As
Union forces got uncomfortably close to Little Rock in 1862, the
Confederate government built earthwork forts along the Arkansas
River to block Federal access to the capital and to provide a
base from which Confederate gunboats could attack Federal shipping
on the Mississippi River. Fort Hindman and supporting earthworks
were constructed at Arkansas Post, 50 miles up the Arkansas River
from its confluence with the Mississippi, during the fall of 1862.
The fort, a square bastioned work 190 feet square, was set on
high ground at the head of a horseshoe bend. Its dozen guns included
three 9-inch Columbiads, one to each riverward casemate, and a
hard-hitting 8-inch rifle. Some 5,000 soldiers were housed at
the fort and in nearby huts -- Col. John Dunnington, the fort's
commander, was a former U. S. naval officer, while the field force
was under the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill. A significant
portion of the defending Confederate infantry, supported by six
light pieces of field artillery, occupied a line of rifle pits
1 1/2 miles that extended from the fort
to Post Bayou.
Because
the fort remained a threat to Union supply lines, Union Maj. Gen.
John A. McClernand and Rear Adm. David D. Porter led a powerful
army-navy expedition from Milliken's Bend against Arkansas Post
as a prelude to the Federal operations against Vicksburg. The
expedition included three ironclad gunboats, several timber-clad
gunboats, and 60 transports carrying 33,000 men -- constituting
the Army of the Mississippi that McClernand had divided into two
corps of two divisions each under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman
and Brig. Gen. George W. Morgan. Late on the afternoon of January
9, 1863, the Union troops landed 3 miles down river from the fort.
As the Federals approached the fort overland, the Confereates
in the outer earthworks were quickly driven out when the gunboats
forged ahead and took them under fire from the flank. Thus, the
Confederates retreated to the protection of the fort and adjacent
rifle pits.
Late
on the afternoon of January 10, when the Union debarkation had
been completed and the four divisions were maneuvering for positions
from which to launch an assault, the ironclads took the lead.
The Louisville, De Kalb, and Cincinnati
advanced in line abreast to within 400 yards of the fort, pressing
the attack bows on, one to each casemate, while the thinner-skinned
vessels followed close behind to throw in shrapnel and light rifled
shell. When Porter broke off the engagement because of darkness,
the fort was silent, apparently overwhelmed. But when Sherman,
reconnoitering by moonlight, drew close to the enemy outposts
he could hear the Confederates at work with spades and axes, drawing
a new line under cover of their heavy guns and preparing to continue
to resist despite the long numerical odds.
Union
artillery fired on the fort from artillery positions across the
river on the 11th, and the infantry moved into position for an
attack. About 1:30 p.m. Porter ordered the ironclads forward to
renew the previous day's attack. Then the troops under Sherman
and Morgan went forward against the newly drawn Confederate line
that extended across the rear of the fort from the river to an
impassable swamp 1 mile west. As they approached the fort the
Federals saw above its parapet the pennants of the ironclds, which
had smothered the heavy guns and were giving the fort a close-up
pounding while at the same time passing it to cut off any retreat.
As the Federal troops gained a foothold on the Confederate fortifications,
despite suffering heavy casualties, white flags began to break
out along the Confederate line, several units allowed the Federals
inside their works, and Churchill was forced to surrender.
The
battle eliminated a significant impediment to Union shipping on
the Mississippi, strengthened the Federal supply line, and contributed
to the eventual capture of Vicksburg. The estimated number of
Union battlefield casualties was nearly 1,100, while that for
the Confederates was nearly 140. However, nearly 5,000 Confederate
soldiers were taken captive, including a regiment that marched
in from Pine Bluff during the surrender negotiations.
In 1993, the Civil War Sites Advisory
Commission designated the Battle of Arkansas Post as one of the
Civil War's 384 principal battlefields. The Battle of Arkansas
Post is nationally significant, because the Union victory on January
11, 1863, eliminated a significant impediment to Federal shipping
on the Mississippi River, strengthened the Northern supply line,
and contributed to the eventual Confederate surrender of Little
Rock and Vicksburg. Thus, Arkansas Post was not only a major battle
that had an observable influence on the outcome of the Vicksburg
campaign, but it was also a significant battle that had an observable
impact on the direction and final outcome of the Civil War.
