It preserves a portion of the battlefield of the Battle of Marks' Mills fought on April 25, 1864, in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of American Civil War.

The battle was most known for the slaughter of black Union soldiers that were murdered as they tried to surrender.

[4] The Battle of Marks' Mills was between a column of Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele's Union Army, en route from Camden to Pine Bluff for supplies, and a Confederate force under the command of Maj. Gen. James F. Fagan that had taken up a defensive position at the road junction since the last sweep of Union reconnaissance in the area on April 21.

The battle was a decisive victory for the Confederates, who captured 2,000 Union troops, four guns, and 240 empty supply wagons.

[4] The National Historic Landmark District designation was made in 1994.