On May 18, 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. J. C. Tappan's Arkansas brigade left Little Rock to begin its march to northeast Louisiana as part of an effort to relieve Federal pressure on Vicksburg.

In August 1863 Union Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele, commander of the Army of the Arkansas, had advanced west from Helena with 12,000 men to capture Little Rock, the state capital. The Arkansas River and the entrenchments along its banks provided some protection from the Federals, but Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price knew that his approximately 7,700 troops could not hold the capital if a large force attacked. While Price prepared to evacuate, the state government moved to Washington, southwest of Little Rock.

On September 10, 1863, about 7,000 Federals approached Little Rock. Steele ordered Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson's cavalry division to cross to the south bank of the river to outflank the Confederate defenses while he moved on the Confederate entrenchments on the north bank. At Bayou Fourche, a few miles east of Little Rock, Confederate Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke's small cavalry force tried to stop Davidson while Price completed the evacuation. A Federal battery on the north side of the river drove off the Confederates who fled back to Little Rock and then, with Price's entire command, retreated to Arkadelphia and Camden.

The fall of Little Rock, the fourth state capital taken by Union forces, further isolated the trans-Mississippi area from the rest of the Confederacy.

This site has local significance because it is associated with military activities and events that achieved or affected important local objectives of the Vicksburg campaign.

The Battle of Little Rock (Bayou Fourche), September 10, 1863, was designated as one of the Civil War's 384 principal battlefields by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commision in 1993. The battle was considered significant because of its association with the Union campaign, Advance on Little Rock (1863).

The site would be documented. Interpretation of Tappan's brigade at the camp site is preferred, if not possible then interpretation at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History would be an appropriate venue. Connecting the site to the Vicksburg Heritage Coalition is encouraged.