Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlooking the Ouachita River, the city developed because of the river.
The Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal, also known as the Main Building of the U.S. Arsenal at Little Rock, or Headquarters Building of the Little Rock Barracks, is the home of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. It is also a part of the MacArthur Park Historic District, in Little Rock, 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, in support of Major General Nathaniel Banks's movement along the Red River towards Shreveport, Louisiana. Steele's objective was also Shreveport, and his men occupied Camden, Arkansas. 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.
The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, also known as the Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, was fought on April 30, 1864, at Jenkins' Ferry, southwest of Little Rock, during the American Civil War. Although the battle ended with a Union victory, the Confederates saw it as a strategic success as they claimed to have prevented Frederick Steele from holding southwest Arkansas. Due to the chaotic nature of the battle, casualty figures vary.
The Battle of Prairie D'Ane, also known as the Skirmish at Prairie D'Ane, Battle of Gum Springs, or Battle of Moscow, was fought in present-day Nevada County, Arkansas, as part of the Camden Expedition, during the American Civil War. The Camden Expedition was launched by Union forces as part of the Red River Campaign of 1864. U.S. planners envisioned two federal armies converging simultaneously, one force under the command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks pressing northward up the Red River commencing at Alexandria, Louisiana and the other federal army under the command of Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele driving southwestward from Little Rock, Arkansas. The objective was to press the rebel army of Gen. E. Kirby Smith back upon the rebel stronghold at Shreveport and defeat him. If successful, a somewhat vague second phase envisioned the two federal armies combining into one large force and continuing their offensive with a westward push into Texas.
The Battle of Honey Springs, also known as the Affair at Elk Creek, on July 17, 1863, was an American Civil War engagement and an important victory for Union forces in their efforts to gain control of the Indian Territory. It was the largest confrontation between Union and Confederate forces in the area that would eventually become Oklahoma. The engagement was also unique in the fact that white soldiers were the minority in both fighting forces. Native Americans made up a significant portion of each of the opposing armies and the Union force contained African-American units.
The Camden Expedition was the final campaign conducted by the Union Army in Arkansas during the Civil War. The offensive was designed to cooperate with Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks' movement against Shreveport.
During the American Civil War, Arkansas was a Confederate state, though it had initially voted to remain in the Union. Following the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Abraham Lincoln called for troops from every Union state to put down the rebellion, and Arkansas and several other states seceded. For the rest of the civil war, Arkansas played a major role in controlling the Mississippi River, a major waterway.
Elkin's Ferry Battlefield was the site of the Battle of Elkin's Ferry, an engagement of the Camden Expedition during the American Civil War. The battlefield is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of Prescott, Arkansas, spanning the Little Missouri River in Clark and Nevada counties. The 575-acre (233 ha) battlefield area was designated a part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark, made up of several of the Union expedition's key sites, on April 19, 1994.
The Camden Expedition Sites is a national historic landmark consisting of nine nationally significant historic places in southwest Arkansas where events of the Union army's disastrous Camden Expedition of 1864 occurred during the American Civil War. The Union was attempting to take over Shreveport, Louisiana. Each of the sites are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a national historic landmark on April 19, 1994.
Fort Lookout, also known as Redoubt A, is a defensive earthworks erected during the American Civil War on the outskirts of Camden, Arkansas. It was the northernmost of a series of five redoubts built in defense of the city by Confederate Army forces in early 1864, preparatory to the Union Army's Camden Expedition. The site has been designated a National Historic Landmark as part of the Camden Expedition Sites, a collection of military sites related to the expedition.
The Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park, also known as the Jenkins' Ferry Battlefield, is a battlefield in Grant County, Arkansas. The Arkansas state park commemorates the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry fought on Saturday, April 30, 1864, during the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War.
Marks' Mills Battleground State Park is an Arkansas State Park located at the junction of Arkansas Highway 8 and Arkansas Highway 97, north of New Edinburg, Arkansas. It preserves a portion of the battlefield of the Battle of Marks' Mills fought on April 25, 1864, in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of American Civil War. The battle was part of the Camden Expedition. The park is one of nine historic sites that make up the Camden Expedition Sites, a National Historic Landmark District. The battle was most known for the slaughter of black Union soldiers that were murdered as they tried to surrender.
Fort Southerland, also known as Redoubt E and possibly Fort Diamond, is a redoubt built during the American Civil War to protect Camden, Arkansas. Confederate forces built it along with four other redoubts in early 1864 after a Union victory in the Little Rock campaign the previous year. Fort Southerland is about the size of a city block and is roughly oval. It could hold three cannons. When Union forces captured Camden in April 1864 during the Camden Expedition, they improved the defenses of the five redoubts, which were not sufficient for proper defense of the city. After the Confederates retook Camden later that month, they continued to improve the city's defenses.
The Prairie D'Ane Battlefield, also known as Prairie D'Ann Battlefield or Prairie De Ann Battlefield in anglicized forms, was the site of the Civil War Battle of Prairie D'Ane, one of the engagements in southwestern Arkansas of the Union's Camden Expedition of 1864. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and, with other sites, is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark. It was declared part of the National Historic Landmark in 1994.
The Confederate State Capitol building in Washington, Arkansas was the capital of the Confederate state government of Arkansas, during 1863–1865, after Little Rock, Arkansas fell to Union forces in the American Civil War. It is located within Historic Washington State Park, and is a National Historic Landmark.
Bentonville Battlefield, also known as the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site, is an American Civil War battlefield in Johnston County, North Carolina. It was the site of the 1865 battle of Bentonville, fought in the waning days of the Civil War. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996.
The 19th Arkansas Infantry Regiment or Dockery's Arkansas Infantry Regiment was an infantry formation of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. There were two other regiments which were designated as the 19th Arkansas. Dawson's 19th Arkansas Infantry was organized at Nashville, Arkansas, on November 21, 1861. Hardy's Arkansas Infantry, which is also occasionally referred to as the 19th Arkansas was organized in 1863 from those parts of Dawson's 19th Infantry Regiment, the 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and Crawford's Arkansas Infantry Battalion, which escaped capture at the Battle of Arkansas Post.
Moscow Methodist Church and Cemetery is a historic landmark built in 1864 and added to the National Register in 2006. The former community of Moscow is located just outside the current city limits of Prescott, Arkansas. The area is on or near the old "Moscow-Camden Road", or "Wire Road" which ran between Moscow and Camden, Arkansas. As of 2016, the location was known as the junction of Nevada County Roads 23 and 260.
The SS Homer was a sidewheel paddle steamer which plied the waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Built in 1859 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, she was 148 feet (45 m) long, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. Her first significant service was in 1860, when she was used as a packet steamer on the Red and Ouachita Rivers, under master and co-owner Samuel Applegate. In 1861, after the start of the American Civil War, she was contracted to the government of the Confederate States of America, and was used to transport men and war materiel. She was used to supply the defenders of Port Hudson, Louisiana, in 1864. That year she was captured by the Union Army forces of General Frederick Steele when she was about 30 miles (48 km) below Camden, Arkansas on the Ouachita River. Steele was at the time engaged in a major expedition whose goal was to reach Shreveport, Louisiana, but had stalled due to Confederate resistance and a lack of supplies. Steele had then occupied Camden, and it was during this occupation that the ship was taken, loaded with grain and other supplies. The Union forces piloted her back to Camden.
