Historical Marker
Scott County in the Civil War
Waldron, Scott County · Arkansas
Erected 2013
Waldron changed hands in the war without much of a battle. Confederate General Smith Bankhead was still there on September 15, 1863, after Kansas cavalry attacked on the 11th and failed to take the town. Colonel James Johnson's First Arkansas Infantry moved in on November 6, and by November 30 Confederate spies counted about 1,500 Federal troops. Supplies ran short. When the Federals burned Waldron and left on March 22, 1864, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas says they spared the homes of Union sympathizers. The 1860 census counted 215 enslaved people among 4,930 white residents.
Where it stands
34.90010, -94.09152 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Rich Mountain Viewpoint on the Talimena Byway — 21 miThe Forest Service summit stop at 2,681 feet, about ten miles west of Mena, where the Arkansas end of the Talimena byway tops out.
- Queen Wilhelmina State Park — 22 miA mountaintop lodge on Rich Mountain, named for a Dutch queen by the railroad whose Dutch investors built the first inn in 1898.
More markers nearby
- Polk County in the Civil War — 23 mi
- Polk County First County Seat — 23 mi
- Reynolds Castle — 30 mi
- Battle of Backbone Mountain — 31 mi