Battle of Helena
Battle of Helena | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
| District of Arkansas | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
4,129 | 7,646 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
220 or 239 | 1,636 | ||||||
The Battle of Helena was fought on July 4, 1863, near
Differing interpretations of Holmes' order to attack at daylight resulted in
Background
In December 1860, the state of South Carolina seceded from the United States, as a result of several disagreements with the federal government, slavery chief among them. Further Deep South states seceded early in the next year, forming the Confederate States of America.[1] The Civil War began on April 12, when Confederate troops bombarded Fort Sumter. When Abraham Lincoln, the newly elected President of the United States, called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion, this proved the catalyst for the southern state of Arkansas to secede and join the Confederacy.[2] Fighting occurred to the north in Missouri during 1861,[3] but in early March 1862, Confederate forces were defeated in northern Arkansas at the Battle of Pea Ridge.[4] Beginning in late April, Union (United States) forces followed up on the victory at Pea Ridge by moving into Arkansas, threatening the state capital of Little Rock, and occupying the Mississippi River town of Helena on July 12.[5]
By early 1863, holding Helena provided the Union with significant advantages, such as serving as a supply depot for the ongoing
Prelude
On June 9, Holmes learned that the strength of the Union forces in Helena was about 3,000 or 4,000 men, and decided against an attack.
Once formed, the plan called for Price, with his 3,095 infantry, to move from Jacksonport to
The Union troops in Helena were commanded by Major General
Battle
On July 3, Holmes, Price, Walker, Fagan, and Marmaduke gathered to formulate the plan of assault. Holmes noted that the defenses of Helena were stronger than he expected but carried on with the attack anyway. Price was to attack the Union center, focusing on Battery C on Graveyard Hill. South of Price, Fagan was to attack Battery D on Hindman's Hill, while Marmaduke, supported by Walker, was to attack from the north, take Rightor's Hill, and then use the hill as an artillery position to fire on Batteries A and B.[32] Walker's specific orders were to "act against the enemy as circumstances may justify", a vague order that left him under his own initiative and resulted in him accomplishing little in the coming battle.[33] Holmes made a pledge that he would take personal responsibility for the results of the assault if it failed. The converging attack would be difficult, and the generals interpreted Holmes' order to begin the attack at "daylight" differently. Historian Robert Kerby describes the Confederate plan as "a model of brutal irresponsibility". Since Prentiss was aware of a coming attack, the Confederates would not have the advantage of surprise.[32] Their plans were also hampered by poor reconnaissance.[14]
Late on July 3, Fagan sent a patrol commanded by
Price's attack had been delayed. Advancing his men through ravines and over hills, Price decided that his artillery would have to be left behind, although picked men from his batteries were to accompany the infantry to man the Union pieces that the attack expected to capture.[46] Obstructions on the line of approach also disorganized Price's ranks.[47] Price's advance was led by the 9th Missouri Sharpshooter Battalion, who sighted the Union positions on Graveyard Hill. Despite dawn beginning to be visible in the sky, Price misunderstood Holmes' order to attack at daylight and held back his troops, until Holmes came over to explain his orders.[46] Meanwhile, Fagan's men attacked the second Union line of works.[48] The 43rd Indiana Infantry Regiment had been facing Fagan's Confederates, and was reinforced by parts of the 33rd Iowa Infantry Regiment and the 35th Missouri Infantry Regiment, under orders from Salomon. Because Price had not yet attacked, Fagan's men came under fire from both Battery D and Battery C.[49] Fagan's Confederates broke through the second Union line, then a third and fourth, but then halted at about 7:00 am, their attack spent.[48] They were now in front of Battery D.[50]
Marmaduke had his own problems in his sector on the line.
Around the time Fagan's men approached Battery D at 7:00 am, Price's attack began.
Price's first attack was repulsed, as was a second. On the third try, the Confederates managed to overrun Battery C, but the men from the 33rd Missouri had time to
Fagan's men resumed the attack upon hearing the fighting on Graveyard Hill, and drove the 43rd Indiana and part of the 33rd Iowa from the final Union line in front of Battery D, but were unable to take the Battery itself,[69] having been hit by crossfire while maneuvering through a ravine.[70] Fagan's lines had been badly thinned by not only Union fire but also heat and exhaustion.[71] Both Price and Holmes were issuing orders independently,[72] and Holmes' orders were making things worse for the Confederates.[73] Holmes ordered the 8th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Burns') to attack Fort Curtis,[66] but upon seeing the regiment charge, the rest of Parsons' men joined in, believing a general attack was beginning. The Union guns concentrated on this attack and inflicted heavy casualties on it. The few who made it close to Fort Curtis were easily repulsed.[72] Many Confederates surrendered.[74] Holmes ordered Parsons to attack Battery D to support Fagan, but as Parsons' men were too badly disorganized at the time, McRae was given the order to attack. McRae sent about 200 men to attack the battery, but they were unsuccessful.[69] Believing a full-fledged attack to be a suicide charge, McRae had his men simply fire on the rifle pits in hopes of diverting attention away from Fagan's command.[75] Price then ordered Parsons to attack Battery D, but was informed that McRae had already been ordered to do that.[69][b]
With Price's men shredded, Fagan's men exhausted, and the cavalry not making any progress, Holmes decided to order a withdrawal at 10:30 am. Price's men fell back and abandoned Graveyard Hill.[78] About 100 men remained behind on the hill, pinned down by Union fire. A Union counterattack retook the hill and captured many prisoners,[79] with over 350 prisoners taken on Graveyard Hill alone.[80] Between 10:30 and 11:00 am, Fagan received orders to retreat from before Battery D. Part of the 37th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was trapped during the retreat and was captured.[78] Including the men of the 37th Arkansas, about 250 Confederates surrendered in Fagan's sector.[81] The Union troops had taken advantage of the severe disorganization and scattering of the Confederate forces to take the prisoners.[82] Either around the time that Battery C fell to Price's attack[83] or as Fagan's withdrawal was ending, Brooks placed a 6-pounder field gun on a hilltop and began to fire on the Union positions, but Battery K, 1st Missouri Light Artillery and Tyler drove it off.[84] Marmaduke received orders to withdraw at about 11:00 am, but being angry at Walker over Walker's failure to support his attack and believing that Walker faced only a small force, decided against informing Walker of his retreat. After Marmaduke's withdrawal, Union troops attempted to attack Walker's flank, but the Confederate cavalrymen withdrew from the field before they were caught.[85] Walker's withdrawal occurred at about 2:00 pm.[56] Historian Robert E. Shalhope wrote that the Confederate attacks were repulsed "perhaps less by the powerful Union entrenchments than by their own poorly co-ordinated attack".[59]
Aftermath
Holmes lost 1,636 of the 7,646 men he had taken into the battle: 173 killed, 687 wounded, and 776 missing.
Most of the Confederates withdrew from the area the next morning,[97] falling back to Jacksonport,[59] although Walker's men remained behind to harass any Union troops that sallied forth from the city. Believing that the Confederates were preparing to attack again, Prentiss requested reinforcements, which arrived from Memphis, Tennessee, on July 6.[97] Vicksburg had surrendered on July 4, and the Confederate garrison at Port Hudson, Louisiana fell within a week. News also reached the Union forces at Helena of a major Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. With the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi were cut off from the rest of the Confederacy. Confederate infantry deserted in large numbers, their morale shattered.[98] The Confederate repulse at Helena had preserved the Union bridgehead in eastern Arkansas, and had parried an attempt to break Union control of the Mississippi River.[99]
Helena was reinforced and in mid-August, Union forces began a campaign against Little Rock, with Helena as the staging ground.
Price commanded the Confederate forces during the campaign, as Holmes had fallen ill.
See also
- List of American Civil War battles
- Troop engagements of the American Civil War, 1863
- Helena Batteries
Notes
- rifled cannon, and one 12-pounder smoothbore cannon.[27]
- ^ Historian Ed Bearss and doctoral candidate G. David Schieffler indicate that the order to Parsons' regimental commander occurred before McRae's 200-man attack,[72][76] but historian Mark K. Christ places the two events as occurring in the opposite order.[77]
- ^ Union media later greatly embellished the role played by the regiment in the fighting.[92]
References
- ^ Moneyhon 1994, pp. 1–4.
- ^ Moneyhon 1994, pp. 7–8.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 22.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 23–28.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 257.
- ^ Bearss 1961, pp. 256–257.
- ^ a b Bearss 1961, pp. 258–259.
- ^ Cutrer 2017, p. 240.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, pp. 206–207.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 111.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 207.
- ^ a b Schieffler 2018, p. 24.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, pp. 208–209.
- ^ Kerby 1972, p. 132.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 211.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, pp. 212–213.
- ^ a b Schieffler 2017, p. 213.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 112.
- ^ a b Bearss 1961, p. 290.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 294.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 220.
- ^ a b c Bearss 1961, pp. 266–269.
- ^ a b Cutrer 2017, p. 241.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 199.
- ^ Silverstone 1989, p. 159.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 216.
- ^ a b Christ 2010, p. 122.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 238.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, pp. 235–236.
- ^ a b Christ 2010, pp. 112–113.
- ^ Kerby 1972, pp. 132–133.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 269.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 221.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 271.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 222.
- ^ a b Christ 2010, pp. 116, 118.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 224.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 219.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 272.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 119–122.
- ^ Bearss 1961, pp. 277–278.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 223.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 273.
- ^ a b Bearss 1961, pp. 274–275.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, pp. 217–218.
- ^ a b Christ 2010, p. 123.
- ^ Bearss 1961, pp. 280–281.
- ^ a b Bearss 1961, p. 280.
- ^ Bearss 1961, pp. 288–289.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 124.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 226.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 289.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 124–125.
- ^ a b Schieffler 2017, p. 233.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 126–127.
- ^ Castel 1993, p. 147.
- ^ a b c Shalhope 1971, p. 240.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 281.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 129.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 227.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 127.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 129–130.
- ^ Castel 1993, p. 148.
- ^ a b Gurley 2013, p. 121.
- ^ Cutrer 2017, pp. 243–244.
- ^ Bearss 1961, pp. 282–283.
- ^ a b c Christ 2010, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Cutrer 2017, p. 242.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 229.
- ^ a b c Bearss 1961, pp. 283–284.
- ^ DeBlack 1994, p. 82.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 134.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 232.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, pp. 230–232.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 131.
- ^ a b Christ 2010, pp. 134–136.
- ^ Cutrer 2017, p. 245.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 286 fn. 66.
- ^ Bearss 1961, pp. 286–287.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 234.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 287.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 136.
- ^ Bearss 1961, pp. 289–290.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 138–139.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 241.
- ^ a b Christ 2010, p. 139.
- ^ Bearss 1961, p. 291.
- ^ Cutrer 2017, p. 246.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 237.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, pp. 238–239.
- ^ Castel 1993, pp. 149–150.
- ^ Christ 2010, p. 128.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 241.
- ^ Kerby 1972, p. 134.
- ^ a b Bearss 1961, pp. 291–292.
- ^ Christ 2010, pp. 142–143.
- ^ Schieffler 2017, p. 244.
- ^ DeBlack 1994, pp. 89–90.
- ^ DeBlack 1994, pp. 92–94.
- ^ Sesser, David (February 26, 2020). "Helena Confederate Cemetery". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock, Arkansas: CALS. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
- ^ Sesser, David (April 7, 2022). "Batteries A, B, C, and D (Battle of Helena)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock, Arkansas: CALS. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
Bibliography
- JSTOR 40038050.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-1854-2.
- Christ, Mark K. (2010). Civil War Arkansas 1863: The Battle for a State. Norman, Oklahoma: ISBN 978-0-8061-4433-7.
- Cutrer, Thomas W. (2017). Theater of a Separate War: The Civil War West of the Mississippi River 1861–1865. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-3156-1.
- DeBlack, Thomas A. (1994). "1863: "We Must Stand or Fall Alone"". In Christ, Mark K. (ed.). Rugged and Sublime: The Civil War in Arkansas. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-55728-356-6.
- Gurley, Bill (2013). "Mosby Monroe Parsons: Missouri's Forgotten Brigadier". In Schott, Thomas E.; Bergeron, Arthur W.; Hewitt, Lawrence L. (eds.). Confederate Generals in the Trans-Mississippi. Vol. 1. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-57233-985-9.
- Kerby, Robert L. (1972). Kirby Smith's Confederacy: The Trans-Mississippi South, 1863–1865 (University of Alabama paperback ed.). Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-0546-8.
- Moneyhon, Carl (1994). "1861: "The Die is Cast"". In Christ, Mark K. (ed.). Rugged and Sublime: The Civil War in Arkansas. Fayetteville, Arkansas: ISBN 978-1-55728-356-6.
- Schieffler, G. David (2017). Civil War in the Delta: Environment, Race, and the 1863 Helena Campaign (PhD). University of Arkansas. OCLC 1078690836.
- Schieffler, G. David (2018). "Timber, Torrents, and the Trans-Mississippi Mud March". JSTOR 26646471.
- Shalhope, Robert E. (1971). Sterling Price: Portrait of a Southerner. Columbia, Missouri: ISBN 978-0-8262-0103-4.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-783-6.
Further reading
- Taylor, Michael W. (September 4, 2018). "Battle of Helena". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock: CALS. Retrieved September 3, 2021.