On September 10, 1863, Confederate forces under General Sterling Price evacuated Little Rock in advance .of Federal forces, thus ending the Little Rock Campaign. By 5:00pm, his forces had left the city and at 7:00pm, civil authorities formally surrendered. Little Rock became the fourth Southern capital to come under Federal control.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Little Rock Campaign, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will host a temporary exhibition of two Civil War flags from the 3rd Iowa Cavalry and the 37th Arkansas Infantry.

Troops from the 3rd Iowa Cavalry were among the first Federal troops to enter Little Rock and capture the Arsenal (in what is now MacArthur Park).  The flag from the 37th Arkansas Infantry was captured by Iowa forces at the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863.  Members of the 37th Arkansas Infantry were among the Confederate soldiers in Little Rock in September 1863.

Both flags are on loan from the State Historical Museum, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and have never been exhibited in Arkansas before.

The exhibition is free and open to the public from September 11 through October 19.

There is a preview reception tonight from 5pm to 7pm at the museum. To commemorate the arrival of Federal troops into Little Rock on September 10, 1863, a symbolic lowering of the Confederate national flag and a raising of the Union guidon will take place in front of the museum at 5pm.

Partial funding for the exhibit is provided by the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and Radiology Associates PA.  The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History is a program of the City of Little Rock’s Parks and Recreation Department.