Action at Whitney's Lane

On the nineteenth of May, eighteen sixty-two, this quiet lane saw a small fight that shaped the war in Arkansas. Union General Samuel Curtis, fresh off his victory at Pea Ridge, was driving toward Little Rock with the state nearly defenseless. He sent a foraging party of Missouri infantry and cavalry across the Little Red River to gather supplies.

Confederate Colonel Emory Rogers, with roughly one hundred and fifty Texas horsemen and local volunteers, was badly outnumbered. He charged anyway, thundering down Whitney's Lane. The Union force lost heavily, dozens killed or wounded, while Confederate losses were far lighter.

That sharp little ambush helped stall Curtis's advance on Little Rock, and he soon turned toward Helena instead.