Fort Hindman

The Siege of Fort Hindman

At the Mouth of the Arkansas River, the confederate army constructed an earthen fort that was christened Fort Hindman after General Thomas Hindman, who lived in Helena, Arkansas. About 5,000 men garrisoned the fort. As the Vicksburg campaign progressed, Union General John McClernand would request 30,000 troops to help in the Vicksburg Campaign. President Lincoln would approve this request with his new Corps would move on Fort Hindman. This action would mean the Arkansas river's mouth was in Union hands and open Little Rock up for attack, and help tighten the Noose on Vicksburg. The plan for the Capture of Fort Hindman was simple. It involved two groups, the Land Assault and a River bombardment. For the Land Assault, the 30,000 troops of McClerand's and Sherman's Corps.

On January 9th, 1863, the Union land forces disembarked from their transports and moved against the first confederate lines, a series of rifle pits and trenches that had recently been Prepared by the Confederate defenders under the command of General Thomas Churchill. The defenders were quickly overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the Union Forces. Throughout the night and the next day, the Union troops moved to complete the fort's investment. As the Infantry moved to surround the fort, the Navy flotilla began to bombard the fort. The Navy's action went along without any problems; however, one of the Union tinclads (a Civilian steamer converted for navy use) became beached under the fort's guns and faced a fierce cannonade. As darkness approached, it became apparent that the Union flotilla had knocked most of the fort's guns out of action. On January 11th, 1863, the Union infantry launched several assaults against the rifle pits around the fort while the Navy recommenced its bombardment. The assaults of the Rifle pits were not well coordinated and done in a piecemeal fashion.

On the other hand, the Navy's bombardment ultimately reduced the fort's river-facing side to ruin. Soon after the fort wall fell, the Navy landed men to climb the embankment and take the fort was. The white flag was raised, and the fort and its trenches and rifle pits surrendered to the Union force. The fort's surrender meant that no significant obstacle remained in the way for Union naval power on the Arkansas River below Little Rock. That very night the Union fleet launched a raid towards Little Rock, which would prompt the confederate navy officials in Little Rock to scuttle their ships to prevent them from falling into Union hands. the confederate force in Arkansas also lost about one-fourth of its manpower with the capture of over 4,700 confederate soldiers. After the fall of the Fort Union, Forces quickly destroyed it; it could not be reoccupied after leaving. While essential and an action that secured the Union Flank, General Grant felt that the entirely unneeded and resulted in over 1,000 casualties that Grant believed were unnecessary. This would lead to Grant coming south and taking personal command over the Vicksburg campaign that would eventually lead to Vicksburg's fall on July 4th, 1863. Today the Site of Fort Hindman is inside the Arkansas Post National Memorial, which is also within a five-minute drive to the Arkansas Post state park, which includes a museum about the oldest settlement in Arkansas. Inside of the National Memorial, it is possible to tour the fort's site and the rifle pits that the Confederate forces once occupied. In 2022 a group of Reenactors called the Arkansas Confederate Guard plan to recreate the rife pits and the entrenchments for a living history event that will span the weekend of January 8-9th.

Smith, Sam. Stepping Stone to Vicksburg, American Battlefield Trust. Accessed November 1st 2020. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/article/battle-arkansas-post.

Porter, David Dixon. The Naval history of the Civil War . dover publications .

Martin, David. The Vicksburg Campaign revised and expanded edition.

"The Capture of Arkansas Post ." Harpers Weekly February 7th 1863. .