Made The Union Position Untenable

The Battle of Mark’s Mills was fought on April 25^th 1864 in Cleveland County, Arkansas and was part of the Camden Expedition.

Union troops were defeated April 18^th 1864 at the Battle of Poison Springs, but it still left Union Major General Frederick Steele in possession of Camden, Arkansas.  Confederate Major General Sterling Price set up a siege on the surrounding Camden countryside.  Union supplies were running low when Steele ordered Union Lieutenant Colonel Francis M Drake to use the Camden Pine Bluff Road to bring in provisions.

On the morning of April 25^th 1864 Drake’s command of about 1,800 with additional 300 or so African Americans were attacked near the intersection of the Camden Pine Bluff Road and Warren Road.  Confederate Brigadier General William L Cabell stopped Drake’s movement as Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Shelby launched an assault on the Union left.  Drake was seriously wounded, and finding himself facing overwhelming numbers he was forced to surrender his entire column.

Following this battle Steele’s position in Camden became untenable.  He left Camden on April 26^th 1864 and marched north toward Little Rock, Arkansas.

Another place on the web where you find more is Battle of Mark’s Mill (A History)

May As Well Lose Them Here

The opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign, the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou was fought December 26^th through the 29^th of 1862.

Union Major General Ulysses S Grant started a campaign in November 1862 to capture the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  He spilt his army of 70,000 men into two wings, commanding one himself and placing the other under Major General William Tecumseh Sherman.  Sherman wing was authorized as the XV Corps of the Army of the Tennessee on December 22^nd 1862.  He organized his troops into four divisions under Brigadier Generals George W Morgan, Andrew Jackson Smith, Morgan L Smith and Frederick Steele.  Sherman’s men disembarked on the Yazoo River at Johnson’s Plantation on December 24^th 1862

On December 26^th 1862 Sherman deployed three brigades to make a reconnaissance of the Confederate defenses around Chickasaw Bayou.  The ground was ruff and swampy.  They skirmished with Confederate Stephen D Lee’s men.

Sherman ordered an artillery attack on December 29^th 1862 to weaken Confederate defenses.  It went on for about four hour, but didn’t do much damage.  At about 11 am the Union troops deployed into lines of battle.  Sherman knew it was going to be hard fighting and said, "We will lose 5,000 men before we take Vicksburg, and may as well lose them here as anywhere else."

The assault started at noon.  Union troops crossed water barriers and other obstacles, moving forward against the Confederates by the force of sheer numbers.  Once they reached the main Confederate line and came under heavy fire the Union line began to crumble.  Sherman’s men fell back on a corduroy bridge.  Confederate General Lee made a counterattack, capturing a number of battle flags and 332 Union soldiers.

After another day of fighting Sherman decided fighting more in the same location would be pointless.  The Union saw 1,776 casualties.

A Prairie Fight

Frederick Steele

The Battle of Prairie D’Ane fought in the Nevada County area of Arkansas, came to an end April 13th 1864 after 4 days of fighting.


Prairie De Ann was a well known area land mark, located about a hundred miles southwest of Little Rock, Arkansas. It was a circular area of land bounded by forest. The Prairie lay at a crossroads, west of Washington Arkansas the Confederate capital of the state, east of the city of Camden, and south of the Little Red River. Starting on Aril 10th 1864 Union Major General Frederick Steel’s troops along with Brigadier General John M Thayer’s division, while on march from the Cronelius Farm encountered the confederate line at Prairie D’Ane. The Union force attacked the line, driving it in about a mile. The following day the two forces skirmished each other. Steele was forced by this to change his line march away from Shreveport and closer to Camden, Arkansas. Confederate Major General Sterling Price brought soldiers to Prairie D’Ane April 13th 1864, attacking Steele’s rearguard. The fighting went on for four hours, before Price disengaged allowing Steele to continue on to Camden, where he captured the city.

Looking For A Place To Cross The River

Fought on April 3rd and 4th 1864 the Battle of Elkin’s Ferry was part of the Camden Expedition in Arkansas.

Union Major General Frederick Steele had command of the VII Corps and two cavalry brigades. Confederate Brigadier General John S Marmaduke commanded three cavalry brigades. Steele’s men needed to find a place to cross the Little Missouri River, and with all the bridges out they headed to Elkin’s Ferry. Having reached Elkin’s Ferry the Union troops were attacked on April 3rd by Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Orville Shelby’s cavalry. Steele was attacked the next day while trying to cross the river by Marmaduke, but was able to drive off the Confederates and cross the river.

Casualties on both side were light. On the Union side about 30 were wounded. On the Confederate side 50 were wounded and 18 killed. On the evening of April 4th 1864 Shelby and Marmaduke joined forces. The next morning they withdrew south to Prairie D’Ann.

Little Rock Fell

Union Major General Frederick Steele the commander of the Army of Arkansas moved on Little Rock, Arkansas on September 10th 1863, setting off the Battle of Bayou Fourche. Steele sent Brigadier General John W Davidson’s cavalry across the Arkansas River about five miles east of Bayou Fourche toward Little Rock Arkansas. Steele meanwhile took his troops, attacking the Confederates under Brigadier General John Sappington Marmaduke, who where entrenched on the north side of the river. Davidson found Confederate troops at Bayou Fourche, and with the help of Union artillery forced them into a fighting retreat back to Little Rock. Steele was able to occupy Little Rock on the night of September 10th 1863.

Poison Spring

Fought as part of the Camden Expedition, the Battle of Poison Spring occurred on April 18th 1864 in Ouachita County Arkansas.


Union Major General Frederick Steele at Camden Arkansas found himself running out of supplies. He sent a large foraging party twenty miles up the Prairie D’Ane - Camden Road along the White Oak Creek to collect corn the Confederate had stored there. With the corn loaded into wagons on April 18th 1864 Colonel James M Williams and his men began their return trip to Camden. Still about fifteen miles from Camden on the Camden - Washington Road near Poison Spring the Union soldiers were attacked by Confederate Brigadier Generals John Sappington Marmaduke and Samuel B Maxey. The Confederates hit Williams from the front and rear, forcing them to retreat north into the marsh. The Union troops regrouped after a two and half mile pursuit by the Confederates, and retreated back to Camden.

The Union saw losses of 301 men, most of whom were from the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers Infantry. [Many of the black soldiers were killed after the battle was over.] They also lost 198 wagons with 5,000 bushels of corn. The Confederates lost 114 men.

A Career Officer

Major General Frederick Steele a career United States Army officer was born January 14th 1819.

Frederick Steele was born January 14th 1819 in Delhi, New York. He attended West Point and graduated in 1843, ranking 30th out of 39 in the class. While serving in the Mexican American War he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He served after the war in California and in the Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska Territories.

With the beginning of the Civil War Steele was assigned to the 11th Untied States Infantry as a Major and fought in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. He continued to be promoted and by November 29th 1862 was a Major General in command of the 11th Division in the XIII Corps of the Army of Tennessee. Steele’s division would take part in Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s siege on Vicksburg. In July of 1863 he placed in command of the Army of Arkansas where they successfully took the Confederate controlled Little Rock Arkansas.

Following the end of the war Steele was sent to Texas, where he took up command on the Rio Grande. He served there as a part of the Department of the Columbia until November 1867 when he left for health issues. Steele died two months latter January 12th 1868 in San Mateo, California from a fall from a carriage that was the result of an apoplexy attack .

They Got Across The River

Major General Frederick Steel

Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith caught up with Union General Frederick Steel's force on April 30th 1864, bring on the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry.

After having been slammed at Mark’s Mills and Poison Spring, and being low on supplies, Major General Frederick Steele’s Union forces were in retreat from Camden, Arkansas. On the afternoon of April 29th 1864 they began crossing the flooded Saline River at Jenkin’s Ferry. On April 30th the Confederate’s caught up and made repeated attacks on the Union troops. The Federals fought off the attacks and managed to cross the river with men and supply wagons. General Edmund Kirby Smith’s Confederates lost the last chance to destroy Steele’s army due to his army being deployed piecemeal. They failed to hit the Union’s vulnerable left, choosing instead frontal attacks, which devastated Kirby’s men.

Both armies had high casualties, with the Confederates reporting 443 dead, wounded or missing, and the Union side reporting 521 casualties. The battle is still consider a Union victory as they held back the Rebel’s until they could cross the Saline River. The Union troops continued to retreat toward Little Rock, Arkansas.