Battle of Bayou Fourche

Sketch of Engagement at Bayou Fourche, Ark.

The Battle of Bayou Fourche (September 10, 1863), also known as the Battle of Little Rock, was the most decisive battle of the Little Rock Campaign.

Background

Main articles: Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War and Arkansas in the American Civil War

The Battle of Bayou Forche was the culmination of a campaign launched by Major-General Fred Steele on August 1, 1863 to capture Little Rock, Arkansas. The Little Rock Campaign included engagements at West Point, Harrison's Landing, Brownsville, Reed's Bridge, and Ashley's Mills (or Ferry Landing).

Battle

See also: Battle of Little Rock Confederate order of battle

On September 10, 1863, Steele sent Brigadier-General John Davidson's division of United States Cavalry across the Arkansas River to advance on Little Rock while he moved against Confederate States forces entrenched on the north side of the river. In his thrust toward the state capitol, Davidson ran into Brigadier-General Marsh Walker's division of cavalry, commanded by Colonel Archibald Dobbins, at Bayou Fourche. Aided by field artillery from the north side of the river, Davidson forced Dobbins out of his position and sent the defenders fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to the U.S. Army that afternoon.

Aftermath

Major-General Sterling Price, commanding at Little Rock, fell back to Arkadelphia on the 14th, and eventually reestablished his command at Camp Bragg, Arkansas. Governor Harris Flanagin relocated the state capitol to Washington, Arkansas, where it remained for the rest of the war. The fall of Little Rock sealed Arkansas' fate and helped to further demoralize Confederate citizens west of the Mississippi River, further isolating them from the rest of the South.

See also

• Wittsburg Fortification

References

• Report of Colonel John M. Glover, Third Missouri Cavalry. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate armies. Series 1, Volume 22, Page 501 (Part I). United States War Department, 1889, Government Printing Office. See Official Records of the American Civil War.
• Sketch of Engagement. Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Plate 25, Map 3.
• Civil War Battlefields in the State of Arkansas - Arkansas Post to Devils Backbone
• Burford, Timothy Wayne, and Stephanie Gail McBride. The Division: Defending Little Rock, August 25–September 10, 1863. Jacksonville, AR: WireStorm Publishing, 1999.
• Christ, Mark K. Civil War Arkansas, 1863: The Battle for a State. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.
• “Here in the Wilds of Arkansas: Interpreting the 1863 Little Rock Campaign.” MLS thesis, University of Oklahoma, 2000.
• “‘The Sting of Being an Exile’: The Little Rock Campaign of 1863. Pulaski County Historical Review 61 (Spring 2013): 34–47.
• Huff, Leo E. “The Last Duel in Arkansas: The Marmaduke-Walker Duel.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 23 (Spring 1964): 36–49.
• “The Union Expedition Against Little Rock.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 22 (Fall 1963): 224–237

https://books.google.com/books?id=ET6CDfczq9gC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=battle+of+bayou+fourche+12,000&source=bl&ots=MOULkM1-xB&sig=Q5haFvHf4n9c1iMtjrb7CaIS0uY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEYQ6AEwB2oVChMI4Ij_hsaOyAIVlVqICh3LGwdU#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20bayou%20fourche%2012%2C000& http://www.kennesaw.edu/civilwarera/sesq_1863.shtml

External links

• Bayou Forche Battle Summary at the American Battlefield Protection Program