Triple Marker Display - Helena, Arkansas - Arkansas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This display of three Arkansas Historic Markers is located at the northeast corner of Porter and Walnut in Helena, Arkansas. The subject of the display is three separate aspects of the Civil War in Helena, Arkansas.

Side one:
"Civil War Comes to Arkansas"

In the first months of 1861 many Phillips County men joined
militia companies supporting the Confederate cause. In
February 1861, they marched on Little Rock to take the
Federal arsenal. Most joined the Confederate army that spring.

(picture of seated man)
"The Union of States may no longer be regarded as an existing fact."
Arkansas Governor Henry Rector, December 1860.

A Divided Nation on the Brink of War

By 1860, many believed that war could not be avoided. Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in November 1860. Weeks later, South Carolina left the Union. Others followed. The nation unraveled.

In the troubled months before and after the presidential election, the men of Phillips County formed seven militia companies, including the Yell Rifles and Phillips Guards. As war drew closer they prepared to defend, "our equality in the Union, our social system, our property, and our liberties."

Crisis in Little Rock

In early February, rumors began to spread- the Federal government planned to reinforce the Little Rock arsenal. Secessionists in Helena urged the governor to take action. The Yell Rifles, Phillips Guards and other Delta militia marched to Little Rock, ready to take the arsenal by force.

Hoping to avoid bloodshed, Governor Rector met with the arsenal commander, Captain James Totten. The badly outnumbered commander agreed to leave. Satisfied, the militia returned to the Delta.

Leaving Helena

After their return, Miss Emma Rightor, representing the young ladies of Helena, presented a flag to Capt. Joseph C. Barlow of the Phillips Guards. In late April 1861, the Phillip Guards and Yell Rifles left Helena to join the Confederate army. Arkansas did not leave the Union until May, but their Civil War had begun.

Many never saw Phillips County again, dying in service to the Confederacy before the Civil War finally ended in May 1865.

(Two pictures of buildings)

This drawing of the Little Rock Arsenal appeared in the March 9, 1861, issue of Harper's magazine. Right, the arsenal today, now the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History.

(picture of flag and picture of person)

Above, the flag presented to the Phillips Guards by the young ladies of Helena. Captain Joseph C. Barlow, left, survived the war. He returned to Helena and later became active in the United Confederate Veterans.

Side Two:
In Confederate Service

Joining the Confederate Army

In the weeks following the beginning of the Civil War, one-third of the men in Phillips County fit for military service joined the Confederate army. Several hundred men enlisted between 1861 and 1865. Men from Helena and Phillips County formed all or parts of the 2nd Arkansas, 13th Arkansas, 15th Arkansas, and 23rd Arkansas Infantry regiments, the Helena Light Artillery (Key's Battery) and Dobbins' 1st Arkansas Cavalry.

Most of these regiments fought with the Army of Tennessee in the Western Theater of the war. Dobbins's Arkansas Cavalry operated in the Trans-Mississippi and fought in the Battle of Helena.

(picture of flag)
The flag of the 1st Arkansas Infantry.

(picture of standing soldier)
Lieutenant Robert Caswell Moore was one of 96 Helena men who enlisted in the 13th Arkansas Infantry. The Union army seized his home in 1862. The Moore-Hornor House is located at 323 Beech Street.

Where They Fought
(map of Battles where Helena, Arkansas, troops fought)

(picture of soldier)
Captain Edward H. Cowley of Phillips County served with the 15th Arkansas Infantry. He was captured at Shiloh.

(two pictures of Arkansas War Bonds)
Civilians in Phillips County supported the Southern war effort by purchasing war bonds.

Benefits raised money and morale. Many families had sons, brothers or husbands serving in the Confederate Army.

"I am with Arkansas in weal or woe."
Patrick Cleburne, in a letter to his brother, Robert, January, 1861.

Side Three:
"We have lost so many brave boys"

"It is emphatically so, we are whipped. We have undergone four
years of suffering as no nation ever saw before, for nothing; yes,
worse than nothing; for we have lost so many brave boys."
Sue Cook, Phillips County, May 19, 1865

The End of Everything They Knew

It is impossible for us to fully understand the changes the Civil War brought to Phillips County. Soldiers returning home in the spring of 1865 found that their lives, society—everything they had known in 1861—was no more.

Some men could not face the changes and left the country. Archibald Dobbins, a wealthy planter before the war, found his way to Brazil. General Thomas Hindman fled to Mexico, though he returned to Helena in 1868.

Bittersweet Homecoming

Thousands of men died in the war. Almost everyone in Phillips County mourned someone. General Patrick Cleburne’s law partner, Priestly H. Mangum, returned to Helena with only $30 to his name and resumed the practice of law. Patrick Cleburne died at the Battle of Franklin. Robert Caswell Moore was one of the few Helena men in the 13th Arkansas Regiment who returned. James Lanier fought in the Battle of Helena. He returned to Phillips County and resumed farming. His brother, Albert, did not. His family said that his last days were spent in a Federal prison.

Rebuilding Lives

Joseph C. Barlow worked in the dry goods trade before leaving Helena with the Phillips Guards in 1861. After the war he returned to Helena and opened a hardware store. Jesse P. Clopton and Roland J. Cook survived the war and returned to their farms. Cadwallader Polk, brother of General Lucius Polk, returned to the family homestead and resumed farming but Lucius, his health broken, never returned to Arkansas.

(Pictures of Officer, of a cemetery, of a sash, and of seated men)
Captain Thomas Quinlan served in the 2nd Arkansas Infantry, CSA. He died January 1, 1862.
Quinlan’s red silk net uniform sash, left, identified him as an officer.
Top, The Confederate Cemetery, Helena.
These Confederate Generals fled to Mexico immediately following the war. This photograph was taken there in October 1865.
Standing, L-R: John B. Magruder and William P. Hardeman. Seated L-R: Cadmus M. Wilcox, Sterling Price and Thomas C. Hindman.

(picture of man,picture of ribbons, and picture of certificates.
Veterans organizations - the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in the north and the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) in the south - flourished after the war. Reunions were important social and political gatherings.
Above, Dr. Aurelius A. Hornor, his UCV application and Southern Cross of Honor. Dr. Hornor served as an Assistant Surgeon in the 2nd Arkansas Infantry. Also shown, UCV ribbon of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, 1901 UCV Reunion program, and an 1898 UCV reunion pin honoring John J. Hornor.

Support for Civil War Helena generously provided by Delta Cultural Center-Department of Arkansas Heritage, Helena-West Helena Advertising and Promotion Commission and Southern Bancorp.

History of Marker: See long description. Link to Marker: Not listed Additional Parking: Not Listed

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