Fighting at Elkins' Ferry

Steele's wait for Thayer shaped this fight. He spent three days at Arkadelphia hoping the Frontier Division would arrive from Fort Smith, then marched without it, and reached the Little Missouri on April 3, 1864, with about 8,500 men and little food. Marmaduke's cavalry attacked while the army crossed. Steele moved on, halted six miles from the river on learning Thayer was near, and the two columns joined on April 9. The battlefield is protected now: the Nevada County Depot and Museum bought much of it in 2015, and the American Battlefield Trust and partners preserved 442 acres.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Crater of Diamonds State Park — 19 mi
  A volcanic crater where anyone can dig for diamonds and keep what they find.
• DeGray Lake Resort State Park — 20 mi
  A resort park on a 13,400-acre lake made when the Caddo River was dammed, with a lodge, a golf course and a paddle trail through the islets.
• White Oak Lake State Park — 25 mi
  A 725-acre park on the lower of two 1961 lakes, where white sand marks an ancient shoreline and the visitor center carries a Poison Spring display eight miles from the battlefield.
• Historic Washington State Park — 25 mi
  A Southwest Trail town that was Arkansas's Confederate capital from 1863 to 1865, then lost the railroad and kept its buildings, with a blacksmith shop and the 1836 courthouse.

More markers nearby

• Skirmishes at Okolona — steps away
• Skirmishes at Prairie D'Ane — 14 mi
• Action at Moscow — 16 mi
• Moscow Church and Cemetery — 16 mi