Men of the Arkansas Division,
If you would like to donate to the Franklin monument for the Arkansas troops, go to www.arkansastoothpick.com and you can’t miss it. Tell everyone in your camps to spare a dollar or two!
Thanks Everett for taking the lead on this!
In February of 1861, two months before the start of the Civil War, a confrontation with federal authorities at theLittle Rock Arsenal brought Arkansas to the brink of armed conflict. After years in which the Federal Army had maintained a minimal presence at the arsenal, the arrival of seventy-five U.S. soldiers, commanded by Capt. James Totten, along with news of South Carolina’s secession and the formation of the Confederate States of America, caused concern and speculation statewide.
As Arkansans anxiously prepared for a special election to decide the state’s future, Little Rock residents faced a more immediate crisis. On the morning of February 5, approximately one thousand armed men from southern and eastern Arkansas arrived in Little Rock to demand the arsenal’s surrender along with its weaponry. Sensing an opportunity to push the state toward secession, Governor Henry Rector formally called for the removal of Federal troops. One week later, Capt. Totten withdrew his soldiers from Little Rock “to prevent the effusion of blood.” Arkansas had narrowly averted armed conflict with the Federal government.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the end of the Arsenal Crisis, the museum will host a symposium on the impact the crisis had on the Little Rock Arsenal, the secession convention and Governor Rector.
Lectures:
10:00—10:45- “Arsenal Arms” Ian Beard
11:00—12:00- “To Prevent the Effusion of Blood . . . The Little Rock
Arsenal Crisis of 1861” Tom Ezell
12:00—1:00- Lunch On Your Own
1:00—2:00- “A Contrary Effect: The Arsenal Crisis and the Calling of the Secession Convention” Dr. Michael Dougan
2:15—3:15- “Oh Hell! The Arsenal Crisis and Downfall of Governor Henry
Massie Rector” Dr. Michael Dougan
Members of the General Robert C. Newton Camp of Little Rock gathered for breakfast and then a trip to the Confederate Cemetery in Little Rock. The site of 900 graves had fallen into danger of being lost. The Newton camp, over the years, has over come great odds to get the site recognized. Our thanks to Ron Kelley for his untiring work in this reguard. Now that the site is identified Mike Loum, Vernon Cloos, Duke Walker and Jim Ikerman probed the site for lost headstones. Some were found but yielded no information about the Confederate Soldier burried there. The United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument dated 1913 to commemerate the 900 soldiers who are burried on the sight. The inscription is in poor condition. We recorded it, in hope that it may be re-inscribed in 2013. I have enclosed the inscriptions:
Monument to 900 confederate soldiers in cemetery, Little Rock, AR
UDC 1913
North side inscription:
GATHERED SACRED
OF THE WARRIORS TRIED AND TRUE
WHO BORE THE FLAG OF A NATIONS TRUST
AND FELL IN A CAUSE THOUGH LOST STILL JUST
AND DIED FOR YOU AND ME
AND THE DEAD THUS MEET THE DEAD
WHILE THE LIVING O’RE THEM WEEP
AND THE MEN BY LEE AND STONEWALL LEAD
AND THE HEARTS THAT ONCE TOGEATHER BLED
TOGEATHER STILL SHALL SLEEP..
South side inscription:
ALL LOST BUT BY THE GRAVE WHERE MARTYRED HEROS REST
HE WINS THE MOST WHO HONOR SAVE. SUCCESS IS NOT THE TEST
IT RECKS NOT WHERE THEIR BODIES LIE
BY BLOODY HILLSIDE, PLAIN, OR RIVER, THEIR NAMES ARE BRIGHT ON FAMES PROUD SKY. THEIR DEEDS OF VALOR LIVE FOREVER
Inscription on west side:
IN MEMORY OF
THE NINE HUNDRED CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS
BURIED WITHIN THIS ENCLOSURE MOST
OF WHOM DIED IN THE
HOSPITAL IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
IN 1863
Several years ago at one of the January Arkansas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ meeting, someone had exclaimed that the mass grave of 900 CSA Veterans in the Little Rock National Cemetery was not marked, save for an oblisk at the head of the grave. There were no markings to show the extent of the size of the grave. This fact had come to the surface and several SCV members from the Newton Camp in Little Rock and Cleburne Camp in Pine Bluff set out to find the best solution to an old and quiet political dilema in which we found ourselves regarding this gravesite.
To read the complete article on the largest marking of Confederate mass graves in recent history by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, go to the following link to the official website of the Patrick R. Cleburne Camp 1433:
http://arkansastoothpick.com/?p=465
The Searcy County Historical Society is sponsoring a Cemetery Symposium, Saturday, November 7, in Marshall, Arkansas. Symposium speakers are members of the Arkansas Archeological Survey and the Washington County attorney. They will cover Arkansas Cemetery Law, cemetery restoration, including funding, and the techniques and science of finding lost graves. An Arkansas Cemetery Law abstract is available at the website or by purchase. For more information and registration forms go to website: http://www.ancestorfair.us and click on ‘cemetery symposium’ or contact James Johnston at johnston@ipa.net or telephone 479-442-2691.
