort. Located inside the five-sided walls of the fort, the barracks were used by both Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War.

The U.S. garrison of the fort abandoned the post in the spring of 1861 after receiving word that an overwhelming force of state militia was coming to seize the works. State troops then occupied the barracks briefly. When Arkansas joined the Confederacy, Fort Smith became a Confederate post and the barracks were occupied by Confederate troops. Southern soldiers remained here until 1863 when the post was abandoned ahead of a Union advance. The barracks were then used by Federal troops until the end of the war.

Fort Smith remained a military post until 1871, when it was abandoned. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas then made use of the barracks structure, adding a second floor and attaching a new wing, visible here in the left of the photograph, containing a much improved Federal jail.

The structure now contains the visitor center of the national historic site, along with the restored courtroom of "Hanging Judge" Isaac C. Parker. Among the exhibits are displays on the fort's Civil War history.

We will continue our look at Fort Smith over the next few days and you can also learn more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com (just scroll down to the Index and look for the links under the Arkansas section).