Civil Liberties during the Civil War

During the Civil War, Arkansas operated under several different state and national governments, all of which imposed restrictions on the civil and political liberties of the citizens of the state. Civil liberties, which are individual freedoms protected by the U.S. Constitution, include the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom to petition the government. Civil liberties are distinct from civil rights, which are legal rights to protect people from discrimination.

Arkansas State Government
Before Arkansas seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861, the state government under the leadership of Governor Henry Rector began to organize military units to oppose Federal forces in the state. Milita units captured the Federal arsenal at Little Rock (Pulaski County) in February 1861, and some of the same units captured the abandoned Union facility at Fort Smith (Sebastian County). Rector focused on secession as a unifying issue that he could use to gain popular support.

Arkansas adopted a new constitution in 1861 as it joined the Confederate States of America. Article II of that constitution includes numerous civil liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the right to a jury trial, among others.

Martial Law
In May 1862, Major General Thomas C. Hindman took command of the Confederate District of the Trans-Mississippi, with his headquarters in Little Rock. Most of the state had been stripped of Confederate troops, and Federal troops under Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis were located in Batesville (Independence County), searching for an opportunity to capture the capital city. In an effort to defend the state, Hindman began organizing military forces and pushed to recruit more men. He implemented the Confederate conscription law that called for every man between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five to enroll, with those refusing to do so conscripted into the military. This was done in spite of Governor Henry Rector’s efforts to create a parallel military force that would not leave the state for service elsewhere in the Confederate states (and he even threatened to secede from the Confederacy if this condition was not met).

Hindman implemented price controls on medicines, select food items, and other goods that were subject to price fluctuations. He also forbade the confiscation of civilian property without proper compensation. On June 10, 1862, Hindman declared martial law in Pulaski County. By the end of the month, the entire state was under martial law, and Hindman put provost marshals in place to enforce travel restrictions, detain suspicious individuals, and arrest men suspected of deserting from the army. Many residents in the state were unhappy with Hindman’s actions, and by August 1862, he was replaced by Major General Theophilus Holmes.

Union Government
With the capture of Helena (Phillips County) on July 12, 1862, Federal forces gained a permanent hold on territory in Arkansas. This control eventually expanded, with Federal forces holding multiple cities including Little Rock, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), and DeValls Bluff (Prairie County) for much of the last two years of the war. This led to dual governments controlling the state for the remainder of the war, with Confederate forces keeping control of much of the southern portion of the state with Union forces controlling many population centers in the northern and central parts of Arkansas.

Destruction and Seizure of Private Property
On March 17, 1862, the Confederate Congress approved a bill to allow Confederate troops to burn supplies that might fall into enemy hands. These items included not only military supplies but also cotton, tobacco, and other crops. Both Union and Confederate forces destroyed or appropriated civilian property without compensation in Arkansas. In the face of approaching Federal troops in central Arkansas following the Battle of Pea Ridge, Brigadier General John Selden Roane led efforts in the state to burn more than 300,000 bales of cotton to prevent them from falling into Union hands. In late 1862, Major General Holmes, commander of the Confederate Department of the Trans-Mississippi following Hindman, ordered the seizure of all salt-producing operations in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, with Confederate authorities operating the facilities.

Federal forces in the state also routinely seized private property when necessary. The Confiscation Acts of 1861 and 1862 gave Federal forces a legal framework to seize property belonging to supporters of the Confederacy, most notably enslaved people. Even with this available legal framework, Union troops in the field often took items they needed or desired, as detailed by firsthand accounts of Union troops during various operations across Arkansas. Units were expected to live off the land during the 1864 Camden Expedition, leading many troops to seize food where they could find it.

Freedom of the Press
Newspapers in the state faced both governmental oversight and supply problems during the war. An inability to obtain paper and other materials made it difficult for many papers to publish in the state as the war continued, with only the Washington Telegraph continuing to publish in Confederate-held territory. During this period, the Telegraph served as the newspaper of record for Confederate Arkansas and consistently published positive articles detailing the success of Confederate forces, self-censoring rather than following the guidelines created by government forces.

With the capture of Little Rock in September 1863 by Federal forces, the Arkansas Gazette ceased publication; it resumed in May 1865, following the conclusion of the war. With Little Rock occupied for the remainder of the war by Federal forces, Unionist newspapers began to be printed in the city, including the National Democrat and the Unconditional Union. With support from the Union government, these papers were not directly impacted by censorship.

Freedom of Religion
While some issues related to the free expression of religion arose in other states during the Civil War, few incidents occurred in Arkansas. Only about 300 Jewish people lived in Arkansas by 1860, and approximately seventy served in the Confederate army. The expulsion of Jewish families in western Tennessee, western Kentucky, and northwestern Mississippi by Union forces in 1862 was not replicated in Arkansas. Roman Catholics were likewise few in number, and while communication with the Vatican ceased during the conflict, little overt religious-based discrimination occurred. Persecution of members of the Catholic religion would not become more widespread in the state until well after the war.

Right to Bear Arms
Troops on both sides regularly seized weapons and ammunition to protect themselves from potential violence. Hindman reported that, while traveling to Little Rock to take command of the Confederate District of the Trans-Mississippi, he seized all the ammunition for sale in Helena, taking it to arm his troops. The Confederate government in Arkansas expected civilians to retain weapons in case of enemy action. Governor Harris Flanagin called for the citizens of the state to provide themselves with what weapons they could gather and prepare to defend Little Rock in early 1863.

Due Process and Fair Trials
Some civilian and military troops captured during the war and charged with crimes did not always receive the right to a trial. Fulton County resident Major Enoch Wolf was captured by Federal forces following the failed 1864 invasion of Missouri and sentenced to death for the murder of a Union officer, all without the benefit of a trial. Only through the efforts of his fellow Masons did he receive a reprieve from President Abraham Lincoln.

Federal troops in Little Rock used court-martials to prosecute the extrajudicial killings of Unionists by Confederate supporters, with at least two members of Confederate home guard units convicted of executing without trial residents who reportedly supported the Union.

For additional information:
Dougan, Michael B. “Life in Confederate Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 31 (Spring 1972): 15–35.

Hess, Earl J. “Confiscation and the Northern War Effort: The Army of the Southwest at Helena.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 44 (Spring 1985): 56–75.

Huff, Leo E. “The Martial Law Controversy in Arkansas, 1861–1865: A Case History of Internal Confederate Conflict.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 37 (Summer 1978): 147–167.

Newberry, Farrar. “Harris Flanagin.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 17 (Spring 1958): 3–20.

Roberts, Bobby L. “General T. C. Hindman and the Trans-Mississippi District.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 32 (Winter 1973): 297–311.

Shiras, Frances, and E. C. Wolf. “Major Wolf and Abraham Lincoln: An Episode of the Civil War.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 2 (Winter 1943): 353–358.

Williams, Charles G. “The Confederate Home Guard in Southwest Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 49 (Summer 1990): 168–172.

David Sesser
Southeastern Louisiana University