Battle of Chalk Bluff

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of Chalk Bluff
Part of the American Civil War
Date May 1 – 2, 1863 Location Near Chalk Bluff, northwest of St. Francis (present-day Clay County, Arkansas) 36°28′38.14″N 90°9′31.79″W / 36.4772611°N 90.1588306°W / 36.4772611; -90.1588306 Result Confederate pyrrhic victory[1]
Belligerents
Confederate States	United States
Commanders and leaders
Brig. Gen. J. S. Marmaduke	Brig. Gen. Wm. Vandever
Units involved
Marmaduke’s Division	Second Division, Army of the Frontier
Strength
2,000	10,000
Casualties and losses
30 killed 60 wounded 120 missing total of 210 men	23 killed 44 wounded 53 captured total of 120 men
Chalk Bluff class=notpageimage| Location within Arkansas

The Battle of Chalk Bluff (May 1 – 2, 1863), also known as the Skirmish at Chalk Bluff, was a military engagement of the American Civil War. The battle was fought near Chalk Bluff, northwest of St. Francis (present-day Clay County, Arkansas), where U.S. Brigadier General William Vandever, commanding the Second Division of the Army of the Frontier, was repulsed in an attempt to prevent Confederate General John S. Marmaduke's Division from crossing the St. Francis River. Though a Confederate victory, Marmaduke suffered considerable casualties and his momentum had been checked, forcing him to abandon his second expedition into Missouri.^[1]