Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bushwhackers were scourge to those already suffering in Civil War
“Heaven born but hell bound” was the description offered by one lady as the bushwhackers raided her home. Bushwhackers were a plague for the families left behind while their menfolk were fighting the battles of the Civil War. The bushwhackers, often no more than common criminals with loyalty to neither side, pillaged the countryside, taking food and money from those they encountered.
By late 1863, Arkansas was a state divided, with the Union occupying most of the larger towns in northern Arkansas and the Confederacy occupying the southern part of the state. Bushwhackers as well as raiding groups from both armies confiscated food, stole livestock, and in many cases burned down the homes of any individual thought to be disloyal to whatever cause was supported by those doing the raiding. Vast tracts of rural farm land could be described as the burnt-over area.
Thousands packed their remaining belongings and fled their homes. Wagon trains of Confederate sympathizers, with their belongings and slaves, headed south to Texas to wait out the war. Those of the Union persuasion headed to Fort Smith or Fayetteville, where they could expect military protection and assistance.
Facing further hardship, many attempted to flee further north into the Union states. Thomas Ferguson was forced to flee from his Scott County home after he was severely wounded by bushwhackers. After a few weeks in the Fort Smith garrison, he decided to travel to southern Illinois to stay with his family. If war wasn’t enough, during the travel his wife and two of his children died of measles and were buried on the banks of the White River. Two other relatives disappeared after a bushwhacker attack and were never seen again.
Similar stories occurred throughout Arkansas. In Greenwood, Eliza Turner was captured by bushwhackers wearing Union uniforms. He was taken to a nearby barn, beaten, and then hanged. His family buried him beneath a stone labeled “Assassinated, June 8, 1864,” and headed to safety in Kansas. The family never returned to Arkansas.
With atrocities committed across the region, agriculture ground to a standstill. Lack of food and supplies resulted in the starving times of 1863 and 1864. Seeking a solution, Col. Marcus Larue Harrison of Fayetteville came up with a controversial plan to form fortified colonies across Arkansas to house and feed anyone willing to take an oath of allegiance to the U.S. The original plan was to form a colony that would consist of at least 50 men capable of bearing arms and settle their families on large tracts of abandoned land where they could subsist and raise crops. A blockhouse fort was to be constructed at each of these posts.
Four colonies were created in Sebastian and Crawford counties and 17 others in Washington, Madison and Benton counties. The colonies grew a number of crops, including potatoes, onions, wheat, and corn, and were very successful in providing protection and subsistence to their inhabitants.
It is interesting to note that many of these “post” cities developed into communities and small towns, even after former inhabitants returned to claim their land after the war. Area communities that served as “post” towns were Elkins, Farmington, Pea Ridge, War
Eagle, Huntsville, and Union Valley near Prairie Grove. As the war ended, the Old Testament was referenced: “The time is not too far distant when we will return home, beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks.” Driving through these peaceful communities today, one realizes that those days have arrived.
Curtis Varnell, Ph.D., is a longtime teacher in the area, the author of several books on local history, a regular columnist on that topic and the science and social studies coordinator for the Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative at Branch. Email him at curtis.varnell@wscstarfish.com.