Where is Fort Hindman?

Where is Fort Hindman?. . Standing here in January 1863, you would have seen Confederate Fort Hindman. In what is now the water, the fort stood atop a 25-foot high bluff The fort's cannon could fire a mile up or down the river to protect the breadbasket of Arkansas. The Confederates could slip down to the Mississippi River to disrupt vital Union supply lines., Soon after the fort was finished, a massive Union army-navy force attacked What they did not demolish, the river has washed away. The Arkansas River's changing course swallowed all traces of Fort Hindman. Today, a shallow oxbow lake covers the site., Why here? , This was the first high ground on the Arkansas River near the Mississippi. The Confederates hoped to control river traffic from this strategic position. , [Photo captions] , Left:The Arkansas River's 1863 shoreline was about 300 yards from where you stand. , Rifle pits began here and extended 700 yards to the west (on your left). , Middle: The fort measured 100 yards on each side (the length of a football field). , Three feet of oak reinforced with railroad iron protected the Dahlgren cannon. , Right: The walls were 18 feet thick at the top, rising out of an eight-foot deep trench. , Pilings on the far shore forced attacking gunboats closer to the fort.