The Battle of Poison Spring was fought during the American Civil War on April 18, 1864, in Ouachita County, Arkansas as part of the Camden Expedition. The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... 1864 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Ouachita County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. ...

Dwindling supplies for his army at Camden forced Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele to send out a foraging party to gather corn that the Confederates had stored about twenty miles up the Prairie D’Ane-Camden Road on White Oak Creek. The party loaded the corn into wagons, and on April 18, Col. James M. Williams started his return to Camden. Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke’s and Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Maxey’s Confederate forces arrived at Lee Plantation, about fifteen miles from Camden, where they engaged Williams. The Confederates eventually attacked Williams in the front and rear, forcing him to retreat north into a marsh where his men regrouped and then fell back to Camden. The Union lost 198 wagons and all the corn. Estimated casualties were 301 for Williams and 114 for the Confederates. Many men of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry didn't make it back, thanks to revenge killings by Confederates from the border regions and also scalpings by Native Americans in Confederate service whose homes in the Indian Territory had been raided. Camden is a city located in Ouachita County, Arkansas. ... Some Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army (CSA) was formed in February, 1861, to defend the Confederate States of America, which had itself been formed that same year when seven southern states seceded from the United States (with four more to follow). ... John Sappington Marmaduke (1833–1887) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Indian Territory in 1836 Indian Territory in 1891 Indian Territory, also known as Indian Country, Indian territory or the Indian territories, was the land set aside within the United States for the use of American Indians (Native Americans). The general borders were set by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. ...

The site is commemorated as the Poison Spring State Park. Poison Springs State Park is an Arkansas state park located near Bluff City, Arkansas. ...

Reference

• National Park Service Battle Summary

External links

• Battle description in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Volume XXVIII (Winter 1959), p. 338