Battle of Poison Spring

Battle of Poison Spring Part of the American Civil War Date April 18, 1864 Location Ouachita County, Arkansas Result Confederate victory Belligerents  Confederate States  United States Commanders and leaders John Marmaduke Samuel B. Maxey James Williams Strength Brigade (1,100 men) Marmaduke’s and Maxey’s Divisions Casualties and losses 301 114

Camden Expedition Elkin's Ferry Prairie D'Ane Poison Spring Marks' Mills Jenkins' Ferry

The Battle of Poison Spring was fought during the American Civil War on April 18, 1864, in Ouachita County, Arkansas as part of the Camden Expedition. The battle is infamous for the Confederates' slaughter and mutilation of black U.S. soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry.

Opposing forces

Dwindling supplies for his army at Camden, Arkansas forced Union Army Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele to send out a foraging party to gather corn that the Confederates had stored about twenty miles up the Prairie D’Ane-Camden Road on White Oak Creek. The party loaded the corn into wagons, and on April 18, Col. James M. Williams started his return to Camden. Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke’s and Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Maxey’s Confederate forces arrived at Lee Plantation, about fifteen miles from Camden, where they engaged Williams.

Battle

The Confederates eventually attacked Williams in the front and rear, forcing him to retreat north into a marsh where his men regrouped and then fell back to Camden. During the fight, Williams positioned the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, a regiment made up of mostly ex-slaves, between the wagon train and Confederate lines; these black troops repelled the first two offenses, but ran low on ammunition and were beaten back by the third. The Confederates refused to take the wounded black soldiers as prisoners, and instead brutally killed, scalped, and stripped them. In all, the regiment lost nearly half of its numbers.^[1]

The Union lost 198 wagons and all the corn. Estimated casualties were 301 for Williams and 114 for the Confederates.

In popular culture

• The battle is mentioned in the 2012 film Lincoln.

See also

• James T. Elliott
• Poison Springs Battleground State Park

References

• National Park Service Poison Spring battle description

External links

• Battle description in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Volume XXVIII (Winter 1959), p. 338
• Cool Things - First Kansas Colored Infantry Flag with Poison Springs battle honor, Kansas Historical Society

Arkansas in the American Civil War 1861 Seizure of Little Rock Arsenal 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge Battle of Whitney's Lane Battle of Saint Charles Battle of Cotton Plant Battle of Cane Hill Battle of Prairie Grove 1863 Battle of Arkansas Post Battle of Chalk Bluff Battle of Helena Battle of Devil's Backbone Battle of Bayou Fourche Battle of Pine Bluff 1864 Battle of Elkin's Ferry Battle of Prairie D'Ane Battle of Poison Spring Battle of Marks' Mills Battle of Jenkins' Ferry Battle of Old River Lake Battle of Fort Smith Reconstruction Arkansas Militia in Reconstruction Units Arkansas Militia in the Civil War List of Arkansas Civil War Confederate units List of Arkansas Civil War Union units

Coordinates: 33°39′2.81″N 93°1′50.45″W / 33.6507806°N 93.0306806°W / 33.6507806; -93.0306806