Battle of Jenkins' Ferry | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Frederick Steele | |||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Department of Arkansas | Army of Arkansas | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,000 | 10,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
700 | 1,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, also known as the Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, was fought on April 30, 1864, at Jenkins' Ferry, southwest of Little Rock (present-day Grant County, Arkansas), during the American Civil War. Although the battle ended with a Union victory, the Confederates saw it as a strategic success as they claimed to have prevented Frederick Steele from holding southwest Arkansas. Due to the chaotic nature of the battle, casualty figures vary.
Jenkins' Ferry was the decisive engagement of Steele's Camden Expedition (a part of the Red River Campaign) and E. Kirby Smith's last. As a result of the battle, U.S. forces could complete a retreat from a precarious position at Camden to their defenses at Little Rock. The battlefield has largely been preserved.