Arkansas - Fort Smith National Historic Site
Fort Smith in the Civil War
A Supply Depot
The fort was a key supply point
for both Union and Confederate
armies (and their sympathizers)
during the war.
Confederates Strike Back
A monument on U.S. Highway 71
South near Greenwood tells the
story of the Battle of Devil's
Backbone, where Confederates
ambushed their Union pursuers
following the Northern recapture
of Fort Smith.
Artillery at Fort Smith National Historic Site
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The heavy guns of Fort Smith saw
action only once during the Civil War,
when Confederate-allied Native
American warriors fired into the fort
from across the Poteau River, but the
post was of strategic value as North
and South battled for control of
Arkansas and the Indian Territory.
When the war began, the fort was in
command of Captain (later General)
Samuel D. Sturgis. Rather than
surrender the post, Sturgis
abandoned it and marched away with
many of its supplies in April of 1861.
The Confederates then held the fort
until August of 1863, using it as a
supply point. They, however, also
abandoned the post without firing a
shot when threatened with attack by
an overwhelming Federal force.
Slipping away, they retreated south to
Waldron (ambushing their Federal
pursuers along the way at Devil's
Backbone).
Although Federal troops held the fort
for the rest of the war, they were often
harassed by Confederate troops. The
most significant events took place in
1864 when Confederate cavalry
overran a Union outpost on Massard
Prairie and then threatened the line of
entrenchments thrown up around the
town of Fort Smith. During this attack,
Confederate-allied Native American
soldiers fired into the fort from across
the Poteau River and drew a
response from the artillery in the fort -
the only time the guns were ever fired
in hostile action.
At the close of the war, Fort Smith was the
site of a conference held with tribal leaders
that brought the Civil War in Indian Territory to
a close. It should be noted that, like much of
the rest of America, the Native American
tribes in what is now Oklahoma were divided
in their loyalties. Some fought for the North
and others for the South. The war in their
territory was fierce and bloody and is a sadly
overlooked era of American history.
The Visitor Center at Fort Smith includes
displays on the Civil War role of the fort.
Additional exhibits can be seen next door to
the park at the Fort Smith Museum of History.
To learn more about Civil War activity in the
Fort Smith area, please follow this link:
To continue your journey through the history
of Fort Smith, click this link:
