Battle of Helena
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Helena was a land battle of the American Civil War
fought on July 4, 1863, at Helena, Arkansas
. Overshadowed by the battles of Gettysburg
and Vicksburg, the Battle of Helena secured eastern Arkansas
for the Union
.
Benjamin M. Prentiss, in command of the District of Eastern Arkansas, was headquartered at Helena with approximately 20,000 troops. Brig. Gen.
Frederick C. Salomon
commanded a division from the XIII Corps
and had been placed in charge of the forces manning the defenses of Helena, a Mississippi River
port town at the terminus of Crowley's Ridge
and ringed by steep hills cut by heavily thicketed ravines. Four artillery batteries
with breastworks and rifle pits were placed in a semicircle around the town. In addition, the USS Tyler
, a "timber-clad" gunboat
was assigned to support Prentiss.
Just prior to the battle, a large number of troops were transferred to Vicksburg
to strengthen the siege around that city. This transfer left only about 4,000 Union soldiers to protect the Federal enclave at Helena.
, commander of the Confederate
District of Arkansas, planned a coordinated attack from three sides on the formidable Federal fortifications surrounding Helena in order to relieve pressure on Vicksburg and to prevent Helena being used as a base to attack further into Arkansas.
, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department
, and received permission to attack Helena. Infantry under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price
and cavalry under Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke
would move from Jacksonport, Arkansas
, to the vicinity of Helena. Price and Marmaduke would meet up with infantry out of Little Rock
, under Brig. Gen. James Fleming Fagan
. Holmes and Arkansas governor Harris Flanagin
travelled to Helena to take personal command of the attack.
Union General Prentiss received word that an attack was in the works and actively worked to slow the movement of Confederate forces by felling trees. Helena itself was overcrowded with Union troops and was suffering from housing shortages and poor health and sanitation facilities. Union soldiers renamed the town "Hell-in Arkansas".
was assigned the task of guarding Marmaduke's flank and preventing Union reinforcements from reaching Rightor Hill. The main attack however, would take place in the center with Sterling Price's 3,100 men seizing Graveyard Hill and the battery protecting it.
Marmaduke's assault ran into trouble quickly and began taking artillery and small arms fire from his left flank. Walker was supposed to intervene for Marmaduke, but failed to come to his aid out of concern for his own exposed position. Walker's failure would eventually lead to bad blood between Marmaduke and Walker that would end in a bloody duel
during the campaign for Little Rock.
The southwest and center elements of the Confederate attack also suffered from failed communications and misinterpreted orders. Fagan and Price failed to coordinate their attacks due to Holmes' vague order to "attack at daylight." Price interpreted this order to mean an attack at sunrise and Fagan interpreted it to mean an attack at first light.
Fagan was surprised to find his attack on Hindman Hill was opposed by artillery fire from Graveyard Hill. Fagan had expected Price to be engaged already with that battery. Fagan's artillery had not been able to reach the battlefield because of felled trees blocking the road. Fagan had no artillery available to silence the Federal guns and had no choice but to order his troops to try to take the hill while under artillery fire. Fagan's men reached the summit of the hill and managed to seize the outer fortifications but were pinned down just short of the summit by the two Union batteries.
Price's assault on the center of the Union lines did not commence for almost an hour after Fagan's attack began. Price's men charged the Federal lines but were repulsed by concentrated artillery fire from the batteries and the USS Tyler. Price's Confederates made two more desperate charges before successfully capturing the guns on Graveyard Hill. Price attempted to turn the guns on the remaining Federals but found that the guns had been successfully disabled before their capture.
The Confederates had achieved some success despite the miscommunications. Fagan held most of the fortifications to the southwest and Price held the high ground in the center of the Union lines. Holmes arrived on Graveyard Hill and failed to press his advantage home. Holmes was seemingly unable to decide if he should support Marmaduke on his left flank, Fagan on his right flank, or press his advantage in the center and instead issued a series of confusing orders that led to partial measures which failed to turn the tide in any of the three positions.
The exposed Confederates were targeted by every remaining gun on the battlefield as well as the heavy guns of the Tyler. By 10:30 Holmes realized that his position had deteriorated and that he could make no further headway. A general retreat was ordered, and the attack on the Union base had failed.
and would become the base for the successful campaign to seize Little Rock, Arkansas
, later in the year.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
fought on July 4, 1863, at Helena, Arkansas
Helena, Arkansas
Helena is the eastern portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 6,323. Helena was the county seat of Phillips County until January 1, 2006, when it merged its government and city limits with...
. Overshadowed by the battles of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
and Vicksburg, the Battle of Helena secured eastern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
for the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
.
Union forces
Maj. Gen.Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Benjamin M. Prentiss, in command of the District of Eastern Arkansas, was headquartered at Helena with approximately 20,000 troops. Brig. Gen.
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Frederick C. Salomon
Frederick C. Salomon
Frederick C. Salomon was a German immigrant to the United States who served as a Union brigadier general in the American Civil War.-Biography:He was born in Stroebeck near Halberstadt, Prussia...
commanded a division from the XIII Corps
XIII Corps (ACW)
XIII Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was first led by Ulysses S. Grant and later by John A. McClernand and Edward O.C. Ord...
and had been placed in charge of the forces manning the defenses of Helena, a Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
port town at the terminus of Crowley's Ridge
Crowley's Ridge
Crowley's Ridge is an unusual geological formation that rises 250 to above the alluvial plain of the Mississippi embayment in a line from southeastern Missouri to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. It is the most prominent feature in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain between Cape...
and ringed by steep hills cut by heavily thicketed ravines. Four artillery batteries
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
with breastworks and rifle pits were placed in a semicircle around the town. In addition, the USS Tyler
USS Tyler (1857)
USS Tyler was originally a merchant ship named A. O. Tyler, a commercial side-wheel steamboat with twin stacks and covered paddles positioned aft. Constructed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1857, it was acquired by the United States Navy, 5 June 1861 for service in the American Civil War and converted...
, a "timber-clad" gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
was assigned to support Prentiss.
Just prior to the battle, a large number of troops were transferred to Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
to strengthen the siege around that city. This transfer left only about 4,000 Union soldiers to protect the Federal enclave at Helena.
Confederate forces
Lt. Gen. Theophilus H. HolmesTheophilus H. Holmes
Theophilus Hunter Holmes was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate Lieutenant General in the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, commander of the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
District of Arkansas, planned a coordinated attack from three sides on the formidable Federal fortifications surrounding Helena in order to relieve pressure on Vicksburg and to prevent Helena being used as a base to attack further into Arkansas.
Prelude
Holmes wrote to Gen. Edmund Kirby SmithEdmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith was a career United States Army officer and educator. He served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, notable for his command of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy after the fall of Vicksburg.After the conflict ended Smith...
, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department
Trans-Mississippi Department
The Trans-Mississippi Department was an administrative subdivision of the Confederate States of America west of the Mississippi, consisting of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Indian Territories recognized by the CSA, and parts of Western Louisiana...
, and received permission to attack Helena. Infantry under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price
Sterling Price
Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...
and cavalry under Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke
John S. Marmaduke
John Sappington Marmaduke was a career military man and a West Point graduate. He is known for his service as a Confederate Major general during the American Civil War...
would move from Jacksonport, Arkansas
Jacksonport, Arkansas
Jacksonport is a town in Jackson County, Arkansas, United States, along the White River at its confluence with the Black River. The population was 235 at the 2000 census.- History :Jacksonport was once an important steamboat stop on the White River...
, to the vicinity of Helena. Price and Marmaduke would meet up with infantry out of Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, under Brig. Gen. James Fleming Fagan
James Fleming Fagan
James Fleming Fagan was a planter, public official, and a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
. Holmes and Arkansas governor Harris Flanagin
Harris Flanagin
Harris Flanagin was the seventh Governor of the State of Arkansas.-Biography:Harris Flanagin was born in Roadstown, New Jersey. Flanagin was educated in Quaker schools in New Jersey. At age 18 he became a professor of mathematics. Flanagin moved west and opened his own private school in Paoli,...
travelled to Helena to take personal command of the attack.
Union General Prentiss received word that an attack was in the works and actively worked to slow the movement of Confederate forces by felling trees. Helena itself was overcrowded with Union troops and was suffering from housing shortages and poor health and sanitation facilities. Union soldiers renamed the town "Hell-in Arkansas".
Battle
Holmes planned for a dawn attack with Marmaduke's 1,700 dismounted cavalry attacking fortified Rightor Hill northwest of the town and capturing the artillery battery stationed there. General Fagan's 1,300 men were assigned to capture Hindman's Hill southwest of the city. Brig. Gen. Lucius M. WalkerLucius M. Walker
Lucius Marshall "Marsh" Walker was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded in a duel with fellow general John S. Marmaduke.-Early life and career:...
was assigned the task of guarding Marmaduke's flank and preventing Union reinforcements from reaching Rightor Hill. The main attack however, would take place in the center with Sterling Price's 3,100 men seizing Graveyard Hill and the battery protecting it.
Marmaduke's assault ran into trouble quickly and began taking artillery and small arms fire from his left flank. Walker was supposed to intervene for Marmaduke, but failed to come to his aid out of concern for his own exposed position. Walker's failure would eventually lead to bad blood between Marmaduke and Walker that would end in a bloody duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
during the campaign for Little Rock.
The southwest and center elements of the Confederate attack also suffered from failed communications and misinterpreted orders. Fagan and Price failed to coordinate their attacks due to Holmes' vague order to "attack at daylight." Price interpreted this order to mean an attack at sunrise and Fagan interpreted it to mean an attack at first light.
Fagan was surprised to find his attack on Hindman Hill was opposed by artillery fire from Graveyard Hill. Fagan had expected Price to be engaged already with that battery. Fagan's artillery had not been able to reach the battlefield because of felled trees blocking the road. Fagan had no artillery available to silence the Federal guns and had no choice but to order his troops to try to take the hill while under artillery fire. Fagan's men reached the summit of the hill and managed to seize the outer fortifications but were pinned down just short of the summit by the two Union batteries.
Price's assault on the center of the Union lines did not commence for almost an hour after Fagan's attack began. Price's men charged the Federal lines but were repulsed by concentrated artillery fire from the batteries and the USS Tyler. Price's Confederates made two more desperate charges before successfully capturing the guns on Graveyard Hill. Price attempted to turn the guns on the remaining Federals but found that the guns had been successfully disabled before their capture.
The Confederates had achieved some success despite the miscommunications. Fagan held most of the fortifications to the southwest and Price held the high ground in the center of the Union lines. Holmes arrived on Graveyard Hill and failed to press his advantage home. Holmes was seemingly unable to decide if he should support Marmaduke on his left flank, Fagan on his right flank, or press his advantage in the center and instead issued a series of confusing orders that led to partial measures which failed to turn the tide in any of the three positions.
The exposed Confederates were targeted by every remaining gun on the battlefield as well as the heavy guns of the Tyler. By 10:30 Holmes realized that his position had deteriorated and that he could make no further headway. A general retreat was ordered, and the attack on the Union base had failed.
Aftermath
The Battle of Helena left 206 Union and 1,636 Confederate casualties. No longer threatened, Helena became an important Union enclave on the Mississippi RiverMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and would become the base for the successful campaign to seize Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, later in the year.