Battle of Bayou Fourche

The Battle of Bayou Fourche, also known as the Battle of Little Rock and the Engagement at Bayou Fourche, took place on September 10, 1863, in Pulaski County, Arkansas, and was the final battle of the Little Rock Campaign, also known as the Advance upon Little Rock, which began on August 1 to capture the capital. Union Major-General Frederick Steele's "Arkansas expedition", 15,000 strong, defeated Confederate Major-General Sterling Price's 7,749-man District of Arkansas.[1] The Confederate forces took up defensive positions in and around the city of Little Rock. The area of the battle was bisected by the Arkansas, with the Bayou Fourche forming an additional obstacle to the south-east of Little Rock. Steele divided his army into two main sections in order to attack from both the east and south-east. There was fierce fighting at river crossing points and, following the crossing of the Bayou Fourche to the east of the city, the "Arkansas expedition" entered Little Rock and organized Confederate resistance collapsed. Price's army was able to escape capture.

Battle of Bayou Fourche
Part of the American Civil War
DateSeptember 10, 1863 (1863-09-10)
Location
Pulaski County, Arkansas
34°43′19.1″N 92°12′05.4″W
Result

Union victory

Belligerents
 United States (Union)  Confederate States
Commanders and leaders

United States Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele

Confederate States of America Maj. Gen. Sterling Price

Units involved
"Arkansas expedition" District of Arkansas
Strength
15,000,
49 guns		 7,749,
32 guns
Casualties and losses
18 dead,
119 wounded or missing		 12 dead,
52 wounded or missing
Bayou Fourche is located in Arkansas
Bayou Fourche
Bayou Fourche
Location within Arkansas

Background
Main article: Little Rock campaign

On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg, Mississippi – the Gibraltar of the Confederacy – fell. With the Mississippi again (in President Abraham Lincoln's words) running "unvexed to the sea", Steele, commanding the "Arkansas expedition", proceeded from Helena on August 10 to lead the invasion of 12,000 troops west into Arkansas. Awakening to the distant rumble of artillery September 10, the citizens of Little Rock found themselves in the vortex of the conflict.[2]

Battle
Further information: Bayou Fourche order of battle
Map of Bayou Fourche Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program.
Bayou Fourche Battlefield

On September 10, 1863, Steele sent a cavalry division led by Brigadier-General John W. Davidson across the Arkansas to advance on Little Rock while he moved against Confederate forces strongly entrenched on the north side of the river. In his thrust toward the state capitol, Davidson ran into Brigadier-General John S. Marmaduke and Walker's divisions commanded by Marmaduke near the Bayou Fourche. Aided by field artillery from the north side of the river, Davidson forced Marmaduke out of his position and sent the defenders fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union forces that evening.[3]

Aftermath

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.[4] The fall of Little Rock to Union forces after Vicksburg sealed Arkansas' fate and helped to further demoralize Confederate citizens west of the Mississippi.[5]

Legacy

The growth of Little Rock has obscured many of the sites associated with the battle and subsequent evacuation of the city. Today, several markers and monuments are located inside the Bayou Fourche Battlefield, but further expansion of Little Rock National Airport threatens to consume additional land.[6]

See also

References
  1. United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1888; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154600/m1/471/?q=Clarendon : accessed July 17, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
  2. The Little Rock Campaign Tour: A Driving Tour of Sites Along the Route the Union Army Took to Capture the Capitol of Arkansas (PDF) (3rd ed.). Civil War Round Table of Arkansas and Central Arkansas Civil War Heritage Trail Association. September 2007.
  3. "Bayou Forche". American Battlefield Protection Program. National Park Service. n.d. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  4. "Historic Washington State Park". Arkansas State Parks Guide, 2011. Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. p. 32. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  5. United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1888; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154600/m1/471/?q=Clarendon : accessed July 17, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
  6. Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields Final DRAFT – State of Arkansas (PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: American Battlefield Protection Program. December 2010. pp. 8–9, 16–18. Retrieved October 5, 2018.

Further reading
  • 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, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.
  • Christ, Mark K. (May 26, 2017). "Engagement at Bayou Fourche". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock: CALS. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  • "Here in the Wilds of Arkansas: Interpreting the 1863 Little Rock Campaign". MLS thesis, University of Oklahoma, 2000.
  • Huff, Leo E. "The Last Duel in Arkansas: The Marmaduke-Walker Duel". Arkansas Historical Quarterly 23 (Spring 1964): 36–49.
  • "'The Sting of Being an Exile': The Little Rock Campaign of 1863". Pulaski County Historical Review 61 (Spring 2013): 34–47.
  • "The Union Expedition Against Little Rock". Arkansas Historical Quarterly 22 (Fall 1963): 224–237.
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