Indiana 43rd Infantry (Union)

Island Number Ten

In addition to prosecuting the coastal blockade and pursuing Confederate commerce raiders, the U.S. Navy's other main role in the Civil War, and arguably its most important one, was seizing and controlling the Mississippi River and its tributaries. In this effort, the main obstacle was not the tiny Confederate navy, but rather the formidable shore fortifications erected by the Confederates along the banks of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers. This war, therefore, was less often a matter of s…READ MORE

Memphis

Strong Union land and river forces captured Memphis on June 6, 1862, and with the surrender, the city became the location of several Federal hospitals serving the Western theater of war. The dead from these hospitals were buried in private cemeteries and in 1866 were reinterred in the Mississippi National Cemetery. In 1867 the name was changed to the Memphis National Cemetery. Of the 13,965 soldiers buried at this site, 8,866 are unknown. Other burials include those from the USS Sultana, which sank in Apri…READ MORE

Lieutenant ColonelJohn C. Major

ColonelWilliam E. McLean

Brigadier GeneralFrederick Salomon

Helena

Lt. Gen. Theophilus Holmes, Confederate commander in Arkansas, sought to relieve Union pressure on Vicksburg, Mississippi as the army of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant besieged that strategic city. Holmes won approval for a plan to assault the Union-held river town of Helena, Arkansas, 170 miles north of Vicksburg, with a combined force of about 7,600 men. About 4,000 Union soldiers were in Helena under the command of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Prentiss. Four artillery batteries defended the town, surrounded on the la…READ MORE

Elkin's Ferry

In the spring of 1864, more than 40,000 Union soldiers began converging on Shreveport, Louisiana, the target of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks' Red River Campaign. A portion of those forces were under the command of Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele. Steele's operation would become known as the Camden Expedition, and would support Banks by advancing on Shreveport from the North. In March, Steele set out from Little Rock, Arkansas, and reached the Little Missouri River on April 3rd. Steele chose to cross at Elkin's Fer…READ MORE

Prairie D'Ane

By the spring of 1864, the Federal high command set forth a plan to bring pressure across the whole of the Southern Confederacy. Overall Union commander Ulysses S. Grant, thrust Federal armies into Virginia, north Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The Battle of Prairie D'Ane was part of two larger Federal operations-the Camden Expedition and the Red River Campaign.READ MORE

Marks' Mills

Marks' Mills was one of four battles that defined the limits of Union Gen. Frederick Steele's foray into south Arkansas during the Red River campaign of 1864. Following the crushing Federal defeat, Steele abandoned Camden and retreated to Little Rock.READ MORE

Jenkins' Ferry

At Jenkins Ferry on April 29 and 30, 1864, Union troops fought off an attack by the Confederates and, using an inflatable pontoon bridge, crossed the flooded Saline River and retreated to Little Rock. The land where this Civil War battle took place was settled by Thomas Jenkins, who started the ferry in 1815. It was run by his sons, William and John DeKalb, until the Civil War circa 1861.READ MORE