Action near Fort Smith was a Civil War engagement fought in Arkansas, 1864. It was a Union victory.
On July 31, 1864, opposing forces clashed at Fort Smith, located in Sebastian County, Arkansas, in an engagement that took place amid the American Civil War.
On July 31, 1864, Confederate and Union forces clashed in Sebastian County, Arkansas, in an engagement known as the Battle of Fort Smith, part of the wider conflict of the American Civil War.
After the Camden Expedition collapsed, parts of Arkansas were left vulnerable to cavalry strikes against Union garrisons. On July 27, 1864, Confederate troops led by Brigadier-General Richard M. Gano struck at Massard Prairie, securing a triumph that spurred them toward additional combat.
A few days on, Cooper, the officer above Gano, marched a Confederate division northward toward Fort Smith, covering several miles with his combined force of Gano's and Watie's brigades. He positioned Gano along the Poteau River on the Indian Territory side, while Watie approached from the south on the Arkansas bank. Defending the town were three brigades under Brigadier-General John M. Thayer.
It was Watie's troops who first clashed with the enemy, encountering the 6th Kansas Cavalry from Colonel William R. Judson's brigade. Forced to retreat along the Texas Road from Fort No. 2, Judson's soldiers gave warning to the rest of the garrison that Confederate forces had arrived. Shelling of the fort followed as Cooper's men opened fire.
In answer, Thayer pushed forward troops from Williams' brigade, among them the 6th Kansas Colored Infantry along with a pair of howitzers drawn from the 2nd Kansas Battery. The Union guns outmatched their opponents and pushed the Confederates back before long. Facing this, Cooper called for a retreat, though he left sharpshooters in place to shield the withdrawal.
When Cooper withdrew, he carried off Union arms and supplies valued at roughly $130,000. Thayer, for his part, held Fort Smith under his command through the war's end. Today the site survives as part of Fort Smith National Historic Site.
This page covers Action near Fort Smith. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside historic sites, land records, and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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