Arkansas Encyclopedia of Arkansas History - Encyclopedia Arkapedia

American Civil War

The state of Arkansas was a part of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and provided a source of troops, supplies, and military and political leaders for the fledgling country.

Arkansas had become the 25th state of the United States, on June 15, 1836, entering as a slave state. 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.

Arkansas refused to join the Confederate States of America until after Abraham Lincoln called for troops to respond to the provoked attack of Fort Sumter by Confederate forces in South Carolina. It finally seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861. Despite its relative lack of strategic importance, the state was the scene of numerous small-scale battles during the Civil War.

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Arkansas formed some 48 infantry regiments for the Confederate Army in addition to numerous cavalry and artillery battery units to serve as part of the Confederate Army. The 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles, and the 1st, 4th, and 6th Arkansas Infantries would go on to see considerable action as a part of Major General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. To include those stated above, 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 measured to the scale of the "eastern theater". That one infantry regiment, the 3rd Arkansas, served in the east for the duration of the war, where most of the major battles were fought, thus making it the states 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, to include the Battle of Seven Pines, Seven Days Battle, Battle of Harpers Ferry, Battle of Antietam, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Chickamauga, Battle of the Wilderness, and the Appomattox Campaign.
  • Battle of Arkansas Post
  • Battle of Bayou Fourche
  • Battle of Cane Hill
  • Battle of Chalk Bluff
  • Battle of Devil's Backbone
  • Battle of Elkin's Ferry
  • Battle of Helena
  • Battle of Hill's Plantation
  • Battle of Jenkins' Ferry
  • Battle of Marks' Mills
  • Battle of Old River Lake
  • Battle of Pea Ridge
  • Battle of Pine Bluff
  • Battle of Poison Spring
  • Battle of Prairie D'Ane
  • Battle of Prairie Grove
  • Battle of Saint Charles
  • Battle of Whitney's Lane

    • From its establishment in 1824, Washington was an important stop on the rugged Southwest Trail for pioneers traveling to Texas. James Bowie, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett traveled through Washington. James Black, a local blacksmith, is credited with creating the legendary Bowie knife here. Later, the town became a major service center for area planters, merchants and professionals. Washington was the Confederate Capital of Arkansas from 1861-1865. Albert G. Simms (1882 - 1964), a United States Representative from New Mexico, was born here.

    Arkansas Units
    Battles in Arkansas
    Old Washington, Arkansas


    since statehood.