Anniversary of the Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas

Today is the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas.

Fought on April 18, 1864, this Civil War battle was a bloody Union defeat fought near Camden in southern Arkansas during the Red River Campaign. The battle developed when Confederate troops under General John S. Marmaduke cut off a Union raiding force sent out from Camden under Colonel James Williams to collect supplies.

The Union raiding force was making its way back to Camden with 200 wagons loaded down with confiscated corn and other stolen supplies and valuables when the fighting started. Williams' command, consisting of around 1,160 men and 4 pieces of artillery, began to encounter Confederate scouts. He sent men forward to drive them away, but as the column continued to move forward, the number of Confederates grew and the fighting intensified. Halting the long line of wagons in the road near a trickling water source called Poison Spring, Williams moved his men into a line of battle to protect the badly needed supplies.

He did not know it at the time, but he was severely outgunned. Marmaduke commanded a force of 3,600 men and 12 cannon. The Confederates opened with a massive artillery barrage and then attacked the Federals on their right flank while a second charge went forward directly against their center. One charge was repulsed, but so many Union soldiers fell that Williams knew he could not hold back the second attack, which was quickly developing.

The Federals tried to withdraw from the field, but the retreat turned into a rout. By the time the smoke had cleared, the Confederates had captured 170 wagons (30 were burned), 1,200 mules and all four Union cannon. Confederate losses were reported at 13 killed, 81 wounded and 1 missing, but the Union troops suffered a staggering 204 killed or missing and 97 wounded. A Union African American regiment, the 1st Kansas Colored, lost 117 killed and 65 wounded.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.

Southern Ghosts Part Six - Poison Spring, Arkansas

This strange glowing light was photographed through the trees at Poison Spring Battlefield State Park near Camden, Arkansas, late in the afternoon of a stormy summer day.

The light could be seen from the parking lot at the battlefield and seemed to be coming from down in the ravine formed by Poison Spring Branch. Upon entering the woods along the nature trail, however, it could not be found.

The photograph also shows several small white "orbs" that I think are light effects caused by the weather conditions that day. What is interesting, though, is that one of these appears over the yellowish light itself, indicating that it had definite depth as opposed to being a camera effect.

Poison Spring was the site of a dramatic Confederate victory during the Civil War. Southern troops overwhelmed a Union wagon train here during the Red River Campaign of 1864. Eyewitnesses claimed that Southern soldiers shot and killed Union soldiers after the battle.

Over the years, stories have been told of unusual things such as strange lights or misty figures being seen in the battlefield area. As is often the case with battlefields, there are stories that the dead linger at Poison Spring.

If you would like to read more about the Battle of Poison Spring and see additional "ghost" pictures, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.

Poison Spring Series at Civil War Arkansas

If you are interested in learning more about one of the most dramatic encounters of the Civil War west of the Mississippi, you might want to check out a series now underway on our sister site, http://civilwararkansas.blogspot.com.

The series explores the history of the Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas, a major encounter of the 1864 Red River Campaign.

This Confederate victory started the process of ending the Arkansas phase of the campaign and was the first of a series of critical battles that resulted in the retreat of the Union troops back to Little Rock.

The battle was significant because of its role in ending the campaign and is also controversial because of allegations that Confederate Choctaw and Chickasaw troops murdered Union black soldiers from the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry as the fighting degenerated into a rout.

If you would like to follow along with this series and learn more about this fascinating battle, please visit http://civilwararkansas.blogspot.com. You can also learn more about the Battle of Poison Spring by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.

Battle of Poison Spring pages now online!

One of the bloodiest and most startling events of the Civil War's Red River Campaign was the Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas.

Confederate forces under Generals Samuel B. Maxey and John Marmaduke attacked a massive Union supply train at Poison Spring, about ten miles west of Camden, Arkansas, on April 18, 1864. By the time the battle was over, more than 200 Union soldiers were dead or missing and 170 wagons and 1,200 mules had been seized by the Confederates.

There were allegations that black Union soldiers were murdered following the battle, primarily by Confederate soldiers from the Choctaw Nation. The Choctaw warriors were irate at the Federals over damage done to their homes and families by these same Union troops over the previous year. Hundreds of Choctaw families had been left homeless by Union operations in the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma, and legend holds that the warriors exacted their revenge when Federal troops broke and retreated at Poison Spring.

The Battle of Poison Spring is memorialized today by Poison Spring State Park in Arkansas. If you would like to learn more about this historic Civil War battle west of the Mississippi, please visit our new Poison Spring pages at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/poisonspring.