Camden Expedition The Camden Expedition ( March 23 – May 2 , 1864 ) was a military campaign in southern and central Arkansas during the American Civil War . It involved Union forces stationed at Little Rock and Fort Smith under the command of Major General Frederick Steele . The plan called for Steele ' s force to march to Shreveport , Louisiana , where it would link up with an amphibious expedition led by Maj . Gen . Nathaniel P . Banks and Rear Admiral David D . Porter , whose force was to advance up the Red River Valley ; once joined , the Union force was to strike into Texas . But the two pincers never converged , and Steele ' s columns suffered terrible losses in a series of battles with Confederate forces led by Maj . Gen . Sterling Price and Gen . Edmund Kirby Smith . The Campaign . The United States War Department , under the direction of Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton , had developed a strategic goal to reassert Federal control over Arkansas , Louisiana , and Texas . This was part of a much larger effort to move simultaneously against Confederate forces in a number of theaters . Separate Union columns were to destroy the remaining Southern troops in South Arkansas and Northern Louisiana , then join together for an all - out push into Texas , essentially ending the war in that region . The Arkansas phase of this Red River Campaign was entitled the Camden Expedition , an effort endorsed by Ulysses S . Grant . On March 23 , 1864 , Maj . Gen . Frederick Steele marched a combined 8 . 500 - man force of infantry , artillery and cavalry from the Little Rock Arsenal . At roughly the same time , Maj . Gen . Nathaniel Banks ' army departed from New Orleans in conjunction with Rear Admiral David Porter ' s naval expedition . Steele and Banks were to push aside the enemy in their respective fronts , then combine forces to seize Shreveport . Steele would garrison that city while Banks forged ahead into northeastern Texas . Steele ' s route was through a thinly populated wilderness with little provisions . He hoped to occupy Camden , a port city on the Ouachita River to re - supply . As all the bridges on the Little Missouri River were impassable , the Union troops had to ford the muddy river . Steele ' s men reached Elkin ' s Ferry before the Confederates , but on April 3 , they were attacked by Brig . Gen . Joseph O . Shelby ' s cavalry . The following day , John S . Marmaduke ' s cavalry also attacked the Union forces as they were trying to cross the river . The Federals were able to fend off both of these attacks and then cross the river . On April 10 , Steele ' s forces , combined with Brig . Gen . John M . Thayer ' s division , marched south towards Shreveport . They soon encountered a Confederate line of battle at Prairie D ' Ane and attacked , driving it back a mile before being checked . Skirmishing continued throughout the next day , forcing Steele to divert away from Shreveport toward Camden . Sterling Price ' s Confederates returned to Prairie D ' Ane on April 13 , falling upon Steele ' s rearguard under Thayer . After a four - hour battle , Price disengaged , and Steele ' s column continued to Camden . Steele finally reached his destination on April 15 , but found no supplies awaiting him . After a two - day wait , he sent out foraging parties into the countryside and awaited news from Banks . However , Banks was in retreat , having been defeated at the Battle of Mansfield , and now more of Kirby Smith ' s forces were heading into Arkansas to intercept Steele . Dwindling supplies for his army at Camden forced Steele to send out a 1 , 200 - man foraging party to gather corn that the Confederates had stored about twenty miles away . After loading the corn into over 200 wagons and proceeding about 5 miles on April 18 , Col . James M . Williams ' s party was savagely attacked by John Marmaduke ' s and Brig . Gen . Samuel B . Maxey ' s Confederates at the Battle of Poison Spring . Williams was forced to retreat northward into a marsh , where his men finally regrouped and fell back to Camden , minus the wagonloads of much needed corn . Steele was relieved on April 20 when a wagon train arrived from Pine Bluff with welcome supplies . One week later , the Battle of Marks ' Mills resulted in the capture of 2 , 000 more of Steele ' s men and many more wagons . Steele decided to abandon Camden under the cover of darkness and retreated to Little Rock on April 26 . Three days later , he reached the Saline River at Jenkins ' Ferry and began constructing a pontoon bridge . Smith ' s Confederates arrived on April 30 and repeatedly attacked the retreating Federals in windy and rainy conditions . Steele repulsed the attacks and finally crossed with what was left of his force , destroying the bridge to prevent Smith from following . He was compelled to abandon most of his remaining supply wagons in the swamp north of the river . A badly chagrined Steele finally reached his base at the Little Rock Arsenal on May 3 . The Camden Expedition was perhaps the greatest Federal military disaster of the Civil War in Arkansas . Union forces suffered over 2 , 500 casualties , lost hundreds of wagons and failed to take Shreveport or Texas . Confederate forces freely roamed rural Arkansas , while the Federals stayed in their fortifications at Fort Smith , Pine Bluff , Helena , and Little Rock . Confederate success in Arkansas did not come without a cost , however . Resources might have been used more effectively against Porter and Banks while delayed due to low water on the Red River . Instead , Porter ' s fleet was able to escape nearly intact . Camden Expedition Sites . Nine historic sites associated with the expedition were , as a set , designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1994 .