Poison Spring AR014

supportedunresolved Britton says Confederate scouts watched the train from Camden and reported its wagons and escort to Marmaduke, while Williams knew nothing of the Confederate dispositions and expected any attack on the rear; he adds that a cavalry reconnaissance might have discovered Price's forces and that foraging to the front was contrary to general policy.

Attributed knowledge from a history; no scouting reports inspected.

disputedunresolved NPS says dwindling supplies forced Steele to send the foraging party, and Britton that his troops had been on half rations of bread and that the chief quartermaster made up a train of 198 wagons for four to five thousand bushels of corn. Price puts the train at some 225 wagons. Britton says the escort's two guns had nearly exhausted their shell and canister before the last assault. NPS says 198 wagons and all the corn were lost.

Supply statements with differing wagon counts; no quartermaster return inspected.

supportedunresolved Britton says Marmaduke decided to try to capture the train and Williams resolved to defend it as long as possible in hope of help from Camden; Maxey later broke off pursuit to secure the train and guns. Price says dispositions were made to attack the train on its return.

Stated aims from a history and an interested report.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Confederate victory and the live result Confederate Victory. Price calls it a perfect success with the whole train, all the artillery and many prisoners taken; Britton says Williams saw the train could not be saved and fell back to Camden.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 415 total (US 301; CS 114), and the live field agrees. Britton gives the Union loss as 122 killed, 97 wounded and 81 missing, with the First Kansas Colored Infantry losing 117 killed and 65 wounded; Maxey's incomplete returns as 17 killed and 88 wounded; and only 4 Black soldiers reported captured. He says Confederate troops shot wounded Black soldiers on the field, that Black soldiers separated or cut off from their command were shot down without mercy, and that Cabell reported one regiment killed at least 80. Price claims near 500 Union dead, mostly Black soldiers.

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 killing of wounded and cut-off Black soldiers means Union killed and missing figures are not ordinary combat categories.

supportedunresolved Britton says Maxey, the senior of three brigadier generals, commanded the combined force and ordered Greene's brigade into the centre, and that Thayer detailed Williams to command the escort; Price also names Maxey as commanding. Price reported Williams killed; an editorial footnote calls this a mistake. The frozen commanders are Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and Samuel Bell Maxey and Colonel James M. Williams; the live page lists Marmaduke without rank and Williams.

Command roles from a history and an interested report; the listed commanders do not receive automatic sole credit, and Price's report of Williams's death is preserved as an error flagged by the compiler.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads Brigade (1,100 men) [US] and Marmaduke's and Maxey's Divisions [CS], and the frozen US bound is 1,100; the live field reads 1100 (US 1100; CS 0). Britton says the escort was 695 men, joined on the road by Duncan's 383 infantry, 90 cavalry and two howitzers, and that the Confederate force was thirty-seven hundred picked men and twelve guns from Marmaduke's, Cabell's and Maxey's divisions. Price says the train was guarded by about 1,500 men and four guns.

Escort components, an interested estimate and a retrospective count of the attackers; the frozen and live US 1,100 has no inspected basis, the Confederate divisions are named differently, and Britton's components are not summed here. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live CS zero is not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Britton says the high ground was covered with pine timber that limited sight to about a hundred yards and hid the Union line from the Confederate artillery, that the fight turned on a field of twenty to thirty acres, and that the retreat crossed timber, brush and ravines where the guns had to be abandoned. NPS says Williams's men regrouped in a marsh to the north. Price names the site on the Washington, Munn's Mill and Camden road.

Ground described by a history, a summary and an interested report; no map verification.