SERVICE.-Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7, 1862. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Pursuit to Booneville June 1-6. Moved to Bethel June 5, thence to Jackson, Tenn., June 13, and duty there till August. At Bolivar till November. Guard duty along Mississippi Central Railroad from Hickory Valley to near Bolivar with Headquarters at Middleburg, Tenn., till May, 1863. Action at Middleburg December 24, 1862. Regiment complimented by General Grant in General Order No. 3 for gallant and efficient services on successfully defending their post against a force of 3,000 Confederates under Van Dorn. Moved to Memphis, Tenn., thence to Vicksburg, Miss., May 31-June 3, 1863. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., June 4-July 4. Surrender of Vicksburg July 4. Moved to Helena, Ark., July 25-27, thence to Clarendon August 13, and to Duvall's Bluff August 22. Steele's Expedition to Little Rock September 1-10. Engagement at Bayou Fourche and capture of Little Rock September 10. Duty at Little Rock till January 14, 1864. Veterans on furlough till February 21. March to Pine Bluff April 26-28. Train guard to Steele's army till April 30. Duty at Little Rock till June 22. Operations against Shelby north of the Arkansas River May 13-31. Expedition to Clarendon June 25-29. Clarendon June 25-26. Duty at Duvall's Bluff till August 30. Expedition in pursuit of Shelby August 27-September 6. Gregory's Landing, White River, September 4. Duty at Duvall's Bluff, guarding railroad, provost and fatigue duty till June 6, 1865. Hazen's Farm near Duvall's Bluff November 2, 1864 (Detachment). Moved to Little Rock June 6, thence march to Washington June 13-22. Guard public property at several points by detachments, with Headquarters at Camden till January 28, 1866. Companies "A," "B," "C" and "F" march from Washington to Camden July 8-22, 1865. Company "E" to Arkadelphia July 19-22, 1865. Companies "H" and "K" to Camden September 26, 1865, and Companies "D," "G" and "I" to Camden November 1, 1865. Company "F" assigned to duty at Paraclifta September 30. Regiment assembled at Camden and mustered out February 15, 1866.
Regiment lost during service 1 Officer and 52 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 372 Enlisted men by disease. Total 428.
Henry Smalley
Regiment Name 12th Michigan Infantry
Side Union
Company G
Soldier's Rank_In Private
Soldier's Rank_Out Private
Film Number M545 roll 39
U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
Name: Henry Smalley
Age at Enlistment: 37
Enlistment Date: 17 Feb 1865
Rank at enlistment: Private
Enlistment Place: Bunker Hill, MI
State Served: Michigan
Survived the War?: No
Service Record: Enlisted in Company G, Michigan 12th Infantry Regiment on 22 Feb 1865.
Mustered out on 08 Apr 1865 at DeVall's Bluff, AR.
Birth Date: abt 1828
Sources: Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers 1861-65
Duvall's Bluff
Civil War through Reconstruction
The town was occupied by Union forces in January and August of 1863. Major General Frederick Steele occupied Little Rock (Pulaski County) on September 10. When water was low on the Arkansas River, many boats could not reach the capital city. But they could navigate up the White River to DeValls Bluff. Men and materiel could be transferred to the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad’s trains to be transported to Little Rock. For that reason, DeValls Bluff’s port area was heavily fortified for the remainder of the war and was home to many soldiers—black and white—and refugees. Although there was little interference from Confederates at DeValls Bluff, there were a few incidents of note. Union troops operated the fifty-mile section of the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad line from the port to the capital city, and there were several attempts by Rebels to disrupt service. In July 1863, a locomotive was derailed by an exploding mine, killing the crew; another train was fired upon, killing two soldiers; and on two occasions that month, small sections of track were torn out.
Rebel bushwhackers also sought to stop the movement of Union boats on the White River below town. On June 24, 1864, Confederate General Joseph Shelby sank the Queen City near Clarendon (Monroe County). In the latter part of the war, the former Confederate-turned-guerrilla, Howell A. “Doc” Rayburn, operated with his small band in Prairie and White counties, pestering Federal forces. Supposedly, on one occasion, the small-framed Rayburn, dressed as a woman, attended a dance given at army headquarters at DeValls Bluff. After dancing with some of the officers, he sneaked out, stole one of the men’s horses, and made off to join his compatriots.
Federal troops took down the courthouse at Clarendon and shipped the brick upriver to DeValls bluff and there used the brick to erect fireplaces and chimneys. Also, during the war, buildings were taken down at Des Arc (Prairie County) and moved downriver to DeValls Bluff.
The many troops stationed at DeValls Bluff patronized stores and saloons that rapidly sprang up, many operated by Northern men such as Daniel P. Upham of New York, who came to town in the closing days of the war to open a saloon in partnership with a man named Whitty. R. H. White had a photography studio at DeValls Bluff for a time before moving to Little Rock, leaving an invaluable record of the port town during wartime.
Some of the Union soldiers and officers remained in the town following the war. William S. McCullough—a lawyer, farmer, and local Freedmen’s Bureau agent—lived there until the 1880s when he moved to Brinkley (Monroe County) and established the Brinkley Hotel. Joel M. McClintock was an early Prairie County sheriff, lawyer, abstractor, and landowner. Logan Roots (for whom Fort Roots is named) had farming operations there for a time and later became one of the state’s leading bankers. He gave the property for the town’s first Methodist church. Not long after the war, the Baptists had a church there, and African Americans had their own meeting places. Catholics erected a building around the turn of the century, aided by Protestant friends; before then, they had been served by a priest who traveled a circuit and called on families individually. Dr. William W. Hipolite, surgeon for some of the African-American troops stationed there, settled in the town and operated a drug store for many years.