Many Thanks to Lou Ann Lunsford for being kind
enough to share these newspaper articles with us here in Arkansas
SALINE TERRITORY, AR. 1864
Copied from a Special Edition of "THE MERRY
GREEN PRESS"
Article: A SOLDIER'S FAREWELL TO HIS LOVE
by General H. L. Grinstead (Killed at Jenkins'
Ferry)
Farewell! I go where duty calls,
and faith and honor point the way
Where many a high-souled hero falls
Upon each bloody battle day.
I go; for I would scorn to be
A laggard in the glorious strife
That shapes our nation's destiny
And wakes us to a nobler life.
I fain would gird my idle sword
That all too long hath lain at rest,
While I upon thy lightest word,
Have hung, 'til now, supremely blest.
O! oft amid the din of fight,
When swift the hurtling bullets fly,
Thy image pure shall glad my sight,
And nerve my arm for purpose high.
Like crested knights of ancient song
Who fought to please their haughty loves,
I'll think of thee and still press on,
Knowing thy soul the deed approves.
For thou art worthier far than they
Thoughtful and modest, fir and true
Like the sweet flower that shuns the day,
But hopes to drink the evening dew.
I covet not the warrior's crown,
Nor other boon or guerdon claim,
But as I float life's stream adown
Dearest to know that love the same
As when beneath the star-lit dome,
I wooed and won thy guileless heart
Such as now bids the tear drops come
To bathe thine eyes e're we part.
O! brighter than Italian skies
And purer than the lily's hue,
Thy beauty shames the dolphin's eyes
And send the life blood coursing through,
My veins, as speeds the lightning flash,
When mountain storms all wildly roar,
And foaming billows leap and dash
And, wearied, break upon the shore.
Time cannot dim such love as ours--
Distance no barrier interpose;
Its light shall guide the fleeting hours,
Unquenched, till life, itself shall close.
Weep not! I soon will come again
To claim and clasp my gentle bride,
I go to prove how madly vain
Th' insulting foeman's boasted pride.
Article: PINE BLUFF OCCUPIED BY FEDERALS
A visitor who recently returned from Pine Bluff
reports that they city is still occupied by Federals under the command
of Colonel Powell Clayton. Under orders from General Steele, the Federals
entered the city late in 1863 to reopen trade and protect river traffic.
Confederate Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke
moved from Princeton and attacked the city on October 25 but was driven
back after suffering heavy losses.
The Federal supply train ambushed at Marks'
Mills on April 25 had been sent to Camden from Pine Bluff by Colonel Clayton
in response to orders from General Steele.
It is reported that the courthouse in Pine
Bluff was damaged in the October attack and that many buildings have been
destroyed.
Article: POST OF PINE BLUFF
Colonel Powell Clayton
18th Illinois, Liet. Col. Samuel B. Marks
1st Indiana Cavalry (8 companies), Maj. Julian
D. Owen
5th Kansas Cavalry (10 companies), Lieut.
Col. Wilton A. Jenkins
7th Missouri Cavalry, Maj. Henry P. Spellman
28th Wisconsin, Lieut. Col. Edmund B. Gray
Article: SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS
MARCH
23, 1864 - Steele's column advance from Little
Rock
23-24, 1864 - Skirmishes on the Benton road
27-31, 1864 - Expedition from Pine Bluff to
Mount Elba and Long View
27, 1864 - Affair at Branchville. Skirmish
at Brooks' Mill
28, 1864 - Skirmish at Mount Elba
29, 1864 - Skirmish at Long View. Skirmish
at Arkadelphia
30, 1864 - Action at Mount Elba & pursuit
of Confederates to Big Creek
31, 1864 - Skirmish near Arkadelphia
APRIL
1, 1864 - Skirmish at Arkadelphia
2, 1864 - Skirmishes at Antoine, or Terre
Noir Creek & on Wolf Creek
2-3, 1864 - Skirmishes at Okolona
3-4, 1864 - Engagement at Elkin's Ferry, Little
Missouri River
5, 1864 - Skirmish at Marks' Mill
6, 1864 - Skirmish at the Little Missouri
9-12, 1864 - Skirmishes on Prairie D'Ane
13, 1864 - Action at Moscow
14, 1864 - Skirmish at Dutch Mills. Skirmish
at White Oak Creek
15, 1864 - Skirmish at Camden
16, 1864 - Skirmish at Liberty Post-Office
16-18, 1864 - Skirmishes about Camden
17, 1864 - Skirmish at Red Mound
18, 1864 - Engagement at Poison Spring
20, 1864 - Skirmish near Camden
23, 1864 - Confederate demonstration on Camden.
Affair at Swan Lake
24, 1864 - Skirmish near Camden
25, 1864 - Action at Marks' Mills
25-26, 1864 - Skirmishes in Moro Bottom
26, 1864 - Steele's column retreats from Camden
28, 1864 - Skirmish near Princeton
29, 1864 - Skirmish at the Ouachita River.
Skirmish near Saline Bottom
30, 1864 - Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry. Skirmish
at Whitten's Mill
MAY
3, 1864 - Steele's column arrives at Little
Rock
Grant County Museum in Sheridan, Arkansas printed
in observance of the 125th Anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Jenkins'
Ferry that was fought April 29-30th, 1864 in what was then Hot Springs
and Saline County Territory...later incorporated into Grant County in 1869.
The above information may be used for non-commercial
historical and genealogical purposes only and with the consent of the page
owner may be copied for the same purposes so long as this notice remains
a part of the copied material. EDWARD
G. GERDES
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