Confederate reinforcements for Arkansas Post left St. Charles on January 9, 1863, arriving inside the works on January 11 prior to the surrender of the post to Union forces. Union Brig. Gen. Willis A. Gorman captured St. Charles on January 13 during his raid up the White River to divert Confederate attention away from Vicksburg. Gorman returned to St. Charles on January 20 as his expedition retired back down the river.
After the defeat of the Army of the West under Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn at Pea Ridge in March 1862, most of the Confederate army was ordered to the east side of the Mississippi River to oppose Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's advance up the Tennessee River. Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, who had been rushed in late May from Corinth to Little Rock, was responsible for defending Arkansas. He created a 20,000-man army through both conscription and hard work. His immediate challenge was to cut the Federal supply line up the White River. It supported Federal Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis and his Army of the Southwest as they advanced from Pea Ridge across the Ozark Plateau to Batesville in north central Arkansas and toward Jacksonport at the confluence of the White and Black rivers.
On the morning of June 17 the Mound City and the St. Louis, the timberclads Lexington and Conestoga, and several transports moved up the White River toward St. Charles attempting to resupply Curtis' army near Jacksonport. Several miles below St. Charles, the 46th Indiana Infantry under the command of Col. Graham N. Fitch disembarked, formed a skirmish line, and proceeded upriver toward the Confederate batteries on St. Charles bluffs under the command of Capt. Joseph Fry. At the same time, the Union gunboats went upriver to engage the Confederate batteries. A shell ruptured the Mound City's steam drum and filled the boat with scalding steam. Of the 173 men aboard, 105 were killed and 44 injured. The St. Louis was towed to safety. Col. Fitch halted the gunboat activities to prevent further loss and then undertook an atttack on the Confederate batteries with his infantry. He turned the Confederate flank, thus ending the firing from the batteries and leaving St. Charles open to Federal occupation. As a result of the battle, the Federals suffered an estimated 160 casualties while the Confederates had only 40. Although the Federals occupied St. Charles, the Union vessels were unable to supply Curtis at Batesville because the river was not deep enough for them to ascend beyond De Valls Bluff. Curtis' forces were thus forced to live off the countryside while they marched south to reach their supplies.
The Battle of St. Charles, designated one of the Civil War's 384 principal battlefields by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission in 1993, has regional/state significance, because it had an observable influence on the outcome of the Vicksburg campaign. The battle enabled Union forces to occupy St. Charles and thus assert Federal control of the White River in Arkansas and its vital supply line.
A detailed documentation of the site should be undertaken. Onsite interpretation is encouraged with the town's museum the appropriate venue. Connecting the site to the Vicksburg Heritage Coalition is appropriate.
