The Remarkable Reed's Bridge

(from  Reed’s Bridge Battlefield Preservation Society)

The war in Arkansas to 1863

Arkansas seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861 and over the next year mustered thousands of soldiers into the Confederate ranks. Secession was favored by a majority of residents in Arkansas but there were also strong pockets of Union sympathizers in the state’s mountainous regions. Only small skirmishes took place in the state until early 1862. In March, Union forces under the command of Major General Samuel Curtis engaged the army of Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn at Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas. After two days of fighting, Van Dorn’s army was defeated and most of his army was then transferred east across the Mississippi River. After capturing Memphis in June, Union troops descended the Mississippi River and occupied Helena.

Over the next six months, control of Northwest Arkansas continued to be the main focus of Union and Confederate forces. In December, a Confederate army of 11,000 men under Major General Thomas Hindman attacked Union forces commanded by Brigadier Generals James Blunt and Francis Herron at Prairie Grove. Fighting all day on December 7^th, Hindman was initially successful but strong Union counterattacks drove him from the field. In January of 1863, a strong Confederate position at Arkansas Post on the Arkansas River was forced to surrender to a much larger Union army.

Following the surrender of Arkansas Post, hostilities in the state were relatively quiet as Union forces in the west planned the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Vicksburg campaign in the summer of 1863 resulted in a siege of the surrounded Confederate army in the city in June. Seeking to help raise the siege, a Confederate army under Major Generals Sterling Price and Theophilus Holmes marched to attack Helena. Price and Holmes planned their assault to begin on the morning of July 4^th. Strongly fortified, the Union troops at Helena repulsed the Confederate charges and inflicted over 1,700 casualties. The same day, the Confederate army of some 30,000 soldiers surrendered at Vicksburg. With the capture of this Confederate army, the Union high command then turned its attention to invading central Arkansas and capturing the capital of Little Rock. 

The Little Rock Campaign of 1863

In July of 1863, the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant captured the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. With the surrender of Vicksburg, Union forces were then poised to invade the interior of Arkansas and capture its capital city, Little Rock. By the end of the month, Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele had arrived at Helena to take command of all Federal forces in Arkansas. Steele and his officers then planned a campaign to move into the interior of the state and strike at Little Rock. In Little Rock, responsibility for the defense of the city had passed to Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. Price commanded a small army of eight thousand men present for duty. Price pronounced his troops to be "in excellent condition, full of enthusiasm and eager to meet the enemy," but he confessed in a letter to Lt. General Kirby Smith that he "did not believe it would be possible for us to hold it [Little Rock] with the forces then under my command." 

Despite his misgivings, Price set about devising a plan for the capital's defense. He ordered the cavalry of Brig. Gen. John Marmaduke and Brig. Gen. Lucius M. Walker to observe and harass enemy movements and began the construction of a defensive position composed of rifle pits and redoubts on the north side of the Arkansas River about two-and-a-half miles downstream from the city. This position faced eastward and was bounded by a cypress swamp on the left and the river on the right. Price believed that his only chance of successfully defending Little Rock lay in the possibility that the Union commander would launch a straight frontal assault against this fortified position.

On August 10th and 11th, Major General Steele sent six thousand infantry, backed by sixteen pieces of artillery, west from Helena toward Clarendon on the White River. There he would rendezvous with a like number of cavalry moving south from Missouri under Brig. Gen. John Davidson. Davidson reached Clarendon on August 8th. On August 23rd, Price ordered Marmaduke to join forces with Walker at Brownsville along the major overland approach to Little Rock. Since Walker was the senior officer, he was Marmaduke's superior, however, the two officers had been feuding since an earlier engagement at Helena.  

At sunrise on August 25th, advance elements of Davidson's cavalry collided with Marmaduke's thirteen hundred horsemen near Brownsville. Outnumbered four to one in men and eight to one in artillery, Marmaduke could not hope to defeat the Federals, but the Missourian gave ground grudgingly before retiring from the field. He formed a new battle line six miles west of the town, and there he temporarily halted the Union advance. On August 26th, Price ordered Walker and Marmaduke to withdraw to Bayou Meto, a sluggish stream running east of the capital, and to "hold it as long as possible." Their combined forces took up positions at Reed's Bridge on Bayou Meto, approximately twelve miles northeast of Little Rock (near present-day Jacksonville). 

The battle of REED’S Bridge

After fighting a running battle at Brownsville on August 25th, a force of the First Iowa Cavalry and Third Missouri Cavalry (U.S.) and sections of Lovejoy’s and Clarkson’s batteries drove up the Little Rock Road to feel out the Rebel positions at Bayou Meto. “The enemy were found posted in force at a position about 9 miles beyond Brownsville, estimated by Colonel Glover, commanding, at 6,000 strong,” Brig. Gen. John Wynn Davidson reported.   Glover’s advance skirmishers made first contact, locating Rebel pickets about six miles from Brownsville and driving them back some two miles to entrenched positions about two miles east of Bayou Meto. “After a considerable artillery duel, I ordered Lovejoy to advance his section, in doing of which he had one cannoneer pierced through with solid shot and killed instantly, so well did the enemy have the range of the road,” Col. J.M. Glover reported. A swift reconnaissance by Glover led him to conclude that the Confederate position was more than he wanted to tackle with the force at hand, and the Yankees fell back to Brownsville. In addition to the Yankee artilleryman, the engagement claimed the lives of three Confederates.

On August 27th, Davidson returned in force to confront the Confederate horsemen at Bayou Meto. John Edwards of Brig. Gen. Jo Shelby’s command succinctly described the bayou and its importance: “The Bayou Metre [sic] was a low, sluggish stream, with a miry bed, abrupt banks, and its sides fringed with a heavy growth of timber. It was difficult to cross, and presented the only water at which a command could conveniently camp after leaving Bayou Two Prairie.” It was here that Brig. Gen. Lucius M. Walker’s horsemen would make a stand and here that Davidson’s thirsty troops would face their first serious combat of the campaign.

Glover’s troops again had the advance, and with a battalion of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry leading as skirmishers they began to move forward on the road to the Bayou Meto bridge. They first encountered Marmaduke’s horsemen some five miles east of the bridge, and after “a brisk fire” the Rebels fell back about two miles. The Tenth Illinois again hit the Confederate lines at this new position, losing a lieutenant to Southern marksmen. Davidson then ordered Glover’s entire brigade into action.

Glover placed his artillery in the center, on the road. Two battalions of the Third Missouri Cavalry (U.S.) climbed from their horses to the right of the road to fight as infantry; six squadrons of the Tenth Illinois covered their right flank. A third battalion of the Third Missouri, joined by foot soldiers of the Thirty-second Iowa infantry, comprised Glover’s left. “In this order, with a heavy line of skirmishers in front, the brigade moved forward,” the Union commander reported.   

Facing the approaching Yankee cavalry, Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke placed Shelby’s Iron Brigade under B. Frank Gordon as his forward line of troops at the McCraw House on the Military Road north of Bayou Meto. Marmaduke’s Brigade, under Col. William L. Jeffers, was formed below the bridge, along with Col. Archibald Dobbin’s Arkansas regiment. The Confederates would contest the advancing Unionists above the bridge, but braced for a heated defense from behind the natural rampart of Bayou Meto.

THE HISTORIC REED’S BRIDGE BATTLEFIELD

(from  Reed’s Bridge Battlefield Preservation Society)

THE MILITARY ROAD AND THE CROSSING OF THE BAYOU METO

The area around the Bayou Meto was occupied by Native Americans until the early 19^th century when the Arkansas Territory was formed in 1819. The Southwest Trail, a Native American path, crossed into the northeast section of the Arkansas Territory at the Current River and then extended southwest through what is now Pulaski County to the site of Little Rock. The Southwest Trail crossed the Bayou Meto just southwest of the future site of Jacksonville. As Arkansas was settled after 1819, this crossing became the center for a network of roads.

During the winter of 1820-1821, the Gray family from Tennessee settled in the area and began clearing the land for cultivation. Led by Jacob Gray Sr., the family consisted of four daughters and three sons. One son, Samson Gray, became prominent in the community and he built a log building to serve as his residence near the Southwest Trail. Known as the Samson Gray House, this building stood until the mid-20^th century. When Pulaski County was subdivided into townships this area was named Gray Township in recognition of the Gray family.

In 1824, the United States Congress approved a survey for a road connecting Memphis, Tennessee with Little Rock. The road was designed to be part of the military road system assisting the federal government in removing Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of Fort Smith. The following year a commission was appointed to survey the route and formulate plans for hiring contractors to build the roadbed and bridges. The roadbed was designed to extend northeast from Little Rock, cross the Bayou Meto and continue northeast passing in front of the log dwelling of Samson Gray. Samson Gray formed a partnership with two other nearby residents and submitted a bid for the construction of the Bayou Meto Bridge of 130’ in length for a cost of $710. This partnership also offered bids for the construction of several sections of the roadbed as well.

Gray’s partnership received the contract to build the bridge and sections of the road which became known as the “Military Road.” In November of 1827, Lt. Charles Thomas, assistant quartermaster and supervisor for building the road, reported that “Gray and company have opened twelve miles of the road and are now at work on the Bayou Meto Bridge.” The bridge appears to have been completed by August of 1828 when it was reported that the first mail from Memphis was transported along the completed Military Road. The Military Road attracted hundreds of settlers to the state in the late 1820s and early 1830s and Samson Gray operated a prosperous stagecoach stop and public house at his residence facing the road.

John H. Reed and Reed’s Bridge

Reed’s Bridge received its name from its association with John H. Reed and his wife Fredericka Reed. Following the rebuilding of the bridge in 1838, John H. Reed purchased the charter from Thomas W. Gray and began its operation. Reed came to Pulaski County from St. Louis in 1833 and served as a clerk to the Army during the Native American removal. While living in Little Rock, Reed met Fredericka Held, a native of Germany, and they were married on October 16, 1834. After his tenure as an Army clerk ended, Reed entered the newspaper business and became co-editor of the Little Rock Times. Reed retired from the newspaper business in 1838 and he then purchased the charter to operate the Bayou Meto Bridge.

Reed operated the bridge along with a relative, Milton J. Reed, during the early 1840s. John H. Reed and his family resided in the Samson Gray house at this time just to the north of the bridge. John H. Reed died on December 15, 1845 and was survived by his wife Fredericka and their four children. Milton Reed sold his interest in the bridge and several tracts of land to Fredericka Reed in February of 1847 and the deed included “certain structures, buildings, and bridge known as Reed’s Bridge, across the Bayou Meto, about twelve miles from Little Rock and on the road hence to Memphis, Tennessee.”

After 1847 the toll bridge across the Bayou Meto was owned and operated by Fredericka Reed. In August of 1858, an attorney employed by Mrs. Reed negotiated an extension of her charter by another ten years. He later wrote to her that “I succeed after much trouble in obtaining a charter for ten years, but the court made a reduction in the tolls though it is still a valuable privilege and will be worth at least $1,000 per annum to you.” In 1860, she was listed in the US census as owning $25,000 worth of real estate and $800 in personal property.

Fredericka Reed was the operator of the bridge when it was the scene of fighting on August 26^th and 27^th of 1863. During the battle, Confederate engineers tarred the bridge and set it on fire to keep the crossing out of the hands of the approaching Union forces. After the destruction of the bridge, Mrs. Reed and her daughter Jane may have operated a ferry at this site before the bridge was rebuilt.

In the years following the Civil War, Fredericka Reed began to sell her property in the Gray Township. In 1867, James H. Fleming and Thomas Holland renewed the charter for Reed’s Bridge which continued to be a toll bridge although it was free and open to the citizens of the Gray, Bayou Meto and other neighboring townships. Mrs. Reed moved into Little Rock to live with her daughter Jane and her family and died on November 27, 1891.     

The Bayou Meto Bridge and the Trail of Tears

The passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 resulted in the removal of the majority of Native Americans residing east of the Mississippi River. Thousands of Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee passed through Arkansas on their way to the Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma. The Military Road was one of the primary routes used by the tribes as they moved west. The first of these groups was a party of Choctaw who crossed the Bayou Meto Bridge in December of 1831 on there way to Little Rock. The task of provisioning the tribes resulted in contracts between the Army and farmers and merchants along the route. Samson Gray was active in these business arrangements and provided produce and livestock for use by the Army and the transport of the tribes. Gray also was paid to maintain and repair the bridge during its heavy use by the emigrating tribes.

Samson Gray died in November of 1834 and over the next several years the bridge gradually deteriorated. In July of 1838, a petition signed by 100 county residents stated that the Bayou Meto Bridge was in a “very decayed and dilapidated condition, so as to be almost impassable…” Thomas W. Gray, a brother of Samson Gray, was granted a charter to rebuild the bridge and operate it as a toll bridge. Tolls were fixed by the court such as fifty cents for the passage of a wagon pulled by two horses, three cents for each pedestrian user, and two cents for each head of pig or sheep. Following the rebuilding of the bridge, Gray transferred the charter of the toll bridge to John H. Reed on October 30, 1838 for $1,000.

Reed was the operator of the bridge when the John Bell detachment of the Cherokee crossed the Bayou Meto in December of 1838. During the early 19^th century, the Cherokee Nation resisted emigration west but the tribe was finally forced to leave their homeland in 1838. Some 17,000 Cherokee were moved into emigration depots in Tennessee and Alabama during the summer and divided into various detachments for the journey west. One of these detachments was led by John Bell and his detachment consisted of Cherokee who had supported the signing of the treaty selling their land to the federal government. Known as “Treaty” Cherokee, members of the John Bell detachment traveled with a military escort to protect them from reprisals by “anti-treaty” Cherokee.

The John Bell detachment consisting of some 660 Cherokee left their emigration depot in Tennessee on October 11^th. Traveling across the southern section of the state, the detachment reached Memphis on November 22^nd. After crossing the Mississippi River the detachment marched west on the Military Road and entered Pulaski County on December 12^th. The John Bell detachment crossed the Bayou Meto Bridge on either December 13^th or 14^th and it is possible that they camped in the general vicinity of the bridge as they made their crossing. The John Bell detachment was the last large party of Native Americans who used the Bayou Meto Bridge during the Trail of Tears.