Civil War Arkansas 1863

The Arkansas River Valley is one of the most fertile regions in the South. During the Civil War, the river also served as a vital artery for moving troops and supplies. In 1863 the battle to wrest control of the valley was, in effect, a battle for the state itself. In spite of its importance, however, this campaign is often overshadowed by the siege of Vicksburg. Now Mark K. Christ offers the first detailed military assessment of parallel events in Arkansas, describing their consequences for both Union and Confederate powers. Christ analyzes the campaign from military and political perspectives to show how events in 1863 affected the war on a larger scale. His lively narrative incorporates eyewitness accounts to tell how new Union strategy in the Trans-Mississippi theater enabled the capture of Little Rock, taking the state out of Confederate control for the rest of the war. He draws on rarely used primary sources to describe key engagements at the tactical level—particularly the battles at Arkansas Post, Helena, and Pine Bluff, which cumulatively marked a major turning point in the Trans-Mississippi. In addition to soldiers’ letters and diaries, Christ weaves civilian voices into the story—especially those of women who had to deal with their altered fortunes—and so fleshes out the human dimensions of the struggle. Extensively researched and compellingly told, Christ’s account demonstrates the war’s impact on Arkansas and fills a void in Civil War studies.

I Do Wish this Cruel War Was Over collects diaries, letters, and memoirs excerpted from their original publication in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly to offer a first-hand, ground-level view of the war's horrors, its mundane hardships, its pitched battles and languid stretches, even its moments of frivolity. Readers will find varying degrees of commitment and different motivations among soldiers on both sides, along with the perspective of civilians. In many cases, these documents address aspects of the war that would become objects of scholarly and popular fascination only years after their initial appearance: the guerrilla conflict that became the "real war" west of the Mississippi; the "hard war" waged against civilians long before William Tecumseh Sherman set foot in Georgia; the work of women in maintaining households in the absence of men; and the complexities of emancipation, which saw African Americans winning freedom and sometimes losing it all over again. Altogether, these first-person accounts provide an immediacy and a visceral understanding of what it meant to survive the Civil War in Arkansas.

The Arkansas River Valley is one of the most fertile regions in the South. During the Civil War, the river also served as a vital artery for moving troops and supplies. In 1863 the battle to wrest control of the valley was, in effect, a battle for the state itself. In spite of its importance, however, this campaign is often overshadowed by the siege of Vicksburg. Now Mark K. Christ offers the first detailed military assessment of parallel events in Arkansas, describing their consequences for both Union and Confederate powers. Christ analyzes the campaign from military and political perspectives to show how events in 1863 affected the war on a larger scale. His lively narrative incorporates eyewitness accounts to tell how new Union strategy in the Trans-Mississippi theater enabled the capture of Little Rock, taking the state out of Confederate control for the rest of the war. He draws on rarely used primary sources to describe key engagements at the tactical level—particularly the battles at Arkansas Post, Helena, and Pine Bluff, which cumulatively marked a major turning point in the Trans-Mississippi. In addition to soldiers’ letters and diaries, Christ weaves civilian voices into the story—especially those of women who had to deal with their altered fortunes—and so fleshes out the human dimensions of the struggle. Extensively researched and compellingly told, Christ’s account demonstrates the war’s impact on Arkansas and fills a void in Civil War studies.

This book is the story of the devastation of Fayetteville, Arkansas, during the Civil War. The beautiful frontier town in the mountains is described in the first chapter, 1860: Fayetteville on the Eve of War. The second chapter, 1861: Confederate Days, tells of the Confederate hopes of nationhood and the shock of civil war reaching Northwest Arkansas. The third chapter, 1862: Destruction and Death, describes life in town as it was flooded with casualties of the battles of Pea Ridge in March and Prairie Grove in December. The fourth chapter, 1863: The Battle of Fayetteville, describes the return of Union troops, mostly Union men from Arkansas. There is a detailed description of the Battle of Fayetteville on April 18, 1863, a struggle between Arkansas soldiers in gray and blue, a true civil war battle. It includes a map of the battle, and the back cover of the book shows the imposition of the battle positions on a modern street map of the city. Chapter 4: An Occupied Town in an Endless War describes how the Confederate resurgence in the countryside isolated the Union-occupied town. The final chapter is 1865: Peace from the East. This is a second edition of the book.

A true story that is well-documented. Each chapter has numerous source reference notes that authenticate the research. The book is indexed and also contains an appendix making it easy to do research. It is illustrated and offers the resder letters written during the Civil War period never published before. The book reads with the ease of a novel. It is filled with factual accounts that pull the reader into the events taking place on the written pages. The rebel yells, the ear-splitting roar of the cannon and the heart wrenching cries of the wounded hold your interest as you are pulled into the story. Truly this is a book full of action and suspense. The writer carries you right into the realities of the Civil War. D.L.O.

This book is an account of the Civil War Battle of Fayetteville on April 18, 1863, when Arkansas Confederates and Arkansas Unionists fought on Arkansas soil.