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Little Rock Campaign - River Crossing
Pulaski County, Arkansas
The Little Rock River Crossing
Union Troops Cross Arkansas River to Capture Little Rock
North of where you are standing, Union troops on September 10, 1863,
constructed a wooden pontoon bridge across the Arkansas River allowing
Union Brigadier General John W. Davidson's cavalry division to proceed
to Little Rock. Major General Frederick Steele's Union forces positioned
advancing to Little Rock north of the river.
In front of you, Willow Beach Lake occupies part of the old river
channel where Union troops made the crossing under protective artillery
fire. Across the lake near the present water tower, Confederates with
artillery unsuccessfully engaged the Union forces to try to prevent them
from crossing.
"As soon as the bridge was done, General Davidson ordered over a brigade
of infantry to take possession of a levee in the opposite woods, to
cover and protect my brigade while crossing and forming, as the enemy
had opened artillery upon us. At about 9 a.m., my brigade began to cross
the river. When two squadrons of the First Iowa Cavalry were over, they
were ordered to the woods in front, where I found the infantry...As soon
as my command was fairly over, it moved out to the road running up the
river to Little Rock....[M]y brigade had not moved more then 1 1/2 miles
on the river road when the enemy opened a heavy volley of musketry, soon
repeated, accompanied with artillery. The firing commenced precisely at
12 m. [noon]."
- Colonel J.M. Glover
3rd Missouri Cavalry
Commanding 2nd Brigade of Davidson's Cavalry Division, U.S.A.
"At sunrise on the morning of the 10th, the brigade...was ordered to
leave the forks of the Brownsville and Shallow Ford roads (at which
point we had bivouacked the night previous,) cross at the lower pontoon,
and move down the river at the double-quick to meet the enemy, who had
early in the morning effected a crossing at Terry's Ferry..."
- Colonel William L. Jeffers
8th Missouri Cavalry, C.S.A.
This exhibit was financed with assistance from the American
Battlefield Protection Program, National Park Service, Department of the
Interior, the Arkansas Heritage Preservation Program, an agency of the
Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the North Little Rock Volunteers
for Improvement and Preservation.
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