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.

The Battle of Massard Prairie - July 27, 1864

Massard Prairie Battlefield Park

The 27th of this month will mark the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, which took place in 1864 at Fort Smith.

The battle was an overwhelming Confederate victory and resulted in the death, wounding or capture of 151 Union soldiers from the 6th Kansas Cavalry and the capture of a large amount of arms, ammunition and other supplies from that regiment. The Confederates lost 33 killed, wounded or missing in the battle.

News of the cavalry fight was widely reported in both North and South during the weeks and months after the battle. Over the next week I will post some of the accounts that appeared in the newspapers of both sides.

The following is from the October 5, 1864, issue of the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle and Sentinel which in turn was quoting the Meridian (Mississippi) Clarion:

An account is given of a brilliant little victory that was gained early in August by a party of Choctaw and Texas troops, all under Gen. Gano. The fighting took place five miles S.E. of Fort SMith, in Mesard Prairie. The Lincolnite forces consisting of the "Kansas Sixth" and the so-called home guards. The first had long been a "crack" regiment, alike noted for its ferocity, fanaticism and brutality. Gen. Gano divided his Texans into two bodies, while the Choctaws formed a third. One held in person on the center, whilst the others executed a flanking movement on either hand.

Advancing to the summit of an eminence where Yankee balls were whizzing all around him, Col. Folsom prevailed on his Choctaws to accompany him over a broad space to the face of the enemy. The other bodies charged simultaneously, and the robbers finding themselves previously assailed in front and on both flanks, commenced a skedaddle from the rear, whilst others fought with desperation, until assured of quarters, when they surrendered. - Many of our men clubbed with their guns and dealt stunning blows; several guns were in this way broken. One hundred and twenty-seven were captured and about sixty killed. The pursuit was kept up to within two miles of Ft. Smith. The number of the enemy's wounded could not be ascertained. Our men obtained a rich booty - 200 Sharp's rifles, 400 revolvers, hundreds of excellent saddles, a considerable number of over coats and many other things.

The Battle of Massard Prairie and a subsequent attack against the outer defenses of Fort Smith forced the Federals to pull most of their troops into the line of rifle pits and batteries that surrounded the city. This opened the door for the successful Confederate crossing of the Arkansas River that led to the stunning victory at Cabin Creek in what is now Oklahoma. The Cabin Creek fight resulted in one of the greatest supply captures of the entire Civil War.

To learn more about the Battle of Massard Prairie, please consider my book on the topic. It is also available in Amazon Kindle format. You can read more about the battle at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasCW4.

The Arkansas Wild Man - A Pre-Civil War Bigfoot in the Natural State

Mountains of Arkansas

One of my favorite Arkansas stories from newspapers dating before the Civil War is the tale of the famed Wild Man of the Woods, clearly a 19th century manifestation of the creature that most today know as Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

Reports in the Memphis Enquirer indicate the creature was first reported in eastern Arkansas as early as 1834. The first detailed account, however, was published in 1846 and repeated in newspapers across the nation. It told of sightings of the creature near Crowley's Ridge west of Memphis. The "wild man" was said to be of gigantic stature, covered in hair, and eyewitnesses said that "his track measures 22 inches, his toes are as long as a common man's fingers, and in height and make, he is double the usual size."

This was one of the first detailed accounts of the discovery of Bigfoot tracks in American history and came long before the first recorded sightings in the Pacific Northwest.

Swamp in Eastern Arkansas

Over the decades that followed, the Wild Man seems to have made regular appearances about every five years. He was seen chasing a herd of cattle in 1851 and Colonel David C. Cross of Memphis organized an expedition to capture him. The effort failed, but it seems to have been the first recorded Bigfoot hunt in American history.

Reports of the creature appeared again in 1856, this time in southern Arkansas and up into the Ouachita Mountains. A fairly bizarre report even told of a vicious attack on a man who was part of a group trying to capture the monster.

Bigfoot reports continue in Arkansas to this day, but the 19th century written accounts hold a unique place in the history of the United States.

To learn more about the real history of the Arkansas Wild Man, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/arwildman.

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.

May 4, 1864 - Another Union Account of the Battle of Poison Spring

Poison Spring State Park

In the weeks and months after the Battle of Poison Spring (April 18, 1864), a steady stream of letters trickled north from officers and men in the Union army.

Most of these came from soldiers in Thayer's column, which had marched south from Fort Smith to join in the Camden phase of the Red River Campaign. Since many of these men were from Kansas or associated with regiments from that state, a number of their letters wound up in newspapers there.

The following, for example, was dated from Fort Smith on May 4, 1864, and appeared in the White Cloud Chief newspaper in Kansas on May 26th:

Interpretive Shelter at Poison Spring

...They fought the rebels nearly half a day, until, overpowered by superior numbers, they were crushed and dispersed. When the officers of the Colored Regiment held up their arms in token of surrender, the enemy took their arms and blew their brains out. The negroes, seeing that no quarter was to be given them, stood and fired as long as they had ammunition, then took what they could from the dead around them; and when this failed, clubbed their guns and waded out. One company went in with 80 men, and was led out by the Orderly Sergeant, with only 11 men left. Most of the Cavalry escaped. About 60 of the 18^th Iowa were taken. One-half of the officers of the 1^st Colored are reported killed or wounded. Col. Williams escaped. All the trains and guns were of course captured. One Major got in, in the evening. His first words were: “Good God! Why didn’t you reinforce us?” The question was asked by hundreds. They heard the firing at Camden, for hours. Gen. Thayer wanted to send reinforcements, but Gen. Steele was not willing. There he lay, with 12,000 men, in hearing distance of the guns, (about 8 or 10 miles,) when they were not only willing, but anxious to go; and more, he let the dead and wounded lie on the field for four days, without caring for the wounded or burying the dead. The wounded died by inches, and crawled into camp on their hands and knees; and in some instances, not until a flag of truce came in from the rebels....

The writer, who identified himself only by the initials "O.B.G.," appears to have been in Camden during the battle, since he describes such details as the arrival of Union survivors there and being able to hear clearly hear the sound of the guns.

Fought when Confederate forces trapped and overwhelmed a Union foraging force, the Battle of Poison Spring was one of a series of disasters that hit Steele's column as it tried to march to Shreveport to link up with a larger Union army marching up through Louisiana. Federal losses in the fight totaled more than 200 killed and missing and 97 wounded, while Southern forces 13 killed and 81 wounded. The Confederates also captured more than 1,200 mules, 170 wagons, 4 pieces of artillery and all of the corn, furniture and other items seized by the Union forces as they rampaged through the countryside.

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

War on Civilians in the Ozarks - The Depopulation of the Mountains

The Ozarks

While many stories are told of Sherman's March to the Sea and other campaigns, nowhere in the South did attrocities against civilians approach what happened in the Ozarks of Arkansas and southern Missouri during the Civil War.

Many of the mountain people had no interest at all in the war and most just wanted to be left alone. They had moved west to the Ozarks in search of country that they liked and the isolation and freedom that life in the mountains offered them.

When war came, however, the very isolation of the mountain communities and homes made them easy prey for a reign of terror waged by soldiers and guerrillas from both sides and outlaws who came only to raid, rob and destroy. By the winter of 1864-1865, in fact, so many of the mountain people had been killed, burned out or driven away that the Ozarks presented a scene of desolation unparalleled in American history.

Elkhorn Tavern
Built on Ruins of Tavern burned by Guerrillas

The following account of a report by a postal official appeared in a South Carolina newspaper:

In the resumption of mail service in the South, continued evidence of the despoliation of the land is brought out. An employee of the Post Office Department, now superintending mail matters in Arkansas, writes that “on the mail route from Fort Smith, in that State, to Caswell, in Missouri, there is not a house nor habitation where a mail carrier could refresh himself or beast, in a distance of nearly two hundred miles. From Fayetteville to Caswell, by the old mail road, the distance is seventy-five miles, and there is not a house or garden fence left standing, nor a field under cultivation. - Keowee Courier, November 11, 1864.

The terrorism inflicted on the people of the Ozarks would continue for many years after the war, with guerrilla bands and outlaws roaming almost at will through the region.

Some places to learn about some of the destruction in the region include War Eagle Mill and Blue Spring Heritage Center in Northwest Arkansas. Both were the locations of important water mills destroyed during the war. The famed Elkhorn Tavern at Pea Ridge battlefield in Benton County was also destroyed by guerrillas the year after the battle. The present structure was rebuilt on the ruins after the war ended. To learn more, please follow these links:

• Blue Spring Heritage Center
• War Eagle Mill
• Pea Ridge National Military Park

The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas - Capt. John Whiteford's letter to his wife

Jenkins' Ferry State Park

The letters of Captain John Whiteford, a Southern Unionist who commanded Company I, 1st Arkansas Infantry (U.S.) during the Camden Expedition of the Red River Campaign, reveal a great deal about the tribulations of a Southern family that fled north during the Civil War.

Whiteford was a resident of Texas when that state left the Union in 1861. Leaving his wife "among strangers" at Fort Riley in Kansas, he enlisted in the Union army. In September of 1863, he was appointed as the captain of Company I, 1st Arkansas (U.S.). In this capacity he served first in Sebastian County, but went on to fight in the Camden Expedition.

Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry Battlefield

On April 30, 1864, Whiteford was among the Union officers and soldiers who threw back the bloody attacks of Confederate forces at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry on the Saline River near Sheridan, Arkansas. Under the command of General Kirby Smith, Southern troops tried to destroy the retreating Union army as it crossed the flooded Saline River at Jenkins Ferry. The attacks, however, were not well coordinated and the Federals escaped after inflicting heavy casualties on the Confederates.

Whiteford, who had never actually been mustered into the service and would later be labeled a "civilian" by the Union army, led his company in heavy fighting at Jenkins' Ferry and described the scene in a letter to his wife a short time later:

Jenkins' Ferry Battle Monument

...The infantry were in the rear to protect the train, and fight the rebels, while the balance of the army were crossing on the pontoon. It was a regular infantry fight. The rebels had four pieces of artillery in making the attack on us, but the Second Kansas Colored Volunteers captured that after the third charge, and then we had an even show. They massed their infantry on us and charged fiercely, but it was no go. Our regiment (Second Arkansas) distinguished itself. The dead rebels were thick over the ground. As we drove them back one man, by my side, was shot, and the bushes and sapplings were cutting down in front of me and bark and dirt thrown in my face, but no ball touched me. Thanks to God, who saw fit to spare my life awhile longer. The musketry was fiercer and more constant than at Prairie Grove. We fought all day on swampy land. The night before we were up all night in the rain in line of battle, and during the fight we were up to our knees in water, and when we had drove the enemy back we had to march on return four miles through mud knee deep. - Capt. John Whiteford, May 4, 1864.

Whiteford continued by describing the actual crossing of the Saline River, which took place at the site of today's Jenkins' Ferry State Park:

...Union families from Camden had to leave their carriages in the mud, and carry their children to the bridge. Men even dropped down in the confusion and wagons pass over them, it raining all the time. When we got across the bridge we had three miles more of such mud. Such a sight of women and children crying, and horses and mules dying, and wagons abandoned, I never saw. The rebels came to the river after we had crossed, but too late to do us any damage. We had destroyed the bridge that night, and all the wagons except one to each brigade. - Capt. John Whiteford, May 4, 1864.

Although the numbers may not be accurate, reported losses at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry were 86 killed and 356 wounded for the Confederates and 63 killed, 413 wounded and 45 missing for the Federals.

You can learn more about the battle and today's Jenkins' Ferry State Park at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/jenkinsferry1.

Eyewitness Account of the Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas

Poison Spring Battlefield

The Battle of Poison Spring, fought near Camden on April 18, 1864, was one of the deadliest Arkansas encounters of the Civil War.

Around 3,600 Confederates overwhelmed a force of 1,160 Union troops trying to escort a train of around 200 wagons loaded with corn, supplies and various other items taken from farms in the area. The battle has since been one of the more controversial of the war in the west, due largely to allegations by Union officers and newspaper writers that Southern troops murdered surrendering African American soldiers from the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry.

Southern officers, however, attributed the high number of killed among the black soldiers from Kansas as being due to the fact that they would not surrender or give up their weapons.

A letter written by a lieutenant from the 1st Kansas seems to substantiate to some degree the Confederate version of events at Poison Spring:

Interpretive Panels at Poison Spring

We were attacked about 10 o’clock, a.m., and fought for about three hours, when our regiment was surrounded and we tried to cut our way out. We were fighting against ten thousand rebels. The [blacks] fought like hell. We had only 1,200 men but we repulsed the enemy three times. All our wagons (170) were captured. My captain, Armstrong, was killed, and Lieuts. Colman, Topping, Samuels and Hitchcock were all killed.

Capt. Welch, and Lieut. Macy, were wounded. Twelve of my men were killed and fifteen missing.

Wilson’s Creek was nothing compared with this fight. All the cannon were captured. Our regiment is literally cut to pieces. Our loss is three hundred killed and wounded. Most of the Iowa regiment were killed or taken prisoners. Our regiment would not surrender, but fought their way out.

This account, by Lieutenant D. McFarland from Company D of the 1st Kansas, appeared in the Marysville, Kansas, Big Blue Union newspaper on May 14, 1864. It clearly indicates that the 1st Kansas Colored did not surrender at Poison Spring, as many Union accounts soon claimed, but instead fought to the last.
 
To learn more about the Battle of Poison Spring and see photos of the battlefield, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.

Fort Smith NHS to host programs on Native Trees

Fort Smith National Historic Site

There is a neat educational program coming up on Saturday (June 18) at Fort Smith National Historic Site in Fort Smith that offers a great opportunity to learn about the original trees that grew in the area and how they were used by soldiers at Fort Smith decades before the Civil War.

Here are the details from the National Park Service:

Native Trees of Fort Smith

Trail of Tears Overlook at Fort Smith NHS

Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Fort Smith National Historic Site will present a program on the importance of trees to Native Americans, soldiers, and early settlers. To survive on the frontier, a good knowledge of how to use various trees was necessary. Program participants will learn about five trees used by the first soldiers at Fort Smith and how they were used in building the fort.

Fort Smith National Historic Site is located in downtown Fort Smith . To access the free parking lot from Garrison Avenue, turn south on 4th Street and west on Garland Avenue . For more information, please call the park at 479-783-3961.

Fort Smith National Historic Site preserves the remains of two important frontier forts that served the United States from 1819 through the end of the Civil War. The post was subsequently used as a base of operations for U.S. District Judge Isaac C. Parker, the "hanging judge" of the Old West, and his force of deputy U.S. marshals that brought law and order to the frontier during the turbulent years after the Civil War.

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

Fort Smith in the Movies - True Grit released on DVD and Blu-ray

The Fort Smith based movie True Grit was released on both DVD and Blu-ray today and if you didn't see it when it was in theaters, I highly recommend it. It was nominated for a ton of Academy Awards and should have won some.

True Grit is the somewhat tongue in cheek story of a one-eyed Deputy U.S. Marshal from Fort Smith named Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. In the story, he is hired by a determined young girl to hunt down the man who killed her father. And while writer Charles Portis might have been trying to poke a little fun at Old West characters, he really achieved the opposite. Rooster Cogburn is a larger than life figure who portrays the reality of life on the western frontier much better than Portis probably ever intended.

The story begins in Fort Smith, where Cogburn is testifying in the court of U.S. District Judge Isaac C. Parker, the "hanging judge" of the Old West. From there it crosses the river into the Indian Nations (today's Oklahoma) and takes off on a fascinating journey to the Winding Stair region of the Ouachita Mountains.

Although Portis has said his Rooster Cogburn character was a compilation of different figures from the history of Fort Smith, in reality it seems almost without doubt that the deputy marshal was based on Union army veteran Cal Whitson, who became a lawman after his son was killed while attempting to apprehend an outlaw.

I've posted about Whitson here in the past, but it seems a good day to remember him. He was a hard fighting soldier during the Civil War who lost an eye in battle. Unlike the eye patch worn by Jeff Bridges in the new edition and John Wayne in the original, he covered his wound by keeping his hat dipped low on one side.

He was a well known figure in Fort Smith and rode out to apprehend outlaws hiding in the Nations many times. The U.S. District Court at Fort Smith was responsible for protecting the people of the Nations from roaming outlaws after the Civil War and Judge Parker - who actually opposed the death penalty, even though he executed more men than any federal judge in history - is usually credited, along with his deputy marshals, with bringing law and order to the region durng the turbulent Reconstruction years. Cal Whitson - the "real Rooster Cogburn" - was part of that heroic effort.

The new movie is a big closer to the book than the original, which is also one of my favorite films. Being a John Wayne fan, I wasn't sure what I would think of the new effort, but I have to admit that Jeff Bridges did a phenomenal job in the role.

I've added links above at left so you can order the new release of the film if you like. And if you would like to learn more about Cal Whitson, please follow this link: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/roostercogburn.

You can learn more about Judge Parker and the Deputy Marshals of Fort Smith here: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ARFS6.html

Flooding Impacts some Arkansas Historic Sites

The history-making flood along the Mississippi River and its tributaries is affecting some Arkansas historic sites and state parks.

Jacksonport State Park near Newport experienced a temporary closing due to high water on the White River but reopened today. The historic 1872 Courthouse Museum, visitor center and the courtyard have reopened, but the campground, picnic area, boat ramp and pavilion remain closed.  The Civil War school event sponsored in partnership with the Jackson County Historical Society and the Department of Arkansas Heritage is still on schedule for May 19-20 and will be held at the courtyard near the historic Courthouse.

Here are other Arkansas State Park closures that I'm aware of at this time:

• Lower White River Museum at Des Arc is closed.
• Hampson Archaeological State Park in Wilson is closed.
• Lake Charles State Park has a detour in place in order to reach the park. Take U.S. Highway 167 from Bald Knob to Cave City, then take Arkansas 230 to Strawberry and then turn onto Arkansas 25 to the park.
• Mississippi River State Park also has a detour in place. Arkansas 44 is closed one mile east of Marianna and one mile west of the park office. Traffic from Marianna to Bear Creek Lake is being rerouted south on Arkansas 185, east on Lee County Road 222 and then back to Arkansas 44 and the park.
• Pinnacle Mountain State Park is experiencing some partial closures. Big Maumelle Pavilion/Restrooms, Big Maumelle Boat Launch and Big Maumelle Fishing Pear are closed due to floodwaters, the rest of the park is currently open.
• Bull Shoals-White River State Park also has some partial closures. The marina is closed, but the campground, visitor center and trails are still open.

I'll try to keep you updated on these and other closures over the coming days. If you are planning to travel anywhere in the lower Mississippi River valley (Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi or Louisiana), please check ahead with your destination. I'm posting updates on flood conditions throughout the region twice a day at http://southernhistory.blogspot.com/.

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 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.