321 Redoubt C stood half a mile away on a knoll at the southern end of the ridge. This square earthwork faced west and held perhaps six field pieces. It commanded the approach of the main Washington Road, now Washington Avenue, and may have been called Fort Simmons by the Confederates. Redoubt C also has been obliterated, though its approximate location on Cleveland Avenue is marked today by a municipal water tower. Redoubts A and C protected to one degree or another the most likely enemy approaches to Camden from the north and west and were regarded by a Federal officer as "the two principal redoubts of the series of works erected around that place (5)." A thousand yards farther south rose a high hill capped with the most irregular of the five earthworks. Redoubt D was formed like a capital "B" facing south and probably held at least six guns. It closely guarded the approach from the southwest of the lower Washington Road and the Wire Road, which exist today in a much altered form as Magnolia Road and California Avenue. This large fortification, too, has disappeared, a victim of urban sprawl in the early years of this century. Willow Street and Locust Avenue now intersect on the site. Redoubt E stood in splendid isolation atop a steep hill well over a mile to the southeast. It was roughly oval-shaped and held only three artillery pieces. It protected Camden against the unlikely possibility that the Federal would cross the Ouachita River below the town. This small redoubt closely covered the Bradley Ferry Road, a roundabout track which connected Camden with Confederate outposts in Warren and Monticello. Redoubt E is preserved today in excellent condition as the centerpiece of Fort Southerland Park, though the accuracy of that name is questionable. Ironically, the existence of these modest fortifications indirectly led to the capture of Camden by the enemy. During the first quarter of 1864 Major General Frederick Steele, commander of the Federal Department of Arkansas, sat in Little Rock listening to disquieting---and almost certainly inflated---reports of the formidable defenses under construction on the Ouachita. __________________ 5. Ibid., Vol. XXXIV, Pt. I, 723.           Contents  Words  Study Questions  Related Sites Next