These shortcomings in morale would again become apparent. As a result, the units experienced significant desertion prior to the battle. They had recently been posted in Indian Territory, a task they disdained. Many of the men were draftees, some of whom held Unionist sentiments. In order to buy time for his trains to escape and hoping to defend Fort Smith, Cabell elected to assume a defensive position along Devil's Backbone, a long rocky ridge a dozen miles south of Fort Smith where he hoped to ambush his pursuers.Īlthough the Confederates enjoyed numerical superiority, the element of surprise, and a strong defensive position, Cabell's Arkansans were not of the best quality. Retreating towards Fort Smith, Arkansas, General Cabell was determined to protect his substantial supply train. Cloud to pursue a brigade of 1,200 Confederate Arkansans under Brigadier General William F. Following the defeat, Confederate forces in the area dispersed.ĭetermined to follow up on his victory, General Blunt sent a detachment of approximately 700 men under Colonel William F. forces to victory at the Battle of Honey Springs in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). In July 1863, General James Blunt led U.S. West of the Mississippi River (a military theater often referred to as the Trans-Mississippi), Union forces likewise earned important victories. The United States earned powerful victories at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Vicksburg, Mississippi. In the summer of 1863, the American Civil War reached a crescendo.
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