The next stop on our trip was a place called Pilot Knob. It's a VERY tiny town, but it is home to Fort Davidson, where a Civil War battle took place on September 26-27, 1864.
Here I am, shooting a cannon just like the soldiers would have. 
I was having lots and lots of fun doing this until Steph told me that I needed to learn a little bit about this place. 
But, I got to play afterward!
We stopped to read a sign about the VERY deep moat around the whole fort. Here's what the sign said, since it's hard to read when the photo is resized:
| Quote: |
The Moat
A dry moat surrounded Fort Davidson on all sides. During the third and final desperate Confederate assault, Arkansas troops of General William Cabell's brigade fought their way into the moat and prepared to climb the wall. Hand grenades were brought from the magazine to drive them out.
"...we rushed back to the banquette with the grenades and passed them to the men in front, with orders to throw them into the ditch. Pandemonium instantly broke loose...men were blown above the parapet and fell back dead; the ditches were cleared as if by magic. It struck terror to the enemy's lines, and they fell back in disorder..."
Confederate officers blamed the failure of the assault on the depth of the moat and the steepness of the fort walls. |
Upper photo shows what the hand grenades looked like. Illustration is of the Confederates trying to climb the wall, but having the grenades used on them, so they cannot.
And here's another sign! Again, too hard to read, so I thought I'd share it with you again!
| Quote: |
The Powder Magazine
This crater marks the site of the powder magazine. The underground structure was 40 feet long, 12 feet high, and 12 feet wide. It was covered with 15 feet of earth to protect it from enemy fire. Some 20 tons of gunpowder and ammunition were stored here during the battle.
At midnight, the defenders silently evacuated the fort. Equipment that could not be taken was piled against the magazine and the Union dead were laid nearby. An hour later a party of volunteers lit a fuse to the magazine and galloped for safety.
"...suddenly the heavens were lighted up by a grand column of fire ascending hundreds of feet...and making the whole region reverberate with a sound as though a mighty thunderbolt had riven Pilot Knob..."
The startled Confederates did not realize that the fort had been evacuated. Major General Price presumed that an accident had ignited the magazine and that the fort would surrender in the morning. |
Photo on the right shows what the fort would have looked like during the battle on September 26-27, 1864. The one on the left is a cross-section of the magazine
And here is what the powder magazine inside the fort looks like now! It's just a crater and, because of all the rain, was filled with water.
We didn't get any pamphlets from this place, but you can read even more about it here and here if you would like! 
