Description: |
From Fort Hindman, at Arkansas Post, Confederates had been disrupting Union shipping on the
Mississippi River. Maj. Gen. John McClernand, therefore, undertook a combined force movement on Arkansas
Post to capture it. Union boats began landing troops near Arkansas Post in the evening of January 9, 1863. The
troops started up river towards Fort Hindman. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s corps overran Rebel trenches, and
the enemy retreated to the protection of the fort and adjacent rifle-pits. Rear Adm. David Porter, on the 10th,
moved his fleet towards Fort Hindman and bombarded it withdrawing at dusk. Union artillery fired on the fort from
artillery positions across the river on the 11th, and the infantry moved into position for an attack. Union ironclads
commenced shelling the fort and Porter’s fleet passed it to cutoff any retreat. As a result of this envelopment, and
the attack by McClernand’s troops, the Confederate command surrendered in the afternoon. Although Union losses
were high and the victory did not contribute to the capture of Vicksburg, it did eliminate one more impediment to
Union shipping on the Mississippi. |