The regiment was composed of African American enlisted men commanded by white officers and was authorized by the Bureau of Colored Troops which was created by the United States War Department on May 22, 1863.

The 11th Regiment, United States Colored Troops was recruited out of Fort Smith in the fall and winter of 1863–64, shortly after the Union had recaptured the post from Confederate forces.

They spent most of their time drilling and performing routine duties such as working on the earthwork fortifications that surrounded the town of Fort Smith, serving as guards, and participating in any formal dress parades.

On the night of the January 24, a detachment of Colonel Robert C. Newton’s 10th Arkansas Confederate Cavalry Regiment seized the mill, located twelve miles from Dardanelle in Yell County, in order to grind flour.

[3] Lieutenant Colonel James M. Steele, leading the 11th USCT, surprised the Confederate force, capturing eighteen horses and twenty stands of arms, as well as all of the flour and Newton’s papers.