Arkansas Post National Memorial in Arkansas County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)
Where is Fort Hindman?
Photographed by Mark Hilton, August 26, 2017
1. Where is Fort Hindman? Marker
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.
Erected by National
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • War, US Civil • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1863.
Location. 34° 1.188′ N, 91° 20.683′ W. Marker is in Arkansas Post National Memorial, Arkansas, in Arkansas County. It can be reached from Old Post Road half a mile south of State Route 169. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1741 Old Post Road, Gillett AR 72055, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Arkansas Delta, in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and in the Quapaw Homeland. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Mississippi Delta. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers
Photographed by Mark Hilton, August 26, 2017
2. Marker in the Fort Hindman Exhibit parking area.
Also see . . . Battle of Arkansas Post (1863). Wikipedia entry (Submitted on July 23, 2024, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Internet Archive
3. Plan of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post
From Johnson & Buel, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 3, 1887.
Photographed by National Park Service
4. National Park Service map showing Fort Hindman's previous location.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 28, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 19, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,684 times since then and 109 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 19, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. 3. submitted on September 29, 2020, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 4. submitted on September 19, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
