By: History.com Editors

1863

Battle of Arkansas Post

History.com Editors

Published: November 13, 2009

Last Updated: January 31, 2025

On January 11, 1863, Union General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter capture Arkansas Post, a Confederate stronghold on the Arkansas River. The victory secured central Arkansas for the Union and lifted Northern morale just three weeks after the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Arkansas Post was a massive fort 25 miles from the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. It was designed to insure Confederate control of the White and Arkansas rivers, and to keep pressure off Vicksburg, Mississippi, the last major Rebel city on the Mississippi River. The sides of the square fort were each nearly 200 feet long and the structure was protected by a moat. It sat on a bluff 25 feet above the river. The post was a major impediment to Yankee commerce on the Arkansas.

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McClernand gathered his Army of the Mississippi at Milliken’s Bend, just north of Vicksburg. He had some 32,000 men in two corps commanded by generals George Morgan and William T. Sherman. McClernand’s main objective was Vicksburg, but he decided to capture Arkansas Post first to secure Yankee commerce on the rivers north of Vicksburg. McClernand was accompanied by Porter’s flotilla. The plan was to steam up the Arkansas River and land the troops below the post, then have Sherman’s men swing around behind the fort while Morgan approached from downriver.

Porter began bombing the fort on the night of January 10. The bombardment continued the following day. Through the afternoon, Union infantry moved toward the fort while the ships passed in front and began firing from the other side of the fort. The Confederate garrison was surrounded, and offered a white flag before the day was out. The Yankees lost around 130 men and suffered about 900 wounded, but they captured 5,000 Confederates and preserved Union commerce on the Arkansas and White rivers.

Timeline

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1775

Jewish patriot joins Provincial Congress of South Carolina

Francis Salvador, the first Jewish person to hold an elected office in the Americas, takes his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress on January 11, 1775. He later became the first recorded Jewish soldier killed in the American War for Independence.

1879

Anglo-Zulu War begins

After the Zulu kingdom ignores the British ultimatum to fully demilitarize within 30 days, British troops invade Zululand in three columns from the southern African republic of Natal, under the leadership of Lord Chelmsford. Thus begins the Anglo-Zulu War.

1908

Theodore Roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monument

On January 11, 1908, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declares the massive Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument.

Colorful sunset overlooking the Colorado River deep in the Grand Canyon

1922

First human receives insulin injection to treat diabetes

On January 11, 1922, 14-year-old Leonard Thompson becomes the first person to receive an injection of the hormone insulin for Type-1 diabetes—a disease that for millennia had been considered a death sentence for anyone who developed it. The breakthrough would be one of the most consequential in medical history, saving millions of lives.

1927

Charlie Chaplin’s assets frozen in contentious divorce suit

On January 11, 1927, Charlie Chaplin’s $16 million estate is frozen by court receivers after his second wife, Lita Grey Chaplin, sues for divorce. The bitter and prolonged divorce ended a three-year marriage with a $825,000 settlement ($625,000 for her and $200,000 in trust for their two children), a record amount at the time.

1935

Amelia Earhart flies from Hawaii to California

In the first flight of its kind, American aviatrix Amelia Earhart departs Wheeler Field in Honolulu, Hawaii, on a solo flight to North America. Hawaiian commercial interests offered a $10,000 award to whoever accomplished the flight first. The next day, after traveling 2,400 miles in 18 hours, she safely landed at Oakland Airport in Oakland, California.

1943

FDR becomes first president to travel by airplane on U.S. official business

On January 11, 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first president to travel on official business by airplane. Crossing the Atlantic by air, Roosevelt flew in a Boeing 314 Flying Boat dubbed the Dixie Clipper to a World War II strategy meeting with Winston Churchill at Casablanca in North Africa. With German U-boats taking a heavy toll on American marine traffic in the Atlantic, Roosevelt’s advisors reluctantly agreed to send him via airplane. Roosevelt, at a frail 60 years old, gamely made the arduous 17,000-mile round trip.

1959

A serial killer abducts young family from their car

On January 11, 1959, the Jackson family—Carroll, 29, his wife Mildred, 27, and their two young daughters—are driving along a dirt road in Virginia, returning home from a family visit, when they are forced to stop and are abducted at gunpoint. A few days later, their car is found empty on the side of the road, with keys in the ignition, Mildred's purse on the seat and dolls scattered about. The family's disappearance triggers a massive search-and-rescue operation and remains a terrifying local mystery for two months.

1964

U.S. Surgeon General announces definitive link between smoking and cancer

On January 11, 1964, United States Surgeon General Luther Terry releases a groundbreaking government report announcing a definitive link between smoking and cancer.

1971

“Silicon Valley” first appears in print

On January 11, 1971, “Silicon Valley” appears for the first time in print in the Electronic News, a popular weekly trade magazine_._ The article, the first of a three-part series, was written by veteran electronics columnist Don Hoefler and chronicles the rise of the semiconductor industry in Northern California’s Santa Clara Valley. Its headline: “Silicon Valley U.S.A.”

1973

American League adopts designated hitter rule

On January 11, 1973, the owners of America’s 24 major league baseball teams vote to allow teams in the American League to use a “designated pinch-hitter” who could bat for the pitcher while still allowing the pitcher to stay in the game.

1978

“Song of Solomon” wins National Book Critics Circle Award

On January 11, 1978, Toni Morrison wins the National Book Critics Circle Award for Song of Solomon. The award brought the writer national attention for the first time, although she had already published two moderately successful books, The Bluest Eye (1969) and Sula (1973). Morrison went on to win the Pulitzer in 1988 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

1989

President Reagan gives his farewell address

After eight years as president of the United States, Ronald Reagan gives his farewell address to the American people. In his speech, President Reagan spoke with particular enthusiasm about the foreign policy achievements of his administration.

2010

Miep Gies, who hid Anne Frank, dies at 100

On January 11, 2010, Miep Gies, the last survivor of a small group of people who helped hide a Jewish girl, Anne Frank, and her family from the Nazis during World War II, dies at age 100 in the Netherlands. After the Franks were discovered in 1944 and sent to concentration camps, Gies rescued the notebooks that Anne Frank left behind describing her two years in hiding. These writings were later published as “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl,” which became one of the most widely read accounts of the Holocaust.

2012

Joran van der Sloot pleads guilty to Peru murder

On January 11, 2012, Joran van der Sloot, a longtime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba, pleads guilty to the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, in Lima, Peru. Flores was killed on May 30, 2010, exactly five years to the day after Holloway went missing while on a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island. Her disappearance generated widespread media coverage in the United States.

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Citation Information

Article title
Battle of Arkansas Post
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 22, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 31, 2025
Original Published Date
November 13, 2009

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