September 10, 1863

Six weeks after the Union army under General Frederick Steele captured Little Rock (Pulaski County), Union soldiers moved south, building Fort Bussy in north Benton (Saline County) and earthworks in the western part of the city. Four regiments occupied the city until Christmas, commandeering the James Henry Shoppach and the William Ayers Crawford houses for headquarters. Six Confederate regiments had been raised in Benton. Important Benton officers were James Fagan, William A. Crawford, Mazarine Jerome Henderson, George M. Holt, and Jabez Smith. Boy martyr David O. Dodd lived in Benton at the outbreak of the war, and his mother and sisters lived there until 1863.