The Battle of Helena was fought on July 4, 1863, near Helena, Arkansas, during the American Civil War. Union troops captured the city in July 1862, and had been using it as a base of operations. Over 7,500 Confederate troops led by Lieutenant General Theophilus Holmes attempted to capture Helena in hopes of relieving some of the pressure on the Confederate army besieged in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Helena was defended by about 4,100 Union troops led by Major General Benjamin Prentiss, manning one fort and four batteries of artillery.
Differing interpretations of Holmes' order to attack at daylight resulted in Brigadier General James F. Fagan's troops attacking Battery D unsupported, and Major General Sterling Price's attack against the Union center was made after Fagan's had largely fizzled out. To the north, Confederate cavalry commanded by Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and Lucius M. Walker failed to act in concert and accomplished little. The assaults failed, and Vicksburg fell the same day. Later in the year, Union troops used Helena as a staging ground for their successful campaign to capture Little Rock, Arkansas.
Background
In December 1860, the state of South Carolina seceded from the United States, as a result of several disagreements with the federal government, slavery chief among them. Further Deep South states seceded early in the next year, forming the Confederate States of America. The Civil War began on April 12, when Confederate troops bombarded Fort Sumter. When Abraham Lincoln, the newly elected President of the United States, called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion, this proved the catalyst for the southern state of Arkansas to secede and join the Confederacy. Fighting occurred to the north in Missouri during 1861, but in early March 1862, Confederate forces were defeated in northern Arkansas at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Beginning in late April, Union (United States) forces followed up on the victory at Pea Ridge by moving into Arkansas, threatening the state capital of Little Rock, and occupying the Mississippi River town of Helena on July 12.
By early 1863, holding Helena provided the Union with significant advantages, such as serving as a supply depot for the ongoing Vicksburg campaign, providing a marshalling point for a future advance against Little Rock, and securing northeastern Arkansas. In late May, with Union troops heavily pressuring Vicksburg, Confederate authorities sent a message to General Joseph E. Johnston suggesting that forces from the Trans-Mississippi Department be used to relieve the pressure on Vicksburg. One idea was an attack on Helena. The commander of Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi, Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith, was forwarded in June the dispatch that Johnston had received, and delegated making the decision whether to attack Helena to Lieutenant General Theophilus Holmes, the Confederate commander of the District of Arkansas.
Prelude
On June 9, Holmes learned that the strength of the Union forces in Helena was about 3,000 or 4,000 men, and decided against an attack. He thought the attack would be too costly, and instead suggested placing an artillery battery along the Mississippi River to intercept Union shipping. Further vacillation by Holmes ended when Confederate cavalry reported on June 14 that the garrison at Helena had been weakened. He began moving towards Jacksonport and met Major General Sterling Price and Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke on June 18. There they formed a plan to concentrate Confederate forces against Helena, although Holmes was still nervous about the proposed attack, as he was worried that it might fail. He made an agreement with Price, who was much more popular with the general public, that he would publicly support the decision of the attack in the case of a failure.