The Louisiana in the Civil War Message Board - Archive

Upcoming events at Old State House

The Old State House Museum in Little Rock will host two programs in 2002 as part of the programming associated with the "Brothers In Arms: The Spence Family and the Civil War" exhibit, which is on display through May.
A one-day seminar focusing on the battle of Poison Spring will be held Saturday, January 26, 2002. One of the letters in the Old State House Museum's Spence Family Collection contains an eyewitness account of that controversial battle and the letter will be on display during the seminar.
The battle was a major engagement in the Camden Expedition, an ill-fated attempt by Maj. Gen. Fredrick Steele's Federal army in Arkansas to pass through the southwestern portion of the state and link with another Union army in Louisiana to establish a free-soil cotton growing colony in Texas. On April 17, 1864, Steele sent a detail to seize corn to feed his hungry army but was met by 3,600 Confederate cavalrymen who blocked the Union column near Poison Spring. After fierce fighting Steele's troops were driven from the field in disorder. What occurred after the fighting remains controversial and will be discussed by nationally recognized authorities.

Participants will include: Mark Christ curator of the "Brothers in Arms" exhibit and author of the upcoming book Getting Used To Being Shot At: The Spence Family Civil War Letters; Dr. Tom DeBlack, Arkansas Tech University; Ronnie Nichols, Civil War consultant; Dr. Carl Moneyhon, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Frank Arey, Department of Arkansas Heritage and Dr. Gregory J.W. Urwin, Temple University. The seminar is free and lunch will be provided but you must register by January 18, 2002, by calling the Old State House Museum at 501-324-8663.

A one-day seminar on Saturday, March 7, 2002, will focus on Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne and the history of the 3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment flag, which was carried in Cleburne's division during the Civil War. Following the end of the war, all captured flags were turned over to the U.S. War Department. This flag was mistakenly identified as an Alabama flag and returned to that state in 1905. Recently, the Alabama Department of Archives and History donated the flag to the Old State House Museum where it is now part of the world's largest collection of Arkansas Civil War flags.

Seminar participants include Bob Bradley, curator of flags for the Alabama Department of Archives and History, and Craig Symonds, professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy and author of the book Stonewall of the West: Patrick Cleburne and the Civil War. In addition to the speakers, the 3rd Confederate Infantry flag will be on display for seminar attendees. For ticket information, call the Old State House Museum at 501-324-8663.