Bayou Forche AR010

supportedunresolved Davidson says he sent an officer with a guidon along the bank to mark his progress for Steele, whose batteries fired in support from the north bank, and that he advanced slowly not knowing when the whole Confederate force might turn on him. Price says the enemy had begun to show his intention of crossing below the city.

Attributed knowledge from interested reports; no original messages inspected.

supportedunresolved Davidson says his staff worked all night cutting the bank and laying the pontoon bridge, completed at 8 a.m., and that the United States arsenal was repossessed uninjured with its remaining stores. Price says he had ordered the public stores removed to Arkadelphia soon after taking command and sent the trains to the rear early on the 10th.

Interested reports; no quartermaster or ordnance return inspected.

supportedunresolved Davidson says Steele's plan was for the infantry to move on the works up the north bank while the cavalry forced the river and assailed the city from the rear. Price says he did not believe he could hold Little Rock with his force, and ordered Marmaduke to hold the enemy on the south bank until the infantry was withdrawn and then cover the retreat.

Stated plans from interested reports.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Union victory and the live result Union Victory. Davidson says the enemy was driven from the bayou toward the city and that Little Rock was formally surrendered by the civil authorities at 7 p.m.; Price says the city was evacuated about 5 p.m. NPS says Davidson sent the Confederates fleeing and the city fell that evening.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. The fall of Little Rock is campaign context; the tactical record is the engagement at the bayou.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads Total unknown (US 72; CS unknown); the live field reads 136 (US 72; CS 64). Davidson says his loss did not exceed, as far as known, 60 killed and wounded. The compiled Confederate return printed with Price's report, marked incomplete and garbled in OCR, ends with a grand total read as 64 but covers the whole advance from August 25 to September 10.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. The return's 64 matches the live CS figure but is not limited to September 10.

supportedunresolved Price says he sent Marmaduke to take command of all the cavalry on the south bank and that his rear guard was skillfully handled. His November 25 letter says Walker had been mortally wounded in a duel with Marmaduke the morning after September 5, and that Marmaduke, placed under arrest, was restored to command for the operations at his officers' request, and that Dobbin reported to Price under arrest by Marmaduke's order. Davidson ordered the brigade advances. The frozen commanders are Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and John W. Davidson; the live page lists Marmaduke without a rank.

Command roles from interested reports; the listed commanders do not receive automatic sole credit. The command disruption is recorded, not scored.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads Cavalry Division, Army of Arkansas, Arkansas Expedition [US] and District of Arkansas [CS], with no numerical bounds; the live field reads zero. Price says he had barely 8,000 men of all arms against nearly or quite 20,000, and that Dobbin concentrated about 1,200 men to dispute the crossing; he sent Tappan's brigade and then Marmaduke's division to the south bank. Davidson says three brigades crossed, with Engelmann's infantry division placed at his disposal, and that at Bayou Fourche he met Marmaduke's dismounted cavalry and Tappan's infantry brigade with two batteries.

An interested district-wide comparison, a detachment figure and unit identifications; none describes the forces at the bayou in numbers. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live zero is not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Price says the Arkansas was fordable in twelve places within 12 miles of Little Rock, and that the crossing point was the upper point of a horseshoe bend on whose three sides the Union planted five batteries; his own works lay on the north bank about 2 1/2 miles (read '2£') in front of the city. Davidson says the enemy was strongly posted at Fourche Bayou, 5 miles from Little Rock, and that his dismounted cavalry fought through timber and cornfields. NPS says the Confederates were entrenched on the north side.

Ground and river from interested reports and a summary; no map inspected.