Hello. Hoping not to muddy up the water especially at this late date, I would like to put my two cents in.
I have been told that the Hicks Station was just east of Lonoke on a rise right near the cemetery and just past the ball field.
Bownsville, as it existed when the war started, was never what it had been after the battle that was there in August of 1863.
The difference between Hazen and the now southern Brownsville or the one the Union soldiers had was at least 18 miles and was just outside of what became Lonoke after the war ended. Lonoke was founded in 1873.
If you want to read some stories about what the Union soldiers found in central Arkansas, write the word Brownsville and run a search. It is not
speaking of the Brownsville of old, but the one they created.
The bricks from the then Prairie County courthouse of Browsnville was torn down to build a barracks for the Union soldiers.
It is my understanding that Hicks Station is where the railroad ended as it came into Arkansas. I have also seen a map in past years that shows that and it was from the National Archives.
I have been told that upwards of 30,000 men moved through that area.
Some of this may not be correct, but I believe it to be as I have a great interest in the area. If you run the state highway east from Lonoke through to Hazen and probably on in DeVall's Bluff you are going to be within yards of where the trains ran during the Civil War.
If I am wrong feel free to tell me.