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 - Part Two

The Confederates attacked the Union camp on Massard Prairie in three columns.

The first, composed primarily of Choctaw and Chickasaw soldiers, swung off to the right and closed in on the left flank of the camp. As these soldiers advanced, they also captured a Confederate deserter at a home just south of the battlefield and summarily executed him.

The second and third columns advanced together in a sweeping motion to the left. They quickly captured the herd of horses being grazed by the Federals on the prairie and then approached the camp itself. As they came within range of the grove of trees sheltering the camp, the third column broke away from the second and moved into a center position between the two flanking columns. All three forces then advanced on the camp.

As they approached, one group of Union soldiers came out to fight the advancing Confederate left column, but soon withdrew back to the camp itself where a line of battle was formed through the tents and parade ground. The Federals fought bravely, but the effort was hopeless. They were both outnumbered and taken by surprise.

As the Confederates moved to completely surround them, they broke and began to fall back across the open prairie. The battle deteriorated into a running fight that continued for more than a mile until the last organized contingent of Union troops were finally convinced to surrender. In a battle lasting just minutes, Gano had not only carried out a sweeping triple movement, he had led charging soldiers on horseback across miles of open prairie. An entire battalion of the 6th Kansas Cavalry was either killed, wounded or, with a few exceptions, captured.

Moving out the prisoners as quickly as possible, the Confederates returned to the Union camp where they collected weapons, provisions, camp equipment and every other needed item they could carry away on horseback. The rest was burned.

The Confederates then withdrew leisurely within sight of Union reinforcements that were gathering on the opposite side of the prairie. Total Southern losses at Massard Prairie were 7 killed, 26 wounded and one missing. Total Union losses were 10 killed, 17 wounded and 117 captured. In addition, the Southern forces captured 200 Sharps rifles and 400 revolvers.

In the next post, I'll take a closer look at a second Confederate attack on Fort Smith that followed closely on the heels of the fight.

To learn more about the Battle of Massard Prairie, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Battle of Massard Prairie Anniversary - Part One

Today marks the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas.

Fought in the southeast quadrant of the modern city of Fort Smith, the battle was part of an important campaign launched by Confederate troops during the summer of 1864. Victory in the Red River Campaign allowed Southern forces to surge back north through the Ouachita Mountains and the Choctaw Nation to establish themselves once again along the line of the Arkansas River.

After successfully capturing a steamboat making its way upriver from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson and striking at Union forces around Roseville and at other points below Fort Smith, the Confederate General Douglas Cooper focused his attention on the main Union garrison.

Federal troops and local citizens had spent the spring and summer strongly fortifying the town of Fort Smith with an semi-circular line of earthwork forts, batteries and rifle pits that ran from the Arkansas River above the town, around the ridges to its rear and back to the river below. In addition, Union soldiers occupied the main garrison of Fort Smith itself, protected by earth reinforced stone walls.

Cooper felt that he could probably take Fort Smith by storming the Federal lines, but also recognized that it that such an attack would be result in a terrible casualty rate to his forces. Instead, he opted to carry out a series of attacks designed to drive Union troops entirely within their works and eliminate their ability to effectively scout or secure forage for their animals. His strategy proved highly effective and opened the door for the dramatic Confederate sweep north through the Cherokee Nation that resulted in the massive victory at Cabin Creek, regarded as one of the greatest seizures of Union supplies by Southern forces during the entire war.

To put his plan into motion, Cooper sent Brigadier General Richard Gano forward from a base in what is now eastern Oklahoma with a mixed force of both white and Native American cavalry. The initial plan was for Gano to decoy Union troops from Fort Smith out and into an ambush at the Devil's Backbone, a substantial ridge that ran east to west across the horizon south of the city. Gano, an outstanding cavalry commander who had earlier served with the famed Morgan in Kentucky and Tennessee, was forced to change the plan when his force proved smaller than expected and the positions of the Federal troops around Fort Smith were different than expected.

Instead, he learned from scouts that a large force of Union cavalry was camped in the Diamond or Picnic Grove on Massard Prairie. Then a vast open prairie just southeast of the city, Massard Prairie offered outstanding grazing for Union livestock and the shaded grove was a comfortable campsite for Union troops. Camped there in a semi-permanent position were four companies of the 6th Kansas Cavalry and three companies of "Arkansas Feds."

Believing that he could strike and destroy this force, Gano moved into position south of Fort Smith during the night of July 26, 1864, and on the morning of July 27th swept down from what is today recognized as the Fianna Hills neighborhood in one of the great open field cavalry charges of the Civil War. The Union troops were caught completely by surprise.

I will continue to look at the Battle of Massard Prairie in the next couple of posts. Until then, you can read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardindex or by ordering my 2008 book, The Battle of Massard Prairie. It is available from www.amazon.com or can be purchased at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Northwest Arkansas. The Fort Smith Museum of History is temporarily sold out, but will have more soon.

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.

New Exhibit on CSS Arkansas in Little Rock

The Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in Little Rock has announced a new exhibit on one of the most famous ironclads of the Civil War, the C.S.S. Arkansas. This photo shows a section of replica armor from the exhibit.

Built on the Yazoo River in Mississippi in remarkable time, the Arkansas was a makeshift ironclad plated with railroad track. Despite the conditions under which she was built, the lack of materials available to her builders, and the overall "ramshackle" nature of the project, she was one of the most successful ironclads launched by the Confederacy.

Here is the official press release from the museum:

Nearly 150 years ago, in the spring of 1862, a warship was being built in a makeshift shipyard in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Her armor, pieces of railroad track, had to be pulled out of the river where they had sunk. Unpainted, the rusted rails gave the vessel her only color.

This new ship fought not one, but three battles in a single day, one against an entire enemy fleet. Afterward, her captain would write, “We stood for them, fought them, ran by them at pistol-shot distance…and I think, did much injury…”

150 years ago, one ship thwarted the ambitions of not one, but two enemy fleets. One ship returned 400 miles of river to friendly control.

The ship? The Ironclad Ram CSS Arkansas.

Learn about this one-of-a-kind vessel, built under the direst circumstances imaginable. Touch replicas of her armor, see her weaponry, and read about her short career by visiting the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum (AIMM) and touring their new exhibit, “We Fought Them” – The Ironclad CSS Arkansas. This exhibit will also feature artwork loaned to the museum by artist Dan Dowdey and never before exhibited to the public.

AIMM is located just blocks from both Verizon Arena and Dickey-Stephens Park in downtown North Little Rock and short walk across the Junction Bridge from the Riverwalk in downtown Little Rock. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday. For more information call the museum at 371-8320 or visit http://www.aimm.museum/.

Beaver Bridge marks important Civil War crossing site

Sometimes called the "Little Golden Gate" of Arkansas because of its similarity to its better known California cousin, the historic Beaver Bridge over the White River marks the site of an important crossing in use long before the Civil War.

The existing bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the last suspension bridge of its type in Arkansas. Built in 1949, it is located on Arkansas Highway 187 about 6.6 miles northwest of Eureka Springs. Only wide enough for traffic to move in one direction at a time, the bridge still has wooden floors and rails.

The little community of Beaver, which overlooks the bridge, has fewer than 100 residents but is picturesque and extremely rich in Arkansas history. It was one of the settings for the made for television epic, The Blue and the Gray.

Beaver gained its unique name in 1850 when Wilson A. Beaver moved his family there from Tennessee. He operated a ferry, mill, inn and other establishments for many years. The crossing, in fact, had numerous brushes with American history.

In 1857, for example, the Fancher wagon train crossed the White River here on its way from Arkansas to what its members thought would be prosperous new lives in California. Instead, they were brutally murdered in Utah at what became known as the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

In 1862, local tradition holds that General Sterling Price stopped at the Beaver home following the disastrous Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Both Union and Confederate forces passed back and forth through the area for the rest of the war, as did the notorious guerrilla gangs that hid out deep in the Ozarks.

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

General Francis L. Shoup at Prairie Grove

One of the more fascinating participants in the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, was Brigadier General Francis A. Shoup.

A native of Indiana, Shoup was Northern born and raised. He was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from Indiana and graduated 15th in the Class of 1854. He served in Florida's Third Seminole War from 1856-1858, chasing small bands of Seminole warriors through the great swamps of South Florida.

By 1860 Shoup had resigned his commission and was back in Indiana. When he learned of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, he formed a company of Zoaves in Indianapolis to defend against possible abolitionist insurrections. When the secession of the Southern states became evident, however, Shoup resigned from the Indianapolis company and walked away from his Indiana friends and family to offer his sword to the Governor of Florida. Moving to St. Augustine, he was appointed a lieutenant by the governor and ordered to erect an artillery battery at Fernandina, Florida. He was soon commissioned into the regular Confederate military.

By October of 1861, he was promoted to Major and served in Kentucky as commander of twelve pieces of artillery with a force of Arkansas troops. At the Battle of Shiloh, he commanded artillery and was the officer that massed the Confederate artillery against Union General Prentiss's troops in one of of the most brutal open field bombardments of the war.

After Shiloh, Shoup was ordered west to Arkansas where Major General Hindman was organizing a new army. Promoted to Brigadier General, he served as Hindman's Chief of Artillery and was on the field at the Battle of Prairie Grove.

After Prairie Grove, Shoup was ordered to Mobile, Alabama, but was in Missisippi for the Battle of Vicksburg, where he was among those captured on July 4, 1863. Eventually exchanged, he served during the Atlanta Campaign and was among those who urged the Confederate Congress to allow the enlistment of slaves in the Confederate Army.

After the war, Shoup entered the ministry with the Episcopal Church and eventually became a professor of metaphysics at the University of the South in Tennessee. He authored books on infantry tactics and algebra.

To learn more about the Battle of Prairie Grove, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasPG1.

Ozark, Arkansas - Civil War Landmark

One of my favorite communities in Arkansas is the beautiful city of Ozark. Nestled on the banks of the Arkansas River, the community has a rich history that dates back for hundreds of years.

French fur trappers and hunters frequented this area during the 1600s and 1700s. In fact, it is believed that today's "Ozark" originated from the French term "Aux Arc" ("The Arc"). The term is thought by some to refer to the sweeping bend of the Arkansas River where Ozark is located. It has grown to apply not just to the vicinity, but to the entire mountainous region known today as the Ozarks.

During the Civil War, Ozark was an important base of operations for Confederate troops following the Battle of Prairie Grove. General W.L. Cabell marched from Ozark in April of 1863 on his way to the Battle of Fayetteville. Today's Pig Trail Scenic Byway follows part of the old road that led north through the mountains from Ozark to Fayetteville.

Several small engagements were fought at Ozark during the last two years of the Civil War and a monument on the grounds of the courthouse pays tribute to a Confederate officer who was killed just north of town.

The area was also frequented by guerrilla bands that hid out in the mountains just north of town. These groups, some associated with the Confederates, some associated with the Federals and some worried only about themselves, terrorized local citizens both during and after the war.

Ozark today is a beautiful community. Overlooking the river, the city's museum includes fascinating exhibits on area history. It is also a stop on the water route of the Trail of Tears. There are historic structures, a nice collection of monuments on the grounds of the courthouse, and the Arkansas River bridge at Ozark offers what has been named one of the finest views in the country. And by the way, Rivertowne BBQ in downtown Ozark cooks up some of the finest BBQ in the South. To learn more about Ozark, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ozark.

Remembering American History on Independence Day!

I hope you have a great Indepence Day! If you are in Arkansas and looking for something to do to help remind your friends or family members of the state's magnificent role in American history, here are some locations you might consider:

Arkansas Post National Memorial near Gillett was the site of the last battle of the American Revolution, the oldest European settlement west of the Mississippi and the first capital of Arkansas as well as a major Civil War battle.

Fort Smith National Historic Site in Fort Smith was the site of a major frontier military outpost as well as the courtrooom of U.S. District Judge Isaac C. Parker, best remembered as the "Hanging Judge" of the Old West.

Hot Springs National Park preserves America's oldest preserve established to protect a natural wonder.

Massard Prairie Battlefield Park in Fort Smith was the site of a significant cavalry battle during the Civil War.

Pea Ridge National Military Park in Benton County was the site of one of the most significant battles of the Civil War.

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Prairie Grove was the site of a brutal Civil War battle.

Drive safely and celebrate our nation's proud and unique history this 4th of July!

Updated Battle of Cane Hill website now online

One of the more fascinating Civil War actions in Arkansas took place on November 28, 1862, during the opening phases of the Prairie Grove Campaign.

An estimated 5,000 Union troops led by Brigadier General James G. Blunt attacked three brigades of Confederate cavalry commanded by Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke at the Battle of Cane Hill. The Southern troops had crossed the Boston Mountains from the Arkansas River in the opening move of Major General Thomas C. Hindman's march that would end at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862. For nine hours, Marmaduke's outnumbered Confederates fought a delaying action that raged across miles of mountains, valleys and ravines.

You can learn more about the Battle of Cane Hill, see photographs of the battlefield and read transcriptions of both Union and Confederate reports of the fighting at the newly updated www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ARCaneHill. You can also pre-order Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign, William L. Shea's soon to be released hardcover book at the site.

Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas - Conclusion

The allegations that Union soldiers were massacred as the fighting deteriorated has long clouded the memory of the Confederate victory at the Battle of Poison Spring.

The story of what happened as the Union lines broke, in fact, is remarkably similar to the situation at the so-called "Fort Pillow Massacre" in Tennessee when General Nathan Bedford Forrest's men overran a Federal position and pursued black Union troops down a bluff to the edge of the Mississippi River. In both cases, Southern troops were later accused of murdering African American soldiers.

Based on the surviving documentary evidence, there can be no doubt that killings did take place at Poison Spring as Union soldiers fled the battlefield. One Confederate participant wrote after the battle that he saw black Union soldiers being killed by Choctaw warriors fighting with the 1st and 2nd Choctaw Regiments of the 2nd Indian Brigade. These warriors were outraged over raids carried out by Union soldiers from Fort Smith, Arkansas, into the Choctaw Nation earlier that year. Homes had been burned, crops destroyed, family possessions looted, women and children harmed or left homeless and men killed. The Choctaw soldiers, as might be expected, took this personally and when the Federal lines broke at Poison Spring, they did "kill and scalp some" as one eyewitness wrote.

Other eyewitnesses, however, reported that the African American soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored so prized their weapons that they fled the battlefield clinging desperately to them. If this is correct, which it probably was, then Confederate soldiers confronting them would still have considered the men armed combatants. A very similar situation was reported at Fort Pillow as well.

It should further be noted that Colonel James Williams, the Union commander at the battle, reported that "fully one-half of my infantry engaged were either killed or wounded" before the final Confederate assault broke the Southern lines and forced the Union troops to retreat. This is fairly consistent with post-battle casualty totals.

It should also be noted that muster rolls and other documents reveal that the total loss in killed for Union troops during the battle was much smaller than is often stated. Although many sources report that 236 or more Federal soldiers were killed at Poison Spring, the actual verifiable number was 124. Several others died in hospitals after the battle.

It should be noted that the 1st Kansas Colored did suffer by far the most severe casualties in the battle. It must also be considered, however, that the regiment was positioned at a point on the battlefield where it was attacked both in front and from the flank and also was under heavy cannon fire from two directions. The regiment was hit by the main Confederate attack and by all accounts the men fought with great courage.

In short, while there is evidence that men were killed after the main fighting at Poison Spring, the evidence is not so compelling as to warrant allegations of an intentional massacre of Union troops.

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

Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas - Union Casualties

So what really happened at Poison Spring on April 18, 1864? Was there a brutal massacre of Union black troops? Did hundreds die as some modern writers insist?

A review of the surviving records of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers (later the 79th U.S. Colored Troops), reveals the names of 107 men killed in action, 12 wounded (one of whom was captured) and two prisoners of war, or a total loss of 121 men.

The number killed in action who can be indentified today is remarkably close to the number reported just two days after the battle by Major Richard G. Ward of the 1st Kansas. He reported a loss of 5 officers and 112 enlisted men killed, or a total of 117. He also reported 2 officers and 63 men wounded.

Since the names of men with minor wounds were often not included on regimental reports, especially for African American regiments of that day, there is no reason to suspect that Major Ward's numbers are inaccurate. It is safe to conclude, then, that the total loss of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers at the Battle of Poison Spring was probably around 117 killed, 65 wounded and 2 captured. This represents a total loss for the regiment of 185.

Records of other Union units present at Poison Spring provide the names of another 7 killed, 26 wounded (of whom 17 were captured and 1 listed as missing in action) and 56 captured or missing in action.

This places verifiable Union casualties in the battle at 124 killed, 91 wounded and 58 captured or missing in action. Seventeen of the wounded were also reported as captured and an 18th was listed as missing in action, but they are listed here only with the wounded. This would place the total verifiable Union loss in the battle at 273.

Obviously, this is a severe loss for a small battle, but it is somewhat below the 301 listed by the National Park Service. And the total killed of 124 is far fewer than the 236 or more listed (without names) by some sources.

Part of the confusion seems to originate from the fact that 17 of the wounded were also taken prisoner. They appear to often be listed among both totals, which leads to inaccuracies. Other errors result from the fact that a number of men initially listed as "Missing in Action" eventually returned to their regiments. All eight of the missing in action from the 18th Iowa Infantry, for example, eventually turned back up.

The intial Confederate reports of the battle, while they far overstated Union dead at 400 to 600 (impossible figures since these totals would represent more men lost than reported by all of the Union units present at the battle during the entire war), were more accurate in their statements that roughly 100 Union soldiers had been wounded and around 120 captured. This initial estimate included some prisoners who were released on the day of the battle as well as some wounded prisoners who later died.

The question that remains is whether Union soldiers were killed after they surrendered, especially in large numbers. I will explore the evidence for and against a massacre at Poison Spring in the next post. Until then, you can read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.

The Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas - Part Three

This is part three of a series of posts on the Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas. To read the previous posts, please scroll down the page or check the Archives section.

The Battle of Poison Spring unfolded much better than either Marmaduke or Maxey could have hoped. The "L" shaped position taken by the Confederate forces (see map in previous post) gave them an immediate tactical advantage.

Colonel Williams formed his men into a line of battle facing Maxey's men, who were all but invisible in the woods and underbrush south of the road. In doing so, he allowed himself to be drawn into a trap exactly as Marmaduke had hoped. The Union colonel's report, in fact, describes an extremely confusion situation for the Federal soldiers even with the benefit of post-battle hindsight. It appeared to them that Confederates were coming from all directions and, in truth, they were.

As Williams was moving men back and forth and trying to make some sense of the situation, the Confederates suddenly opened on his lines with artillery. The Union commander reported that batteries fired on him from the front (Maxey's position) and his right flank (Marmaduke's position).

Simultaneous with the opening of artillery fire, the Confederates under Maxey advanced their line. Heavy fighting followed as the Union forces, anchored by the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers, tried to hold off the motivated Confederate attackers. It did not take long for the 3 to 1 numerical superiority of the Southern forces to show.

Although the Union line was able to beat back attacks, Colonel Williams reported that this was achieved at great cost. He later reported that in short order half of his command had been either killed or wounded.

The attack by Maxey was designed to focus the attention of the Union troops and in this it achieved its goal spectacularly. When Marmaduke ordered forward his brigades against the Union right flank, the battle quickly turned into a debacle for the Federal forces. Initially fighting hard as they went, the Union troops began to retreat in the face of the Confederate attack on their flank. Realizing the critical moment was at hand, Maxey once again advanced his men as well.

Although Colonel Williams' tried to withdraw his men from the battlefield in order, the crushing attack prevented this effort. The retreat turned into a route and by the time it was over, the Confederates had pursued the scattered Union command for over two miles.

Union losses at Poison Spring were shocking. An estimated 204 Federal soldiers were reported killed or missing following the battle, while another 97 were listed as wounded. The exact number killed is somewhat difficult to determine. Williams claimed that a number of wounded soldiers from the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers were murdered on the spot by Confederate forces. There is some confirmation of this in the writings of Southern participants, one of whom noted that killings were carried out by members of 1st and 2nd Choctaw regiments. The men of these units had a particular grudge against the soldiers of the 1st Kansas because of the harsh treatment dealt on homes and families in the Choctaw Nation by that regiment prior to the Red River Campaign. One eyewitness reported that the outraged warriors retaliated at Poison Spring and "did kill and scalp some."

General Marmaduke's report listed 100 wounded and 120 non-wounded Union soldiers as having been taken prisoner at Poison Spring, while he estimated the number of dead on the ground at an impossibly high 400-600. He also reported the capture of 195 wagons, 4 pieces of artillery and 1,200 mules while listing his own losses at 13 killed, 81 wounded and 1 missing.

I will have more on the Battle of Poison Spring in the next post. Until then, read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.

Map of Poison Spring Battlefield, Arkansas

To help you better visualize the tactics of the Battle of Poison Spring, I prepared the map below using information from the forms submitted for the Red River Campaign National Landmark designation.

The troop positions shown here are approximate and are merely intended to provide an idea of how the battle unfolded, so they are not scale and are generalized. The gray lines represent the positions of the Confederate troops as the battle developed. The blue line represents the position of the Union wagon train during the battle. As with most maps, north is up, south is down, west is left and east is right.

The Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas - April 18, 1864

As Colonel James Williams and his force of Union raiders tried to make their way back to Camden on the morning of April 18, 1864, with nearly 200 wagons loaded down with confiscated corn and stolen goods, a Confederate force of roughly 3,600 men with 12 pieces of field artillery moved to intercept them.

Williams and his men were following the Washington-Camden road, which ran along the route of today's Arkansas Highway 76. Moving slowly due to their heavily laden wagons, the Federals approached a small water source known locally as Poison Spring at around 10 a.m. Their vanguard was met there by Confederate troops led by General John S. Marmaduke.

Marmaduke reacted boldly, driving back the forward elements of the Union column and seizing a ridge that would prove a critical position in the coming battle. The Washington-Camden Road led up and over this ridge, so Marmaduke positioned his force directly across it. Cabell's and Crawford's brigades of dismounted Confederate cavalry formed the main Southern line, with Greene's brigade (also dismounted) held in reserve. Marmaduke's personal escort was placed in advance of the main line to serve as skirmishers.

The main Confederate position was near the eastern edge of today's Poison Spring State Park, while the Union wagon train stretched down the road from roughly the area of the state park west to the vicinity of the Poison Spring Lookout Tower, a distance of nearly two miles. Virtually the entire battlefield is now preserved in either the state park or the adjoining state forest.

Just as the battle began, Marmaduke was reinforced by the arrival of his commanding officer, General S.B. Maxey, with additional men and artillery. Although Maxey was the senior officer on the field, he declined Marmaduke's offer to accept command because the latter general had already initiated the battle and was more familiar with the ground.

After a brief conference, it was decided that Marmaduke would hold his position astride the road, while Maxey would move off to the left (opposite the road from today's state park) and form his men at a right angle to the initial Confederate line. This resulted in an "L" shaped line with Marmaduke at the base and Maxey to the left.

The Confederate plan was for Maxey to engage the Union forces that were moving into position to protect their wagons and convince them that the main Confederate attack would come from the pine woods to the south of the road. Once the Federals deployed to meet this anticipated attack, Marmaduke would then storm forward with Crawford's and Cabell's brigades and overrun what he expected would be the right flank of the Union line.

To help you better visualize the positions of the troops, I will include a map in the next post. Until then, learn more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.