Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 01/31/02
SUMMARY
The Fort No. 2 rifle pits are the only known remnants of the fortifications constructed around Fort Smith in 1864. The area surrounding the rifle pits is extensively developed, precluding the site’s consideration for listing on the National Register of Historical Places. However, the rifle pits are significant for their association with the efforts of local civilians, along with Federal troops, to provide for the defense of Fort Smith; they are also significant for the action that occurred on 31 July 1864 which directly involved Fort No. 2.
ELABORATION
With the failure of General Frederick Steele’s Camden Expedition in April 1864, Confederate and Federal troops in Arkansas and the Indian Territory reversed their roles. Federal troops assumed a defensive posture in an attempt to hold the Arkansas River against the Confederates. Emboldened by their successes against Steele, Confederate forces became more aggressive in their operations. This role reversal was particularly evident at Fort Smith, a fortified post and adjoining town bearing the same name. That the post remained in Federal hands is partially due to a sustained effort to strengthen the post’s fortifications.
Federal efforts to improve Fort Smith’s defenses began in February 1864. Major-General Samuel R. Curtis ordered the construction of field works in order to protect the Federal supply depots at the post. Initially he planned for two "field forts," but he quickly expanded the works to include "square earth-works on three elevated points back of the town." Curtis directed that work begin immediately.
Work proceeded under the direction of Captain Anton Gerster, an engineer on assignment from the 27th Missouri Volunteers; soldiers detailed from Fort Smith’s garrison provided the necessary labor. On 9 April 1864, Gerster reported on the progress of construction.
Fort No. 2, on the Texas road, is nearly completed, and two 12-pounder brass guns are mounted. Mechanics are now employed in building the drop bridge, which will be completed in a short time. Fort No. 3, near the Catholic convent, is progressing finely, and I think it will be completed, with the exception of the rifle-pits, in ten to fifteen days. Fort No. 4, on the Van Buren road, is progressing fast, but as it is the largest work of all, and calculated to contain quarters for 500 men, it will yet require thirty to fifty days till completed.
The engineer also reported on the progress of a stockade, blockhouse, and batteries. He made no mention, however, of a complete line of trenches or "rifle-pits" around Fort Smith.
From 21 March to 16 May, 1864, the Federal garrison at Fort Smith was on reduced strength. Brigadier General John M. Thayer marched out on 21 March with approximately 5,000 men to join Steele and participate in the Camden Expedition, leaving a small force behind to hold the post. Thayer returned to the post on 16 May. In the interim Colonel William Judson commanded the troops at the town, while Lieutenant Colonel A. W. Bishop commanded the post.
Federal fears of an attack on the reduced garrison appeared justified on 11 May 1864, when two spies brought news of an impending Confederate advance. Judson and Bishop responded to this report by intensifying their efforts to complete the fortifications. On Bishop’s order "all business houses in this city were closed and the citizens ordered to report to the breastworks for duty." The townspeople "worked like men" on the fortifications and "point[ed] with pride to the nearly completed defenses." However, no attack materialized, and Federal fears subsided with Thayer’s return.
Thayer continued the effort to complete the fortifications. On 28 May 1864, he reported that "[t]he place is impregnable, the forts are nearly completed, and a continuous line of rifle-pits, with an extensive abatis [runs] from the Arkansas around to the Poteau River." On 11 June 1864, Thayer elaborated on the state of the forts. All were about finished, including the "two main forts … on the Texas road," and "are strong, excellent works, with the various appurtenances complete, quarters, magazine, water, &c."
Evidently the fortifications were impressive. A local reporter "made the rounds of the Forts" sometime in late July or early August 1864. The reporter noted that the former engineer, Gerster, was "entitled to much praise for his scientific skill exhibited in the construction of the works." However, the reporter declined to describe the fortifications, apparently for security reasons. "If our rebel friends outside wish to inspect them, let them try. They will receive a warm salute."
Whether they intended to inspect the works or not, Confederate forces made their presence known at Fort Smith in late July of 1864. After helping to repulse Steele’s Camden Expedition, Confederate troops from the Indian Territory pushed up north to the Arkansas River and east to the Poteau River, and harassed Federal communications and foragers. They also looked for an opportunity to reclaim Fort Smith for the Confederacy.
The Confederates engineered a stunning success at Massard Prairie, five miles south of Fort Smith, on 27 July 1864. A force of some six hundred Confederate cavalrymen surprised and overwhelmed four companies of the 6th Kansas Cavalry in a sharp fight that netted the Confederates 127 Federal prisoners, as well as 200 Sharps carbines, 400 pistols, and other much-needed equipment. The Confederates withdrew before Thayer’s Federals could mount an effective pursuit.
Both sides contemplated their next moves. Thayer expressed confidence in his ability to hold Fort Smith; he predicted that the Confederates would attempt to hold his garrison in place, while covering for raiding parties crossing the Arkansas River further upstream. As it turned out, Thayer was right. Confederate Brigadier General Douglas H. Cooper, encouraged by the Confederate success at Massard Prairie, opted to further test Fort Smith’s defenses while covering both a raiding force and an effort to remove Southern families from Sebastian County. Consequently, Cooper personally led a larger force back toward Fort Smith on 29 and 30 July 1864.
At sunrise on 31 July the Confederates began their effort to test Fort Smith’s defenses. A diversionary force took position in the bottoms of the Poteau River, on the Indian Territory side, and harassed the garrison in the post with rifle fire all day. However, the main Confederate effort involved a drive up the Texas road. Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie led his Cherokees in the advance; Brigadier General Richard Gano’s brigade and other commands were placed on the flank or in reserve.
Once again the hapless 6th Kansas Cavalry found itself in contact with the enemy. Second Lieutenant L. F. Stewart commanded a picket station located on the Texas road four and a half miles from Fort Smith. At 11 a.m. on 31 July, gunfire alerted Stewart to an attack on his pickets. Stewart ordered the thirty-five men at the station to mount, and advanced a half mile toward his pickets. He reported: "I met my pickets coming toward me on a run and a number of the enemy following them, at which I halted and formed in line, and after exchanging shots with the enemy I found they were too strong for the number of men under my command." Stewart withdrew toward Fort Smith, exchanging fire with the Confederates as he withdrew.
The Confederates captured the picket station’s camp and garrison equipage, and a meal as well. Confederate Captain William Murphy Cravens wrote that "at camp [the Federal cavalrymen] had a good dinner prepared and several camp kettles full of hot Lincoln coffee when Watie interrupted and drove them off and himself enjoyed the prepared dinner."
While Watie and his men enjoyed their meal, the Federal troops rallied and "began to show themselves on the road, and some sharp skirmishing ensued." Cooper ordered several of his scattered commands to join Watie near the Texas road, and then joined Watie himself. Captain John T. Humphreys’ two-gun section of 12 pound mountain howitzers advanced and opened on the Federals, some 600 to 800 yards distant, while Gano’s men deployed as flankers and Watie’s previously-dismounted Cherokees remained in support. This force was sufficient to push the Federals into their fortifications at Fort No. 2 on the Texas (or "main") road, "one of the principal works in front of Fort Smith."
For a time the Confederate artillery shelled Fort No. 2 and its surrounding trench line. Private Henry K. Strong of the 12th Kansas Volunteer Infantry recorded in his diary that the Confederates "drove in the pickets on the Texas Road and commenced shelling Post No. 2." The Fort Smith New Era reported that "[a] brisk fire of the skirmishers was kept up for some time, the rebels at the same time throwing shells from a couple of howitzers."
As the cannonading continued, Thayer organized a Federal counterattack. Judson, the 6th Kansas Cavalry’s commander, advanced a short distance down the Texas road in front of Fort No. 2 with a small cavalry force, a two-gun section of the 2d Kansas Battery, and some infantry. Once beyond Fort No. 2, the 2d Kansas artillery section, supported by two companies of the 1st Kansas Infantry (Colored), deployed for action under the command of their captain, E. A. Smith.
The ensuing artillery duel was not an even match. Smith’s 2d Kansas was equipped with 10 pound Parrott rifles, which were rifled weapons capable of throwing a shell 1900 yards when elevated five degrees. By comparison, Humpheys’ two mountain howitzers were smoothbore weapons capable of throwing a shell only 1005 yards at the same elevation. Thus, the Federal artillery section had the advantages of superior range and accuracy, and it showed. Although Humphreys’ howitzers fired away as the 2d Kansas section deployed, reported the Fort Smith New Era, "[t]he fire from Capt. Smith’s battery was splendid" when it did go into action. Strong of the 12th Kansas Volunteer Infantry confirmed the reporter’s impression in his diary: "The 2nd Kansas Battery were soon playing on them pretty lively and forced them to fall back. Considerable firing with artillery."
In short order Smith’s artillery commanded the field. Cooper realized the inferiority of his howitzers: "Captain Humphreys, being so unequally matched, was ordered to withdraw, and in the act of doing so a shell exploded directly amid the battery horses, killing 3, wounding 1, cutting off the leg of one of the men." Cooper’s escort cut the dead horses from their harnesses, and withdrew one howitzer by using one horse and pushing the carriage by hand. The 2d Kansas section then turned its attention to the Confederate cavalrymen, compelling their withdrawal. Smith was proud of his men: "The practice was greatly commended by the officers present, including Gen. Thayer."
Cooper decided that his men had accomplished enough for the day. By this time it was nearly dark, and Cooper was uncertain as to the strength of the approaching Federal infantry. He ordered his men to withdraw; Gano’s brigade, acting as the rear guard, burned the Federal commissary stores captured at Stewart’s picket station, as well as the camp itself. Thayer did not pursue Cooper, but instead retired within his fortifications. The next morning, 1 August, the Confederates returned to the Indian Territory, with the exception of a party that harassed the Federal garrison by firing across the Poteau River.
Casualties from this demonstration were much more evenly matched than those from the action at Massard Prairie. Cooper reported Confederate casualties of two dead and four wounded; he claimed to have captured eleven federal soldiers, some horses, and "a drove of beef cattle." The Federal forces lost four men killed and six wounded, including Judson who "was wounded in the left leg by the fragment of a shell."
Local civilians suffered as well. "The Union families in the vicinity of the place suffered severely. Many of their houses were burned down and all plundered more or less." The attack scared many of Fort Smith’s Unionist residents and refugees; Confederate scouts reported that many were fleeing across the Arkansas River to the north immediately after the attack.
As it was, the troops and civilians in Fort Smith had seen the worst. Wiley Britton, a veteran of the 6th Kansas Cavalry and a historian of the Civil War in this region, noted that "this was [Cooper’s] last demonstration that he made in force." The Confederates, although expressing some confidence that they could take Fort Smith by force, knew that such an attempt would come at a very high cost. Cooper believed that "[a] vigorous attack with the whole force, though doubtless it would have been attended with heavy loss on our side, I believe would have resulted in the capture of the place." A correspondent to the secessionist Washington (Arkansas) Telegraphpinned his hopes on a Federal evacuation: "The supposition is that [the Federals] are endeavoring to evacuate [Fort Smith], which they will be permitted to do, for the place is well fortified, and it would cost us a good many men to take it."
The correspondent’s tribute to Fort Smith’s defenses point to the importance of the fortifications around the town. While Federal troops might be subject to the humiliation of a Massard Prairie-type surprise, the town and post were to remain under Federal control for the remainder of the war.
Despite surrounding development, the Fort No. 2 rifle pits represent a significant surviving feature of the Federal fortifications that surrounded Fort Smith. The rifle pits are evidence of the work by local civilians as well as Federal troops in the defense of the town. Further, they witnessed the Confederate attack on the fortifications on 31 July 1864. Though ineligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the Fort No. 2 rifle pits merit recognition by listing on the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance for their association with the Federal defense of Fort Smith during the American Civil War.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Unpublished Documents
Cravens, William Murphy, to Mary Eloise Cravens, 7 August 1864. Copy in the possession of the Fort Smith National Historic Site, Fort Smith, Arkansas. Private collection.
Wing, Thomas A. "’A Rough Introduction To This Sunny Land’: The Civil War Diary of Private Henry K. Strong, Company K, 12th Kansas Volunteer Infantry." MA thesis, University of Oklahoma, 2001.
Published Documents
Confederate States Ordnance Bureau. The Field Manual for the Use of Officers on Ordnance Duty. Richmond, VA: Ritchie & Dunnavant, 1862. Reprint, Gettysburg, PA: Dean S. Thomas, 1984.
Cravens, William Murphy, to Mary Eloise Cravens, 28 July 1864. Quoted in Steve Cox, "The Action on Massard Prairie," The Journal of the Fort Smith Historical Society 4, no. 1 (April 1980): 11.
Hewett, Janet B., ed. Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 100 vols. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1994 - ____.
Smith, E. A. "Military History of the Second Kansas Volunteer Battery." InOfficial Military History of Kansas Regiments. Leavenworth, KS: W. S. Burke, [1870]. Reprint, Ottawa, KS: Kansas Heritage Press, [1994].
United States War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 70 vols. in 128 books. Washington: GPO, 1880 - 1901.
Newspapers
Fort Smith New Era. 14, 21 May; 30 July; 6 August 1864.
Washington (Arkansas) Telegraph. 17 August 1864.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Books
Bearss, Edwin C. and Arrell M. Gibson. Fort Smith: Little Gibralter on the Arkansas, 2d ed. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.
Bilby, Joseph G. Civil War Firearms. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1996.
Britton, Wiley. The Civil War on the Border. Vol. 2. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1899. Reprint, Ottawa, KS: Kansas Heritage Press, 1994.
Coggins, Jack. Arms and Equipment of the Civil War. New York: Doubleday, 1962. Reprint, New York: Fairfax Press, 1983.
Garrison, Webb. The Encyclopedia of Civil War Usage. Nashville, TN: Cumberland House Publishing, 2001.
Waugh, John C. Sam Bell Maxey and the Confederate Indians. Abilene, TX: McWhiney Foundation Press, 1998.
Articles
Bearss, Edwin C. "General Cooper’s CSA Indians Threaten Fort Smith."Arkansas Historical Quarterly 26, no. 3 (Autumn 1967): 257-84.
Cox, Steve. "The Action on Massard Prairie." The Journal of the Fort Smith Historical Society 4, no. 1 (April 1980): 11-13.