Jenkins' Ferry

On April 30, 1864, Union and Confederate forces clashed at Jenkins' Ferry, sometimes called the Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, within Hot Spring and Saline counties in what is now Grant County, Arkansas, amid the American Civil War. Union troops came away with a tactical win, yet Confederates regarded the outcome as a strategic gain, since Frederick Steele was kept from holding onto southwest Arkansas. Because the fighting descended into confusion, sources disagree on how many men fell.

This clash marked the deciding moment of Steele's Camden Expedition, itself a piece of the larger Red River Campaign, and it stood as E. Kirby Smith's final engagement of the war. Its result allowed Union forces to finish pulling back from an exposed position at Camden and reach safety within their fortifications at Little Rock.

Today much of the ground where the battle unfolded remains protected, forming part of the Arkansas State Park System.

Background

By March 1864, forces under Major-General Nathaniel Banks in Louisiana, together with Admiral David Porter's naval squadron on the Mississippi River, set the Red River Campaign into motion. Their principal aim lay in seizing Shreveport, Louisiana, the base from which General E. Kirby Smith directed the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department. Beyond its military value, Shreveport functioned as Louisiana's provisional capital, held a significant supply depot, and offered access into Texas.

A secondary aim involved acquiring cotton, scarce in the northern states at the time, and perhaps drawing planters along the river toward loyalty to the United States, a move that some hoped would broaden Reconstruction efforts within Louisiana. Henry Halleck, who held the rank of Major-General and served as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, had designed this strategy. He envisioned it clearing a path toward eventual U.S. occupation of Texas while also discouraging French activity spreading from Mexico, where France had established occupation in June 1863 and installed a puppet ruler, the self-styled "emperor" Maximilian.

Because President Lincoln had already given his approval to the plan prior to elevating Ulysses Grant to lieutenant general and General-in-Chief, Grant considered the campaign impossible to halt outright. He nonetheless pushed for its swift completion, since he would rather have redirected the 10,000 troops assigned to it toward reinforcing Sherman's advance through Georgia in the March to the Sea. Grant additionally would have preferred committing forces to an assault on Mobile, Alabama, in order to tie down greater numbers of Confederate soldiers there.

Banks commanded no fewer than 20,000 troops stationed near New Orleans for this operation. Reinforcement was expected from 10,000 men drawn from Sherman's army at Vicksburg, Mississippi, placed under Brigadier-General Andrew Smith. This contingent traveled alongside Porter's naval flotilla as it advanced up the Red River, and together they achieved early success by taking Fort DeRussy, thereby clearing the way upriver. Meanwhile, Major-General Frederick Steele, leading roughly 14,000 troops, was expected to march in support of Banks toward Shreveport, advancing from Union positions at Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Prelude

Historians would later refer to Steele's portion of this operation as the Camden Expedition. According to Steele himself, his goals were to reach and hold Camden, Arkansas, and to pull Confederate horsemen away from Shreveport so that Banks might have an easier path toward that city. Yet Banks clearly expected more than a temporary occupation of Camden; he wanted Steele's troops to actually join him in the push on Shreveport. Grant underscored this expectation in a telegram warning Steele that a mere show of force would not adequately support Banks's effort. When Banks's advance toward Shreveport was thrown back at Mansfield, Louisiana, by a smaller Confederate force under Lieutenant-General Richard Taylor, Banks halted his withdrawal at Alexandria, Louisiana. He still believed the campaign could be revived and told Steele he wanted his reinforcements to help attempt Shreveport once more.

Steele set out from Little Rock with 8,000 troops, heading southwest toward Arkadelphia, Arkansas. There he expected to link up with Brigadier-General John Thayer, who was bringing 4,000 men down from Fort Smith. Meanwhile, rough

Battle

Retreating from Camden toward their base in Little Rock, Major-General Steele's Federal troops arrived at the Saline River crossing at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas, at two o'clock in the afternoon on April 29, 1864. Heavy rains had already swollen the river, and the downpour kept falling that day, turning the banks and surrounding ground into a mire of mud and standing water. Exhausted and hungry, the soldiers were unable to finish laying the pontoon bridge or drag their wagons and cannon through the muck to the far side before nightfall, though the mounted troops managed to get across. Knowing that Kirby Smith's Confederate columns were closing in behind them, the Federals threw up breastworks and prepared a strong defensive line to meet the enemy when they arrived in force the next morning. Steele himself stayed occupied overseeing the crossing, and although Brigadier-General Friedrich Salomon was expected to lead the defense, he instead handed that responsibility to Brigadier-General Samuel Rice, who had roughly 4,000 infantrymen at his disposal.

In the darkness before sunrise on April 30, Marmaduke's Confederate horsemen reached the area, dismoun

Aftermath

Given the scale of forces involved and the proportion of losses, few clashes in the Civil War proved as costly as this one relative to size. Both sides suffered heavily for what they gained. Confederate authorities listed 86 dead, 356 wounded, and a single soldier missing, adding up to 443 casualties in total. That figure almost certainly understated the true cost, since Walker's Texas division never submitted its losses, and had they been included the toll might have reached 800 to 1,000. On the Federal side, the official count stood at 63 killed, 413 wounded,