Arkansas Summer Campaign Part III: Cotton Plant

 If they were to successfully make their way to Little Rock, General Samuel Curtis and his Army of the Southwest needed to hook up with Commander Augustus Kilty’s White River expedition and much needed supplies. The Confederates, assuming that Curtis was retreating instead of marching to meet Kilty, made a move to strike him. Little did they know they would be fighting a critical battle that would determine the course of the war in 1862 Arkansas.

 

Cotton Plant (or Hill's Plantation or Cache River)

Study map of Battle of Cotton Plant (Wikimedia)

On July 7 Curtis started his army towards Clarendon, the final leg of the march. To reach there he would first need to cross the Cache River. The Confederates had already made moves to hold the Cache River crossing. Brigadier-General Albert Rust led 5,000 men in the area. This force included Texas cavalry (six regiments) and Arkansan infantry. Rust ordered Colonel William Parsons to secure the crossing with the 12^th and 16^th Texas Cavalry (1,000 men in all). The 12^th and 16^th did not move up together and the former stopped 6 miles south of the crossing in order to wait for the other. By failing to secure the crossing with his 12^th regiment, Parsons gave the Federals time to take it.[1] The area around the Cache River was heavily wooded, with plenty of swampland as well. As Federals and Confederates alike had to deal with branches, clouds of mosquitoes, and wet ground while a plethora of animals hooted, screeched, and flapped in the background. One Texan said it felt like a primeval world.[2]

Arkansas Summer Campaign Part II: The White River Supply Run

 

Following the skirmish near Searcy, the Union Army of the Southwest would temporarily ground to a halt. With no good base of supplies, especially food, in northern Arkansas, Curtis would need the US Navy, patrolling most of the Mississippi River, to enable a successful drive on Little Rock. This following supply run would be quite the adventure, full of controversial actions from both sides.

Foraging War

His momentum halted after the Battle of Searcy Landing, Curtis ordered his generals Steele, Carr, and Osterhaus, to send out scouting and foraging expeditions to ascertain enemy strength and improve their supply situation. These foraging and scouting forays exposed the Army of the Southwest to a newly popular form of warfare in Arkansas: that of the guerilla. The history of the 9^th Illinois Cavalry (in Steele’s Division), lists several such encounters. On one May day a private E.J. Jenkins “was foully murdered” by a party of bushwhackers, who had secreted themselves in a corn-crib at Cotton Plant. Another Illinoisan rushed ahead to avenge his partner, but was killed himself. Jenkins did not actually die immediately, but lingered on another day with five bullet wounds.[1]

Curtis and his generals discussed the recent surge of guerilla attacks. Osterhaus’ Third Division had gotten the worst of them, and the German-American was outraged by the treatment of Federal prisoners. The guerillas often beat and mutilated them before killing them. Curtis was similarly outraged and gave Osterhaus and his men permission to forego mercy. “…Such villains” are “not to be taken as prisoners.”[2]