A Short Lived Confederate Victory

During the fighting at Helena, Confederate brigades assaulted Battery C and advanced under heavy fire from Graveyard Hill and the fortified hills on both sides. Confederate General Sterling Price recalled that the attacking columns drove the defenders back, entered the works almost at the same time, and raised the Confederate flag on Graveyard Hill. Captain Thomas Stevens of the 28th Wisconsin watched from Battery B as Confederates hauled down the Union flag, while 3,000 Confederate troops celebrated and at least four generals stood on Battery C looking toward Helena. The apparent success quickly collapsed when Fort Curtis, the U.S.S. Tyler, and Batteries B and D opened fire, trapping the Confederates in a deadly crossfire. Confederate commander General Theophilus Holmes arrived in the confusion and, bypassing the chain of command, ordered an attack on Battery D. Disorder followed as some men turned toward Battery D while most continued under orders to attack Fort Curtis. Although the Confederates showed great courage, the attack failed, many were killed, more were captured, Holmes ordered a general retreat, and the stars and stripes soon flew again over Battery C on the 4th of July.

Helena-West Helena, Arkansas · United States