The Battle of Cane Hill, Arkansas
Battle of Cane Hill - Hindman's Description of Cane Hill
Battle of Cane Hill
This old road needs north to
south through the old
community. The Union attack
came from due north and
pushed directly through the town.
This old road needs north to
south through the old
community. The Union attack
came from due north and
pushed directly through the town.
 | |  | |  | |  |
(The following is excerpted from the Official Records, Series 1, Volume XXII.)
Excerpt from Report of Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman
Headquarters First Corps, Trans-Mississippi Army
Camp near Fort Smith, Ark.
December 25, 1862
…Cane Hill is a ridge of perhaps 8 miles length and 5 miles width, in the southwest
part of Washington County, Arkansas, just beyond the north base of the Boston
Mountains. Three villages are built upon it (Russellville, Boonsborough, and
Newburg), which almost blend with each other, covering a distance, as the road to
Fayetteville runs, of 3 or 5 miles…. The distance from Van Buren to Newburg is 45
miles. The intermediate country is a rugged and sterile range of mountains. The
roads across it are gathered at Van Buren, on the south side, and at Fayetteville, on
the northern. These places are from 50 to 65 miles apart, according to the route
traveled. There are four principal roads; one bends to the right and east with the
valley of Frog Bayou, crosses the mountains, then follows the West Fork of the White
River and strikes Fayetteville from the southeast; another, known as the Telegraph
road, proceeds for the most part upon ridges directly north; the third leaves the
Telegraph road 12 miles above Van Buren, runs along the Cherokee line to
Evansville, and there branches through the Cane Hill country to Fayetteville, its main
branch going north, by Cincinnati and Maysville, to Fort Scott; the fourth turns to the
left from the Telegraph road at Oliver’s, 19 miles above Van Buren, follows the valley
of Cove Creek to the foot of the mountains, and, after crossing, passes through a
succession of defiles, valleys, and prairies, reaching Fayetteville from a
southwesterly direction. At Morrow’s, 15 miles above Oliver’s, the Cove Creek road
sends a branch direct to Newburg, 7 miles distant. Eight miles above Morrow’s it is
crossed by a road leading from Hog-eye, 5 miles east on the Telegraph road, to
Newburg. Two miles beyond this it sends a branch to Rhea’s Mills, to Maysville,
which crossed the Cane Hill and Fayetteville road at the distance of 2 miles from the
Cove Creek road. This crossing is 7 ½ miles from Newburg and 12 ½ miles from
Fayetteville. Two miles and a half above this crossing the Cove Creek road and the
Cane Hill and Fayetteville unite. There is a road from Newburg, by Rhea’s Mills, to
this junction, the distance by that route being about 2 miles greater….
(From Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman to Lieut. Col. S.S. Anderson, Assistant Adjutant
General, Trans-Mississippi Department).
Excerpt from Report of Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman
Headquarters First Corps, Trans-Mississippi Army
Camp near Fort Smith, Ark.
December 25, 1862
…Cane Hill is a ridge of perhaps 8 miles length and 5 miles width, in the southwest
part of Washington County, Arkansas, just beyond the north base of the Boston
Mountains. Three villages are built upon it (Russellville, Boonsborough, and
Newburg), which almost blend with each other, covering a distance, as the road to
Fayetteville runs, of 3 or 5 miles…. The distance from Van Buren to Newburg is 45
miles. The intermediate country is a rugged and sterile range of mountains. The
roads across it are gathered at Van Buren, on the south side, and at Fayetteville, on
the northern. These places are from 50 to 65 miles apart, according to the route
traveled. There are four principal roads; one bends to the right and east with the
valley of Frog Bayou, crosses the mountains, then follows the West Fork of the White
River and strikes Fayetteville from the southeast; another, known as the Telegraph
road, proceeds for the most part upon ridges directly north; the third leaves the
Telegraph road 12 miles above Van Buren, runs along the Cherokee line to
Evansville, and there branches through the Cane Hill country to Fayetteville, its main
branch going north, by Cincinnati and Maysville, to Fort Scott; the fourth turns to the
left from the Telegraph road at Oliver’s, 19 miles above Van Buren, follows the valley
of Cove Creek to the foot of the mountains, and, after crossing, passes through a
succession of defiles, valleys, and prairies, reaching Fayetteville from a
southwesterly direction. At Morrow’s, 15 miles above Oliver’s, the Cove Creek road
sends a branch direct to Newburg, 7 miles distant. Eight miles above Morrow’s it is
crossed by a road leading from Hog-eye, 5 miles east on the Telegraph road, to
Newburg. Two miles beyond this it sends a branch to Rhea’s Mills, to Maysville,
which crossed the Cane Hill and Fayetteville road at the distance of 2 miles from the
Cove Creek road. This crossing is 7 ½ miles from Newburg and 12 ½ miles from
Fayetteville. Two miles and a half above this crossing the Cove Creek road and the
Cane Hill and Fayetteville unite. There is a road from Newburg, by Rhea’s Mills, to
this junction, the distance by that route being about 2 miles greater….
(From Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman to Lieut. Col. S.S. Anderson, Assistant Adjutant
General, Trans-Mississippi Department).
The Battle of
Massard Prairie
Massard Prairie
by Dale Cox
The first full-length account of
the 1864 Confederate attack on
Fort Smith, Arkansas.
the 1864 Confederate attack on
Fort Smith, Arkansas.
$19.95
Proceeds benefit the Cane Hill Battlefield Driving Tour Project
