The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry

In the spring of 1864 following the failed Red River Campaign, two vast armies marched across Southern Arkansas. The Federal Army, trying desperately to get back to the safety of Little Rock, having marched toward Louisiana in support of the Union's failed invasion of Texas was running out of food and supplies. Union General Frederick Steele knew he had to get his army back to the safety of Little Rock if they were to survive. In hot pursuit of the Federals were thousands of Confederates under command of General Edmund Kirby Smith. Their mission: destroy the Union Army at all cost. As both armies marched north toward Little Rock, the rain that had plagued the march early on had returned with a vengeance, turning the Federal retreat into a mud march. Standing in the way of the Federal retreat was the rain swollen Saline River crossing at Jenkins' Ferry. The frustrated Federals were forced to construct a pontoon bridge across the rising river slowing their march, enabling the Confederates to close the gap. The resulting Battle of Jenkins' Ferry was one of the largest and certainly one of the most deadliest in Arkansas Civil War history. Author Joe Walker uses "The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry: A Student's Guide" to introduce the battle to a new generation of readers about one of the deadliest events in Arkansas history.