CIVIL WAR
HELENA
A HISTORY OF H ELENA IN TH E 1860 s
L
Helena Museum The Helena Museum of Phillips County provides a wealth of Civil War-era history and artifacts, while preserving the culture of the Mississippi Delta for future generations. Civil War collections include a diorama of the Battle of Helena, a desk belonging to General Thomas Hindman, General Patrick Cleburne’s prayer book, a shirt with a bullet hole worn by a soldier killed during the battle of Helena, Civil War currency, a revolver and much more. In addition to the Civil War exhibits, the museum includes artifacts from Native American Indians, Thomas Edison’s belongings, Mark Twain’s documents, fashion, fine art, military uniforms and more. The building housing the Helena Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was once the Hook and Ladder Company, a volunteer fire department, which began lending books and newspapers in 1874. The Women’s Library Association operated a small library there until 1920, when it became the Helena Public Library Association. Soon after, the library began accepting community donations of historic artifacts, and the Phillips County Museum Annex, designed by Helena native Andrew P. Coolidge, was completed in 1930.
ying in a valley of Crowley’s Ridge, Helena’s hilly landscape distinguishes it from the typically flat marshlands of most Mississippi Delta towns. In its early days, Helena saw its fair share of gamblers, adventurers and traders, characteristic of river towns at the time. But its rich, fertile soil and access to the Mississippi made it a prosperous community in the mid 1800s. In the years just before the Civil War, Phillips County was one of the wealthiest areas of Arkansas, home to more than 250 plantations. Many sons of wealthy plantation owners in nearby states flocked to Helena to buy land and make their own fortunes. Cotton was the cash crop, and the demand for it was a boon to Helena’s economy and created “tremendous opportunity for wealth,” said Maria Campbell Brent, co-owner of Mudpuppy & Waterdog Inc., the Versailles, Ky.based consulting firm involved with developing sites for the Civil War Helena Interpretive Plan. Helena was “full of fabulously wealthy people,” said Joseph Brent, co-owner of Mudpuppy & Waterdog. The wealth was largely tied to the land and dependent on slave labor. Most of Helena’s seven Confederate generals were plantation owners, lawyers and politicians, and “wealthy,” he said.
Hell-in-Arkansas After failing to take Little Rock, Curtis set his sights on Helena, likely because of its proximity to the Mississippi River. Curtis’ army arrived with 12,000 soldiers and a few thousand freed and escaped slaves (called Contraband by the Union). The addition of thousands of people to the existing population led to overcrowding, unhealthy conditions and many deaths in the town. The Union occupation made Helena a “remarkably unhealthy location,” Christ said. “The odds of getting really sick and dying were really high.” Many of the soldiers arrived sick and wounded. Union troops from the North and Midwest were not accustomed to the hot weather and mosquitoes of the Mississippi Delta, and this created more illness. Some soldiers were instructed to drink out of the Mississippi River, which also made them sick. Accounts from soldiers tell of sev-
eral men buried each day in Helena because of illness, and regiments of 800 with so many sick and injured that only about 150 were fit for service, said Joseph Brent. The overcrowding, poor sanitation and other extreme conditions in the town made illnesses, like malaria, typhoid and others, more widespread. This prompted soldiers from Iowa to nickname the town “Hell-in-Arkansas.” The Union Army took over most aspects of the town. Curtis set up his headquarters at the home of Thomas Hindman, one of Helena’s Confederate generals. They worked to fortify the town, and began construction on Fort Curtis in August 1862. Once it was completed that fall, Curtis had been replaced by General Benjamin M. Prentiss, and plans to build four batteries on Crowley’s Ridge were in the works. The Union Army arrived with few provisions and needed to provide for its thousands of troops and Contraband. They started scouting missions in the countryside, where they took food livestock and other supplies, Christ said. Scouting was also a way to ensure that Helena’s citizens were not assisting the Confederates. Citizens’ movement in and out of the Helena was closely watched, and they were forbidden to take merchandise they purchased in town to the countryside. The Union Army also attempted, unsuccessfully, to force these citizens to take an oath of allegiance to the United States, Joseph Brent said.
Social Change The Emancipation Proclamation, announced in September 1862, was in effect wherever the Union army was in control. That made Helena a “center for freedom seekers,” in the Confederacy, said Maria Campbell Brent.
Magnolia Cemetery Encompassing 36 acres in a Crowley’s Ridge valley, this African-American cemetery, located on Wire Road in Helena, pre-dates the Civil War. Many of Helena’s African-American leaders and pioneering families are buried here, including W.H. Grey, one of the state’s first black legislators, and Abraham Miller, a successful businessman and also a state legislator, and his wife Eliza, a philanthropist. Many Civil War, World War I and World War II veterans are also buried here. A wayside exhibit discusses the cemetery’s history.
Admission to the museum is free.
4
In 1860, Helena had the largest slave population in the state at 9,000. The total population at the time was 15,000. Helena’s plantation owners were concerned with protecting their wealth by keeping their slaves tied to the land. The town became pro-secession before Arkansas officially seceded from the Union in May 1861, said Mark Christ, community outreach director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Demonstrating their loyalty to the Confederacy, militias, led by Helena’s seven Confederate generals, were formed, some before secession. Soon Helena’s generals and hundreds of men marched off to fight for the Confederacy. This left Helena and its plantations “undermanned” with no Confederate defense when Union troops, led by U.S. General Samuel Curtis, arrived in July 1862, Joseph Brent said.
A S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T F R O M C I V I L WA R H E L E N A · W W W. C I V I LWA R H E L E N A . C O M