Raising Thunder with the Secesh: Powell Clayton's Federal Cavalry at Taylor's Creek and Mount Vernon, Arkansas, May 11, 1863

Abstract

BY LATE SPRING 1863, MAJ. GEN. ULYSSES S. GRANT and his Army of the Tennessee seemed on the brink of capturing the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg. With Grant persevering through six months of unsuccessful maneuvering, Confederates in the west faced for the first time an unrelenting Federal leader. Confederate brigadier general John S. Marmaduke persuaded Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes, commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department, that raids against Federal supply lines might hinder Grant's efforts. The Confederates hoped to destroy the Federals' supply depots in Missouri, where they stored material and produce from northern factories and farms before shipping it south. Raids might also replenish drastically-reduced Confederate supplies and even cause Grant to divert some Vicksburg-bound troops to the relief of Missouri. Marmaduke left Batesville, Arkansas, in late April with five thousand cavalrymen and headed for Union-held river ports in southeast Missouri. Their main target was the depot at Cape Girardeau. Despite Marmaduke's best efforts, though, the raid was a complete failure. By early May, the Confederate raider concentrated the remnants of his command on Crowley's Ridge, fifty to sixty miles north of Helena, Arkansas. Without delay, Federal cavalry forces at Helena took measures to counteract any move on the part of these Confederate troops into the immediate vicinity. Encounters at Taylor's Creek and Mount Vernon in St. Francis County, Arkansas-heretofore only incompletely examined-helped ensure the maintenance of Federal superiority in eastern Arkansas and enhanced the prospects of Grant's success at Vicksburg. The Federal troops involved in this fighting belonged to the 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Col. Cyrus Bussey, 3rd Iowa Cavalry. Bussey's cavalry regularly patrolled the area between Wittsburg, Cotton Plant, St. Charles, and Helena.1 His brigade leaders included Lt. Col. Benjamin L. Wiley, 5th Illinois Cavalry, and Col. Powell clayton, 5th Kansas. Wiley, a forty-two-year-old political appointee from southern Illinois, had little command experience. clayton, by contrast, had extensive experience, including a military education and command of many expeditions in the region. clayton began his military career in a militia company at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He became lieutenant colonel of the 5th Kansas in December 1861, then assumed command of the regiment in March 1862. The thirty-year-old Pennsylvania native, who later served as Arkansas's governor and U.S. senator during Reconstruction, became one of Bussey's most trusted and experienced leaders. clayton's guidance molded the 5th Kansas into a reliable, hard-fighting regiment. The Kansans had a reputation for ruthless warfare against the local population, who feared the 5th's efficiency in the burning and pillaging of their homes. Under the direction of Lt. Col. Wilton A. Jenkins and Maj. Samuel Walker, who commanded most of the 5th Kansas's patrols, the regiment earned the nickname Walker's Jayhawkers. Born in Pennsylvania, the forty-one-year-old Walker had moved to Kansas in 1855 and became a prominent and influential Free-Soiler. At the start of hostilities, Walker joined the 1st Kansas Infantry, serving as captain of Company F before being commissioned major of the 5th Kansas in May 1862. Jenkins joined Company G, 5th Kansas, as a 1st lieutenant in October 1861, but his energetic drive had propelled him to the rank of lieutenant colonel by May 1862. Jenkins also rose rapidly in the esteem of his men, who admired his leadership and fighting abilities.2 In the late summer 1862, Bussey's troops had been challenged by Confederate cavalry, who began patrolling the Helena area with orders to disrupt Federal operations. One of the Federal cavalry's most successful adversaries was Maj. William Walton, 21st Texas Cavalry. An ardent secessionist, Walton had joined the 21st Texas in March 1862. His handpicked scouting parties joined a growing body of troops who became notorious for capturing Federal cavalry stragglers, ambushing foraging parties, and generally creating havoc. …