By Dr. Curtis Varnell
It must have been an overwhelming sight. Eight-hundred men, twelve wagons, two cannon, and extra mounts heading west on the Old Military road. Dressed in rebel grey, Confederate flag and colorful guidons flowing in the breeze, the column would have stretched for nearly a mile. The date was September 27, 1863 and Colonel Joseph Shelby’s iron brigade was on a march which would carry them deep into the state of Missouri on one of the most famous raids of the Civil War.
Seeking to avoid federal troops at Dardanelle and Clarksville, Shelby was determined to cross the river at Roseville and head north to Missouri through Huntsville. According to local tradition, his men camped at the town of Shoal Creek, near the present day artesian well road on the 26th. Departing early the next morning, Shelby sent Captain “Tuck” Thorpe ahead, scouting out the territory as they advanced. The group passed through the small villages of Ellsworth and Spielerville, running across the occasional union sympathizer who took pot-shots at the column.
Right at noon, Thorpe topped a small hill near Haguewood Creek, just east of present day Paris, Arkansas and surprised eighty or more Union troops encamped along the creek. The 1st Arkansas Infantry, under Captain William Parker, had picked up ammunition and weapons at Dardanelle and were resupplying local guerilla supporters. Many of Parker’s men were from the local area and were happily visiting family while resupplying friends with weapons. Grabbing up weapons, one of the largest skirmishes of the river valley ensued. Bullets flew from both sides; many of Shelby’s men were equipped with repeater pistols and multiple guns. Even with the traditional weapons, a civil war soldier could load and fire three to five times in a minute. Shelby, hearing the fire of his advance troops, hurried his men in support. Union Soldiers ducked behind trees and wagons and the battle raged. Benjamin Wilks, a union soldier from the area, fell, pierced by a rain of bullets from the confederates. William Hawkins was in one of the wagons, accompanied by his sister who was visiting. Firing out the back of the wagon, he fought bravely until falling at her feet.
Tiring of the two-hour standoff, Shelby ordered a charge on both flanks and scattered the union troops who fled west on the military road. Chasing them, Shelby was able to capture twenty-eight men, many of them officers that he later paroled. He also captured a couple of wagons and the ammunition and weapons they contained. His losses were ten men killed, eight wounded during the battle.
Rounding up his men, he destroyed the wagons and campsite, and continued west to Moffet’s station and on to Roseville where his horses crossed the river in shallow water with what he described as a sandy bottom. No doubt, with the river current, the wagons and cannon were carried across by the ferry that crossed the river to what is now the Denning community. He passed through Ozark early the next morning, going up what is now the pig trail to Huntsville.
Shelby’s raid was one of the most successful in Civil War history. He captured more than forty federal unit flags, six hundred guns, killed or wounded six hundred federal troops while paroling five hundred more, and tore up and damaged two-million-dollars’ worth of property. In the process, he tied up 100,000 men commanded by General Schofield of Missouri and 30,000 troops under General Steele of Arkansas.
Shelby is known as the General who never surrendered. A movie based on his exploits, The Undefeated, featured John Wayne and Tony Curtis.
My bus passed by the old battlefield every day for years. Grown up in weeds and brush, we never realized we touched history each day as we traveled the military road to school. Often history is as close as our own back door!
