ARKANSAS. 



11 



1,933,036; do. unimproved, 7,609,938. The 

 cash value of farms was $91,673,409. Number 

 of horses, 101,249; mules. 44,458 ; milch cows, 

 158,873 ; working oxen. 70,944; sheep, 202,074; 

 swine, 1,155,379. Value of live stock, $22.- 

 040,211. Wheat, 955,298 bushels ; rye, 77,869 

 bushels ; corn, 17,758,665 bushels ; oats, 502,- 

 866 bushels; tobacco, 999,757 pounds; cotton, 

 367,485 bales, of 400 pounds each ; wool, 410,- 

 285 pounds; peas and beans. 439,412 bushels; 

 Irish potatoes, 418,000 bushels; sweet potatoes, 

 1,462,714 bushels; barley, 3,079 bushels. Value 

 of home-made manufactures, $928,481. Rail- 

 roads, 38 miles. 



The military movements of the Federal troops 

 at the West in the beginning of the year excited 

 great apprehensions in Arkansas. Already 

 twenty-five regiments and six battalions of in- 

 fantry and cavalry and ten companies of artil- 

 lery, amounting to 21,500, had been sent to the 

 Confederate army for the war. On the 18th 

 of February Governor Eector issued a procla- 

 mation calling into immediate service every man 

 in the State subject to military duty. They 

 were required to appear within twenty days. 

 On the same day a 'despatch from St. Louis to 

 Washington, sent by Gen. Halleck, announced 

 that Gen. Curtis had driven Gen. Price from 

 Missouri into Arkansas, and that " the flag of 

 the Union is floating in Arkansas." At the 

 same time the commandant at Pocahontas, a 

 short distance southeast of the position of the 

 Federal forces under Gen. Curtis, becoming 

 alarmed, issued the following appeal to the 

 people : 



POCAHONTAS. AEK.. Feb. 26. 1 



Reliable information has just been received by me 

 that the enemy, 16,000 strong, left Greenville, Mo., on 

 Saturday last, for the purpose of attacking Pocahoutas. 

 It now becomes the duty of every man to turn out 

 promptly, shoulder his musket, and drive the Vandals 

 from the State. 



This is probably the advance guard of a much larger 

 force of the enemy. Come without delay, singly or in 

 squads, and rendezvous in Jacksonport. " Bring "as few 

 horses as possible, as forage is scarce. 



MAJOR KEYWORTH, Com'g. 



The Confederate force, retiring before Gen. 

 Curtis, abandoned Mudtown. They were subse- 

 quently charged with having poisoned the pro- 

 visions not taken away and the wells of the 

 town. It was reported to Gen. Halleck that 

 forty-two officers and men were thereby poi- 

 soned, whereupon he issued, on the 28th of 

 February, an order, saying: 



We cannot retaliate by adopting the same barbarous 

 mode of warfare, nor can we retaliate by punishing the 

 innocent for the acts of the guilty. The laws of war 

 forbid this, but the same code authorizes us to retaliate 

 upon the guilty parties. 



Persons guilty of such acts, when captured, will not 

 be treated as ordinary prisoners of war, nor will they 

 be shot, but will suffer the ignominious punishment of 

 being hung as felons. Officers are in a measure re- 

 sponsible for the acts of their troops. Officers of 

 troops guilty of such acts, although not themselves 

 the advisers or abettors of the crime, will, when cap- 

 tured, be put in irons and conveyed as criminals to 

 these headquarters. The laws of war make it their 

 duty to prevent such barbarities, and if they neglect 

 that duty they must suffer the consequences. 



For the important military movements in 

 the State, see ARMY OPERATIONS. It was beyond 

 the power of the Confederate Government to 

 send aid to Arkansas, and the State was forced 

 to rely upon its own resources and such aid as 

 might be obtained from Missouri, the Indian 

 territory, and Texas. This state of affairs in- 

 duced the governor, in May. to issue an ad- 

 dress to the people, in which his indignation 

 is expressed in these words : 



It was for liberty that Arkansas struck, and not for 

 subordination to any created secondary power, north or 

 south. Her best friends are her natural allies, nearest 

 at home, who will pulsate when she bleeds, whose ut- 

 most hope is not beyond her existence. If the arteries 

 of the Confederate Heart do not permeate beyond the 

 east bank of the Mississippi, let southern Missourians, 

 Arkansians, Texans, and the great West know it and 

 prepare for the future. Arkansas lost, abandoned, 

 subjugated, is not Arkansas as she entered the Con- 

 federate Government. Nor will she remain Arkansas, 

 a Confederate State, desolated as a wilderness. Her 

 children, fleeing from the wrath to come, will build them 

 a new ark, and launch it on new waters, seeking a 

 haven somewhere of equality, safety, and rest. 



After the military movements in the north- 

 western part of the State, including the battle 

 of Pea Ridge, Gen. Curtis moved to the White 

 river, and occupied Batesville about the 1st of 

 May. Here he was met by many demonstra- 

 tions of attachment to the Union. Many citi- 

 zens came forward and took the oath of alle- 

 giance to the United States : these were judges 

 of courts, clergymen, and citizens holding po- 

 sitions of influence. His advance being pushed 

 forward on the road to Little Rock, a great 

 excitement was produced there. The governor 

 issued a proclamation calling upon the State 

 militia to repair immediately to its defence. 

 Finding himself not sufficiently supported, Gov. 

 Rector fled, and the State was left without any 

 executive government. Martial law was then 

 declared by Brig.-Gen. Roane, commanding the 

 department, and George C. Watkins was ap- 

 pointed provost marshal. The weakness of 

 Arkansas at this moment was caused by the 

 concentration of all the Confederate military 

 strength at Corinth, and her fate was as much 

 involved in the security of that position as the 

 fate of Tennessee or Mississippi. But while 

 the forces of Arkansas were taken to defend 

 Corinth, ten regiments were taken from Gen. 

 Curtis to reenforce the Federal troops attack- 

 ing it. This left him in no condition to inarch 

 upon Little Rock, and the capital of the State 

 thus escaped being captured. 



On the 19th of May a skirmish took place 

 near Searcy, between one hundred and fifty 

 men of Col. (acting Brig.-Gen.) Osterhaus's di- 

 vision and a State force under Cols. Coleman 

 and Hicks. The loss was small on both sides. 

 Other skirmishes occurred during the march 

 of Gen. Curtis from Batesville to Helena, of 

 small importance. Bridges were burned by 

 the Arkansas troops across Bayou Des Arc and 

 Cypress river, and about ten thousand bales of 

 cotton on the Arkansas river, and all the cotton 

 and sugar at Jacksonport. By the first of June, 



