The south Arkansas woods were filled with gunfire on that spring day in 1864 as Confederate troops ambushed a Union foraging expedition at a place called Poison Spring. In a war known for its atrocities, another occurred here when Black Union troops were killed by Confederate soldiers after they had surrendered.
"After capturing Little Rock and Fort Smith in September 1863, Union forces held effective control of the Arkansas River," writes Civil War historian Mark Christ of Little Rock. "Confederate troops and government were concentrated in the southwestern part of the state. In the spring of 1864, many of the Union troops were involved in the Arkansas leg of a two-pronged attack to gain control of northwest Louisiana and east Texas.
"Union Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele moved his troops south from Little Rock on March 23, 1864, for what became known as the Camden Expedition. After battles at Elkin's Ferry and Prairie D'Ane, Steele turned his army toward Camden on the Ouachita River, arriving there on April 15. Relatively safe within Camden's fortifications, Steele then addressed his critical lack of supplies."
Steele sent a force of more than 600 men under Col. James Williams to seize 5,000 bushels of corn that were said to be stored west of town. The men guarded 198 wagons. The departure date was April 17.
"Marching to White Oak Creek, about 18 miles from Camden, Williams sent his troops, which included the First Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment, into the surrounding countryside to gather corn at farms and plantations," Christ writes. "Though Confederate cavalry had managed to destroy about half of the corn, Yankee troops gathered the remainder, as well as other plunder, and regrouped at White Oak Creek. Williams was joined the next morning by a 501-man relief force of infantry, cavalry and two additional artillery pieces.
"Confederate Brig. Gen. John Sappington Marmaduke positioned about 3,600 Rebel cavalrymen backed by 12 cannon between Williams' column and Camden, blocking the Camden-Washington Road near Poison Spring. In addition to Arkansas, Missouri and Texas horsemen, his force included Col. Tandy Walker's Choctaw Brigade from Indian Territory. Williams encountered Confederate troops blocking the road on the morning of April 18 and established an L-shaped defense around his wagon train."
The First Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment was made up of former slaves from Arkansas. After fighting off two Confederate attacks, the First Kansas saw its line break. All Union forces retreated.
"Confederate troops then turned their attention to the wounded and captured soldiers of the First Kansas," Christ writes. "Both Union and Confederate accounts agree that many of the Black troops were killed after the battle was over. Williams lost 301 men killed, wounded or missing at Poison Spring. Of those, 117 of the dead and 65 of the wounded were from the First Kansas. Confederate losses ... were believed to be fewer than 145."
I've been coming to Poison Spring for more than 50 years. When I was a Boy Scout in Arkadelphia, we came here to camp. The origins of the name are uncertain. In 1961, the Arkansas Legislature passed an act to create three parks to interpret the Camden Expedition. One of them was Poison Spring. Covering 85 acres, it's one of the smallest state parks.
The rural park--operated by the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism--is adjacent to Poison Springs State Forest (some entities use "Spring" and others use "Springs"), which is operated by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Forestry Division.
Most Arkansans know we have three national forests--the sprawling Ouachita and Ozark along with the smaller St. Francis on Crowley's Ridge--but few realize there's a state forest. In 1957, the Arkansas Forestry Commission purchased 19,400 acres from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. What are now forests were once small farms where families tried to grow cotton. Cotton was king in Arkansas in the early 1900s, cultivated in all 75 counties.
Families went broke during the Great Depression while attempting to raise cotton in sandy soil on these gently rolling hills of the Gulf Coastal Plain. The federal government took over land in a failed attempt to control erosion following congressional approval of the 1937 Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. The state forest now includes more than 24,000 acres in western Ouachita and eastern Nevada counties.
I'm here with Joe Fox, the state forester who's counting the days until retirement. Fox, who holds bachelor's degrees from North Carolina State University in forestry and agricultural economics, worked in his family-owned lumber business and served for seven years on the Forestry Commission in the 1990s. His grandfather, W.S. Fox, and his father, W.H. Fox, had served on the commission before him.
Joe Fox, a 1969 graduate of Pine Bluff High School, received a scholarship from International Paper Co. to attend North Carolina State. No one knows more about the pine forests of south Arkansas.
"Poison Springs is used to demonstrate that a forest can have multiple purposes," Fox says. "Forests can be a 'both and' place, not an 'either or' place. A forest can serve as a place for recreation, wildlife habitat and timber production."
Fox and I are joined on this gray Tuesday morning by Aaron Williams, the state forest manager. Williams notes that the land "wasn't great for farming. The soil is very sandy, making it unsuitable for growing anything but trees."
About 13,500 acres are in mixed loblolly and shortleaf pines. There are another 3,600 acres of loblolly pine plantations along with 2,200 acres of pine-hardwood mixed forests and 4,000 acres of hardwood bottoms along White Oak and Cypress creeks.
"We serve as a demonstration forest to show private landowners the benefits of proper forest management," Williams says. "We try to do a lot of public outreach while still supplying between 20,000 and 25,000 tons of pine a year to local sawmills. That helps the economy here. But as a state forest, understanding the environmental impact of everything we do is paramount."
Williams' staff stays busy maintaining 30 miles of roads and 90 primitive campsites. There are regular controlled burns to improve habitat for turkey and quail. There also are constant operations to control beavers and wild hogs. The Forestry Division coordinates with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission to operate a wildlife management area.
Williams takes me to native grassland restoration areas, food plots for wildlife and places designed to attract red-cockaded woodpeckers. This might be the best example of a place where numerous state agencies work together. Deer season is a big deal here. Each year, more than 350 camping permits are issued to visitors. The primitive campsites in the state forest can be reserved at no charge for up to two weeks at a time.
There's a second state park here along the banks of White Oak Lake. AGFC built the lake in 1961. It consists of two sections, a 1,031-acre upper lake south of Arkansas 387 and a 1,735-acre lower lake north of the highway. In November 1964, AGFC leased land for a park. The park opened in April 1967 and was officially designated as a state park in March 1969.
Voter passage of a one-eighth cent sales tax (Amendment 75 of 1996) has allowed extensive improvements to the park's visitors' center, marina and campgrounds.
According to the Central Arkansas Library System's Encyclopedia of Arkansas: "In places along the park's three woodland trails, white sand can be seen on the forest floor, remnants of a time when the Gulf of Mexico covered much of what's today the southern United States. ... Hikers also experience a dramatic transition of forest and ecotype systems, moving from bottomland hardwoods to loblolly pine forest."
Fox speaks with reverence about this place. For those who prefer the mountains, it's an acquired taste. For those like Fox and me, raised in south Arkansas, it feels like home.
Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.