Fight at the Levee

Fight at the Levee. . , During the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863, constant fire from Union cavalry and artillery near the levee helped stall the Confederate advance on Battery A. , , The Union Troops at the Levee , Union Colonel Powell Clayton's 5th Kansas and 1st Indiana cavalry, aided by the 3rd Iowa Battery and two small guns manned by the Indiana cavalry, harassed Confederate General John S. Marmaduke's left flank all morning. Marmaduke finally ordered General L. Marshall Walker to clear the Federals from the levee., The Confederates Deploy , Walker sent several hundred men of the 5th Arkansas Cavalry, Dobbins' Arkansas Cavalry, and a four-gun battery of artillery into action against the Union line. The Confederates forced their way across the Union obstructions and deployed on the floodplain. , General Walker Retreats , Clayton's forces proved very stubborn foes. Walker reported, "I had hard fighting on my left flank, and when my right became exposed I commenced to get loose from the enemy and retired." The Confederates failed. Walker retreated with the rest of Marmaduke's Division. , [Inset quote] , "The rebel guns were posted above us near the river wall, and between them and us was a slough or bayou; across this the rebel sharp-shooters had waded and were posted behind everything that could afford them shelter, and they disputed every inch of ground with sullen pertinacity." , Captain William F. Crietz, Co. A, 5th Kansas Cavalry