Qualla: Battle of Prairie D'Ane https://qualla.com/battle-of-prairie-d-ane en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Prairie D'Ane https://qualla.com/battle-of-prairie-d-ane Battle of Prairie D'Ane: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-prairie-d-ane/ Prairie D'Ane -- French for "Donkey Meadow" -- was a prominent landmark in southwest Arkansas: an open prairie 20 miles square, surrounded on all sides by dense pine forest. In April 1864, it became a battlefield. The fighting here was part of the Camden Expedition, itself a component of the larger Red River Campaign, one of the Union's most ambitious and ultimately disastrous operations in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. The plan was elegant on paper: Major General Nathaniel Banks would drive north up the Red River from Alexandria, Louisiana, while Major General Frederick Steele pushed southwest from Little Rock. The two armies would converge on Shreveport, crushing General E. Kirby Smith's Confederate forces between them. What happened instead was a cautionary tale about long supply lines, bad intelligence, and Arkansas mud.

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/y/j/8/battle-of-prairie-d-ane-wp/9yj8-battle-of-prairie-dane-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Prairie D'Ane: Crossroads in the Pines https://qualla.com/battle-of-prairie-d-ane/ The prairie's strategic importance was clear to both sides. To the west lay Washington, Arkansas, which had served as the Confederate state capital since the fall of Little Rock in September 1863. To the east lay the fortified city of Camden. To the south, the Red River led to Sh...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/y/j/8/battle-of-prairie-d-ane-wp/9yj8-battle-of-prairie-dane-crossroads-in-the-pines.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Prairie D'Ane: Six Companies at the Ford https://qualla.com/battle-of-prairie-d-ane/ The first blood was drawn at a crossing of the Little Missouri River on April 2-4. Lieutenant Colonel F.M. Drake, commanding just three companies of the 36th Iowa Infantry and three companies of the 43rd Indiana Infantry -- fewer than 400 men total -- held a forward position in d...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/y/j/8/battle-of-prairie-d-ane-wp/9yj8-battle-of-prairie-dane-six-companies-at-the-ford.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Prairie D'Ane: Hunger and Mud https://qualla.com/battle-of-prairie-d-ane/ Steele's VII Corps had left Little Rock with inadequate provisions, and the men marched on half-rations through rain-soaked country, finding little to forage along the way. Disease had already gutted the ranks: typhoid, measles, malaria, influenza, and chronic diarrhea had put en...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/y/j/8/battle-of-prairie-d-ane-wp/9yj8-battle-of-prairie-dane-hunger-and-mud.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Prairie D'Ane: The Long Retreat https://qualla.com/battle-of-prairie-d-ane/ Steele ordered General John Thayer's Frontier Division to feint toward Washington, drawing Confederate attention while the main force slipped east on the Camden Road. The ruse was quickly discovered, leading to a rear-guard action at the hamlet of Moscow on the prairie's southeas...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/y/j/8/battle-of-prairie-d-ane-wp/9yj8-battle-of-prairie-dane-the-long-retreat.mp3 0:06 5 full