June 6, 1864

Approximately 3,000 Federal troops under General A. J. Smith met Colonel Colton Greene’s 600 Confederates in the Engagement at Old River Lake. Despite having only one small cannon, the Confederates lost just four men, with thirty-three wounded, while Union army losses totaled 131 wounded or killed. Afterward, Federal troops occupied Lake Village (Chicot County) during the night, and injured soldiers filled virtually all the homes in the town, including the 1848 Saunders-Pettit-Chapman-Cook Plantation, which was used as an infirmary for soldiers from both armies. During the occupation, several houses were looted, buildings were torched, and all livestock was shot. The town’s newspaper office was also destroyed.