Battle of Van Buren The Battle of Van Buren was a battle of the American Civil War fought on December 28 , 1862 , that resulted in a Union victory that secured northwest Arkansas for the Union . Strategic situation . Following the Battle of Prairie Grove , on 7 December 1682 , the victorious Union Generals James G . Blunt and Francis Herron pressed their prusuit of Major General Thomas C . Hindman ' s 1st Corps , Army of the Trans - Mississippi across the Boston Mountains to the Arkansas River port city of Van Buren , in Crawford County , Arkansas . Maneuvering to battle . Following the Battle of Prairie Grove , December 7 , 1862 , General Thomas C . Hindman withdrew under cover of darkness back towards Van Buren , Arkansas . The Confederates reached Van Buren on 10 December , demoralized , footsore , and ragged . Hindman immediately began reorganizing his forces . Hindman found it impossible to forage General John S . Marmaduke ’ s Cavalry Division in Northwest Arkansas , and so Marmaduke was ordered to move his command to Lewisburg , below Van Buren . Hindman ' s force was thus reduced and continuing to diminish in strength daily due to desertions and a frightful increase of sickness , the latter caused by unprecedented hardships that the men were exposed duringg the retreat from Prairie Grove . Hindman decided that it was unadvisable to keep the main body of his army on the north side of the Arkansas River and moved it to the south side , with most going into camp in the vicinity of Fort Smith , Arkansas . One infantry regiment from General Fagan ' s brigade with a section of West ' s Arkansas Artillery , remained at Van Buren , and one regiment of cavalry , under Lieut . Col . R . P . Crump , was posted at Dripping Springs , to the north of Van Buren . Crumps force was instructed to picket at Oliver ’ s north , and at corresponding points on all other roads leading toward the Northwest . On December 28 , at 10 a . m . , Lieutenant - Colonel Crump reported by courier that Union forces were advancing on the Cove Creek road in heavy force of cavalry , infantry and artillery . A few minutes afterward , Brigadier General Cooper , who was at Scullyville , in the Choctaw Nation , from Fort Smith , reported by courier that a Federal cavalry force of three or four regiments , with artillery , under Colonel Phillips , had crossed to the south side of the river , at Fort Gibson , the preceding day . Immediately after , information was received by telegraph from a detachment of cavalry posted at Borland ’ s , below Van Buren , on the north side of the Arkansas River , covering the roads from Fayetteville to Ozark and Clarksville , that a regiment of Federal cavalry was within of that position , moving south . General Fagan ’ s brigade was on the march below Van Buren . Colonel Frost ’ s was below Van Buren and Colonel Shaver ’ s brigade , less than 1 , 000 strong , with one battery , was in camp below Van Buren . General Cooper was ordered to retire southward upon his depots of supplies , the nearest of which was Johnson ’ s Station , on the Canadian , about from Fort Smith . Shaver ’ s brigade was put under arms , and moved forward to the river opposite Van Buren . Frost was ordered back to Shaver ’ s position , detaching enough artillery and infantry to hold the crossing at Strain ’ s , below Van Buren ; and orders were given to remove by boat and wagon , as rapidly as possible , the public property at Van Buren and Fort Smith . At the same time General Hindman telegraphed General Marmaduke , at Lewisburg , to move northward and strike the enemy in flank and rear . The battle . At 11 . 05 , one hour and five minutes after Hindman received the first notice of the Federal advance , the Federal cavalry and light artillery were in Van Buren . As they approached the landing , West ’ s battery , of Shaver ’ s brigade , drove them back , killing and wounding several . Skirmishing continued there till nearly sunset , when the Federal infantry appeared , and two batteries of heavy rifled pieces opened from the commanding heights in and above the town . Meanwhile a cavalry force pursued and captured Colonel Crump ’ s train and part of a train laden with supplies for my wounded at Cane Hill , and also captured three steamboats , the " Notre " , which had grounded on a bar 1 mile below Van Buren , the " Key West " and " Rose Douglass " , which had been ordered down , but had stopped for some cause unknown on the south side of the river , opposite Strain ’ s Landing . This was before there was time for Frost ’ s detachment to reach that point . The steamers " Eva " and " Arkansas " , being still above Van Buren , were burned on Hindman ' s orders , after transferring to wagons all their freight for which transportation was available . About dark , artillery firing commenced at Strain ’ s Landing , between Frost ’ s detachment , posted there , and a Federal force on the opposite side , having field pieces of large caliber . It continued for two hours , until the Federal forces retired . The aftermath . Hindman removed all the public stores from Van Buren and Fort Smith for which he had transportation . Hindman reported that his whole force at the time of the Battle of Van Buren did not exceed 4 , 000 . He believed that Federal Forces in and near Van Buren was not less than 7 , 000 . With Federal Cavalry moving on both his flanks , Hindman determined to move his command southward , cross the river near Clarksville , unite with General Fagan ' s Brigade , and there take position . While Confederate Forces held on to Fort Smith through the summer of 1863 , Hindman ' s retreat marked the last major Confederate effort to contest northwest Arkansas . Following the Prairie Grove Campaign , Northwest Arkansas became a virtual no - mans land . While the area would see cavalry raids , bushwacking and guerillia war for several years , including well after the formal end of the war , no large Confederate Army would ever again enter this area of the state .