Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele, USA

Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, CSA

The battle pitted Steele's Union troops against Price's Confederates.

The Battle of Bayou Fourche (September 10, 1863) saw Union forces under the overall command of Frederick Steele clash with Confederate forces led by Sterling Price near Little Rock, Arkansas. The only fighting occurred when Steele's cavalry commanded by John W. Davidson crossed to the south side of the Arkansas River and compelled the Confederate cavalry under John S. Marmaduke to abandon its defensive position behind Bayou Fourche. Price's outnumbered forces evacuated Little Rock and withdrew south to Arkadelphia. The Union occupation of Little Rock was the final action in a campaign that started on August 18 when Steele's troops marched west from DeValls Bluff.^[1]

Union Army: Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele^[2]

• Present aggregate (Aug. 18, 1863): 13,000, 57 guns (18 guns with Davidson), 14,500 including True's brigade.^[1]
• Present for duty (Sept. 10, 1863): 10,477^[2]
• Present aggregate (Aug. 18, 1863): 13,207, 49 guns^[3]
• Present for duty (Aug. 18, 1863): 4,652 cavalry, 4,493 infantry, 288 artillery, 9,433 total^[3]
• Casualties: 18 killed, 118 wounded, 1 missing^[2]
• Cavalry Escort:^[2]
  • Company D, 3rd Illinois Cavalry Regiment, 1st Lieut. James K. McLean
  • Kane County, Illinois Cavalry, 1st Lieut. Eben C. Litherland

Union Army: Little Rock Expedition^[2]

Division	Brigade	Unit	Commander
First (Cavalry) Division Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson 6,000 cavalry and 18 guns	First Brigade Col. Lewis Merrill	2nd Missouri Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (Merrill's Horse)	Maj. Garrison Harker
		7th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry Regiment	Lieut. Col. John L. Chandler
		8th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry Regiment	Col. Washington F. Geiger
	Second Brigade Col. John Montgomery Glover	10th Illinois Cavalry Regiment	Col. Dudley Wickersham Lieut. Col. James Stuart
		1st Iowa Volunteer Cavalry Regiment	Lt. Col. Daniel Anderson Maj. Joseph W. Caldwell
		3d Missouri Volunteer Cavalry Regiment	Lieut. Col. T. G. Black Capt. J. H. Reed
	Reserve Brigade Col. John. F. Ritter	13th Illinois Cavalry Regiment	Maj. Lothar Lippert
		3rd Iowa Volunteer Cavalry Regiment	Maj. George Duffield
		1st Missouri Volunteer Cavalry Regiment	Capt. J. W. Fuller
		32nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment (mounted)	Lieut. Col. Edward H. Mix Maj. Gustavus A. Eberhard
	Artillery Capt. Julius L. Hadley	Battery K, 2nd Missouri Light Artillery (4 x 3-in OR, 2 x 12lb How)[4]	1st Lieut. T. S. Clarkson
		Battery M, 2nd Missouri Light Artillery (4 x Mtn How)[4]	Capt. Gustav Stange
		Howitzer Battery, 2d Missouri Cavalry[5]	1st Lieut. G. F. Lovejoy (w)[5]
		25th Ohio Battery (2 x 3-in OR, 4 x 6lb Rifle)[6]	1st Lieut. E. B. Hubbard
Second Division Col. William E. McLean Col. Adolph Englemann	First Brigade Col. William H. Graves	18th Illinois Infantry Regiment	Col. Daniel H. Brush
		43rd Illinois Infantry Regiment	Maj. Charles Stephani
		54th Illinois Infantry Regiment	Col. Greenville M. Mitchell
		61st Illinois Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Simon P. Ohr
		106th Illinois Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Henry Yates
		12th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Dwight May
	Second Brigade Col. Oliver Wood	126th Illinois Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Ezra M. Beardsley
		40th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Samuel F. Cooper
		3rd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Col. Christopher C. Andrews
		22nd Ohio Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Homer Thrall
		27th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Col. Conrad Krez
Third Division Brig. Gen. Samuel Allen Rice	First Brigade Col. Charles W. Kittredge	43rd Indiana Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. John C. Major
		36th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Francis M. Drake
		77th Ohio Infantry Regiment	Col. William B. Mason
	Second Brigade Col. Thomas H. Benton Jr.	29th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Robert F. Patterson
		33rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Cyrus H. Mackey
		28th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Maj. Calvert C. White
Independent Cavalry	Independent Brigade Col. Powell Clayton	1st Indiana Cavalry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Thomas N. Pace
		5th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Wilton A. Jenkins
Independent Infantry	Independent Brigade Col. James M. True	49th Illinois Infantry Regiment	Col. Phineas Pease
		62nd Illinois Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Stephen M. Meeker
		50th Indiana Infantry Regiment	Lieut. Col. Samuel T. Wells
		27th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment	Col. James Isham Gilbert
		Springfield Illinois Light Artillery (6 x 14lb JR)[7]	Capt. Thomas F. Vaughn
Independent Artillery	Artillery Brigade Capt. Mortimer M. Haden	3rd Iowa Independent Battery Light Artillery (4 x 6lb Gun, 3 x 12lb How, 1 x 3-in OR, 1 x 10lb PR)[8]	1st Lieut. Melvil C. Wright
		Battery K, 1st Missouri Light Artillery (4 x 10lb PR)[9]	Capt. Stillman O. Fish
		5th Ohio Battery (2 x 6lb Gun, 2 x 14lb JR)[10]	1st Lieut. John D. Burner
		11th Ohio Battery (2 x 6lb Gun, 2 x 12lb How, 1 x 6lb Rifle)[10]	Capt. Frank C. Sands

Confederate Army: Maj. Gen. Sterling Price

• On July 23, 1863, the department commander Lieut. Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes became ill and was superseded by Price.^[11]
• On September 6, 1863, Brig. Gen. Marmaduke mortally wounded Brig. Gen. Walker in a duel. Col. Dobbins assumed command of Walker's division.^[12]
• Marmaduke placed Dobbins under arrest on September 10 for disobedience of orders and command devolved upon Col. Newton. Price later suspended Dobbins's arrest.^[13]
• Present for duty: 7,749. About 6,500 were north of the Arkansas River and 1,250 south of the river.^[1]
• Aggregate present (September): 10,665, 32 guns. Present for duty: 8,532.^[3]
• Casualties: 12 killed, 34 wounded, 18 missing.^[2]

Confederate Army: Little Rock Expedition^[5][2]

Division	Brigade	Unit	Commander
Marmaduke's Cavalry Division Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke	Shelby's Brigade Lieut. Col. Benjamin F. Gordon	5th Missouri Cavalry Regiment	Lieut. Col. B. F. Gordon
		6th Missouri Cavalry Regiment	Col. Gideon W. Thompson
		10th Missouri Cavalry Battalion	Maj. Benjamin Elliott
		2nd Missouri Field Battery (2 x 6lb Gun, 2 x 10lb PR)[14]	Capt. Joseph Bledsoe
	Marmaduke's Brigade Col. William L. Jeffers	8th Missouri Cavalry Regiment	Lieut. Col. S. J. Ward
		3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment	Maj. L. A. Campbell
		4th Missouri Cavalry Regiment	Lieut. Col. W. J. Preston
		11th Missouri Cavalry Battalion	Lieut. Col. M. L. Young
		Prairie Gun Battery, Missouri Artillery	1st Lieut. T. J. Williams
Walker's Cavalry Division Brig. Gen. Lucius M. Walker Col. Archibald S. Dobbins Col. Robert C. Newton	Dobbin's Brigade Col. A. S. Dobbins Col. R. C. Newton	1st Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (Dobbin's)	Maj. S. Corley (k) Capt. M. M. Bateman
		5th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment	Col. R. C. Newton, Maj. J. P. Bull
		6th Arkansas Field Battery	Capt. C. B. Etter
	Carter's Brigade Col. George W. Carter	21st Texas Cavalry Regiment[15][note 1]	Lieut. Col. Dewitt C. Giddings
		Morgan's Texas Cavalry Squadron	Maj. Charles L. Morgan
		Johnson's Spy Company, Texas Cavalry	Capt. Alf Johnson
		Denson's Company, Louisiana Cavalry	Capt. William B. Denson
		10th Texas Field Battery	Capt. Joseph H. Pratt
Price's Division Brig. Gen. Daniel M. Frost	McRae's Brigade Brig. Gen. Dandridge McRae	32nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment	Col. L. C. Gause
		36th Arkansas Infantry Regiment	Col. J. E. Glenn
		39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment	Col. R. A. Hart
		3rd Arkansas Field Battery	Capt. John G. Marshall
	Parsons's Brigade Brig. Gen. M. Monroe Parsons	7th Missouri Infantry Regiment	Col. L. M. Lewis
		8th Missouri Infantry Regiment	Col. S. P. Burns
		9th Missouri Infantry Regiment	Col. J. D. White
		10th Missouri Infantry Regiment	Col. A. C. Pickett
		9th Missouri Sharpshooter Battalion	Maj. L. A. Pindall
		3rd Missouri Field Battery (4 x 6lb Gun)[16]	Capt. C. B. Tilden
	Fagan's Brigade Brig. Gen. James F. Fagan	6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment	Col. Alexander T. Hawthorn
		34th Arkansas Infantry Regiment	Col. W. H. Brooks
		35th Arkansas Infantry Regiment	Col. J. P. King
		37th Arkansas Infantry Regiment	Maj. T. H. Blacknall
		7th Arkansas Field Battery	Capt. W. D. Blocker
	Clark's Brigade[3] Col. John B. Clark Jr.	8th Missouri Infantry Regiment[17]	Col. Charles S. Mitchell
		9th Missouri Infantry Regiment[18]	Lieut. Col. M. W. Buster
		8th Missouri Infantry Battalion[18]	Lieut. Col. Richard H. Musser
		1st Missouri Field Battery (2 x 6lb Rifle, 2 x 6lb Gun)[19]	Capt. S. T. Ruffner

• List of orders of battle

Footnotes

Citations

• Bailey, Anne J.: TWENTY-FIRST TEXAS CAVALRY from the Handbook of Texas Online (April 11, 2011). Retrieved April 3, 2020.
• Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Vol. 3. Secaucus, N.J.: Castle. 1987 [1883]. ISBN 0-89009-571-X.
• Dimitry, John; Harrell, John M. (1899). Confederate Military History: Louisiana and Arkansas. Vol. 10. Atlanta, Ga.: Blue & Gray Press.
• McGhee, James E. (2008). Guide to Missouri Confederate Units, 1861-1865. Fayetteville, Ark.: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-55728-870-7.
• Swain, Craig (2018a). "Summary Statement, 3rd Quarter 1863, Iowa's Batteries". To the Sound of the Guns.
• Swain, Craig (2018b). "Summary Statement, 3rd Quarter 1863, Ohio Independent Batteries, Part 1". To the Sound of the Guns.
• Swain, Craig (2018c). "Summary Statement, 3rd Quarter 1863, Ohio Independent Batteries, Part 2". To the Sound of the Guns.
• Swain, Craig (2019a). "Summary Statement, 4th Quarter 1863, 1st Missouri Artillery". To the Sound of the Guns.
• Swain, Craig (2019b). "Summary Statement, 4th Quarter 1863, 2nd Missouri Artillery". To the Sound of the Guns.
• Swain, Craig (2015). "Summary Statement, December 31 1862, Independent Illinois Batteries and "Others"". To the Sound of the Guns.
• "The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports". University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History: United States War Dept. 1888. Retrieved July 26, 2013.