Clarendon was a major White River port and crossroads when the Civil War began. Six Confederate companies were raised here and in Monroe County in 1861-2. A Union fleet tried to supply the Army of the Southwest here in June 1862, but turned back because of low water. Nearby Aberdeen saw fighting on July 6 and 9, and Union cavalry from Helena raided the area in mid-August 1862. In January 1863, 1,200 Union cavalry from Helena rode to Clarendon to threaten Little Rock after the Arkansas Post battle, only to be foiled by flooded conditions. Union Gen. Frederick Steel's army camped at Clarendon in August 1863 during the campaign to take Little Rock, and they suffered badly from malarial conditions and burned much of the town. On March 15, 1864, the 8th Missouri Cavalry (U.S.) lost four men in a skirmish here, and on June 24 Gen. J.O. Shelby's Confederates captured and sank the U.S.S. Queen City. Union troops pursuing Shelby then burned more buildings. Guerrillas shot at the U.S. steamer J.D. Perry here on Sept. 9. At war's end, not a building stood in Clarendon.