*** Revised Edition *** April 1864 was the deadliest month in Arkansas history. It was a month when two vast armies snaked their way across the pine forests and swamps of Southern Arkansas, killing one another in wholesale slaughter. It was a month when farms were raided, those same two armies desperately searching for any scrap of food to keep them from starving. It was a month when scores of slaves shed their chains of bondage, deserting the plantation to follow the blue army, who had marched thousands of miles to emancipate them. Standing in their way was the Confederate army. In a series of epic battles across Southern Arkansas known as the Camden Expedition, these two armies would leave a trail of death and destruction that took generations to heal. The first clash between the blue and gray armies occurred at a small river crossing known as Elkins' Ferry. In the first book devoted entirely to the Battle of Elkins' Ferry, author Joe Walker gives a detailed account of this often overlooked Arkansas Civil War battle. In was the beginning of the deadliest month in Arkansas history.