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Arkansas in the American Civil War
Arkansas Civil War History
Introduction
The Territory of Arkansas
was admitted to the Union as the 25th U.S. state on June 15, 1836.
| Arkansas Civil War History |
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| Arkansas Territory Map |
The history of Arkansas
began millennia ago when humans initially crossed into North America. Many tribes used Arkansas as their hunting lands but
the main tribe was the Quapaw who settled in Arkansas River delta upon moving south from Illinois. Early French explorers
gave the territory its name, a corruption of Akansea, which is a phonetic spelling of the Illinois word for the Quapaw. What
began as a rough wilderness inhabited by trappers and hunters became incorporated into the United States as part of the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803 and became Arkansas Territory in 1819. Upon gaining statehood in 1836, Arkansas began to prosper under a
plantation economy that was heavily reliant on slave labor.
The first European to reach
Arkansas was the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, a veteran of Pizarro's conquest of Peru who died near Lake Village on
the Mississippi River in 1542 after almost a year traversing the southern part of the state in search of gold and a passage
to China. Arkansas is one of several US states formed from the territory purchased from Napoleon Bonaparte in the Louisiana
Purchase. The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is believed to be a phonetic spelling
of the Illinois tribe's name for the Quapaw people, who lived downriver from them. Other Native American tribes who lived
in Arkansas before moving west were the Quapaw, Caddo, and Osage nations. The Five Civilized Tribes also inhabited Arkansas
during its territorial period, but were forced westward under U.S. Indian removal policies. The Five Civilized Tribes were the five Native American nations—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole—that
were considered civilized by Anglo-European settlers during the colonial and early federal period because they adopted many
of the colonists' customs and had generally good relations with their neighbors.
The Territory of Arkansas, aka Arkansas Territory, was organized on July
4, 1819. On June 15, 1836, the state of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state and the 13th slave state. Planters
settled in the Delta to cultivate cotton; this was the area of the state where most enslaved African Americans were held.
Other areas had more subsistence farmers and mixed farming.
Arkansas Post was the first territorial
capital (1819–1821) and Little Rock was the second (1821–1836).
The Arkansas Territory was created
from the portion of the Missouri Territory lying south of a point on the Mississippi River at 36 degrees north latitude running
west to the St. Francois River, then followed the river to 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, then west to the territorial
boundary. This included all of the present state of Oklahoma south of the parallel 36°30' north. The westernmost portion of
the territory was removed on November 15, 1824, a second westernmost portion was removed on May 6, 1828, reducing the territory
to the extent of the present state of Arkansas.
| Arkansas Civil War Map |
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| Arkansas and the Louisiana Purchase Map |
Originally the western border of Missouri was intended to go due south to
the Red River. During negotiations with the Choctaw in 1820, however, Andrew Jackson unknowingly ceded more of Arkansas territory.
Then in 1824, after further negotiations, the Choctaw agreed to move farther west, but only by "100 paces" of the actual garrison
on Belle Point. This resulted in the bend in the common border at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Until Oklahoma received statehood,
Fort Smith served as the ostensible legal authority overseeing the Oklahoma Territory. The Army oversaw issues dealing with
the Indian Nations. Civil and criminal law was dealt with by court administered Judge Isaac C. Parker who hanged 61 people.
| Arkansas Civil War Map of Battlefields |
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| High Resolution Terrain Map of Arkansas Civil War Battles |
Arkansas played a key role
in aiding Texas in its war for independence from Mexico; it sent troops and materials to Texas to help fight the war. The
proximity of the city of Washington to the Texas border involved the town in the Texas Revolution of 1835–36. Some evidence
suggests Sam Houston and his compatriots planned the revolt in a tavern at Washington in 1834. When the fighting began, a
stream of volunteers from Arkansas and the southeastern states flowed through the town toward the Texas battle fields.
When the Mexican-American
War began in 1846, Washington became a rendezvous for volunteer troops. Governor Thomas S. Drew issued a proclamation calling
on the state to furnish one regiment of cavalry and one battalion of infantry to join the United States Army. Ten companies
of men assembled here, where they were formed into the first Regiment of Arkansas Cavalry.
The state developed a
cotton culture in the east in lands of the Mississippi Delta. This was where enslaved labor was used most extensively, as
planters brought with them or imported slaves from the Upper South. On the eve of the American Civil War (1861-1865) in 1860,
enslaved African Americans numbered 111,115 people, just over 25% of the state's population.
Sentiment
Arkansas did not secede in early 1861 with the gulf states, but it joined
the Confederacy after President Abraham Lincoln demanded that the state provide Union troops to help subdue the Southern
rebellion following the Fort Sumter, South Carolina, bombardment. Arkansas formally proclaimed its secession from the
Union on May 6, 1861.
In 1861, Arkansas was a part of the Confederate States of America during
the Civil War, and provided a source of troops, supplies, and military and political leaders for the fledgling country. Antebellum
Arkansas was still a wilderness in most areas, rural and sparsely populated. As a result, it did not have early military significance
when states began seceding from the Union. State Militia forces seized the Federal Arsenal in Little Rock before Arkansas
actually voted to secede. The small Federal garrison was forced to evacuate after a demand by Arkansas Governor Rector that
the arsenal be turned over to state authority. At the beginning of 1861, the population and sentiment of Arkansas, like several
states of the Upper South, was mixed regarding secession, but it was also opposed to Federal coercion of seceding states.
This was shown by the results of state convention referendum in February 1861. The referendum passed, but the majority of
the delegates elected were conditional unionist in sympathy, rather than outright secessionist. This changed after the Confederacy
attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and President Lincoln called for troops to put down the rebellion. The move toward
open war shifted public opinion into the secessionist camp, and Arkansas declared its secession from the Union on May 6, 1861.
| Arkansas Secession |
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| Arkansas Civil War Map |
Support for the Southern cause was great immediately following secession.
Many towns sent enthusiastic men with hunting rifles to Little Rock prepared to fight. Citizens across the state thought victory
over the lazy Northerners would come swiftly. Some anti-war organizations formed in northwest Arkansas such as the Arkansas
Peace Society, but members of these groups were usually arrested and charged with treason or forced to join Confederate ranks.
Geographically Arkansas was a very important state during the war, giving the Rebels control of the Mississippi River and
tenuous holds on Missouri, Louisiana and Indian Territory to the west. Benjamin McCulloch was ordered to defend north Arkansas
and Indian Territory, however quickly went on a bloody offensive resulting in the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Springfield,
Missouri with Sterling Price. This bloody battle shocked many Arkansans who thought the war would be a quick and painless
victory for the South. Thomas Hindman requested that the Arkansas militia join the Confederate army, but most soldiers threatened
to quit if the units were merged. When Arkansas exhausted its supplies to support the militia, the two units were forcibly
merged much to this dismay of Arkansan troops. The Battle of Poison Spring took place during the Camden Expedition in south
Arkansas in April 1864. The action resulted in a Confederate victory but became marred with scandal after rumors spread that
members of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers were shot on sight, which was the Confederate policy when dealing with escaped
slaves.
When Union forces captured Little Rock in 1863, the Confederate government
relocated the state capital to the town of Washington in the southwest part of the state.
Though Arkansas joined the
Confederacy, not all Arkansans supported the Confederate cause. Beginning with the fall of Little Rock to Union forces in
1863, Arkansans supporting the Union formed some eleven infantry regiments, four cavalry regiments, and two artillery batteries
to serve in the Union Army. None of those saw any heavy combat actions, and few took part in any major battles. They served
mostly as anti-guerrilla forces, patrolling areas that had heavy Confederate guerrilla activity. Another significant event
brought on by the fall of Little Rock was the relocation of the state capital. Initially state government officials moved
the capital offices to Hot Springs, but it remained there for only a short time, being moved deeper into Confederate occupied
territory, in Washington, Arkansas, where it would remain for the rest of the war.
Civil War
According to the 1860 U.S.
census, Arkansas had a free population of 324,335 and an additional slave population of 111,115. While Arkansas recruited
some 50,000 men for the Confederate Army, it suffered at least 7,000 killed
and several thousands more wounded. A total of 8,289 Arkansas men served in the Union Army, according to statisticians Phisterer
(1883), Fox (1889) and Dyer (1908), resulting in a total of 1,713 deaths from all causes.
Arkansas
formed some 48 infantry regiments, numerous cavalry regiments and artillery batteries to serve as part of the Confederate
Army. A compilation made from the official rosters of the Confederate Armies as they stood at various battles, and
at various dates covering the entire period of the war, shows that Arkansas kept the following number of organizations in
almost continuous service in the field: 35 infantry regiments, 12 infantry battalions, 6 cavalry regiments,
2 cavalry battalions, and 15 batteries of light artillery.
While overshadowed by the larger and more well-known engagements in
the east, Arkansas was the scene of numerous battles and skirmishes during the American Civil War.
The 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles, and the 1st, 4th, and 6th Arkansas Infantries
would see considerable action as a part of Major General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. Including those regiments, all
but one infantry regiment and all of the cavalry and artillery units served most of the war in what was known as the "Western
Theater", where there were few battles that were on the scale of those in "Eastern Theater". That one infantry regiment, the
3rd Arkansas, served in the East where most of the major battles were fought, for the duration of the war, thus making it
the state's most celebrated Confederate military unit. Attached to General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, the
3rd Arkansas would take part in almost every major Eastern battle, including the Battle of Seven Pines, Seven Days Battle,
Battle of Harper's Ferry, Battle of Antietam, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Chickamauga, Battle
of the Wilderness, and the Appomattox Campaign.
| Arkansas in the Civil War |
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| Map of Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War |
| Map of Arkansas Civil War Battlefields |
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| Arkansas Civil War Battlefield Map |
Arkansans of note during the Civil War include Confederate Maj. Gen. Patrick
Cleburne. Considered by many to be one of the most brilliant Confederate division commanders of the war, Cleburne is often
referred to as "The Stonewall of the West." Also of note is Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, a former United States Representative,
who commanded Confederate forces at the Battle of Cane Hill and Battle of Prairie Grove. Brigadier General Albert Rust, through
his political influence, helped to form the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and until his promotion to general commanded that
regiment. He later commanded forces at the Battle of Pea Ridge and the Battle of Shiloh, ultimately serving under General
Sterling Price. Colonel Van H. Manning took over command of the 3rd Arkansas following Rust's promotion, and was commended
for bravery in several engagements, most notably at the Devil's Den during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Arkansas State Troops provided the bulk of forces for the second major battle
of the Civil War, the Battle of Wilson's Creek in southeastern Missouri. Although this first major battle in the western theater
was a victory for southern forces, the Arkansas forces moved back to Arkansas and in a dispute over transfer to Confederate
Authority, were disbanded. Remaining Confederate Forces in Arkansas were transferred east of the Mississippi River in the
fall of 1861, and spent the remainder of the war serving in that theater.
General Earl Van Dorn was dispatched to Arkansas early in 1862 to build
a new force. Gen. Van Dorn led his new Army of the Frontier into the Battle of Pea Ridge in late February 1862. This battle
was a defeat for southern forces and led to the loss of northwest Arkansas. Immediately following the battle of Pea Ridge,
Van Dorn transferred his forces east of the Mississippi River in an attempt to support Confederate Forces in what would become
the Battle of Shiloh. Although Van Dorn's force arrived too late to participate in the battle, they remained east of the Mississippi
River for the remainder of the war.
In April 1862 when Van Dorn left the state, Brig. Gen. Roane refused to go with
Van Dorn because Roane believed that Arkansas Troops should be left to defend their state. Van Dorn detached Roane and left
him in command of all military forces in Arkansas, but he then did not leave Roane any organized body of troops to command.
| Arkansas Secession Map |
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| Arkansas and the Confederacy Map |
Gen. Roane approached the Governor of the State, Henry M. Rector, for assistance
in raising new forces. Gov. Rector instructed Roane to halt any troops then within the state for the state's defense. There
were four companies of the 12th Texas Cavalry at Pine Bluff at the time waiting on a steamboat to take them to Memphis where
their Colonel, Parsons, was waiting for them with the two companies of the regiment who were en route to join Van Dorn at
Corinth, Mississippi, per Van Dorn's orders. The remainder of the 12th Texas Cavalry were at Little Rock and Benton heading
to Pine Bluff for transportation.
On May 1, 1862, Rector, believing that Union General Samuel Curtis' army
was on the way to capture Little Rock, abandoned Little Rock and moved the state Government to Hot Springs, Arkansas. So for
the first three weeks of May 1862 there was no military or State Government at Little Rock. Roane went to Pine Bluff and enlisted
the help of Maj. Gen. James Yell commander of the Arkansas State Militia and began recruiting for a new Army of the Southwest
in the Department of Arkansas. Gen. Yell was a "States Defense first" advocate and lent his power to aiding Roane along with
Arkansas Confederate State Senator Colonel Robert Johnson also of Pine Bluff. These three men were the backbone of the newly
reconstituting Army of the Trans Mississippi Department. The companies, which eventually became the 26th Arkansas Infantry
Regiment, had started the recruiting process before Van Dorn left the state and had just been organized when Gen. Roane
relocated his headquarters to Pine Bluff from Little Rock.
Rector in the meantime sent dispatches to President Jefferson
Davis threatening to secede from the Confederacy unless he sent some sort of support. Which Davis did in the form of the CSS
Ponchartrain and CSS Maurepaus. The State Government did not return to Little Rock until the Ponchartrain arrived and a week
later Gen. Thomas C. Hindman arrived to take command from Roane, and ordered all troops at Pine Bluff to Little Rock.
Gen.
Hindman was dispatched to take command of what had been designated as the Confederate Department of the Trans-Mississippi.
Through rigorous enforcement of new Confederate conscription laws, Hindman was able to raise a new army in Arkansas. Union
forces threatened the state capitol of Little Rock in the summer of 1862, but settled for occupying the city of Helena and
turning it into a major logistical hub. Hindman led his new force, composed largely of conscripts, to defeat in the Battle of Prairie Grove in Northwest Arkansas in February 1863; Hindman was defeated in this attempt
to clear northwest Arkansas of Union forces.
When the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, Union
forces were in occupation of northwestern Arkansas. Local Union commanders, who had been aggressively enforcing the Confiscation
Acts to grant freedom to slaves of rebel owners, put the proclamation into effect immediately, freeing many slaves in the
area.
Hindman next moved his army across the state and attacked the Union supply
depot at Helena in an attempt to relieve Federal pressure on Vicksburg, Mississippi. Confederate forces were unsuccessful
in this attempt to retake Helena on July 3, 1863. Union forces followed up this victory with a move against the state capitol
at Little Rock. Little Rock fell to Union forces in early September 1863 and Confederate forces retreated to southwestern
Arkansas. A new Confederate State Capitol was established at Washington, Arkansas, in Hempstead County. The Union also took
possession of Fort Smith, giving Federal forces effective control of the entire length of the Arkansas River.
The next
major action in Arkansas was the Camden Expedition (March 23– May 2, 1864). Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele and his Union
troops stationed at Little Rock and Fort Smith were ordered to march to Shreveport, Louisiana. There, Steele was supposed
to link up with a separate Federal amphibious expedition which was advancing up the Red River Valley. The combined Union force
was then to strike into Texas. But the two pincers never converged, and Steele's columns suffered terrible losses in a series
of battles with Confederates led by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price and Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith at the Battle of Marks' Mills, Battle
of Poison Spring and the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. Ultimately Union forces managed to escape back to Little Rock where they
basically remained for the duration of the war.
By the end of the war, many of the Arkansas regiments were serving with Bragg's
Army of Tennessee, and most were with that Army when it surrendered on April 26, 1865, in Greensboro, North Carolina.
| Map of Arkansas Civil War Battles |
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| High Resolution Map of Arkansas |
Reconstruction
The war devastated the economy and civilian life in Arkansas. As the military
action moved out of the trans-Mississippi region, shortages of all manufactured goods and foodstuffs led to widespread privation.
By the end of the war, it is estimated that one-eighth of the adult male population (white and African American) had died.
The state of Arkansas suffered human and economic devastation that would require years to overcome. Railroads opened up new
areas to development and commercial farming throughout Arkansas. Many subsistence farmers were forced into commercial production
by their debts, having borrowed against their future crops.
The Fort Smith Council was a series of important meetings held at Fort Smith
in September 1865 that were organized by the United States government for all Indian tribes east of the Rockies. The purpose
was to discuss the future treaties and land allocations following the close of the Civil War.
Under the Military Reconstruction Act, Congress readmitted Arkansas in June
1868. The Republican controlled reconstruction legislature established universal male suffrage (though disenfranchising all
former Confederates, who were mostly Democrats), a public education system, and passed general issues to improve the state
and help more of the population. The state soon came under almost exclusive control of the Radical Republicans, (those who
relocated from the North being derided as "carpetbaggers" based on allegations of corruption), and led by Governor Powell
Clayton they presided over a time of great upheaval and racial violence in the state between Republican state militia and
the Ku Klux Klan.
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