 |
| KIDDS MILL AT CANE HILL, ARKANSAS. |
|
|
|
This is all that's left today, of the Old Mill at Cane Hill, Arkansas. It didn't get the 32 foot
metal wheel until after the Civil War. Originally known as Truesdale's Mill, during the War
it was owned by Tandy Kidd, and known to both armies as Kidd's Mill. First settled in 1828,
Cane Hill claimed a modest college by 1834, and was a bustling community by the 1850s.
At the beginning of the Civil War, part or all of several Confederate Units were raised here.
But, the war came right thru town on November 28th, 1862. CSA Brigadier General John
Sappington Marmaduke's 2300 southern cavalry were encamped about the town, as
Marmaduke ran this mill, and four others in the area. Federal Brigadier General James
G. Blunt, marched his 5000 man division of all arms, thru the early morning hours, and
attacked Marmaduke at about 9:00 in the morning. After two hours of mostly artillery fighting
right around the town, college, and mill, the troops of both sides moved down the road south.
Fighting finally ended at sundown, 12 miles south. Blunt had succeeded in taking the mills and
pushing Marmaduke south, but Marmaduke managed to cover the retreat of his
considerable forage trains, intended to supplement the diet of Southern Infantry,
near Fort Smith, Arkansas.
|
|