Holding the Little Rock Road

Holding the Little Rock Road. . , Fortifying Helena , Soon after the Union army occupied Helena in July 1862, preparations began for a Confederate attack. The army built four earthworks on Crowley's Ridge. Fort Curtis sat below the ridge, in town. Barricades protected the roads coming into town from the north and south. The Lower Little Rock Road, now Biscoe Street, entered Helena from the south. To protect this end of town, the army constructed an earthwork near where you now stand. A small section of that earthwork is represented here., A Strategic Position , The original earthwork began at the levee next to the Mississippi River and ran west to the Lower Little Rock Road. The earthwork straddled the road and stretched almost to the foot of Crowley's Ridge, ending below Battery D. The land was flat and low, similar to what it is today. A swamp in front of the earthwork helped protect the position from an infantry assault., Minos Miller, an officer with the 2nd Arkansas of African Descent, described the defenses: "[T]here is a breastwork thrown up across the bottoms and about twenty yards in front of the breastwork is cavalry pits.", This was the end of the line. Had the Confederates pushed through here when they attacked Helena on July 4, 1863, they might have been able to flank the batteries and take the city., Photo caption: , The 2nd Arkansas of African Descent, 35th Missouri Infantry, and the 1st Missouri Battery defended this earthwork during the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863.