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Reed's Bridge Battle Field
Jacksonville, Pulaski County, Arkansas |
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2007 |
Battle
of Reed's Bridge
On August 27, 1863, the Federal Army was advancing along the Military
Road toward Little Rock when its Cavalry Division of 6,000 men under
Gen. John W. Davidson attempted a crossing here and was met by a
Confederate force of 4,000 under Gen. John S. Marmaduke, After burning
the bridge the Confederates defended the crossing under heavy fire
throughout the day. Several attempts at crossing failed and the Federals
withdrew at sunset and two days later crossed the Bayou five miles
southward. Little Rock ultimately fell on September 10, 1863. |
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Re-enactors performing at the dedication of the new panels depicting
the Reed's Bridge Battle Field. |
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| Samson
Gray's house and stagecoach station was located northeast of where you
are standing. It was torn down in the 1980's. |
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sections of the original Memphis to Little Rock Road, such as this one
at Village Creek State Park still exist. The road through the
Jacksonville area is overlaid by Military Road and State Highway 161. |
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You are
standing near where Battery K Second Missouri Light Artillery under
Lieutenant T.S. Clarkson, Battery M. Second Missouri Light Artillery
under Captain Gustave Stange and the Twenty-fifth Ohio Battery under
Captain Julius L. Hadley fought on August 27, 1863. Following the First
Iowa Cavalry Regiment's failed attempt to capture the bridge across
Bayou Meto, the Federal and Confederate artillery engaged in a fierce
duel that lasted until near sundown.
"Bullets were flying thick from the sharpshooters and it was rather
dangerous to expose one's person too much. We formed on the right of
Clarkson's Battery and run our guns up to the brow of the hill on the
field and opened up with shell - Col. Glover directing the fire. He said
we placed shells in the very midst of the enemy."
- Robert T. McMahan, Twenty-Fifth Ohio Battery
"Our artillery was instantly ordered up, with supports, and placed in
position under continued fire from that enemy. Our batteries, in
position, opened a tremendous fire, soon silencing the enemy's guns and
driving them from their position." - Col. John M. Glover
Third Missouri Cavalry, U.S.
"Their artillery was well planted, and was served with steadiness and
precision. They opened with twelve or sixteen guns." - Major John Newman
Edwards, C.S.A.
No known photographs of the artillery units that fought at Bayou Meto on
August 27, 1863 exist. However, they probably would have looked much
like Captain J.M. Knap's Pennsylvania Independent Battery E. Light
Artillery, pictured here at Antietam, Maryland. |
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Overview of the Battle Field |
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"Trail of Tears" Panel. |
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Location List
| Reed's Bridge
Battlefield One |
Two |
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