Arkansas Post 9–11 January 1863

The Confederate fortifications near the Arkansas Post prevented the Union Army from moving south as part of the Vicksburg Campaign. Union shipping was being obstructed on the Mississippi River, of which the Arkansas River was a tributary. On 9 January 1863, the Union army, under the command of Major General John A McClernand and supported by Major General William Sherman’s corps, landed troops near Arkansas Post. The troops moved upriver and began an assault on rebel forces, under the command of Brigadier General Thomas J. Churchill. On 10 January, joined by a division of Brigadier General George Morgan’s corps, and supported by Rear Admiral David Porter’s gunboat fleet, the Confederate fortifications, under Colonels’ Deshler and Garland, were pounded by the Union troops. Sherman’s corps were slow to move, having become embedded in muddy swamps. After the Union troops succeeded in occupying the fortifications, the Confederates surrendered.