Frustrated in its attempt to march to Little Rock by a lack of supplies, the Union Army of the Southwest under the command of Samuel Ryan Curtis moved south down the White River.

Curtis's army encountered a Confederate force led by Albert Rust on the east bank of the Cache River near Cotton Plant.

These horsemen attacked the Federal advance guard under Charles Edward Hovey, but after a spirited fight, Union reinforcements arrived and drove off the Texans.

Rust's force made a disorderly retreat and Curtis's army was able to march south to Clarendon before veering east to occupy Helena on the Mississippi River.

On April 5, Curtis's department commander General Henry Halleck authorized a move eastward to block a possible offensive by Van Dorn.

[2] In fact, on March 23, General Albert Sidney Johnston ordered Van Dorn's troops to move to Corinth, Mississippi where a large Confederate army was assembling.

[3] After Shiloh, Halleck instructed Curtis to move into northeast Arkansas and rendezvous with another Federal force under General Frederick Steele.

Dutifully, Curtis gathered seven Illinois, two Missouri, and one Indiana regiments, placed them under Generals Jefferson C. Davis and Alexander Asboth and sent them to Halleck.

[5] The Federal occupation of Batesville prompted Arkansas Governor Henry Massey Rector to call out the militia and move the state archives from Little Rock.

Confederate General John Selden Roane complained that he was left to fight with "No troops - no arms - no powder" and vowed to detain all Texas units in transit through the state.

Hindman's methods were high-handed, but he quickly managed to amass a field army of 4,000 Texas cavalry, 1,500 Arkansas infantry, and a battery of light artillery.

[6] In the Battle of Whitney's Lane on May 19, 1862, Texas cavalrymen attacked a Federal foraging party of the 17th Missouri Volunteer Infantry and inflicted a loss of 15 killed, 32 wounded, and two missing.

The Siege of Corinth successfully ended on May 30, so Halleck responded by sending an expedition under Graham N. Fitch of the army and James Shirk of the navy up the White River.

In the Battle of Saint Charles on June 17, the expedition suffered a setback when a Confederate round shot pierced the steam drum of the USS Mound City killing half its crew and injuring most of the survivors.

Hindman claimed that 200 Union soldiers were taken prisoner and some supply wagons were captured before Colonel Cadwallader C. Washburn's Federal cavalry brigade drove off the Texans.

Hindman ordered General Rust to cross to the east bank of the White at Des Arc and move upstream to a blocking position behind the Cache River.

[11] The Battle of Cotton Plant saw a 10,000-strong Union Army commanded by Samuel Ryan Curtis[5] encounter a 5,000-man Confederate force led by Albert Rust.

A Union advance guard commanded by Charles Edward Hovey did most of the fighting, repelling an attack by two Texas cavalry regiments led by William Henry Parsons.

[13] MG Samuel Ryan Curtis On July 7, 1862, the Army of the Southwest reached James Ferry on the Cache River, found that the water was low enough to ford, and began to cross.

Harris led his force south to a road intersection at Parley Hill's Plantation which was about 3 mi (4.8 km) northwest of Cotton Plant.

However, Hovey learned that a Federal soldier was captured, recalled Harris, and ordered him to take the Des Arc road that led to the southwest.

As Parsons's horsemen burst from the trees in pursuit of the Wisconsin soldiers, the Federals in the cornfield met them with a shattering volley followed by heavy fire.

[19] In an attempt to separate Hovey's force from Curtis's main body, Rust accompanied Colonel James R. Taylor's 17th Texas Cavalry Regiment in a wide sweep to the northeast.