Confederate forces used Cadron as a base in the war’s early years, and Union troops were there after taking Little Rock in September 1863. The site was valuable for the nearby saw and grist mills, the telegraph line to Little Rock, and the ferry, though the ferry was destroyed by October 1864. Union troops were stationed at Cadron in 1864 and 1865, stockpiling supplies for soldiers operating against Confederate troops and guerrillas in the region and watching for troop movements toward Missouri. Hundreds of Confederates surrendered there in 1865.