Battle of Poison Spring

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Battle of Poison Spring
Part of the American Civil War
DateApril 18, 1864;160 years ago (1864-04-18)
Location
Ouachita County, Arkansas
33°38′19.7″N93°00′15.6″W / 33.638806°N 93.004333°W / 33.638806; -93.004333
Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
Flag of the Confederate States of America (1863-1865).svg  Confederate States Flag of the United States (1863-1865).svg  United States
Commanders and leaders
Battle flag of the Confederate States of America.svg Samuel B. Maxey
Battle flag of the Confederate States of America.svg John S. Marmaduke 		Flag of the United States (1863-1865).svg James M. Williams
Strength
3,621 1,169
Casualties and losses
114 301
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Poison Springs
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Location of Poison Springs in Arkansas

The Battle of Poison Spring, also known as the Poison Spring massacre, was fought in Ouachita County, Arkansas on April 18, 1864, as part of the Camden Expedition, during the American Civil War. A Union force commanded by Major General Frederick Steele had moved from Little Rock, Arkansas towards Shreveport, Louisiana in support of Major General Nathaniel Banks's move up the Red River towards Shreveport and had occupied Camden. After Banks was defeated at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Steele was isolated in Arkansas. Short on supplies, Steele sent a detachment commanded by Colonel James M. Williams on April 17 to forage for 5,000 bushels of corn that were reported to be in the area.

Contents

Confederate cavalry commanded by John S. Marmaduke and Samuel B. Maxey attacked the foraging party. Marmaduke's men formed a roadblock east along the way back to Camden, while Maxey's men attacked from south of the road. The first two Confederate attacks were unsuccessful, but the third broke the Union line. Williams's command was routed, losing its wagon train and four cannons. African American soldiers from the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment were massacred and mutilated during and after the battle. The defeat at Poison Spring and another defeat at the Battle of Marks' Mills a week later led Steele to retreat to Little Rock. In the April 30 Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, men from the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment murdered Confederate soldiers in revenge of the massacre at Poison Spring. Poison Springs Battleground State Park, which is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark, preserves a portion of the site of the battle.

Background

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Camden
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Washington
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Poison Spring
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Little Rock
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Significant sites related to the battle of Poison Spring

By early 1864, the Confederacy's likelihood of winning the American Civil War against the Union was slimming. The Confederate situation in Arkansas was particularly bad. Union forces had captured the state capital of Little Rock, [1] and had at least nominal control over all of the state north of the Arkansas River. The Confederate political and military authorities had fallen back into the southwestern portion of the state. [2] In March, the Union Navy and Union Army began a joint operation up the Red River, known as the Red River campaign. Militarily, the campaign targeted Shreveport, Louisiana, and the dispersal of Confederate forces in that region of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department. Additionally, the campaign also had political goals (the establishment of a pro-Union government in Louisiana) and economic goals (the capture of Confederate cotton). Major General Nathaniel P. Banks led the army forces, with Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter in charge of the naval operations. [3]

To support this movement, Union troops commanded by Major General Frederick Steele were tasked with moving south from Little Rock to Shreveport, in what became known as the Camden Expedition. Steele objected to his portion of the campaign due to the poor state of the road network of the region his men would have to march through, as well as the lack of food in the region. He was also worried about guerrilla warfare and his supply line. The Camden Expedition involved two Union forces beginning the campaign independently and joining during the march: Steele started from Little Rock, while Brigadier General John M. Thayer left Fort Smith, Arkansas. [4] [lower-alpha 1] The Confederate troops opposing the Camden Expedition were led by Major General Sterling Price. Price's infantry had been transferred to Louisiana to face Banks's advance, [9] leaving him with only 3,200 cavalrymen. [9] [10]

Steele left Little Rock on March 23, and reached Arkadelphia on March 29. He was supposed to join forces with Thayer there, but Thayer's column was delayed and Steele continued forward on April 1. After learning that Camden was fortified, Steele decided to feint towards Washington (the new Confederate state capital) in order to draw the Confederates out of Camden, allowing the latter place to be taken easily. [7] Due to lack of supplies, the Union troops had to subsist on half rations, [11] and drinkable water was scarce in areas due to guerrillas polluting wells with dead animals. [12] Price's cavalry harassed Steele's advance. The Confederate commander fell for the feint, and moved his troops from Camden to the Prairie D'Ane area. There, he was reinforced by two more cavalry brigades - one of Texas troops and the other of Choctaws. On April 9, Thayer's column joined Steele's; skirmishing between the two sides occurred over the next few days in the Battle of Prairie D'Ane. The combined Union force started towards Camden on April 12, reaching the town three days later. [13]

Prelude

On April 8, Banks was defeated in the Battle of Mansfield. After further fighting at the Battle of Pleasant Hill the next day, Banks decided to break off his offensive and withdraw. [14] At Camden, Steele had significant supply issues with a lack of food for both his men and pack animals. While he did not have official news of Banks's defeat, rumor had reached Camden of the Union defeat, complicating matters for Steele. [15] Union rations had to be reduced to one quarter of the normal amount due to lack of food. [16] Price's cavalry hovered around Camden, unwilling to directly attack due to the disparity in numberical strength but lying in wait of any patrols or forgaing parties sent from the Union command. [12] The Confederate force consisted of three understrength cavalry divisions, which were commanded by Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke, James F. Fagan, and Samuel B. Maxey. [17] A large amount of corn was stored on farms in the area surrounding Camden. While Confederates soldiers searched for and destroyed some of this corn, some of it made it into Union hands through foraging and Union-sympathizing civilians; 3,000 bushels were also captured when Union cavalry took the Confederate steamer Homer. All but one of the steam-powered gristmills in the area had been destroyed; Stelle sent part of the 36th Iowa Infantry Regiment to operate it on April 17. [18]

Colonel James M. Williams, the Union commander Brigadier General James Monroe Williams - NARA - 529044 (cropped).tif
Colonel James M. Williams, the Union commander

On April 16, Steele learned that 5,000 bushels of corn were located about 15 miles (24 km) from Camden, on the road to Washington. Steele tasked his quartermaster, Captain Charles A. Henry with capturing the cache. [19] Command of the forgaing expedition went to Colonel James M. Williams, the commander of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment. [16] The 1st Kansas Colored was a unit of African American soldiers, [20] many of whom were former slaves. [21] Most Confederates hated the use of African American troops, viewing it as a form of servile insurrection. [22] Additionally, most Confederates did not view the African American troops as parties to the rules of war. Confederate Lieutenant General E. Kirby Smith, the commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, had earlier stated that his officers should give "no quarter to armed negroes and their officers". Additionally, the Confederates had a special dislike for Kansas troops in general, as the soldiers from that state had a reputation for excessive pillaging and destruction. [23]

Early on the morning of April 17, Williams set out from Camden with 198 wagons. The wagon escort included 438 from the 1st Kansas Colored, [21] as well as 195 cavalrymen taken from the 2nd Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 6th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, and 14th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, along with two 6-pounder James rifles from the 2nd Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery. After an 18-mile (29 km) march, the Union troops reached the White Oak Creek area. [24] About half of the corn had already been destroyed by the Confederates when the Union soliders arrived. [25] The corn was scattered in small amounts at various farms in the area, necessitating wide patrols by Williams's command. In addition to the corn, clothing and other belongs were looted from civilian residences in the area. On April 18, the Union column began its return to Camden. The captured materials were loaded into 141 wagons. [26] That morning, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of White Oak Creek, Williams's men were joined by a relief column sent by Thayer. This consisted of 386 men from the 18th Iowa Infantry Regiment, 95 cavalrymen from the same units that Williams cavalry contingent was drawn from, and two 12-pounder mountain howitzers manned by men of the 6th Kansas Cavalry. In total, the Union force now number 1,169 men, although many were straggling to engage in looting. [27]

Brigadier General Samuel Bell Maxey, the Confederate commander Samuel B. Maxey - Brady-Handy.jpg
Brigadier General Samuel Bell Maxey, the Confederate commander

Confederate scouts learned of the Union foraging party on the morning of April 17. One of Marmaduke's brigade commanders, Colonel Colton Greene, sent the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment to investigate. Marmaduke requested reinforcements from Fagan, who sent Brigadier General William L. Cabell's brigade. When the relief column left Camden, it was sighted by Confederate scouts, who overestimated its strength. Marmaduke believed he was outnumbered by 2,500 men to 1,500. Learning that the Union column was camping for the night near White Oak Creek, Marmaduke formulated a plan to trap the Union soldiers in the morning. The plan, which was approved by Price, called for the brigades of Greene, Cabell, and Colonel William A. Crawford (another one of Fagan's brigade commanders) to form a roadblock 10 miles (16 km) west of Camden at Poison Spring. Additional Confederate troops were to gather 3 miles (4.8 km) west at Woodlawn, to trap Williams's command between the two forces. Price ordered Maxey's division to support Marmaduke. Maxey held seniority over Marmaduke and would command the operation. [28] The historian Michael J. Forsyth considers the decision to assign Maxey to the operation to be an example of Price's lack of attention to detail. [29] Marmaduke made most of the decisions during the battle. [30]

Battle

Williams pushed his men on further on the morning of April 18; the 1st Kansas Colored was at the front of the column, with the men from the relief column to the rear. [30] This arrangement kept the two forces distinct. [27] Not long after the junction between the two forces, the Union soldiers encountered Confederate cavalrymen. [30] As the relief column had skirmished with Confederate troops on its way from Camden, this was not immediately alarming. [27] By 9:30 am, Marmaduke had his troops in a blocking position, with Maxey's division preparing to assault the Union right flank. [31] Fagan chose not to accompany the action, and the two brigades from his division operated under the command of Cabell. [32]

Marmaduke's men probed westwards, and occupied a hill. Hughey's Arkansas Battery was deployed on the hill, with Cabell's to the left and Crawford's to the right. Greene's brigade was held as a reserve. [33] Most Cabell and Crawford's men were dismounted. One regiment of Cabell's, the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry Regiment, was held in a position 2 miles (3.2 km) to the east to watch for Union troops arriving from Camden. [34] Harris's Missouri Battery supported Crawford. [33] The success of the operation would depend on Maxey's men arriving on time for their part of the attack; Marmaduke's position was also at risk of further Union troops sallying forth from Camden and striking the roadblock in the rear. [31] This position was 14 miles (23 km) west of Camden. [21] Williams's men encountered the roadblock and reported it to their commander, who ordered the wagons to be positioned in a compact formation north of the road. Dense woods along the roadline would make it difficult to outflank the Confederate line; the ground south of the road was a cleared field that sloped uphill to a ridgeline. A ravine cut through the field and would provide cover to Confederate troops attacking from that direction. [30] For about half an hour after Marmaduke set the roadblock Union troops probed and skirmished with the line. At about 10:00, Maxey's troops arrived. [31] After the troops arrived, Maxey met with Marmaduke and deferred to Marmaduke's plan of action. [35] Maxey ordered his two brigades, commanded by Colonels Charles DeMorse and Tandy Walker, to dismount and advance up the back side of the ridge that bordered the field. [36] DeMorse's men were Texans, and Walker's were Choctaws. DeMorse's men came under Union fire when they reached the crest of the ridge. [37] DeMorse's men were ordered to shift west, which forced Walker's brigade to move as well; this caused delays. While this was occurring, the Confederates were reinforced by the 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion, which was positioned on Crawford's right flank. [38] Altogether, the Confederates had 3,621 available for the fight. [32]

Map of the battlefield prepared by the American Battlefield Protection Program Poison Spring Battlefield Arkansas.jpg
Map of the battlefield prepared by the American Battlefield Protection Program

Williams had initially formed his men into two lines, one to the east of the wagons and the other to the west, both of which faced east. The eastern line was composed of the 1st Kansas Colored, the two James rifles, and some cavalry. The cavalry held the flanks, with the James rifles along the road and half of the 1st Kansas Colored on either side of the road. The men of the relief column made up the line west of the wagons. [39] The commander of the relief column, Captain William M. Duncan, was ordered to watch for Confederate attempt to outflank the Union right. [40] Maxey's artillery component, Krumbhaar's Texas Battery, had been unable to position itself on the ridgeline in time to support the attack due to difficulty moving the guns through vegetation on the ridge. [41] While Maxey moved his men into position, Marmaduke opened fire with his two artillery batteries. [41] Between Marmaduke's artillery and Krumbhaar's battery, the Confederates had 12 cannon, which were positioned to bring crossfire on the Union lines, in a barrage that last for about half an hour. [42] The Confederate artillery fire caused few casualties, as the Union troops lay down to avoid the fire. Williams became aware of the presence of Maxey's men and redeployed his lines. [41] Four companies of the 1st Kansas Colored and one James rifle continued to face east, while four more companies and the other James rifle turned to face south; the other two companies of the regiment were held in reserve. About 100 men from the 2nd and 6th Kansas Cavalry probed Maxey's line, and the relief column turned to face south. [43] The cavalry probe was repulsed and took up a position between the 1st Kansas Colored and the relief column; [44] the force's commander was wounded in the attack. [45]

Maxey's men attacked the Union line. [41] DeMorse's men fought the 1st Kansas Colored; the shooting occurred at a range within 100 yards (91 m). More than half of the crew of the James rifle facing south became casualties. Walker's attack against the 18th Iowa was more passive. [46] The flank of Walker's brigade was harassed by men from the 6th Kansas Cavalry, and Walker halted his men to deal with the threat. [47] Maxey's attack was repulsed. Marmaduke's men began moving forward, but a gap formed between Cabell's brigade and Maxey's division. This gap was plugged with Greene's brigade. [41] Williams sent the two reserve companies to the wing facing south. [48] The James rifle facing south was withdrawn after most of its gun crew was shot or left to take cover, but a round of double-shotted canister from it halted Maxey's men long enough to prevent its capture. [49] DeMorse and Greene fought the 1st Kansas Colored at close range, while Cabell's men drove in Union skirmishers to the east. [50] The Union line held, and the Confederates again withdrew. [51]

Williams's soldiers were running out of ammunition for both their small arms and artillery. Williams held out hope that the sounds of the battle would reach Camden and that Steele would send reinforcements. While the fighting was audible in Camden, Steele did not attempt to aid the foraging party. [52] While trying to reach the 18th Iowa to order the regiment to be reposition, Williams's horse was shot out from under him. While the Union commander was given a replacement mount, he was unable to redeploy the Iowa unit before the third Confederate attack struck. This attack was better coordinated than the prior Confederate attempts. DeMorse's men pressured the portion of the 1st Iowa facing south, while Greene and Cabell drove west. [53] Crawford's brigade was able to outflank the portion of the 1st Kansas Colored that was facing east, and the Kansans began to give way. [52] While the left of the 1st Kansas Colored fell back, Cabell struck the regiment's left center. [54] The Confederates drove the 1st Kansas Colored back through the wagon train, murdering many wounded Union soldiers on the field. The sight of their comrades being murdered caused part of the 1st Kansas Colored to flee to the rear. [55]

Williams decided to abandon the wagon train and focus of saving his remaining men. [52] While part of the 1st Kansas Colored rallied to form a line with the 18th Iowa, [56] the Iowa soldiers were swamped by fleeing Kansans and charging Confederates. [52] The Iowans were supported by the Union artillery. [57] The 18th Iowa, supported by fragments of the 1st Kansas Colored, conducted a fighting withdrawal, making stands at successive ridgelines north of the road. [58] Walker's Confederates looted the wagon train instead of fighting the Iowans. The Union troops abandoned their cannons when terrain was reached that the guns could not be taken over and continued for Camden via a circuitous route, pursued by the Confederates for 2.5 miles (4.0 km). [59] Marmaduke wished to continue the pursuit further, but Maxey called it off. [60] The latter officer was concerned that Union reinforcements would arrive from Camden and strike his men while they were scattered. [61] Some of the Union troops ran into the position of the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry east of the battlefield, while others forced a civilian at gunpoint to guide them back to Camden away from the Confederates. [62] The Confederates captured 170 wagons (the others had been burnt), [63] 1,200 mules, and the four Union cannons. [21] In addition to food, the Confederates found the captured wagons contained clothes, tools, and household furnishings. [64] [65]

Massacre

Williams's force suffered 301 casualties during the action. The 1st Kansas Colored alone lost 182 men. Of those 182 losses, 117 were killed and 65 wounded; it was unusual during the war for units to have more men killed than wounded. [66] In comparison, Confederate losses were reported at 114 men killed, wounded, or missing, although records are incomplete; [67] the historian Mark K. Christ states that a complete tabulation of Confederate losses would likely be less than 145. [68] The historian Gregory J. W. Urwin describes the aftermath of the battle as an "orgy of barbarism". Some of Cabell's men, when tasked with removing the wagons from the battlefield, made a game out of running over fallen African American soldiers's heads with the wagons. [69] The battle became known as the Poison Spring massacre. [66] Wounded African American troops were shot on the ground, and others were killed while trying to surrender. [70] Maxey's men were seen bayonetting the wounded. [60] The Confederate leaders did not reference the massacre in their official reports, but hinted at the slaughter. Cabell wrote "The number of killed of the enemy was very great, especially among the negroes". Walker stated that his men were motivated by the thought of shedding "the blood of their despised enemy", and DeMorse's report included the statement that "few prisoners were brought in by my command". [71]

Walker's Choctaws participated the most in the atrocities. [72] Claims circulated that the Choctaws scalped some of the dead, [60] and a local Confederate newspaper reported that the Choctaws had buried a Union soldier with a dead African American soldier sticking out of the ground from the waist up as a headstone and another half-buried upside down as a footstone. Union soldiers who visited the battlefield several days later to bury the dead found three Union officers scalped, naked, and face down surrounded by an arranged circle of dead African Americans. [73] Some Confederates, including DeMorse, suggested that the brutality was a result of outrage at the looting done by the Union troops, [74] but the historian Thomas A. DeBlack notes that this does not explain why the Confederates only behaved in this fashion towards the 1st Kansas Colored, and not the white units in the foraging party. [75] Urwin suggests that the primary looting was done by the white Kansas cavalrymen, not the men of the 1st Kansas Colored. [76] He also describes the massacre as the "worst war crime ever committed on Arkansas soil". [72]

The Washington Telegraph, at that point the leading pro-Confederate newspaper in the state, [77] praised the Confederate leaders and soldiers in the battle, with the only reference to the massacre being publishing the story about using dead soldiers as grave markers under the heading "Choctaw Humor". [78] The paper's editor, John R. Eakin, later published an editorial regarding Confederate response to the Union's use of African American soldiers stating that "we cannot treat Negroes taken in arms as prisoners of war" and that "our soldiers are not bound to receive their surrender"; an article published by the journal American Journalism suggest that Eakin was rationalizing the massacre at Poison Spring. [79] The Fort Smith New Era, a significant pro-Union newspaper, [77] in turn reported accounts of the massacre. [80]

Aftermath and preservation

Poison Springs Battleground State Park in November 2023 Poison Spring Battlefield Nov. 2023.jpg
Poison Springs Battleground State Park in November 2023

On April 20, Steele's men received a supply train from Pine Bluff carrying 10 days' rations, but when the wagons went to return to Pine Bluff, they were captured and their escort destroyed on the Battle of Marks' Mills. [81] Reports spread that the Confederates murdered African American noncombatants at Marks' Mills; [82] Urwin states that over 100 were likely killed. [83] Steele had also been informed by a scout of Banks's defeat. [84] Smith transferred three divisions on infantry from Louisiana to fight against Steele, with the Confederate infantryment crossing the Red River on April 15 and 16. [85] Steele decided to abandon Camden, and his men left the city on April 26. On April 29, the vanguard of Steele's force reached the Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry. The area was inundated by heavy rains, and the Union troops had to build a pontoon bridge. The wagons crossed slowly. [86]

The next day, Smith attacked Steele's rearguard, in what became the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. Smith's assaults were repulsed, and Steele's men were able to escape across the Saline River. [87] Men of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment, in response to the massacre at Poison Spring, executed several prisoners captured from Ruffner's Missouri Battery, [88] and cut the throats of Confederate wounded lying on the field. [89] The officers of the 2nd Kansas Colored had, after Poison Spring, sworn that "the regiment would take no prisoners as long as the Rebels continued to murder our men". [90] Nine severely wounded men from the 2nd Kansas Colored were left behind along with other Union wounded after the battle and were later killed by the Confederates. [91] Steele's men reached Little Rock on May 3; DeBlack describes the Camden Expedition as the "greatest Federal military disaster of the Civil War in Arkansas". [92]

The site of the battlefield is preserved within Poison Springs Battleground State Park, which is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark. [93] The state park is located 12 miles (19 km) from Camden, Arkansas and includes 84 acres of the battlefield. [94] The Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark, which includes the Poison Spring battleground as well as other sites related to Steele's campaign, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. [95]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The historian Thomas DeBlack lists Steele's stregth as 8,500 men and Thayer's as 4,000. [5] The historian Ludwell H. Johnson puts Thayer's strength at 3,600 men and Steele's at 6,800. [6] Another estimate of Union strength comes from the historian Daniel E. Sutherland, who has Steele's strength as 8,500 and Thayer's as 3,600. [7] The historian Michael J. Forsyth states that Thayer and Steele combined for about 12,000 men. [8]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Missouri Cavalry Regiment (Union)</span> Military unit

7th Missouri Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry unit from Missouri that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was formed on 20 February 1862 by merging Bishop's Cavalry Battalion with some unattached cavalry companies. The regiment fought at Independence, Lone Jack, Prairie Grove and Van Buren in 1862. The unit participated in Frederick Steele's expedition to Little Rock in 1863, fighting at Brownsville, Ashley's Mills, and Bayou Fourche. In 1864, the regiment went on the Camden Expedition and fought at Mount Elba and Marks' Mills. The remaining soldiers were consolidated with the 1st Missouri Volunteer Cavalry Regiment on 22 February 1865.

Harris's Missouri Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was organized in early 1864 when the 13th Missouri Light Battery was reorganized in a process that may not have been officially approved; Captain Samuel Stanhope Harris commanded the new unit. The battery fought in the Camden Expedition in early 1864, seeing action in the Battle of Prairie D'Ane and the Battle of Poison Spring in April. In June, the battery was present at the Battle of Ditch Bayou. Harris's Battery accompanied Sterling Price during his raid into Missouri in late 1864, during which it fought at the battles of Pilot Knob, Glasgow, Little Blue River, Big Blue River, and Mine Creek, as well as several smaller skirmishes. At Mine Creek, the battery's cannons were captured. On May 26, 1865, the battery surrendered; the men of the battery were paroled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Missouri Field Battery</span> Unit of the Confederate States Army

The 1st Missouri Field Battery was a field artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was formed by Captain Westley F. Roberts in Arkansas in September 1862 as Roberts' Missouri Battery and was originally armed with two 12-pounder James rifles and two 6-pounder smoothbore guns. The unit fought in the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, as part of a Confederate offensive. Roberts' Battery withdrew after the battle and transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Roberts resigned and was replaced by Lieutenant Samuel T. Ruffner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Confederate)</span> Infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army

The 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. From May 1861, the war began affecting events in the state of Missouri. In 1862, Confederate recruiting activities took place in Missouri, and a cavalry regiment was formed in Oregon County, the nucleus being former members of the Missouri State Guard. On September 2, the unit entered Confederate service, but it was reclassified as infantry ten days later. After many of the men transferred to other units, the regiment was reclassified as a battalion on October 19 and named the 7th Missouri Infantry Battalion, also known as Mitchell's Missouri Infantry. It participated in a Confederate offensive at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7. During the battle, the unit made several charges against the Union lines but was repeatedly repulsed by artillery fire. The regiment spent most of early 1863 encamped near Little Rock and Pine Bluff in Arkansas.

The 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry unit that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. In early April 1863, Captain Robert C. Wood, aide-de-camp to Confederate Major General Sterling Price, was detached to form an artillery unit from some of the men of Price's escort. Wood continued recruiting for the unit, which was armed with four Williams guns, and grew to 275 men by the end of September. The next month, the unit fought in the Battle of Pine Bluff, driving back Union Army troops into a barricaded defensive position, from which the Union soldiers could not be dislodged. By November, the unit, which was known as Wood's Missouri Cavalry Battalion, had grown to 400 men but no longer had the Williams guns. In April 1864, Wood's battalion, which was also known as the 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion, played a minor role in the defeat of a Union foraging party in the Battle of Poison Spring, before spending the summer of 1864 at Princeton, Arkansas. In September, the unit joined Price's Raid into the state of Missouri, but their assault during the Battle of Pilot Knob failed to capture Fort Davidson.

The Little Rock Campaign, officially known as Advance of the Union forces upon Little Rock, Arkansas, was a campaign conducted by the Union Army in Arkansas during the American Civil War. The offensive was designed to capture Little Rock.

References

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