Battle of Poison Spring

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Battle of Poison Spring
Part of the Camden Expedition during American Civil War
DateApril 18, 1864; 160 years ago (1864-04-18)
Location
Ouachita County, Arkansas
33°38′19.7″N 93°00′15.6″W / 33.638806°N 93.004333°W / 33.638806; -93.004333
Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
 Confederate States  United States
Commanders and leaders
Confederate States of America Samuel B. Maxey
Confederate States of America John S. Marmaduke		 United States James M. Williams
Strength
3,621 1,169
Casualties and losses
114 301
Poison Spring is located in Arkansas
Poison Spring
Poison Spring
class=notpageimage|
Location of Poison Spring in Arkansas

The Battle of Poison Spring, also known as the Poison Spring massacre, was fought in

Nathaniel Banks's movement along the Red River towards Shreveport and had occupied Camden. After Banks was defeated at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Steele was isolated in Arkansas. Short on supplies, Steele sent a detachment commanded by Colonel James M. Williams
on April 17 to forage for 5,000 bushels of corn that were reported to be in the area.

Confederate cavalry commanded by John S. Marmaduke and Samuel B. Maxey attacked the foraging party. Marmaduke's men formed a roadblock east along the way back to Camden, while Maxey's men attacked from south of the road. The first two Confederate attacks were unsuccessful, but the third broke the Union line. Williams's command was routed, losing its wagon train and four cannons. African American soldiers from the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment were massacred and mutilated during and after the battle. The defeat at Poison Spring and another defeat at the Battle of Marks' Mills a week later led Steele to retreat to Little Rock. In the April 30 Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, men from the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment murdered Confederate soldiers in revenge of the massacre at Poison Spring. It has been referred to as the worst massacre in the history of Arkansas. Poison Springs Battleground State Park, which is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark, preserves a portion of the site of the battle.

Background

Battle of Poison Spring is located in Arkansas
Camden
Camden
Washington
Washington
Poison Spring
Poison Spring
Little Rock
Little Rock
class=notpageimage|
Significant sites related to the battle of Poison Spring

By early 1864, the

Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter in charge of the naval operations.[3]

To support this movement, Union troops commanded by Major General

John M. Thayer left Fort Smith, Arkansas.[4][a] The Confederate troops opposing the Camden Expedition were led by Major General Sterling Price. Price's infantry had been transferred to Louisiana to face Banks's advance,[9] leaving him with only 3,200 cavalrymen.[9][10]

Steele left Little Rock on March 23, and reached Arkadelphia on March 29. He was supposed to join forces with Thayer there, but Thayer's column was delayed and Steele continued forward on April 1. After learning that Camden was fortified, Steele decided to feint towards Washington (the new Confederate state capital) in order to draw the Confederates out of Camden, allowing the latter place to be taken easily.[7] Due to lack of supplies, the Union troops had to subsist on half rations,[11] and drinkable water was scarce in areas due to guerrillas polluting wells with dead animals.[12] Price's cavalry harassed Steele's advance. The Confederate commander fell for the feint, and moved his troops from Camden to the Prairie D'Ane area. There, he was reinforced by two more cavalry brigades - one of Texas troops and the other of Choctaws. On April 9, Thayer's column joined Steele's; skirmishing between the two sides occurred over the next few days in the Battle of Prairie D'Ane. The combined Union force started towards Camden on April 12, reaching the town three days later.[13]

Prelude

On April 8, Banks was defeated in the

gristmills in the area remained usable; Stelle sent part of the 36th Iowa Infantry Regiment to operate it on April 17.[18]

Colonel James M. Williams, the Union commander

On April 16, Steele learned that 5,000 bushels of corn were located about 15 miles (24 km) from Camden, on the road to Washington. Steele tasked his quartermaster,

E. Kirby Smith, the commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, had earlier stated that his officers should give "no quarter to armed negroes and their officers". Additionally, the Confederates had a special dislike for Kansas troops in general, as the soldiers from that state had a reputation for excessive pillaging and destruction.[24]

Early on the morning of April 17, Williams set out from Camden with 198 wagons. The wagon escort included 438 from the 1st Kansas Colored,

mountain howitzers manned by men of the 6th Kansas Cavalry. In total, the Union force now number 1,169 men, although many were straggling to engage in looting.[28]

Samuel Bell Maxey
, the Confederate commander

Confederate scouts learned of the Union foraging party on the morning of April 17. One of Marmaduke's brigade commanders, Colonel

William L. Cabell's brigade. When the relief column left Camden, it was sighted by Confederate scouts, who overestimated its strength. Marmaduke believed he was outnumbered by 2,500 men to 1,500. Learning that the Union column was camping for the night near White Oak Creek, Marmaduke formulated a plan to trap the Union soldiers in the morning. The plan, which was approved by Price, called for the brigades of Greene, Cabell, and Colonel William A. Crawford (another one of Fagan's brigade commanders) to form a roadblock 10 miles (16 km) west of Camden at Poison Spring. Additional Confederate troops were to gather 3 miles (4.8 km) west at Woodlawn, to trap Williams's command between the two forces. Price ordered Maxey's division to support Marmaduke. Maxey held seniority over Marmaduke and would command the operation.[29] The historian Michael J. Forsyth considers the decision to assign Maxey to the operation to be an example of Price's lack of attention to detail.[30] Marmaduke made most of the decisions during the battle.[31]

Battle

Further information:
Confederate order of battle

Williams pushed his men on further on the morning of April 18; the 1st Kansas Colored was at the front of the column, with the men from the relief column to the rear.

flank.[32] Fagan chose not to accompany the action, and the two brigades from his division operated under the command of Cabell.[33]

Marmaduke's men probed westwards, and occupied a hill.

14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion, which was positioned on Crawford's right flank.[39] Altogether, the Confederates had 3,621 available for the fight.[33]

Map of the battlefield prepared by the American Battlefield Protection Program

Williams had initially formed his men into two lines, one to the east of the wagons and the other to the west, both of which faced east. The eastern line was composed of the 1st Kansas Colored, the two James rifles, and some cavalry. The cavalry held the flanks, with the James rifles along the road and half of the 1st Kansas Colored on either side of the road. The men of the relief column made up the line west of the wagons.[40] The commander of the relief column, Captain William M. Duncan, was ordered to watch for Confederate attempt to outflank the Union right.[41] Maxey's artillery component, Krumbhaar's Texas Battery, had been unable to position itself on the ridgeline in time to support the attack due to difficulty moving the guns through vegetation on the ridge. While Maxey moved his men into position, Marmaduke opened fire with his two artillery batteries.[42] Between Marmaduke's artillery and Krumbhaar's battery, the Confederates had 12 cannon, which were positioned to bring crossfire on the Union lines, in a barrage that last for about half an hour.[43] The Confederate artillery fire caused few casualties, as the Union troops lay down to avoid the fire. Williams became aware of the presence of Maxey's men and redeployed his lines.[42] Four companies of the 1st Kansas Colored and one James rifle continued to face east, while four more companies and the other James rifle turned to face south; the other two companies of the regiment were held in reserve. About 100 men from the 2nd and 6th Kansas Cavalry probed Maxey's line, and the relief column turned to face south.[44] The cavalry probe was repulsed and took up a position between the 1st Kansas Colored and the relief column;[45] the force's commander was wounded in the attack.[46]

Maxey's men attacked the Union line.

canister from it halted Maxey's men long enough to prevent its capture.[50] DeMorse and Greene fought the 1st Kansas Colored at close range, while Cabell's men drove in Union skirmishers to the east.[51] The Union line held, and the Confederates again withdrew.[52]

Williams's soldiers were running out of ammunition for both their small arms and artillery. Williams held out hope that the sounds of the battle would reach Camden and that Steele would send reinforcements. While the fighting was audible in Camden, Steele did not attempt to aid the foraging party,[53] for reasons that are unknown.[22] While trying to reach the 18th Iowa to order the regiment to be reposition, Williams's horse was shot out from under him. While the Union commander was given a replacement mount, he was unable to redeploy the Iowa unit before the third Confederate attack struck. This attack was better coordinated than the prior Confederate attempts. DeMorse's men pressured the portion of the 1st Iowa facing south, while Greene and Cabell drove west.[54] Crawford's brigade was able to outflank the portion of the 1st Kansas Colored that was facing east, and the Kansans began to give way.[53] While the left of the 1st Kansas Colored fell back, Cabell struck the regiment's left center.[55] The Confederates drove the 1st Kansas Colored back through the wagon train, murdering many wounded Union soldiers on the field. The sight of their comrades being murdered caused part of the 1st Kansas Colored to flee to the rear.[56]

Williams decided to abandon the wagon train and focus of saving his remaining men.[53] While part of the 1st Kansas Colored rallied to form a line with the 18th Iowa,[57] the Iowa soldiers were swamped by fleeing Kansans and charging Confederates.[53] The Iowans were supported by the Union artillery.[58] The 18th Iowa, supported by fragments of the 1st Kansas Colored, conducted a fighting withdrawal, making stands at successive ridgelines north of the road.[59] Walker's Confederates looted the wagon train instead of fighting the Iowans. The Union troops abandoned their cannons when terrain was reached that the guns could not be taken over and continued for Camden via a circuitous route, pursued by the Confederates for 2.5 miles (4.0 km).[60] Marmaduke wished to continue the pursuit further, but Maxey called it off.[61] The latter officer was concerned that Union reinforcements would arrive from Camden and strike his men while they were scattered.[62] Some of the Union troops ran into the position of the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry east of the battlefield, while others forced a civilian at gunpoint to guide them back to Camden away from the Confederates.[63] The Confederates captured 170 wagons (the others had been burnt),[64] 1,200 mules, and the four Union cannons.[22] In addition to food, the Confederates found the captured wagons contained clothes, tools, and household furnishings.[65][66]

Massacre

Williams's force suffered 301 casualties during the action. The 1st Kansas Colored alone lost 182 men. Of those 182 losses, 117 were killed and 65 wounded; it was unusual during the war for units to have more men killed than wounded.[67] In comparison, Confederate losses were reported at 114 men killed, wounded, or missing, although records are incomplete;[68] the historian Mark K. Christ states that a complete tabulation of Confederate losses would likely be less than 145.[69] The historian Gregory J. W. Urwin describes the aftermath of the battle as an "orgy of barbarism". Some of Cabell's men, when tasked with removing the wagons from the battlefield, made a game out of running over fallen African American soldiers's heads with the wagons.[70] The battle became known as the Poison Spring massacre.[67] Wounded African American troops were shot on the ground, and others were killed while trying to surrender.[71] Maxey's men were seen bayonetting the wounded.[61] The Confederate leaders did not reference the massacre in their official reports, but hinted at the slaughter. Cabell wrote "The number of killed of the enemy was very great, especially among the negroes". Walker stated that his men were motivated by the thought of shedding "the blood of their despised enemy", and DeMorse's report included the statement that "few prisoners were brought in by my command".[72]

Walker's Choctaws participated the most in the atrocities.[73] Claims circulated that the Choctaws scalped some of the dead,[61] and a local Confederate newspaper reported that the Choctaws had buried a Union soldier with a dead African American soldier sticking out of the ground from the waist up as a headstone and another half-buried upside down as a footstone. Union soldiers who visited the battlefield several days later to bury the dead found three Union officers scalped, naked, and face down surrounded by an arranged circle of dead African Americans.[74] Some Confederates, including DeMorse, suggested that the brutality was a result of outrage at the looting done by the Union troops,[75] but the historian Thomas A. DeBlack notes that this does not explain why the Confederates only behaved in this fashion towards the 1st Kansas Colored, and not the white units in the foraging party.[76] Urwin suggests that the primary looting was done by the white Kansas cavalrymen, not the men of the 1st Kansas Colored.[77] He also describes the massacre as the "worst war crime ever committed on Arkansas soil".[73]

The Washington Telegraph, at that point the leading pro-Confederate newspaper in the state,[78] praised the Confederate leaders and soldiers in the battle, with the only reference to the massacre being publishing the story about using dead soldiers as grave markers under the heading "Choctaw Humor".[79] The paper's editor, John R. Eakin, later published an editorial regarding Confederate response to the Union's use of African American soldiers stating that "we cannot treat Negroes taken in arms as prisoners of war" and that "our soldiers are not bound to receive their surrender"; an article published by the journal American Journalism suggest that Eakin was rationalizing the massacre at Poison Spring.[80] The Fort Smith New Era, a significant pro-Union newspaper,[78] in turn reported accounts of the massacre.[81]

Aftermath and preservation

Poison Springs Battleground State Park in November 2023

On April 20, Steele's men received a supply train from Pine Bluff carrying 10 days' rations, but when the wagons went to return to Pine Bluff, they were captured and their escort destroyed on the Battle of Marks' Mills.[82] Reports spread that the Confederates murdered African American noncombatants at Marks' Mills;[83] Urwin states that over 100 were likely killed.[84] Steele had also been informed by a scout of Banks's defeat.[85] Smith transferred three divisions on infantry from Louisiana to fight against Steele, with the Confederate infantryment crossing the Red River on April 15 and 16.[86] Steele decided to abandon Camden, and his men left the city on April 26. On April 29, the vanguard of Steele's force reached the Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry. The area was inundated by heavy rains, and the Union troops had to build a pontoon bridge. The wagons crossed slowly.[87]

The next day, Smith attacked Steele's rearguard, in what became the

Ruffner's Missouri Battery,[89] and cut the throats of Confederate wounded lying on the field.[90] The officers of the 2nd Kansas Colored had, after Poison Spring, sworn that "the regiment would take no prisoners as long as the Rebels continued to murder our men".[91] Nine severely wounded men from the 2nd Kansas Colored were left behind along with other Union wounded after the battle and were later killed by the Confederates.[92] Steele's men reached Little Rock on May 3; DeBlack describes the Camden Expedition as the "greatest Federal military disaster of the Civil War in Arkansas".[93]

The site of the battlefield is preserved within Poison Springs Battleground State Park, which is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark.[94] Writing in 2000, Urwin noted that the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, which managed the park at the time, "tended to ignore the dark deeds that stained that particular patch of hallowed ground".[95] The state park is located 12 miles (19 km) from Camden, Arkansas and includes 84 acres of the battlefield.[96] The Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark, which includes the Poison Spring battleground as well as other sites related to Steele's campaign, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[97]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The historian Thomas DeBlack lists Steele's stregth as 8,500 men and Thayer's as 4,000.[5] The historian Ludwell H. Johnson puts Thayer's strength at 3,600 men and Steele's at 6,800.[6] Another estimate of Union strength comes from the historian Daniel E. Sutherland, who has Steele's strength as 8,500 and Thayer's as 3,600.[7] The historian Michael J. Forsyth states that Thayer and Steele combined for about 12,000 men.[8]

References

  1. ^ DeBlack 2003a, pp. 11–12.
  2. ^ Christ 2010, pp. 243–244.
  3. ^ Johnson 1998, p. 265.
  4. ^ DeBlack 2003a, pp. 14–15.
  5. ^ DeBlack 2003a, p. 15.
  6. ^ Johnson 1993, p. 171.
  7. ^ a b Sutherland 1994, pp. 110–111.
  8. ^ Forsyth 2003, p. 74.
  9. ^ a b DeBlack 2003a, p. 16.
  10. ^ Sutherland 1994, p. 111.
  11. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 109.
  12. ^ a b DeBlack 2003a, p. 20.
  13. ^ DeBlack 2003b, pp. 109–111.
  14. ^ Forsyth 2003, p. 101.
  15. ^ Forsyth 2003, pp. 103, 106.
  16. ^ a b Urwin 2000, p. 214.
  17. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 9.
  18. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 1–2.
  19. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 2–4.
  20. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 4.
  21. ^ Sutherland 1994, pp. 114–115.
  22. ^ a b c d e DeBlack 2003b, p. 112.
  23. ^ Moneyhon 2003, p. 49.
  24. ^ DeBlack 2003b, p. 113.
  25. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 6.
  26. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 110.
  27. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 6–7.
  28. ^ a b c Urwin 2003, p. 111.
  29. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 9–13.
  30. ^ Forsyth 2003, p. 110.
  31. ^ a b c d Forsyth 2003, p. 111.
  32. ^ a b c Forsyth 2003, p. 112.
  33. ^ a b Urwin 2003, p. 112.
  34. ^ a b Urwin 2003, p. 114.
  35. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 17–18.
  36. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 18–19.
  37. ^ Forsyth 2003, pp. 112–113.
  38. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 19.
  39. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 20.
  40. ^ Urwin 2003, pp. 114–115.
  41. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 22.
  42. ^ a b c d Forsyth 2003, p. 114.
  43. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 25–26.
  44. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 115.
  45. ^ Urwin 2003, pp. 115–116.
  46. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 24.
  47. ^ Urwin 2003, pp. 117–118.
  48. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 26.
  49. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 118.
  50. ^ Urwin 2003, pp. 119–120.
  51. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 29–30.
  52. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 120.
  53. ^ a b c d Forsyth 2003, p. 115.
  54. ^ Urwin 2003, pp. 121.
  55. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 31.
  56. ^ Urwin 2003, pp. 121–122.
  57. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 122.
  58. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 32.
  59. ^ Bearss 1967, p. 33.
  60. ^ Urwin 2003, pp. 122–123.
  61. ^ a b c Forsyth 2003, p. 116.
  62. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 123.
  63. ^ Bearss 1967, pp. 34–36.
  64. ^ Johnson 1993, p. 187.
  65. ^ DeBlack 2003b, pp. 113–114.
  66. ^ Sutherland 1994, p. 117.
  67. ^ a b Urwin 2000, p. 216.
  68. ^ Forsyth 2003, p. 117.
  69. ^ Christ, Mark K. (January 29, 2024). "Poison Spring, Engagement at". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  70. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 124.
  71. ^ Sutherland 1994, p. 116.
  72. ^ Urwin 2000, p. 218.
  73. ^ a b Urwin 2003, p. 125.
  74. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 217.
  75. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 218.
  76. ^ DeBlack 2003b, p. 114.
  77. ^ Urwin 2000, pp. 218–219.
  78. ^ a b Rhodes 2005, p. 27.
  79. ^ Rhodes 2005, pp. 37–38.
  80. ^ Rhodes 2005, p. 41.
  81. ^ Rhodes 2005, pp. 38–40.
  82. ^ Sutherland 1994, pp. 117–119.
  83. ^ DeBlack 2003b, pp. 114–115.
  84. ^ Urwin 2000, p. 224.
  85. ^ DeBlack 2003a, p. 22.
  86. ^ Forsyth 2003, pp. 122–123.
  87. ^ DeBlack 2003a, pp. 23–25.
  88. ^ Sutherland 1994, pp. 120–123.
  89. ^ Urwin 2003, p. 130.
  90. ^ Urwin 2000, pp. 226–227.
  91. ^ Urwin 2000, p. 225.
  92. ^ Urwin 2000, pp. 227–228.
  93. ^ DeBlack 2003b, p. 117.
  94. ^ "Poison Springs Battleground State Park". Arkansas State Parks. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  95. ^ Urwin 2000, p. 213.
  96. ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 274.
  97. ^ "Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark". National Park Service. Retrieved April 9, 2020.

Sources

Further reading

  • Richards, Ira Don (1959). "The Battle of Poison Spring".
    Arkansas Historical Quarterly
    . 18 (4): 338–349.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of Poison Spring.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Poison_Spring&oldid=1221117847"