May 13, 2007

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, prominent Helena (Phillips County) resident James Tappan enlisted in the Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry. He was soon selected as colonel of the Confederate unit. He served with the regiment and the Army of Tennessee in most of the major battles of 1862 and was commissioned a brigadier general that same year. He later returned to Arkansas to participate in the last battles fought in the state. After the war, he settled again in Helena, becoming a prominent lawyer and Democratic Party leader. He died in 1906.