From Fort Hindman, at Arkansas Post, Confederates had been disrupting
Union shipping on the Mississippi River. Maj. Gen. John McClernand, therefore,
undertook a combined force movement on Arkansas Post to capture it. Union
boats began landing troops near Arkansas Post in the evening of January 9,
1863. The troops started up river towards Fort Hindman. Maj. Gen. William T.
Sherman's corps overran Rebel trenches, and the enemy retreated to the
protection of the fort and adjacent rifle-pits. Rear Adm. David Porter, on the
10th, moved his fleet towards Fort Hindman and bombarded it withdrawing at
dusk. Union artillery fired on the fort from artillery positions across the
river on the 11th, and the infantry moved into position for an attack. Union
ironclads commenced shelling the fort and Porter's fleet passed it to cutoff
any retreat. As a result of this envelopment, and the attack by McClernand's
troops, the Confederate command surrendered in the afternoon. Although Union
losses were high and the victory did not contribute to the capture of
Vicksburg, it did eliminate one more impediment to Union shipping on the
Mississippi.