Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, fearing that the Confederates would try to interfere with the construction of a bridge at Port Gibson, sent two brigades of Maj. Gen. John A. Logan's division to find a crossing of Little Bayou Pierre upstream from Port Gibson. After locating the crossing, the troops were to interdict the roads leading to Port Gibson from the east. Logan's men quickly found Askamalla Ford, guided by a little African-American boy, crossed the bayou, and occupied a position across the Grindstone Ford road east of Port Gibson.

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