Entries - Entry Category: Military Science - Starting with L

L’Anguille Ferry, Skirmish at

On August 3, 1862, a skirmish took place at L’Anguille Ferry, just north of Marianna (Lee County). The skirmish was in direct response to a Union victory at the Action at Hill’s Plantation, which took place July 7. The Confederate victory at L’Anguille Ferry resulted in Union troops in eastern Arkansas remaining near the Mississippi River until the following year. One of the regiments so affected by the Action at Hill’s Plantation in Woodruff County was that of Colonel William H. Parsons of Texas. He planned to avenge his loss to the Union at Hill’s Plantation. With the blessing of General Thomas C. Hindman, he went searching for a target. The First Wisconsin Cavalry, under the command of Colonel Edward …

LaGrange, Skirmish at

The Skirmish at LaGrange was fought on May 1, 1863, as Federal cavalrymen from the Union base at Helena (Phillips County) sought Confederate horsemen operating in the area. Brigadier General Willis A. Gorman ordered Captain John Q. A. DeHuff of Company B, Third Iowa Cavalry, to lead 160 men of his regiment toward LaGrange (Lee County) on the morning of May 1, 1863, “and endeavor to learn the movements, if any[,] of the enemy”—most likely Confederate horsemen in Archibald Dobbins’s Arkansas Cavalry Regiment who were operating “between [the] White and Mississippi Rivers” at the time. The Federal column had advanced to within a mile of LaGrange when its advance guard, twenty-nine men of Company D under Lieutenant William C. Niblack, …

Lake Catherine State Park Prisoner of War Structures

Construction of what are now known as the Lake Catherine State Park Prisoner of War Structures was started by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the late 1930s and completed by German prisoners of war in 1945. Located at Lake Catherine State Park at 1200 Catherine Park Road in Hot Spring County, these structures—a 210-foot-long, nine-foot-tall stone retaining wall and an outdoor stone oven—were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 24, 2017. Lake Catherine was created when Remmel Dam was completed on the Ouachita River in December 1924. In 1935, Arkansas Power and Light founder Harvey C. Couch donated more than 2,000 acres of land surrounding Lake Catherine to the State Parks Commission. Two years later, …

Lamb’s Plantation, Skirmish at

aka: Skirmish at Helena (August 1, 1864)

Part of the Confederate campaign to disrupt Union operations in eastern Arkansas in the summer of 1864, the Skirmish at Lamb’s Plantation pitted Southern cavalry against freed slaves and Northern civilians. While this was not a major military engagement, the Confederates were successful in their attack and forced many of the families in the area from their land, while tying up Federal troops. Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby commanded a brigade of Missouri cavalry in eastern Arkansas during the summer of 1864. Shelby was tasked with gathering recruits for the Southern cause, stopping bands of guerrillas from attacking civilians, and wreaking as much havoc as possible on Union outposts in the area. He tried to avoid a major engagement with Federal forces …

Lambert, Joseph Calvin (Joe)

Joseph Calvin Lambert was a career U.S. Army soldier who fought in World War II before achieving the rank of major general and serving as the army’s adjutant general in the 1960s. Joseph Calvin (Joe) Lambert was born in Washington (Hempstead County) on August 3, 1908, one of six children of timber industry worker Walter Samuel Lambert and Maude Johnson Lambert. He lived in the area, much of the time in Texarkana (Miller County), until 1925, when he joined the army as a buck private. He rose through the non-commissioned officer ranks, reportedly gaining his master sergeant’s stripes after rescuing a general’s daughter from shark-infested waters in Panama, and was promoted to second lieutenant in the Army Reserve Corps in …

Landis, Reed Gresham

Reed Gresham Landis was a World War I flying ace who also served in World War II before retiring to Arkansas to run a resort near Hot Springs (Garland County). Reed G. Landis was born on July 17, 1896, in Ottawa, Illinois, the son of Winifred Reed Landis and Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a federal judge and longtime commissioner of major league baseball. Young Landis grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and, in the spring of 1916, enlisted in the First Illinois Cavalry, which was dispatched with other National Guard units to the Mexican border following Francisco “Pancho” Villa’s raid into U.S. territory. The unit returned to Chicago in November without seeing action, though the training the men experienced while deployed would …

Lawrenceville, Skirmish at

aka: Skirmish at Green's Farm

This short skirmish appears to have taken place as part of general operations in southeastern Arkansas, with no direct connection to any larger Civil War campaign. At 7:00 a.m. on November 19, 1863, Major William J. Teed led the Eighth Missouri Cavalry (US) in an attack against a Confederate force commanded by Major John B. Cocke, eight miles west of Lawrenceville (Monroe County) on the farmland of a Dr. Green. Teed’s force captured and destroyed cooking utensils and a variety of other material goods and foodstuffs. The estimated casualties amounted to four Confederates killed. A claim made by local citizens that Maj. Cocke and a Lieutenant McBride numbered among the Confederate dead could not be confirmed by Teed. Maj. Cocke, …

Lee, Hubert L.

Hubert L. Lee, who lived in North Little Rock (Pulaski County) as a child, was a soldier in the U.S. Army who received a Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in battle during the Korean War. Hubert L. Lee was born in Arburg, Missouri, on February 2, 1915, the son of railroad fireman Charles Lee and Beulah Lee. Five years later, they were living in North Little Rock’s Ward 4. The family later moved to Leland, Mississippi, and it was there that Lee was inducted into the U.S. Army during World War II. He served with distinction, winning a Bronze Star and Silver Star for heroism in fighting in North Africa and Italy. Lee remained in the army and …

Lemley, Harry Jacob Jr.

Harry Jacob Lemley Jr. was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War before retiring as a lieutenant general in 1971. Harry Jacob Lemley Jr. was born on February 1, 1914, in Hope (Hempstead County), the son of future U.S. District Court judge Harry J. Lemley Sr. and Caroline McRae Lemley. After graduating from Hope High School, Lemley attended the Marion Military in Marion, Alabama, in preparation for his appointment to West Point. Remembering his time at West Point, Lemley wrote years later: “West Point devastated me mentally and physically, as I was grossly immature in every respect. I nevertheless toughed it out, as I …

Letzig, Margaret Heller Himstedt

Margaret Heller Himstedt Letzig was the first Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) officer from Arkansas during World War II. She served from 1942 to 1943, achieving the rank of first lieutenant. Margaret Himstedt was born on November 4, 1898, in Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Henry Himstedt and Margaret Hickey Himstedt. Her father was the co-owner of Pfeifer-Himstedt Plumbing and Heating Company. Himstedt was educated in Little Rock’s public schools and graduated from Little Rock High School in 1915. She attended Trinity College in Washington DC, where she received BA degrees in English and chemistry. She later received a master’s degree in social work from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Himstedt worked as a medical social worker at St. …

Lewisburg into Yell and Searcy Counties, Scout from

A pair of Third Arkansas Cavalry (US) soldiers led scouting operations into their home counties in March 1865, bringing back intelligence of Confederate operations. Colonel Abraham H. Ryan of the Third Arkansas reported on March 23, 1865, that Yell County native Lieutenant William M. Boles had returned to Lewisburg (Conway County) that day from a twelve-day expedition in Yell County, reporting that the scouting party had killed several Confederates near Danville (Yell County). Boles learned during his scout that Colonel John T. Coffee was planning to bring 300 men from rebel camps at Center Point (Howard County) to harvest wheat in the bottomlands of the Fourche La Fave River to feed Confederate troops in southern Arkansas. Sergeant Ebenezer D. Arnold …

Lewisburg to Strahan’s Ferry, Expedition from

The expedition for Lewisburg (Conway County) to Strahan’s Landing (Johnson County) saw a Union anti-guerrilla operation’s mission shift to protecting steamboats carrying desperately needed supplies to the garrison at Fort Smith (Sebastian County). Major George L. Childress left the Union base at Brownsville (Lonoke County) on November 21, 1864, with 300 men of the Eighth Missouri Cavalry Regiment (US) and 200 troopers of the Ninth Iowa Cavalry under Major Willis Drummond for temporary duty at Lewisburg, where Colonel Abraham Ryan’s Third Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (US) was involved in heavy anti-guerrilla activity. After arriving on November 24, the cavalrymen from Brownsville were sent out two days later to “scour [the] country above Dover (Pope County) and on the Big Piney.” After …

Lewisburg, Scouts from (August 11–14, 1864)

The scouts by troops from the Third Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (US) from Lewisburg (Conway County) were sent out in search of Confederate troops and guerrillas as General Joseph O. Shelby’s men operated in north-central and eastern Arkansas in the late summer of 1864. Shelby’s troops had been operating north of the Arkansas River and between the White and Mississippi rivers since May 1864, forcing irregular troops into service with established regiments, conscripting every male aged fifteen to fifty into Confederate service, sinking the USS Queen City in Clarendon (Monroe County), and skirmishing with U.S. soldiers throughout the region. In early August, Shelby sent Colonel Archibald Dobbins to attack federally leased farms in Phillips County while Colonel Thomas McCray gathered recruits …

Lewisburg, Scouts from (June 1864)

The scouts from Lewisburg (Conway County) were conducted in an effort to locate Confederate troops under Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby who were recruiting soldiers and attacking Union targets in central and eastern Arkansas during the summer of 1864. Shelby drove off troops from the Third Arkansas Cavalry (US) and Fourth Arkansas Cavalry (US) garrisoning Dardanelle (Yell County) in the early hours of May 17, 1864, and spent the next two days moving approximately 1,200 Confederate soldiers across the Arkansas River to begin operations behind Federal lines along the river. Union forces struggled to determine the location of the Confederate force and, by late May, had abandoned their bases at Batesville (Independence County) and Jacksonport (Jackson County). Shelby officially took …

Lewisburg, Scouts from (September 6–12, 1864)

A flurry of Union scouting expeditions set out from Lewisburg (Conway County) between September 6 and 12, 1864, as Colonel Abraham H. Ryan tried to determine the locations of Confederate troops while Major General Sterling Price was beginning his invasion of Missouri in the fall of 1864. Ryan, commanding the Third Arkansas Cavalry (US) from its base at Lewisburg on the Arkansas River, began sending scouting expeditions into the region on September 6 to determine where Price’s troops were operating; they, in fact, were beginning to cross the Arkansas at Dardanelle (Yell County) on September 6. A patrol of the Third Arkansas scattered Confederate pickets and captured thirteen horses at Norristown (Pope County) on the same day. Ryan dispatched scouts …

Lewisburg, Skirmish at

Lewisburg (Conway County), a thriving town in the 1860s, was the site of a significant occupation force of Union troops during the Civil War. Located about fifty miles west of Little Rock (Pulaski County), it was the first and most significant river port along the way to Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Indian Territory. Federal troops under the command of General Frederick Steele raised the U.S. flag there on September 28, 1863, and remained there as an occupation force until August 1865. As Conway County had divided interests and loyalties, two Union companies were raised there soon after the Rebels abandoned their relatively unprotected positions in late 1863. These units were assigned to the newly formed Third Arkansas Regimental Cavalry …

Lick Creek Expedition

aka: Helena Expedition (March 6–10, 1863)
aka: Big Creek Expedition

  The Lick Creek Expedition was an attempt to find Confederate forces located around Big and Lick creeks in Phillips County. On March 6, 1863, Brigadier General Benjamin M. Prentiss in Helena (Phillips County) dispatched 500 men from the Fifth Kansas Cavalry under the command of Major Samuel Walker. After searching for Confederate forces for two days, Walker reported back to Prentiss early on March 8 that they could not find any Confederates in the area. Walker took a different approach and advised Major Edward F. Winslow of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry to cross Big Creek while he moved across another area of the creek. Both Maj. Walker and Maj. Winslow encountered small Confederate forces; Winslow killed one Confederate, destroyed their …

Lick Creek, Skirmish at

With the capture of Helena (Phillips County) on the Mississippi River, Federal forces had a tenuous foothold in Arkansas. Deep in enemy territory, the Union troops were forced to constantly patrol against the threat of a Confederate attack on the city. When Federal units did leave the city, they were likely to draw the attention of enemy forces and be attacked. Colonel Powell Clayton of the Fifth Kansas Cavalry led an expedition from Helena on January 11, 1863, in the direction of the White River. On January 12, Lieutenant James Bradford, commanding twenty-five men of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, left on a mission to deliver a number of dispatches back to Helena from the expedition. Leaving the expedition near Big …

Limestone Valley, Skirmish at

A small skirmish between Arkansas Federals and Confederate-leaning guerrillas in the rugged Ozark Mountains, this engagement was part of an effort to keep Confederate forces both from attacking Union units and from terrorizing the local population. This engagement is typical of the type of fighting at this point of the war between Union forces and irregular units. On April 14, 1864, Colonel John Phelps of the Second Arkansas Cavalry (US) ordered Major James Melton to take 110 men and move against a guerrilla force nearby under the command of a man known as Sissell (quite likely John Cecil). Melton and his men departed the next day. Captain John Bailey and his company were ordered to work with Melton’s unit in …

Little Red River, Skirmish at (June 6, 1864)

aka: Skirmish at Beeler's Ferry

On May 27, 1864, Brigadier General Joseph Shelby was promoted to command all Arkansas Confederate forces north of the Arkansas River. Earlier that month, Union forces concluded their disastrous Camden Expedition and for the remainder of the war in Arkansas were reluctant to launch any large-scale operations outside of defending their own garrisons and supply lines. Shelby had about 1,200 men under his command at the time of his promotion, and during the next three months, he aggressively recruited men of fighting age within his jurisdiction, many of whom were deserters evading conscription or bushwhackers. In a letter to Major General Sterling Price dated July 27, Shelby boasted that he had 5,000 men under his command. The number was likely …

Little Red River, Skirmish at (May 17, 1862)

The Skirmish at Little Red River on May 17, 1862, was one of many that took place as foraging parties of Union major general Samuel R. Curtis searched for much needed provisions. On this rainy Saturday morning, about 100 Rebels, loosely organized but determined to thwart the Federals in their advance toward Little Rock (Pulaski County), attacked the foraging party sent by Colonel George E. Waring Jr. of the Fourth Missouri Cavalry. This skirmish—which took place two days before the most significant engagement in White County, the Action at Whitney’s Lane—coupled with skirmishes continuing into June, ultimately led to Curtis’s abandonment of his assignment to take the capital city and assume military authority over the state. Following the Union victory …

Little Red River, Skirmishes at (June 5 and 7, 1862)

As the Federal forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis attempted to move from Batesville (Independence County) down the Little Red River area toward Little Rock (Pulaski County), the Rebels were determined to keep up the constant harassment of the enemy. During May and June 1862, Rebel forces repeatedly thwarted Curtis’s efforts to advance toward his goal of capturing Little Rock and assuming control over the capital city and the Arkansas River and its tributaries. The skirmishes in early June that occurred near the Little Red River—following the most significant action in White County, the Action at Whitney’s Lane—contributed greatly to the abandonment of Curtis’s objective. The Little Red River flows through north-central Arkansas for approximately 100 miles, merging on …

Little River, Skirmish at

Throughout the Civil War, dangerous bands of guerrillas roamed throughout Mississippi County, Arkansas, and the adjacent Missouri counties of Dunklin and Pemiscot, terrorizing citizens with looting, murder, and other forms of lawlessness. Due to the rampant activities of these renegades, composed primarily of Confederate deserters and civilian sympathizers, commerce in affected communities came to a standstill. As part of a concerted effort by Union military commanders to suppress these activities, Captain Valentine Preuitt received orders on April 5, 1864, from Major John W. Rabb (Second Missouri Artillery, Commanding at New Madrid, Missouri) to lead a scouting expedition from New Madrid into the aforementioned districts. Departing camp in the early hours of April 6, Capt. Preuitt’s expedition, comprising Companies G, K, …

Little Rock Air Force Base

The Little Rock Air Force Base (LRAFB) is located on 6,412 acres of land within the city limits of Jacksonville (Pulaski County). The base is a self-contained community that has contributed greatly to the economy and growth of the area since it became operational in 1955. The LRAFB is the largest C-130 base in the world. In 1951, members of the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce learned that the Air Force was considering locating a new base in the central United States but that Congress was not interested in purchasing land for the base because the United States already owned some World War II airfields that could be converted to active bases. Everett Tucker, manager of the Industrial Department …

Little Rock Arsenal

In 1836, the same year Arkansas was admitted into the Union, the federal government requested the building of a military installation in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Under Governor James Sevier Conway and Major Robert B. Lee, a site for the Little Rock Arsenal was selected on the outskirts of the city. The site was on a former racetrack used by a local jockey club. Originally, Congress had allotted $14,000 for the arsenal, but the final cost of the building was $30,000. It incorporated timbers from Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) and stone from the Big Rock on the north side of the Arkansas River across from Little Rock, as well as locally made bricks. At the arsenal’s completion, the Arkansas Gazette …

Little Rock Arsenal, Seizure of the

The seizure of the Little Rock Arsenal was an event during the secession crisis of 1861. The people of Arkansas were contemplating leaving the Union, and armed volunteer companies from around the state took control of the Federal arsenal from soldiers of the U.S. Army. The crisis began in November 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. In response to the prodding of Governor Henry Rector, the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a bill on December 22, calling for voters to decide if a state secession convention should be held and, if so, select delegates to attend. The state Senate passed the bill on January 15, 1861, and the election was set for February 18. During …

Little Rock Aviation Supply Depot

During World War I, an air supply depot was constructed at Little Rock (Pulaski County) south of 12th Street near the Little Rock airport. Construction began in 1918 of the complex of structures encompassing fifty-five acres and designed to house up to 500 officers and men. The main warehouse was planned as an exact duplicate of the warehouse at Dayton, Ohio. The depot acted as a distribution point, with raw materials necessary for the function of an air service being gathered and sent to production facilities, while finished products were stored and the parts distributed to flying fields as needed. At one point, approximately 13,000 motors were stored there. Although the depot mainly supplied equipment to flying fields in the …

Little Rock Campaign

aka: Arkansas Expedition

The Little Rock Campaign was a Civil War campaign in which the Union army under Major General Frederick Steele maneuvered Confederate troops under Major General Sterling Price out of the Arkansas capital, thus returning Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Federal control in 1863 and giving the Union effective control of the strategically important Arkansas River Valley. Conditions were right for a Federal campaign to capture Little Rock and add it to the list of Union-controlled capitals of states that had seceded. The July 4, 1863, Battle of Helena had cost Confederate attackers heavy casualties and crippled their morale. The fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the same day made thousands of Union soldiers available for duty on other fronts. Authorities in …

Little Rock Fortifications (Civil War)

Both Confederate and Union forces constructed fortifications to protect Arkansas’s capital between 1863 and 1865, with the Confederates concentrating their efforts on the north side of the river while Union works were built primarily south of Little Rock (Pulaski County). Following the Confederate defeat in the July 4, 1863, Battle of Helena, most of the Confederate troops in the state fell back to central Arkansas and braced for a Union offensive toward Little Rock. Major General Sterling Price reported that, in late July, “I commenced the construction of a line of rifle-pits and other defensive works on the north side of the Arkansas [River], and pushed them forward to completion as rapidly as I could.” The works stretched from Big …

Little Rock National Cemetery

Little Rock National Cemetery is the largest national cemetery in Arkansas and the only one closed to new interments. It is unknown when the first interment took place, or who it was, because the cemetery was part of the city cemetery at the time. The last active-duty burial was a man from Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 1996. In 1866, the land that is now the cemetery was outside the city limits of Little Rock (Pulaski County) and served as a Union encampment for the troops who continued to occupy the city. In September 1866, the first 9.1 acres were …

Little Rock to Bayou Meto and Little Bayou, Scout from

aka: Scout from Pine Bluff to Lewis’ Landing (May 7–11, 1865)

A combined Union force from Little Rock (Pulaski County) and Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) scouted the Arkansas River below Pine Bluff in early May 1865 as several bands of Confederate irregulars sought to surrender amid the collapse of all of the major Rebel armies. Lieutenant Colonel Richard G. Ward of the Seventy-Ninth U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) left the Union base at Little Rock aboard the steamboat Rose Hambleton on the evening of May 6, 1865, with 250 men of his regiment and seventy-five troopers of the Fourth Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (US) and headed for Pine Bluff. Arriving the next morning, Brigadier General Powell Clayton requested that Ward’s troops cooperate with a scouting expedition of the Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry under Major …

Little Rock to Benton, Expedition from (November 2–3, 1864)

The November 2–3, 1864, expedition from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Benton (Saline County) was an attempt by Union troops to attack Confederates reportedly foraging in the area; the operation, however, was based on faulty intelligence. Colonel John Logan’s Eleventh Arkansas Mounted Infantry (CS) was based in Princeton (Dallas County) in late 1864, and the troopers spent much of their time gathering forage in Dallas and Saline counties. Union officials in Little Rock received reports in early November that between 700 and 800 of Logan’s men were foraging near a Dr. Morton’s place in Saline County. On the evening of November 2, 1864, Colonel John F. Ritter of the First Missouri Cavalry Regiment (US) left Little Rock leading 369 officers …

Little Rock to Benton, Scout from (March 27–31, 1864)

The March 27–31, 1864, Scout from Little Rock to Benton was undertaken after the bulk of the Federal forces in Little Rock (Pulaski County) marched south on March 23, 1864, to participate in the Camden Expedition, leaving a vacuum in the region that was soon filled by guerrillas and cotton thieves. Captain Enoch H. Vance of Company E, Fourth Arkansas Cavalry (US), led troopers from his regiment out of Little Rock at 3:00 a.m. on March 27, 1864, toward Benton (Saline County). Circling to the west, the party had just passed Brown’s tannery when they spotted two guerrillas. The column’s advance troops gave chase, but the bushwhackers escaped, though Vance observed that “one of them was run so close that …

Little Rock to Benton, Scout from (November 27–30, 1864)

The November 27–30, 1864, scouting expedition from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Benton (Saline County) was undertaken in an effort to engage with Confederate forces south of the Union base in the capital. Captain William Hawley of the Third U.S. Cavalry Regiment led detachments of the Third U.S. and the Third Missouri Cavalry Regiment out of Little Rock on November 27, 1864, taking the road toward Jenkins’ Ferry. After the Federals rode about eight miles, Confederate guerrillas fired on their advance troops. The U.S. soldiers returned fire, and “every effort [was] made to capture them, but without success,” though a citizen riding with the bushwhackers was arrested and sent to Little Rock. The command rode another twenty-eight miles before camping …

Little Rock to Benton, Scout from (September 6–7, 1864)

Union cavalrymen conducted the scout from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Benton (Saline County) to determine what Confederate forces were in the area as Major General Sterling Price began his invasion of Missouri in the fall of 1864. Two women came into Little Rock on September 3, 1864, and reported that they had been detained by Price’s army about nine miles south of the Saline River two days earlier. They said that Price, Brigadier General John Sappington Marmaduke, and one other Confederate general were in the camp, that Brigadier General William Lewis Cabell and his cavalry brigade were in Benton, and that the Confederate troops “declared that they were going to have Little Rock before the end of the week.” …

Little Rock to Clear Lake, Scout from

aka: Skirmish at Clear Lake
aka: Skirmish at Plum Bayou

The March 10–13, 1865, Union scout from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Clear Lake by the Third Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment ended with an ambush by a large group of bushwhackers that left several Federal soldiers wounded—two mortally—and eleven men prisoners of war. On the evening of March 9, 1865, Brigadier General Frederick Salomon sent a message to Brigadier General Powell Clayton, saying, “I am at this hour starting a small scout into the Clear Lake neighborhood”—near present-day England (Lonoke County)—after learning that around twenty-five Confederate guerrillas were gathering there. He warned Clayton that the bushwhackers would likely fall back toward Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) and asked if he could send a force to intercept them, a request Clayton denied since …

Little Rock to Fagan’s Ford, Expedition from

The Civil War scouting expedition from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Fagan’s Ford was undertaken by Union troops to try to determine the strength of Confederate forces based in Princeton (Dallas County) in late 1864. On November 16, 1864, Union headquarters ordered Colonel William Thompson, commander of the Cavalry Division of the Seventh Army Corps’ Second Brigade, to “send a reconnoitering party to Benton, and from thence to Princeton,” leaving “as early tomorrow morning as possible.” The next morning, Major George S. Avery of the Third Missouri Cavalry Regiment (US) left Little Rock at the head of thirteen officers and 490 men of the Third U.S. Cavalry Regiment, First and Third Missouri Cavalry (US), and First Iowa Cavalry, heading for …

Little Rock to Irving’s Plantation, Expedition from

The October 26–28, 1864, Civil War expedition from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Irving’s Plantation proved to be a wild goose chase for the Federal troops involved. Captain Joseph G. Tilford of the Third U.S. Cavalry led around 410 officers and men of the Second Cavalry Brigade out of Little Rock around noon on October 26, 1864, and headed down the Arkansas River to check on the condition of the steamboat Annie Jacobs, which apparently was stranded; they found the vessel safely guarded by about forty Union infantrymen. Local African Americans told Tilford that Jeff Irving had been at Irving’s father’s plantation about five miles away the day before with twenty or thirty Confederates. The elder Irving had wanted the …

Little Rock to Mount Elba, Expedition from

aka: Scout from Pine Bluff toward Camden and Monticello (January 26–31, 1865)

The January 22–February 4, 1865, expedition from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Mount Elba (Cleveland County), which included two artillery batteries, three cavalry regiments, and six infantry regiments, was the last Union operation in the Civil War in Arkansas involving a relatively large number of combined-arms troops. On January 22, 1865, a Union force of cavalry, infantry, and artillery left Little Rock for southwestern Arkansas to confront Confederates who one Iowan said were “attacking our pickets, making forays upon our baggage trains, and committing depredations generally.” Led by Brigadier General Eugene A. Carr, the expedition would pick up additional troops at Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) and would ultimately consist of the First Iowa, First Missouri, and Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry Regiments; …

Little Rock to the Saline River, Scout from

The scout from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to the Saline River was a guerrilla-hunting operation undertaken by Arkansas Union troops late in the Civil War. Major Harris S. Greeno led 120 men from Companies A, B, C, D, E, and H of the Fourth Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (US) and an additional forty men “of Captain Miller’s company of independent scouts” out from the Union base at Little Rock on the morning of April 26, 1865, and headed south. After reaching Benton (Saline County), they followed the Saline River for twenty-five miles, scouting “the country thoroughly.” When the Federals neared Steel’s Mill on the Saline, they ran into a band of guerrillas. Greeno reported that “we killed one man by the …

Little Rock toward Monticello and Mount Elba, Reconnaissance from

The reconnaissance from Little Rock (Pulaski County) toward Monticello (Drew County) and Mount Elba (Cleveland County) was undertaken to determine the numbers and locations of large Confederate forces reportedly in southern Arkansas. Major General Frederick Steele reported on October 4, 1864, that Confederate major general John B. Magruder was “making demonstrations against” Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), and Brigadier General Powell Clayton, in command at Pine Bluff, reported that four rebel divisions totaling as many as 18,000 men were at Monticello. Steele ordered Colonel John F. Ritter to lead a reconnaissance in force toward Monticello to find out if the reports were true. Ritter left Little Rock on October 4 at the head of 777 men from Ritter’s First Missouri Cavalry …

Little Rock, Skirmish at (September 2, 1864)

  The skirmish at the tannery near Little Rock (Pulaski County) proved a minor affair but provided local Union forces with intelligence on the whereabouts of area Confederate movements and posts. On September 2, 1864, Captain Thomas J. Mitchell of the Third Missouri Cavalry reported that approximately seventy-five Confederate troops attacked the Union forces at the tannery but failed to repel them. The number of Confederate wounded is unknown, while Union forces lost several horses but captured a Confederate soldier. The Confederate prisoner informed Capt. Mitchell that he belonged to Colonel John L. Logan’s regiment, consisting of 150 to 200 men, which started its march from Benton (Saline County) that morning. On the south side of the Saline River were …

Littleton, Herbert

Herbert A. Littleton was an Arkansas native who received the Medal of Honor for valor while serving as a U.S. Marine during the Korean War. Herbert A. Littleton was born in Mena (Polk County) on July 1, 1930, the youngest of three sons of the farming family of Paul N. Littleton and Lillie Maude Littleton. The family did not stay in Arkansas for long, relocating to Lawrence, South Dakota, by 1935, and then to Spearfish, South Dakota, by 1940, where Paul Littleton was working as a foreman on a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. The family continued moving around the western United States, with Littleton attending elementary school in East Port Orchard, Washington, and high school in Sturgis, South Dakota. …

Lloyd, Edgar Harold

Edgar Harold Lloyd was awarded the Medal of Honor for service above and beyond the call of duty during World War II. The Medal of Honor is the highest award presented to an individual serving in the United States armed services for valor against an enemy force. Harold Lloyd was born on February 28, 1922, in Yarbro (Mississippi County) to Edgar Bentley Lloyd and Lillian Lindley Lloyd, who were farmers. He had one sibling, a sister named Marvin Emma. Lloyd graduated from Blytheville High School in 1939 and then attended the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County). There, he was president of the Associated Students and active in fraternity and other campus activities. He was captain of Company …

Logan County Draft War

aka: Franklin County Draft War

The Logan County Draft War was an episode of armed draft resistance in Arkansas during World War I. Following on the heels of the more infamous Cleburne County Draft War, the Logan County incident—which actually took place predominately in Franklin County, and later in the wooded area near Mount Magazine—followed the familiar pattern of previous draft skirmishes in which a local posse encountered suspected draft evaders, resulting in a shootout, a death, and then a wider manhunt. On August 5, 1918, authorities from Ozark (Franklin County) assembled a posse of seven men led by a Constable Horton to investigate the farmhouse of J. H. Benson near Cecil (Franklin County). It is unclear from the sources whether this posse was formed …

Longview, Skirmish at

aka: Skirmish at Easling's Farm

  Longview, situated in the northwest corner of Ashley County on the Saline River, was an important transportation hub for antebellum Arkansans. When the Civil War broke out, it became even more important due to both armies’ desperate need of transportation routes for military operations. River routes were especially important in Arkansas, which had only thirty-eight miles of railroad tracks at the start of the war, the fewest of any Confederate state. By 1864, Union forces had captured the northern two-thirds of Arkansas, and the bulk of the remaining Confederate troops in the state had retreated to camps near Camden (Ouachita County). A Confederate pontoon bridge built over the Saline River at Longview made the town a crucial link between Confederate forces in …

Looper, Durden William

Durden William Looper was a twenty-two-year-old U.S. Army Air Corps pilot from Sebastian County who was one of several American prisoners of war who died in the August 6, 1945, atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Durden Looper was born on March 18, 1923, the son of Walter and Bertha Looper. He grew up on the family farm near Greenwood (Sebastian County) and graduated from Mansfield High School in Mansfield (Sebastian and Scott counties) in 1939. He married Ruth Marie Kurtz in 1942, the same year he joined the Army Air Corps. They had one daughter, Virginia. Second Lieutenant Looper was the co-pilot of the B-24 bomber Lonesome Lady when it took off from an airstrip on Okinawa on July 28, …

Loudermilk, William Murphy

In 1952, Jonesboro (Craighead County) resident William M. Loudermilk became the last Confederate veteran to die in Arkansas; he had been the last survivor to have served in a North Carolina unit. At the time of his death, he was one of the nation’s last nine surviving Confederate veterans. Being a native of North Carolina, he had served in a unit from his home state but moved to Jonesboro sometime in the late 1880s. He lived in northeastern Arkansas for over sixty years until his death in 1952. William Murphy Loudermilk was born near Murphy, North Carolina, in Cherokee County on October 27, 1847. He was the fifth of nine children born to Daniel Loudermilk and Nellie Thompson Loudermilk. Little …

Loyd, Robert

Robert Loyd—along with his husband, John Schenck—was an activist for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Arkansas, especially same-sex marriage. He was also a business owner and a veteran of the Vietnam War. Loyd and Schenck co-founded Conway’s Pride Parade and were plaintiffs in Wright v. Arkansas, a challenge to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Ralph Robert Loyd, called Robert or Bobby, was born in Nuremberg, Germany, on September 24, 1949, to Inge and Troy Loyd. His mother had served in Germany’s regular army, and his father was an American soldier. Loyd’s father brought his wife and son to America when Loyd was three. They lived in Damascus (Van Buren and Faulkner counties). In 1968, at his …

Lucas, George Washington

George Washington Lucas was a young soldier in a Missouri cavalry regiment during the Civil War. He was awarded a Medal of Honor for killing an Arkansas militia general in Benton (Saline County) in 1864. George Washington Lucas was born in 1845 in Brown County, Illinois, to wealthy physician Daniel B. Lucas and his wife, Sarah Ann Lucas; he had five brothers and a sister. After the Civil War began, the eighteen-year-old private crossed the Mississippi River to enlist in Company C of the Third Missouri Cavalry (US) at Palmyra, Missouri, on February 21, 1862; his occupation was listed as farmer. Lucas was engaged in several scouting expeditions while the Third Missouri served in Arkansas, including one on July 25, …