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Annual Camp White Sulphur Springs Living History Slated
By admin | October 8, 2009
The annual Fall Camp White Sulphur Springs Civil War living history will be held at the Confederate Cemetery in Sulphur Springs on Luckwood Road Saturday and Sunday. Civil War reenactors from around Arkansas will have tents set up, a working telegraph in full operation, a hospital tent complete with surgical implements, cannons, muskets, and more including a battle at 1:30 pm on Saturday.
Camp White Sulphur Springs, in 1862, was alive. In the now-rural and sparsely populated area of Sulphur Springs, 1862 saw as many as over 10,000 people over the course of several months. It was that year that General Van Dorn led most of the remaining troops in Arkansas to Tennessee, leaving Arkansas largely uncovered with troops to protect it. As a result, Camp White Sulphur became one of the largest troop mustering grounds west of the Mississippi River used by troops from Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana, including the 2nd Confederate Battalion, which later became known as the infamous 3rd Arkansas Infantry that fought the famous Battle of Gettysburg, PA.
One of the men who mustered into Confederate service at Camp White Sulphur Springs was Andrew McDermott, the slave of the inventor of the world’s first “heavier-than-air” aircraft, Charles McDermott. In 1862, Andrew mustered into the 24th Arkansas Infantry, Company B. After the Battle of Arkansas Post in the winter of 1863, McDermott disappeared from the military record, whose fate remains unknown.
Also located on the Camp White Sulphur Springs site is the land that Wiley Jones had built a hotel upon during reconstruction in 1889. Wiley, the body servant of Confederate General James Yell during the Civil War, became the wealthiest African-American west of the Mississippi River due to his successful business ventures in Jefferson County.
Maintained primarily by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp White Sulphur Springs Confederate Cemetery is on the National Registry of Historical Places.
Topics: Living Histories |
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