Rambling Arkansas–A Visit to Fort Curtis

 There is more than the Blues in Helena!

 

 

As part of my research for ‘Til Shiloh Come,  my friend Mary Lee Cunningham and I drove to the Helena-West Helena area to visit Fort Curtis.  I’d never been to that Civil War site, much to my shame as an Arkansan who loves history.  When we got there we found a replica of an earthen works fort that was built there to protect the city and port at Helena during the war.  I learned so much that day!

Do you know what a rampart is?  You know we sing that line every time we sing our National Anthem.  “O’er the ramparts we watched, as so gallantly streaming” are some of the words  Francis Scott Key penned in 1814 to commemorate the battle at Fort McHenry.  I thought it was a wall…At Fort Curtis I  walked across a rampart behind the defensive barrier built of earth and logs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found out the fort didn’t need a gate. Instead, the fort has a strong sally port that prevented invasion. 

Huge cannons were mounted on rails so they could be moved to target attacking forces.  Even the tops of the ridges of Crowley’s Ridge provided natural defensive sites from which these gigantic canons that fired shells the size of cantaloupes.  The fortification was manned by soldiers from mostly northern states, but also by African-American troops, most of whom were formerly slaves in Southern states.  Three troops, the 54th, the 57th, and most of the 69th United States Colored Troops were recruited from Phillips County.  Many of them served until April, 1865, in Helena at Fort Curtis.

 

That was then…but now?

Walking around this facsimile  of Arkansas history on the warm beautiful spring day reinforced for me once again how proud I am to live in this state and to be an American.  Arkansas is beautiful, but we have a deep history. Over this historic site flies a United States flag as it looked at the end of the Civil War when the unity of our country had been preserved. It’s all part of the American experience. If we take the time, we can experience some of it of it.

You’ll love a day trip to this area.  While here, drive down to the banks of the Mississippi and look across to our neighboring state of Mississippi.  Drive up to the top of the ridge and visit the beautiful military cemeteries where men who fought this war are interred and honored. May we never have to fill our cemeteries with unknown American soldiers fighting against each other within our country again.

Then you can go down to one of the local restaurants and end your day with some delicious Delta bar-be-que.

You read about Mac’s time at Fort Curtis in the latest volume of the Shiloh Saga in the book ‘Til Shiloh Come.  I hope you enjoy it.  Please let me know how you like it.