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The Battle of Helena was a land battle of the American Civil War fought on July 4, 1863, at Helena, Arkansas. The battle was a Confederate attempt to relieve pressure on the besieged city of Vicksburg.〔 The victory secured eastern Arkansas for the United States. ==Prelude== Lieutenant-General Theophilus Holmes, commander of the District of Arkansas, planned a coordinated attack from three sides on the formidable Federal fortifications surrounding Helena in order to relieve pressure on Vicksburg and to prevent Helena being used as a base to attack further into Arkansas. Holmes wrote to General Kirby Smith, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, and received permission to attack Helena. Infantry under Major-General Sterling Price and cavalry under Brigadier-General John Marmaduke would move from Jacksonport to the vicinity of Helena. Price and Marmaduke would meet up with infantry out of Little Rock, under Brigadier-General James Fagan. Holmes, accompanied by Arkansas Governor Harris Flanagin, travelled to Helena to take personal command of the attack. Major-General Benjamin Prentiss, in command of the District of Eastern Arkansas, was headquartered at Helena with approximately 20,000 troops. Brigadier-General Frederick Salomon commanded a division from 13th Corps and had been placed in charge of the forces manning the defenses of Helena, a Mississippi River port town at the terminus of Crowley's Ridge and ringed by steep hills cut by heavily thicketed ravines. Four artillery batteries with breastworks and rifle pits were placed in a semicircle around the town. In addition, the USS ''Tyler'', a "timber-clad" gunboat was assigned to support Prentiss.〔(historyofwar.org )〕 Prentiss received word that an attack was in the works and actively worked to slow the movement of Confederate forces by felling trees. Helena itself was overcrowded with federal troops and was suffering from housing shortages and poor health and sanitation facilities. Occupying soldiers dubbed the town "Hell-in Arkansas".〔(Encyclopedia of Arkansas )〕 Just prior to the battle, a large number of troops were transferred to Vicksburg to strengthen the siege around that city. This transfer left only about 4,000 Union soldiers to protect the Federal enclave at Helena. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Helena」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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