Caddo Valley in Clark County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)
Confederate Manufacturing / The Military Road
Photographed By Duane Hall, July 30, 2016
1. Confederate Manufacturing Marker
Inscription.
Confederate Manufacturing, also, The Military Road. .
Confederate Manufacturing. Arkadelphia was a manufacturing center for Confederate Arkansas early in the Civil War. Gen. Thomas Hindman established a powder works and an arsenal in 1862, producing guns, cannon, bullets, shells, wagons and caissons. Tanning yards provided harnesses, bridles, saddles, knapsacks and shoes. Tons of salt were produced at Arkadelphia, and a chemical laboratory there helped create such medicines as calomel, castor oil, spirits of nitre and tinctures of iron, with citizens providing the plants, weeds and herbs needed as raw materials to make the medicine.,
The Military Road. The Military Road, following the route of the old Southwest Trail, passed through the heart of Clark County. Both Confederate and Union troops used the road. Gen. Sterling Price’s Confederates retreated down the road after Little Rock fell in September 1863. Gen. Frederick Steele’s Union army took the road during the Camden Expedition and stayed in Arkadelphia March 29 to April 1, 1864, before heading southwest. Confederate troops skirmished with Steele at Terre Noire Creek and Okolona before the Union army left the county at Elkins’ Ferry on the Little Missouri.
Confederate Manufacturing
Arkadelphia was a manufacturing center for Confederate Arkansas early in the Civil War. Gen. Thomas Hindman established a powder works and an arsenal in 1862, producing guns, cannon, bullets, shells, wagons and caissons. Tanning yards provided harnesses, bridles, saddles, knapsacks and shoes. Tons of salt were produced at Arkadelphia, and a chemical laboratory there helped create such medicines as calomel, castor oil, spirits of nitre and tinctures of iron, with citizens providing the plants, weeds and herbs needed as raw materials to make the medicine.
The Military Road
The Military Road, following the route of the old Southwest Trail, passed through the heart of Clark County. Both Confederate and Union troops used the road. Gen. Sterling Price’s Confederates retreated down the road after Little Rock fell in September 1863. Gen. Frederick Steele’s Union army took the road during the Camden Expedition and stayed in Arkadelphia March 29 to April 1, 1864, before heading southwest. Confederate troops skirmished with Steele at Terre Noire Creek and Okolona before the Union army left the county at Elkins’ Ferry on the Little Missouri.
Erected 2015 by Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, Clark County
Click or scan to see this page online
Historical Association, Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. (Marker Number 65.)
Location. 34° 10.843′ N, 93° 4.232′ W. Marker is in Caddo Valley, Arkansas, in Clark County. Marker is on Valley Street (U.S. 67) 0.1 miles south of Malvern Road, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 124 Valley St, Arkadelphia AR 71923, United States of America. Touch for directions.
3. Confederate Manufacturing / The Military Road Marker
Photographed By Duane Hall, July 30, 2016
4. View to South Along Valley Street (US 67)
Marker is on left (east) side of street
Credits. This page was last revised on March 24, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 7, 2016, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 862 times since then and 46 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 7, 2016, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.
