The Battle of Arkansas Post, also known as the Colbert Raid and the Battle of Fort Carlos, was an unsuccessful British attempt to capture Fort Carlos III and the Franco-Spanish village of Arkansas Post, Louisiana (present-day U.S. state of Arkansas) in the American Revolutionary War. During the early morning hours of April 17, 1783, a large party of British irregulars and Chickasaw led by Captain James Colbert of the 16th Regiment of Foot attacked the settlement and fort. It was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War, and the only one fought in present-day Arkansas. A surprise sally by the Spanish and Quapaw defenders caused Colbert's men to rout. The raid was a part of a series of small engagements fought between Great Britain and Spain in the Lower Mississippi River region from 1779, when Spain entered the American Revolutionary War on the side of the United States. The event took place three months after a treaty between Spain and Britain was signed on January 3, 1783, but word of it had not yet reached the Spanish settlement. he Union infantry, meanwhile, had moved up against the Confederate lines. Troops on the Union right were fiercely engaged with the Arkansas and Texas troops defending the rifle pits. Other Union troops in the army’s center advanced against the Texans immediately west of the fort and engaged in a firefight that caused more than one-third of the Union’s losses.

At about 4:30 p.m., as McClernand prepared to order a final, massive assault on the defenders of the Post of Arkansas, white flags appeared along the Confederate lines. Though Churchill denied issuing orders to give up and many of the Texans were fiercely resistant to capitulation, the garrison of Fort Hindman surrendered to McClernand’s army. Federal casualties were reported as 134 killed, 898 wounded, and 29 missing; incomplete Confederate reports showed 60 killed and 80 wounded, with 4,791 of the garrison captured.The rebel prisoners were loaded onto transports and sent up the Mississippi River to prison camps on January 12. Despite the success of the operation, Grant was exasperated by the loss of time, resources, and men on a maneuver that contradicted his orders. The immensely self-serving after-action reports submitted by McClernand and Porter were also stirring up fresh enmity in the army’s high command. On January 30, 1863, Grant steamed down from Memphis, Tennessee to replace McClernand as chief general in the field. By securing the Union right flank and inducing Grant to take personal command, the Battle of Arkansas Post marked a turning point in the campaign for Vicksburg. Following the rout, Colbert drove a tomahawk into the ground near the riverbank, symbolizing his intent to return, and had another message sent to Dubreil via one of the village inhabitants.