07/27/15  The First Shot Of The Civil War Was Fired In Pine Bluff?

According to the July Issue of Historical News, Pine Bluff claims the first shot of the Civil War was fired in Pine Bluff, and not at Ft. Sumter. 

In April of 1861, Federal steamboats carrying supplies for garrisons at Ft. Smith and Ft. Gibson were halted by a warning shot fired from the riverbank by the Jefferson Guards.  Cargoes were confiscated and later seized for the Confederate Army.The Battle of Pine Bluff was the only real action for the town. In the reconstruction era, Pine Bluff prospered.  Cotton was king and the town was Arkansas' center for ginning, bailing and loading cotton river barges. 

In the 1880's railway track was laid, bringing Pine Bluff into a system that stretched from Texas to St. Louis.