Elements of Confederate Maj. Gen. John Walker's Texas Division left its camp near Pine Bluff on April 24, 1863, on its way to northeast Louisiana. Several days before June 18, 1863, Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas H. Holmes ordered Col. William H. Parsons to take his regiment from Pine Bluff and proceed down the Mississippi River to Lake Providence. Both expeditions were designed to relieve Federal pressure on Vicksburg.
On June 12, 1863, a Confederate force, consisting of a regiment under Brig. Gen. John B. Clark and a battalion under Col. Richard H. Musser, was dispatched from Fort Pleasant, located on the Arkansas River about 4 miles upstream from Pine Bluff to operate against Union transports on the Mississippi River for the intended purpose of relieving Federal pressure on Vicksburg. After a month, the force returned to Pine Bluff on July 13.
Federal forces occupied several towns along the Arkansas River after the capture of Little Rock on September 10, 1863. Confederate Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke decided to test their strength at Pine Bluff. He attacked the garrison, consisting of the 5th Kansas and 1st Indiana Cavalry commanded by Union Col. Powell Clayton.
On October 25, Marmaduke's 2,000 Arkansas and Missouri cavalrymen approached the town from tree sides. The 550 Federals, actively supported by 300 recently liberated slaves, barricaded the courthouse squaare with cotton bales and positioned their nine cannon to command the adjacent streets. The Confederates made several direct attacks on the square, then attempted to set the courthouse on fire. They were unsuccessful and withdrew after damaging and looting the town.
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 Pine Bluff, October 25, 1863, was designated as one of the Civil War's 384 principal battlefields by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission in 1993. The battle was considered significant because of its association with the Union campaign, Advance on Little Rock (1863).
While much activity occurred in and around Pine Bluff associated with the Vicksburg Campaign, it would be difficuult to do more than document and interpret the events. If Fort Pleasant has been correctly identified, it would be appropriate to acquire the site, interpret and preserve it.
