The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry

Early on April 26, 1864, Steele slipped out of Camden toward Little Rock. He chose to follow the Camden Trail which crossed the Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry. The road was built before 1836 and served as one of the five main or "trunk roads" in Arkansas.

By 9 AM on April 27, upon learning that Steele had left Camden, the Confederate Army, under Generals E. Kirby Smith and Sterling Price, occupied the city and headed north after the Union column. If a Confederate force could get ahead of Steele and cut him off before he reached the Jenkin's Ferry on the Saline River, perhaps the entire army could be destroyed.

On April 29, 1864, after three days of forced marching through heavy rains, Steele arrived in Sandy Springs (now the community of Leola). Here he found formidable opposition, not from the approaching Confederates, but from the flooded river which lay in his path:

On either side of the Saline River was a low, marshy swamp covered in varying depths of water. Rain had been falling for several hours and the road which followed Cox Creek to the river was a sea of mud.

The river was rising rapidly and Cox Creek was bank full. On either side of the swamp, ridges of high ground provided a sense of security before plunging onto the muddy road below.

Colonel Aldoph Engleman, a Union brigade commander, described the area in his diary:

The ground, with the exception of an open field near the road, was a majestic forest growing out of the swamp which was very difficult to pass through on horseback, the infantry being most of the time in the water up to their knees.

Confederate General Mosby M. Parsons wrote:

The road descended from the high lands to the valley of the Saline River. To the front was a plowed field about a quarter of a mile square which was flanked on the south and east by heavy timber. Still farther to the front and about a quarter of a mile was another field about the same dimension as the first, an intervening strip of woods separating the two. This field, as the first, was bounded on the south and east all the way to the river by heavy woods and wet marshes.

It was into this swamp that Steele's ill-fated wagon train was forced to enter. An India rubber pontoon bridge was set up at the ferry site and the army began to cross, one wagon at a time. Because of the heavy weight of the wagons and the poor condition of the road, the train bogged down in the mire stretching all the way from Sandy Springs to the river. Despite this difficulty, Steele managed to get his cavalry, artillery, and most of his wagons across the Saline River by 8 AM. It was at this point that the Confederates arrived on the scene.

Steele immediately sent his men back down the Camden Trail to the rear of the slowly moving train to engage the enemy. The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry had begun.

R.M. Rogers, a Confederate soldier who later became treasurer of Grant County, remembers his April 30th encounter with Steele's Federals:

Our army had reached a small house about two miles from Jenkins' Ferry. This is known as the Jiles Farm. We were ordered into a line of battle. This gave an opportunity for reflection. My thoughts went back to my childhood. When these thoughts passed through my mind I then thought of my present condition, a poor soldier worn out by fatigue of hard marching through heavy rain, mud and water without a moment's rest, suffering from hunger, now standing in battle rank waiting for orders to move into a dreadful battle. Tears came streaming down my cheeks. I could restrain my feelings no longer. Just as we were about to move forward I took a small piece of old bread for my breakfast and marched down into that dreadful conflict.

Steele's rear guard collided with Smith's Confederates in the Jiles' Field. The Confederates launched a series of violent but piecemeal attacks along the entire Federal line. As the train slowly moved across the pontoon bridge at Jenkins' Ferry, the battle moved from field to field along the Camden Trail toward the Saline River.

Lieutenant Colonel Aldoph Dingler of the 43rd Illinois reported the action:

We poured volley ofter volley into the thick masses of the enemy. After firing had lasted some half on hour, the smoke became so dense, waving like a thick fog between the dark trees over the swampy ground, that it was impossible to see anything at a distance of 20 yards.

Colonel John A. Garrett of the 40th Iowa Infantry described the battle on the part of the Union Army:

I moved my command forward against the advancing Confederates; the line now advancing, making short halts, then moving forward. After advancing a short distance we began to pass over the enemy dead. My men moved right on with a shout, pouring a well-directed fire on the retreating enemy. My men, out of cartridges,now resupplied themselves from boxes brought in on horseback which they opened with their boyonets. The battle was fought in a swamp covered by a heavy forest. Mud and sheets of water were everywhere.

My men held their ground, firing from 60 to 200 rounds each. I may state that my men had drawn no bread for five days. They had a coffee supper on the night of the 29th and a coffee breakfast.

As Smith's Confederates continued to push down the Camden Trail through the muddy woods, they met stubborn resistance. A Confederate private with Walker's Texas Division related:

An incessant roar of musketry prevailed for about six hours. During this time the tide of battle ebbed and flowed, now advancing then retreating, but at no time did the ground fought over vary more than about 250 yards. Owing to the dense fog and dense clouds of smoke which hung in the thick woods, many times opposing lines could only be discovered by the flash of their muskets.

Had we received reinforcements we could have destroyed the entire train and perhaps have captured the entire army. The Federal troops fought well and were handled in a masterly manner.

It was in the Jiles, Cooper and Kelley fields that both sides sustained most of their casualties. Generals as well as privates fell on both sides. Confederate Brigadier General William R. Scurry fell on the field. Colonel and acting brigade commander Horace Randal, Colonel Hiram Lane Grinstead of the 33rd Arkansas Infantry, and Union General Samuel A. Rice were mortally wounded.

A Confederate private remembered the battlefield after the fighting ceased:

After the battle a detail of men were employed in burying the dead. Armed with shovel, pick ax, and spade they proceeded albng the road to complete this mournful task which the enemy was unable to accomplish.

The ground was thickly strewn with ghastly, mangled forms. It was almost too horrible for human endurance. No conception of the imagination, no power of human language could do justice to such a horrible scene.

The Union Army, by this time, had managed to cross the river at Jenkins' Ferry. Steele destroyed his India rubber pontoon bridge and floated it down the river. Unfortunately, the bottom on the north side of the river was worse and the train promptly bogged down again. The Confederates were unable to immediately cross the river giving Steele needed time for his retreat.

By abandoning those wagons stuck in the mud, the train managed to reach the security of the high ground north of the river. Moving hurriedly from the high ground toward Little Rock, Steele ordered all unnecessary baggage destroyed. Wagons, ammunition, clothing and other supplies were dumped along the road. Whenever a wagon was fired or struck, most all of its contents were thrown into the water and mud.

A veteran of the Jenkin's Ferry battle remembered this phase of the expidition:

All along the road for miles were burning wagons, their contents thrown over a wide area. If all the cartridges that were sown that day should bear fruit, even sixty-fold, there would never be peace anymore.

Despite Confederate resistance and the poor conditions of the road, the Union Army arrived in Little Rock on May 3rd. General Steele was now out of danger, but he had paid a high price for the consolation. He had lost 635 wagons, 2,500 horses and mules, and 2,750 casualties in the campaign. He had emplyed about 4,000 men in the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry. Of those about 800 were killed or wounded.

The Red River Expidition was over. The Arkansas and Louisiana phases had been failures. Banks was pushed back into Louisiana and Steele was driven back in Arkansas. The Southwest region of Arkansas remained in Confederate hands until the end of the war.

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