Battle of Bayou Fourche

Battle of Bayou Fourche
Part of the American Civil War
Date September 10, 1863 (1863-09-10) Location Pulaski County, Arkansas Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Frederick Steele	Sterling Price
Units involved
Army of Arkansas	District of Arkansas
Casualties and losses
72	Unknown

The Battle of Bayou Fourche, sometimes called the Battle of Little Rock, was a battle in the American Civil War fought on September 10, 1863 east of the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. The battle was the culmination of a campaign launched by Maj. Gen. Fred Steele, on August 1, 1863 to capture Little Rock, Arkansas. The campaign includes engagements at Westport, on 14 August, Harrison's Landing, on 16 August, Brownsville on 25 August, the Reed's Bridge, on 27 August, and Ashely's Mills on 7 September 1863. After the Union army affected a river crossing east of Little Rock, effectively flanking the Confederate defenses north of the river, the Confederates staged a brief delaying action at Bayou Fourche to allow for evacuation of Little Rock. After the fall of Little Rock, Confederate forces retreated to Arkadelphia and Rockport, and established a new state capitol at Washington, in Hempstead County, Arkansas.

Battle

See also: Little Rock Campaign Confederate order of battle

On September 10, 1863, Maj. Gen. Fred Steele, Army of Arkansas commander, sent Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson's cavalry division across the Arkansas River to move on Little Rock, while he took other troops to attack Confederates entrenched on the north side. In his thrust toward Little Rock, Davidson ran into Confederate troops at Bayou Fourche. Aided by Union artillery fire from the north side of the river, Davidson forced them out of their position and sent them fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union troops that evening.

Aftermath

Bayou Fourche sealed Little Rock's fate. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.

See also

• Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War
• List of American Civil War battles
• Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War

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.

Sketch of engagement

Sketch of Engagement at Bayou Fourche, Ark.