The vessel halted at Memphis, Tennessee when the local citizens hailed it from shore with an alarming report that Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his cavalry were in the neighborhood and were preparing an attack on the city.

The regiment eventually moved to some old vacated mule-sheds and remained in Memphis performing guard duty at Fort Pickering until 1 January 1863, when it resumed its movement to Helena.

Returning to Helena, the Thirty-sixth commenced a physically demanding daily regimen of drill and building fortifications in anticipation of a Confederate attack expected with the arrival of spring weather.

With New Orleans, Port Hudson, Vicksburg, Helena, Memphis and Columbus Kentucky in federal hands, the Confederacy west of the river was isolated from secessionist allies in the east.

The 36th Iowa did not cross the Arkansas and enter the city until 15 September due to the fact that in their retreat, the Confederates had burned the boat-bridge spanning the two shores, and then a Union pontoon bridge broke down.

He obtained a pass to depart Confederate lines from General James Fagan, who allegedly told young Dodd, "I expect a full report upon your return."

A notebook taken from him contained notes in Morse Code that, when translated by the assistant army telegrapher, described accurately much of the federal Order of Battle in Little Rock and the disposition of infantry regiments and artillery batteries.

The column immediately encountered rebel skirmishers along the line of march that followed the Old Military Road from Little Rock southwestward to Washington Arkansas near the Texas border.

Fighting renewed at 6 a.m. the following mornings and lasted 7 hours as Drake and his small command gave ground stubbornly as the larger rebel force tried to drive them back into the Little Missouri River.

They delivered such a devastating volley of musket fire at point blank range that Marmadukes' rebels were completely routed and forced to retire south toward Prairie D'Ane with significant casualties.

The combined column continued onward, harassed at every opportunity by rebel skirmishers and snipers as it proceeded slowly on dusty roads through thick forests to the southwest.

The defeat of Banks on the Red River enabled Kirby Smith to immediately move General Dick Taylor's Texas division north into southern Arkansas—bringing additional infantry regiments with him from Louisiana and raising some newly recruited units along the way.

The 36th Iowa was ordered to seize the mill and they spent the next few days getting it back in operation and grinding what supply of corn could found by Union foraging parties into meal for the army.

Steele meanwhile sent scouts foraging for other sources of grain and food, and word soon reached his headquarters that a large cache of corn had been discovered some 18 miles northwest of Camden on the upper Washington Road near Poison Springs.

Cut off from their route of escape, they were driven steadily to the rear and took refuge behind sheds of a nearby plantation where efforts were made to rally the men to make a stand.

The men of the Thirty-sixth Iowa clearly heard the sounds of the Poison Springs battle to their northwest and then discovered that Fagan had moved his mounted brigade up to within two miles of Brittons' Mills.

Realizing that the rebels could attack them at first light with overwhelming numbers, and having no artillery and just a small cavalry detachment with them, the regiment loaded their wagons and made a forced march back into Camden after dark.

The brigade also included a section of 75 civilian Negro pioneer laborers whose job it was to move ahead of the train, felling trees and laying them down to build corduroy roads over the muddy, difficult route.

The train with escort left Camden on Friday, 22 April and Drake soon found that an additional entourage of some 50–75 civilian wagons carrying teamsters, sutlers, cotton speculators, about 300 Negro refugees and other assorted camp followers had joined the expedition.

Due to very muddy road conditions, progress was slow and the column was harassed by cavalry scouts belonging to Rebel General Jo Shelby's "Iron Brigade" on the first day out from Camden.

Lieutenant Samuel Swiggett, B/36th, recounted in his memoirs that, while no surface water could be discerned in the Moro Bottom, the ground was so saturated by the recent rains that anyone or anything attempting to cross it would become hopelessly buried deep in mud and muck.

Captain Swiggett opined that, had Drake exhibited more backbone by insisting on moving across Moro Bottom Sunday afternoon, the entire train could have crossed safely before nightfall, would have been well on its way to Pine Bluff, and would have avoided the tragedy to come.

Although Drake could perhaps claim later that he was technically following Steele's orders by going into bivouac when he did, Swiggett noted that there was a strong sense of gloom and foreboding in the federal camp as they lay there immobile on Sunday afternoon.

As the column crossed the Moro Bottom with difficulty and headed to higher ground, federal scouts informed Major Wesley Norris commanding the 43rd Indiana that they had discovered signs of large, hastily abandoned cavalry encampments to their immediate front.

A short distance further, in a clearing at a fork in the road occupied by a few log cabins, the 43rd Indiana was fired on by dismounted rebel cavalry from General Fagan's command.

Fagan had evaded Union scouts the previous night by crossing the Ouachita River below Camden and making a forced march (52 miles) to get into position ahead of Drake's train between the Moro and Pine Bluff.

Drake sent an order to Gedney to support a cavalry charge into Cabell's troops to push them back, prevent encirclement and attempt a link-up with the 77th Ohio, which was now moving forward to join the battle but still a mile to the rear.

As the men of the 36th and 43rd Indiana were being rounded up and disarmed, a last-ditch effort to break into the Confederate ring by some brave federal cavalrymen created enough confusion and a diversion for some of the Iowa soldiers to bolt and escape.

Learning of the disaster at Mark's Mills, Steele immediately put the VII Corps in motion from Camden on the morning of 26 April with the object of crossing the Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry and retiring to Little Rock.

The Confederate victors of Marks Mills robbed the survivors of every valuable item they possessed, including hats, boots, watches, money and in some cases, the clothes on their backs.