(Fort Smith: Cradle of The First Southern Free State - continued)
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Colonel M. LaRue Harrison who was in charge of
Fayetteville wrote another letter, in confidence, to a
General who he felt would help. He stated "In the
name and for the sake of the thousands of families
who will be left to the mercies of assassins and
robbers, in the name of the beautiful country which
will be left a desert, in the name of humanity please
try to do something about General Canby's
directive. The next month and a half proved to be like an unorganized fire drill in the saga of the Civil War at the post in Fort Smith. Before General Steele knew of the decision to abandon, he sent six steamboats to Fort Smith, loaded with much needed supplies. One steamer was wrecked and another one grounded. After General Thayer had received word of the post's abandonment, the river began to rise and he sent a communication to Little Rock asking for boats to come immediately and carry off public property. More importantly, he wanted help in removing more than one thousand people who would otherwise be left stranded and destitute. Because these were families of soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Arkansas Infantry Regiments it was felt they would face reprisals at the hands of the Confederates if they were left in the area to fend for themselves. Five steamers did come from Little Rock and carried off almost five hundred refugees including many orphans who eventually made their arduous way down to Little Rock, to Memphis and Cairo, the Mississippi and finally the railroad to Decatur. There were thirteen deaths of this group due to exposure, due in no small measure to neglect on the part of some of the railroad people in Illinois. A large part of General Thayer's troops continued to remain in Fort Smith, as protection for a wagon train that was due to arrive around New Year's day from Fort Scott. Some of the troops were finally sent on to Clarksville as the machinery was set in motion to evaculate. The outcry against Canby's military decision was finally acted upon by President Lincoln. In a communication from General Ulysses S. Grant to General Reynolds who had replaced General Steele in Little Rock December 12th, Grant stated that "if Fort Smith and its dependencies can be supplied by the Arkansas River, they will continue to be held by your troops so as to give protection to the people north of the Arkansas River. Grant didn't wait for a reply however, before he sent another message January 3rd, which reached Reynolds on the 10th. It was worded in a positive manner and in a decidedly stronger way and read, "should Fort Smith and parts in the vicinity have been abandoned before receiving this order, they will be reoccupied as early as the garrison can be supplied." Reynolds acknowledged that the order would be carried out at the earliest moment practicable. In Washington, the Chief of Staff could not figure out why he had not heard from Little Rock and Fort Smith by January 10th on what was happening in Arkansas. He finally wired Colonel Harrison at Fayetteville to, tell General Thayer that General Grant wanted the Federals to hang on to Fort Smith. General Thayer, upon receiving the message wired General Reynolds at Little Rock for boats to come up river immediately with commissaries, forage, medical stores, and clothing. General Reynolds sent steamers on their way shortly thereafter. The Rebels in the meantime had been moving considerable troops around in the affected area. On January 14th, just after the steamboats from Little Rock passed Dardanelle, a force of Confederates, one thousand strong attacked the undermanned Dardanelle garrison and there ensued four hours of battle. The Confederates withdrew at dark. News of the attack sent the command in Little Rock scurrying around to send troops up river by steamer to hold the post at Dardanelle. It was known that to let it fall would make it impossible to supply the Fort Smith garrison. |
It was a happy evening of January 15th, when four
steamers, the Ad Hine, Chippewa, Lotus and Annie
Jacobs brought their five-hundred tons of commissionary stores into Fort Smith. The troops
could eat a decent meal again. All of the wagon trains had come from Fort Scott by January 10th. The order to continue to occupy Fort Smith came just in the nick of time to keep tons of public property from being destroyed as the army moved out, as well as all the other problems it would have caused for the citizenry. The steamboats pulled out on their way back to Little Rock on the morning of January 17, 1865, and Chippewa led the way, followed by Annie Jacobs loaded with five hundred people, then Lotus and Ad Hine. All boats had refugees and officers going home on furlough. The vessels made it as far as Roseville, which was eighteen miles above Clarksville, before the Chippewa was fired on by Colonel Brooks' Rebel troops who were well hidden on the south riverbank with their big gun under brush. The steamer pulled into the south bank and was captured by the Rebels. The Annie Jacobs came into view shortly afterwards and was struck by fifteen shots but made it to the north bank. Lotus then came around the bend and was hit but made it to the north bank. Some of the passengers of Annie Jacobs were killed and a large number wounded. In all of the confusion, Colonel Thomas M. Bowen, of the 13th Kansas Infantry who was the ranking officer in the convoy, though he was on furlough, took charge and sent messengers to Clarksville to contact Colonel Judson's troops, and a messenger by the river bank to try to stop Ad Hine and report the attack to General Thayer. The Confederate cannon had abruptly stopped firing. It was not known by the Union troops and refugees, but this was because an axle had snapped on the Rebel cannon leaving it inoperative. At dark, the Confederates paroled those who had been in the Chippewa and took off south of the Arkansas River into the hills when they heard Union forage wagons rumbling on the north side of the river. The Rebels mistook them for an artillery unit. Troops were dispatched from both Fort Smith and Clarksville to help those stranded. The boats, except Chippewa which had burned, moved slowly down stream to Dardanelle on January 22nd. The Negro troops of the 1st and 2nd Kansas and the 5th U. S. Colored came from Fort Smith and marched parallel to the river, and the boats steamed slowly down the river. On the 25th the boats anchored in Little Rock with no further trouble. The trek down river had been interesting however. Most of the refugees, who were white, showed considerable prejudice and hatred towards the Negroes who were guarding them from Roseville to Little Rock. On the trip, all concerned suffered from exposure to wet and cold, and lack of sufficient food, clothing and shelter. Both troops and refugees were without blankets, many were barefoot and some almost naked. The hatred changed to respect for the Negroes, "as soldiers who knew and performed their duty well" upon the refugees arrival in Little Rock. The Rebel's attacks around the Arkansas River during December 1864, and January 1865, proved to be the last major raid undertaken in the section of the state held by the Federal Army. The town of Fort Smith in late January, 1865, was pitiful to see. Fences, fruit trees, and shrubbery had been destroyed or torn down. Much of the damage was done by families coming in from the country for protection at the garrison and staying in houses vacated by owners. Telegraph lines were restored to service in early February to Fayetteville, Springfield, St. Louis and the rest of the world capitols. The New Era said, "Now, Mr. Bushwacker, if you'll only let the lines stay up till we can have news of the fall of Charleston, we don't care if they are down again till about the time Grant, Sherman and Sheridan are knocking from under the |