Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post sat on a bluff that was nearly 25’ high overlooking the Arkansas River. This Confederate earthwork commanded a view of the river for a full mile in either direction and prevented Federal gunboats from advancing to Little Rock unchallenged. The fort also served as a supply base for Confederate boats used to harass and interrupt the Federal supply lines that utilized the Mississippi River.
The Plan for Fort Hindman
Colonel John W. Dunnington of the Confederate States Navy was charged with the task of building a fort on the Arkansas River. Two engineers, Captain Robert H. Fitzhugh and A.M. Williams, assisted him. Clarkson’s company of sappers and miners and slaves provided the labor. Fort Hindman was a square, full- bastioned earthwork. The exterior sides of the fort, between the salient angles, were each 300 feet in length. The parapet was 18 feet wide on the top, the ditch 20 feet wide on the ground level, and 8 feet deep, with a slope of 4 feet base. A banquette for infantry was constructed around the interior slop of the parapet; also three platforms for artillery in each bastions and one in the curtain facing north.
Armament of Fort Hindman
On the southern side of the northeastern bastion was a casement 18 by 15 feet wide and 7 1/2 feet high . The walls and roof were constructed of three thicknesses of oak timber, 16 inches square and reinforced with additional revetments of iron bars. One of the shorter sides of the casemate was inserted in the parapet and was pierced by an embrasure 3 feet 8 inches on the inside and 4 feet on the outside. The entrance was in the opposite wall. A similar casemate was constructed in the curtain facing the river. The entrance to the fort, secured by a traverse was on the northwestern side. The fort also contained a well-stored magazine, several frame buildings, and a well. The fort sat on the North bank of the river. Lines of pilings were driven into the south bank, to herd vessels closer to the fort.
Four 6-pound iron smooth- bore guns mounted on field carriages
Two 9-inch Columbiads
One 8-inch Columbiad
Four 3-inch parrott rifles mounted on field carriages
Glossary
angle: where two faces of a work meet
barbette: placing an artillery piece so that it fires over the top of a parapet as opposed to through a slit in the parapet called and embrasure. Barbette fire allowed the gun more flexibility, up to a 90- degree field of fire, but provided less protection for gunners than embrasures
bastion: an earthwork configuration with two faces and two flanks, forming three salient angles; typically connected to another bastions by a parapet or curtained wall.
bastioned fort: an enclosed earthwork with bastions in the angles to provide fire along the fronts of the connecting walls
battery: 1. An Artillery unit 2. Earthwork designed to defend an Artillery unit
casemate: an enclosed and roofed over gun position
parapet: mound of earth thrown up as a protective barricade, made up of spoil removed from the ditch; often called a breastwork
revetment: a framework supporting the interior slope of the parapet
salient: longer section of line that protrudes to the front, often held by a specific unit
traverse: a segment of parapet built to protect from sweeping fire
Source Citation
National Park Service, “Fort Hindman.” Gillett, Arkansas: U.S. Department of the Interior Arkansas Post National Memorial. 2025.