320 Redoubts, on the other hand, were smaller enclosed or semi-enclosed strongpoints located along or in advance of a main line of defense. They usually were designed to withstand attacks from three and even all four sides. Each of the redoubts at Camden was a massive yet simple earthen affair encircled or at least fronted by a deep ditch. They differed from the norm mainly in that they stood almost entirely alone, unsupported by the network of trenches and sprawling forts generally found encompassing a vital city (3). The five earthworks varied somewhat in size and shape and were located at irregular intervals along the periphery of the town. The northernmost, redoubt A, is known today as Fort Lookout. It was erected atop a high bluff overlooking a bend in the Ouachita River. Redoubt A was rectangular in shape and held six or more pieces of field artillery. Extending immediately west of the redoubt was an L-shaped earthwork mounting another battery of six or more guns (4). This fortified complex commanded two fords below the bluff and also covered the approach of Gravel Pit Road from the northwest. Though the midsection of Fort Lookout was leveled a few years ago to make way for the construction of a house, much of the redoubt and its supporting works have survived in remarkably good condition. A ridge extended due southward from the bluff on the Ouachita. Redoubt B was located halfway along this ridge about one hundred yards south of the junction of Gravel Pit and Maul roads. This V-shaped earthwork, technically known as a redan, pointed northwest and its complement of four to six guns commanded the approach of the two roads. No trace of redoubt B exists today, though its slightly elevated site in the middle of what is now Greenwood Cemetery stands out clearly when viewed from Maul Road. ______________________ 3. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XXII, Pt. II, 1110-11, XXXIV, Pt. I, 676; Ezra J. Warner, Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders (Baton Rouge, 1959), 129-30; "Map of Camden Ouachita Co. Ark. showing the Relative Positions of Fortifications drawn at Camden April 1864," Record Group 77, Drawer 123, Sheet 5-1 (National Archives, Washington, D. C.). This extraordinarily detailed map was prepared by Lieutenant Fred Sommer, Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteers, an assistant military engineer in the Federal expeditionary force which occupied Camden in April 1864. It is the source for much of the material in the text. 4. The Confederates had thirty-two pieces of field artillery in the Camden area at the end of 1863. O.R., Ser. 1, XXII, Pt. II, 1084.           Contents  Words  Study Questions  Related Sites Next