"The Battle of Massard Prairie" now available as a Kindle instant download

My 2008 book, The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas, is now available as an instant download for the Amazon Kindle reading device or Amazon's free Kindle software for your computer or smart phone. The instant download is priced at only $4.95.

Fought on July 27, 1864, the Battle of Massard Prairie was the largest Civil War action in the immediate Fort Smith area and resulted in the virtual annihilation of a battalion of the 6th Kansas Cavalry in a devastating open field attack by a Confederate cavalry force.

The battle developed when Confederate General Douglas Cooper learned that a battalion of the Union 6th Kansas was camped in the "Diamond" or "Picnic" grove on Massard Prairie, outside the fortifications that surrounded the City of Fort Smith. He sent General Richard Gano and a large mounted force to attack the Federals, hoping to draw them back into an ambush at the Devil's Backbone ridge south of Fort Smith.

When Gano's cavalry force assembled just across the line in what is now Oklahoma, however, he realized that he had fewer men than expected. He took the initiative and altered his plan of attack, deciding instead to sweep down on the unsuspecting Union soldiers from three directions at daybreak on the morning of July 27, 1864,

The attack was a brilliant success. The Union line of battle crumbled almost as soon as it was formed and Gano's force of Texas, Choctaw and Chickasaw cavalry chased the Federals for more than one mile across the open prairie. By the time the smoke had cleared, the 6th Kansas Cavalry had lost 144 of the roughly 200 men camped on Massard Prairie. The Confederates lost 34 men in the battle.

In addition, Gano's men captured 200 Sharps rifles, 400 six-shooters, horses, supplies, camp equipment and more. The action was described in military reports of the time as "a right gallant little affair."

The Kindle download can be ordered by clicking the ad at the upper left. You can also learn morea bout the Battle of Massard Prairie by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardindex.

Oklahoma to close Heavener Runestone State Park

Waterfall at Heavener Runestone State Park

I mention this here because it is a popular destination for residents in western Arkansas and is well know for its controversial carvings that some say prove Vikings visited Arkansas and Oklahoma centuries ago.

According to a report in the Poteau Daily News, Heavener Runestone State Park in Heavener is one of seven Oklahoma State Parks that will be closed by the state tourism and recreation department on August 15, 2011, as part of planned budget cuts. According to the newspaper's report, if the park is closed the land and improvements on it will automatically revert back to the original owners.

Heavener Runestone State Park attracts around 100,000 visitors a year, providing a significant economic impact on western Oklahoma. The loss of the tourism dollars would have a dramatic impact on the area.

Carvings on Heavener Runestone

The park takes its name from the famed Heavener Runestone, one of a series of strange rock carvings found in the area. Some say that the strange letters or runes spell out the word Glomesdal or Gnomesdal, which can be translated roughly to "Valley of Glome" or Valley of the Gnomes." I tend to favor the latter translation because the huge boulder is found in a beautiful ravine that brings to mind a place where the ancients say gnomes would have lived.

The issue of its authenticity is controversial. Some believe that the runestone offers proof that ancient Norse explorers made their way up the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers as far as western Oklahoma. Others believe that the carving is a modern forgery, or possibly just a modern carving meant to add some mystique to the place.

Either way, the park is one of the most beautiful in Arkansas. The views from atop Poteau Mountain are spectacular and the spring blooms and waterfalls are stunning. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/heavener1.

Alabama - Arkansas Redoubt at Port Hudson, Louisiana

Alabama-Arkansas Redoubt at Port hudson

The beautifully preserved earthworks of the Alabama - Arkansas Redoubt are among the most impressive surviving features at the Port Hudson battlefield in Louisiana.

This position was one of the key Confederate defenses of Port Hudson, a major citadel on the Mississippi River that was established in 1862 to prevent Union warships from reaching the vital intersection of the Mississippi and Red Rivers. Having failed to retake Baton Rouge in August of that year, the Confederates positioned heavy artillery atop the high bluff at Port Hudson. The first attempt by the Union navy (in September 1862) to blast the position into submission failed and in the months that followed the Confederate army fortified Port Hudson with some of the strongest works in the Confederacy.

Ditch of the Redoubt

The Union Navy tried again in March of 1863 when Admiral David G. Farragut tried to lead a flotilla past Port Hudson. The Confederate fire was so accurate and so fierce that only two of his ships made it past. The U.S.S. Mississippi was destroyed and the other vessels had to turn back. Port Hudson had twice proved its value as a defensive point.

The Union finally moved against Port Hudson in force in May of 1863 when General Nathaniel P. Banks led an army of more than 30,000 men against Confederate General Franklin Gardner and his 7,500 men. Banks expected to be able to easily storm the position, but instead the Confederate rolled back two major attacks with devastating results. In the second, on June 14, 1863, the Union army suffered 1,792 casualties compared to only 47 for the Confederates.

View from Inside the Redoubt

Among the Southern regiments defending Port Hudson were the 18th Arkansas Infantry and the 23rd Arkansas Infantry. The two regiments were positioned at a key point on the northern defenses of Port Hudson, where a strong earthwork was built as the siege progressed. The fire from the Alabama - Arkansas Redoubt was so intense that the Union army never even reached its walls throughout the entire siege.




The redoubt today is one of the major preserved parts of the Port Hudson battlefield. Located along the main walking trail that leads through the ravines and ridges from the museum and visitor center, the earthworks and ditches of the redoubt provide an excellent place to stand where Arkansas soldiers once stood and learn about their role in the longest complete siege of the Civil War.

To learn more about Port Hudson, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/porthudson.

Rumors of War in Fort Smith, February 6, 1861

19th Century map of Indian Territory

Although Arkansas voters had not yet made their decision to convene a Secession Convention, the state like much of the South was caught in an outbreak of war fever.

News reached Fort Smith on the state's far western border 150 years ago tomorrow of a plan by troops from Texas, which had already seceded, to move on the U.S. Army posts in the Indian Territory of today's Oklahoma. The forts were important points of supply and defense that would critical in the war that everyone new was coming. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole and Cherokee Nations created a buffer zone between the Southern state of Texas and the Northern state of Kansas. Their control would likely lead to control of the Indian Territory as well.

The following account from Fort Smith appeared on the front page of the New York Herald on February 7, 1861:

IMPORTANT FROM THE INDIAN TERRITORY.

Threatened Attack on Forts Washita, Cobb and Arbuckle – The Little Rock, Ark., Arsenal Seized.

Fort Smith, Ar., Feb. 6, 1861.

Advices received today by the editor of the Thirty Fifth Parallel state that the Texans have threatened to take possession of Forts Washita, Cobb and Arbuckle, in the Indian Territory.

It is thought that the force at each of these stations is sufficient to protect them.

The conductor of the overland mail from Little Rock, Ark., reports that the arsenal there was taken possession of by State troops on Saturday evening last.

The rumors about Forts Washita, Cobb and Arbuckle was accurate, although no expedition for that purpose was yet underway.

To read about historic sites in Oklahoma, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/oklahoma1.

Traveler from Fort Smith describes "Trophy" of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

19th Century Engraving of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

As late as February of 1861, the frontiers remained stunned by the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a bloody slaughter that took place when Mormon militia and Indian allies attacked a wagon train making its way from Arkansas to California near present-day St. George, Utah.

The attack on members of the Fancher-Baker party came on September 11, 1857, as they were driving a herd of hundreds of cattle west to California where beef was desperately needed in the golf fields. Noted Mormon or L.D.S. missionary Parley Pratt had recently been killed in Arkansas and the tension between the Mormon emigrants who had settled in Utah and the United States was growing. For reasons that continue to be debated today, militia members and their Indian allies attacked the wagon train, took the cattle and other supplies, and killed an estimated 120 or more members of the party. Only 18 small children were spared to be adopted into local Mormon families. They were subsequently taken into the custody of the U.S. government and returned to their families in Arkansas.

Arkansas Grave of Parley Parker Pratt

In February of 1861, a traveler from Fort Smith reached Stockton, California, with the gruesome story of having seen a riata or lasso made from the hair of the victims of the massacre:

A RIATA MADE OF WOMAN’S HAIR. – The Stockton (California) Republican learns that Mr. Connolly, who has just returned from Fort Smith, Arkansas, via Salt Lake, reports having seen a Texan purchase a riata one hundred feet in length of an Indian, for which he paid $20. The hair from which it was made was shorn from the heads of the women who were slain at the ever-to-be-rememebred massacre of the Mountain Meadows. The gentleman states that the riata was one of the most beautiful ever beheld, even while the scene of cold-blooded slaughter rose to his view as he looked upon this trophy of the savages and their Mormon allies, worse than savages. - Various Newspapers, February 1861.

Only one person was ever punished by man for his role in the massacre. John D. Lee, a leader in the Mormon militia at Mountain Meadows, was executed after the Civil War after being convicted of murder.

Beaver Bridge in Arkansas

There are several places in Arkansas where more can be learned about the events leading to the massacre. A monument to the victims stands in Harrison in northern Arkansas, where many of the members of the ill-fated party had lived prior to joining the wagon train. At Beaver near Eureka Springs, although few visitors realize it, the picturesque Beaver Bridge - often called the "Golden Gate of Arkansas" - spans the White River at the point where members of the Fancher-Baker party waded across during the early stages of their journey west. Learn more about the beautiful bridge and early history of the crossing at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/beaverbridge.

Also of interest is the monument near Alma and Van Buren marking the grave of slain LDS leader Parley Pratt, who was killed in Crawford County in May of 1857 (the same year as the massacre) by a part of vigilantes headed by the irate first husband by one of his plural wives. You can read more about the murder and monument by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/parleypratt.

February 1861 - A Gunfight in Fort Smith

Garrison Avenue in Fort Smith

As citizens from across Arkansas debated whether the state would join her Southern sisters in seceding from the Union, a violent situation of a different sort broke out in Fort Smith.

There was an old saying that there was "no law west of St. Louis and no God west of Fort Smith," and the events that took place there in February of 1861 gave some real meaning to the quote. A gunfight broke out in a local grocery and citizens swarmed into the streets with vengeance on their minds. The situation was so bad that soldiers from the post of Fort Smith had to intervene and even then they were not able to save the lives of all of the suspects involved:

Fort Smith National historic Site

A terrible tragedy occurred at Fort Smith, Arkansas, Thursday night. A party of five overland mail and Little Rock coach drivers entered the grocery of a German, named Hagge, and commenced quarreling; pistols were drawn on both sides; the barkeeper, named Butcher, was shot through the heart and died instantly; Hagge received a shot in the forehead and died at eight o’clock Friday morning. Three of the drivers, George Bennett, Matt Ellis and Pony Farmer, were arrested, and guarded by a company of military. The other two escaped. Intense excitement was created; a mob entered the justice’s office for the purpose of lynching them. – Farmer, one of the prisoners, broke from custody and attempted to escape. He was fired upon and instantly killed. The crowd then secured the remaining prisoners and made for a place of execution, but before they could carry out their designs the authorities interfered and secured the prisoners, and lodged them in Greenwood jail. The excitement in regard to the affair still continues intense. - Pittsfield Sun, February 28, 1861.

Accounts of the outbreak were carried in newspapers across both the Union and Confederacy, interrupting temporarily the drums of war being beaten by newspaper editors North and South.

You can read more about the history of Fort Smith at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ARFortSmith1.

January 5, 1861 - Mass Meeting in Van Buren

Crawford County Courthouse in Van Buren

The following appeared on page 5 of the January 7, 1861, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer and details a mass meeting that took place in Van Buren in support of the secession of Arkansas from the Union:

SECESSION MEETING AT VAN BUREN.

VAN BUREN, ARK., January 5 – The largest meeting ever held in Crawford county took place to-day, HENRY WALCOX presided. A series of resolutions were adopted nearly unanimously, declaring that the institutions of the slaveholding States ought to be maintained at every hazard and to the last extremity; that we view the personal liberty bills, passed for the purpose of defeating the execution of the Fugitive Slave law, as palpable infractions of the Constitution, and that we insist on their speedy repeal, and the faithful execution of said law as a condition to the restoration of fraternal relations; that it is our ardent desire to preserve the Union, if it can be preserved consistently with the honor, rights and interests of the slaveholding States, and favor a conference of the slaveholding States at Nashville, and, if need be, a convention of all the States, that, in the event of a failure by the South to obtain such a guaranty of their rights in the Union as may be compatible with its honor and interests, that they then insist upon an equitable division of the public property and the public debt, and if this cannot be obtained, they will separate from their Northern confederates, not peaceably, but that they will draw the sword and fight for the rights to the bitter end; that we are opposed to separate action, and especially the secession of Arkansas without co-operation; that a reasonable time should be given to the non-slave-holding States to retrace their steps and depose their unprincipled leaders, and give the South such guarantees as will secure their rights and equality in the Union; that though deploring the election of Mr. LINCOLN, we unhesitatingly declare that it is not, in itself, sufficient cause for a dissolution of the Union; that we tender our thanks to Messrs. CRITTENDEN, BIGLER, RUST, and others for their efforts in Congress to heal the unhappy dissensions which have arisen between the North and South, and to preserve the Federal Union consistently with the rights and honor of all the States; that we are in favor of a State Convention at an early day, and that we recommend to the Legislature an increase of ad valorem duties to forty-five cents on the $100, which will furnish resources to defray the purchase of arms and munitions of war, with which to protect our lives and our homes from aggression and menace.

You can learn more about Van Buren at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/vanburen.

Southern Eyewitness of Prairie Grove - Part Two

Prairie Grove Battlefield

Note: This is part two of a Southern eyewitness account of the Battle of Prairie Grove. Please click here to read part one.

We had approached within 80 yards, when the Yanks wavered and fled in every direction. Their wounded and dead lay everywhere, the wounded crying for mercy. The villains! Their own black deeds of murder, in their death agonies, came (flooding?) back to memory in his bloody (mind?), and they expected justice to be given them by the outraged friends of their murdered victims. But the Southern soldier is as merciful as he is brave, and the vandals’ cry for protection was a useless one; a fallen foe is an object of pity – they were well cared for by our gallant lads.

Route of Hindman's Retreat

By nightfall we had driven them some two miles, captured  618 wagons, heavily laden with clothing, some (illegible) head of horses, and 280 prisoners. But our men were exhausted by hard marches and hunger, having had nothing scarcely to eat for three days – Gen. Hindman had not calculated to fight so large a force. It was his aim to  capture Blount, before the latter’s reinforcements arrived, and then pay his respects to the reinforcing column. The plan was an excellent one, and would have succeeded, but for the fact that as soon as we commenced to cross the river, a swift-winged Arkansas traitor carried the news to Blount, he to the column reliving him, and by hurried marches they arrived as soon as we. Therefore, we their grand army, and the sun of the 7^th inst. closed on our victorious arms. The Feds that night at 10 o’clock sent a flag, asking for an armistice of 23 hours to bury their dead, &c. Gen. Hindman gave them 12 hours. About dark they were reinforced by an Iowa brigade.

We were three days out on forced marchies, no supplies at hand, the men worn out by hunger, and too much exhausted to hazard a renewal of the conflict, until rested, with the superior force against us, we withdrew from the field at 11 o’clock that night in silence, to a point some 12 miles distant, where we remained thirty hours. If we had only received a few thousand reinforcements, the Federal invading army now in the NorthWest would have been annihilated. But they did not come to us, and our brave and excellent Gen. Hindman could only give them a severe check and then retire – they powerless to follow, and we unable to renew the conflict.

Our loss in the battle is about 1,000 in killed, wounded and missing; the Feds say their loss is 1,300.

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

Southern Eyewitness Account of the Battle of Prairie Grove - Part One

West Overlook at Prairie Grove Battlefield

Continuing with some eyewitness accounts of the Battle of Prairie Grove, this post is the first of a two containing an account of the Battle of Prairie Grove written by a Confederate officer in General Mosby M. Parson's Missouri Brigade.

It was published in the Dallas Weekly Herald on January 7, 1863, and offers a fascinating account of the battle by an officer who took part in the fighting that erupted on the western end of the battlefield at around 3 o'clock on the afternoon of December 7, 1862. The unidentified writer was involved in the late afternoon attack down the ridge against the Union Division of General James G. Blunt.

The following is Part One of the account. I will publish Part Two in the next post:

Camp near Fort Smith.

December 19, 1862.

Something has “turned up;” we have fought a big battle with the abolitionists, near Cane Hill, 42 miles Northeast of this, and may be a few items from an “eyewitness” and participant, would interest you. Blount, of Kansas, with some 7,000 thieves, has for a few weeks, been encamped at and near Cane Hill, and you know the want and misery always inflicted upon the people by these Hessians wherever they go. For the purpose of freeing that country of their presence, and giving their 7000 carcasses to the “Potter’s Field” – of sending them where thousands of their companions in arms have gone before; to the regions of the d—d, our excellent General, Hindman, ordered a forward movement on Cane Hill. We made a forced march, without commissaries or blankets, and met the (?) some four miles this side of Cane Hill, on the 6^th inst. After skirmish with, and driving him to the top of the mountain, on the Cane Hill road, night having set in, our army, with the exception of some 1500 cavalry, drew off in the darkness to the Cove Creek road, and the morning found us in his rear, on the Fayetteville and Cane Hill road, by the old Walnut Church. We made sure we had that 7,000 safe, and were counting, jubilantly, the rich haul almost in our fingers. But you know “there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip.” Hush! What is that? Heavy cannonading opens on our rear and right; brigades and divisions change front and are saluted with the bristling bayonets of twelve to fifteen thousand abolitionists going to the aid of Blount. The battle now opens furiously; the feast of blood and death begins! Fifteen thousand brave rebels – Missourians, Texians and Arkansians – brave alike – pitted against at least 20,000 abolitionists, and the air and earth, for five mortal hours, is filled with every conceivable missile of death. The road of artillery and musketry beat anything I ever heard, and I have been in several battles. The Feds charged us repeatedly, but the men stood there as firm as the oaks around them, and their shouts of victory drowned the cries of the dying, as they beheld the Federal legions break and fly in utter demoralization from the steady fire of their unerring rifles. The First Missouri Brigade, (to which I belong,) under command of Gen. M.M. Parsons, had been under a steady fire of musketry and artillery for some two ours. Our brave General Parsons rode along the line, making himself heard above the din of battle, encouraging the men; said he: “My brave soldiers, those cut-throats stand between you and your outraged homes – cut them down and stamp them into the earth. Give them cold steel; charge bayonet!” and oh! what a shout went up from that gallant brigade of exiles, as they swiftly charged, regardless of death, to the Federal lines.

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

Dr. James M. Keller and the Confederate Casualties of Prairie Grove

Fayetteville Confederate Cemetery

Dr. James M. Keller, who is memorialized today by the James M. Keller Camp #648, Sons of Confederate Veterans in Hot Springs, was tasked with the herculean job of organizing hospitals and care for Southern wounded in the wake of the Battle of Prairie Grove.

Confederate casualties in the engagement are generally estimated to have been around 164 killed, 817 wounded and 334 captured or missing. A summary prepared by Dr. Keller one month after the battle, however, indicates this number may be somewhat in error:

• Number killed in action - 87.
• Number wounded and in hospitals - 886.
• Number died from wounds - 62.
• Number slightly wounded and not hospitalized - 120.

Fairview Cemetery in Van Buren

 Keller's summary, which was printed in the Arkansas Democrat about one month after the battle and republished by the Dallas Weekly Herald on January 14, 1863, places the total number of soldiers who had either been killed in action or had died from their wounds by that point as 149, while the total number of wounded was around 1,006, with 886 of these men having been so severely wounded as to require hospitalization.

This would elevate the total number of Confederate dead and wounded from the battle to 1,154 as opposed to the 981 given in most accounts. If Keller's numbers are accurate, which it seems likely that they are, then the total number of Confederate killed and wounded at the Battle of Prairie Grove included 173 more men than is generally thought.

Whether these men were included in the figure of 334 missing or captured is not known.

Most of the Confederates killed in action at Prairie Grove are now buried at Fayetteville Confederate Cemetery in Fayetteville. Many of the wounded were carried south across the mountains to Van Buren and Fort Smith. A large number of those who died from their wounds are buried at Fairview Cemetery in Van Buren.

To learn more about the battle, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasPG1.