Skirmishes continue in Arkansas this week 150 years ago in the
Civil War, a week after major fighting in the region. The
skirmishing follows a Union victory over Confederate forces
garrisoned at Fort Hindman in Arkansas during fighting Jan.
9-11, 1863. The skirmishing takes place in spots including Lick
Creek and DeValls Bluff and Frog Bayou in the days after the
major battle. But such small-scale engagements pose little
significance in the larger scope of the war. Skirmishes would
continue sporadically in Arkansas throughout the coming months
of the war. Meanwhile, this week brings attention in the North
to the fact that hundreds of thousands of soldiers are expected
to finish their service and be eligible to leave the Union army
by May. That report in Northern newspapers the second week of
January prompts speculation in Richmond, Va., capital of the
Confederacy, that the Union may seek to employ freed blacks for
military service. Eventually in March 1863, President Abraham
Lincoln will be prompted to sign h