The battle of Chalk Bluff was a military engagement of the American Civil War. The battle was fought near Chalk Bluff, northwest of St. Francis . The St. Francis River was a important transit point during the civil war between northeast arkansas and the Missouri Bootheel. It was the site of the last engagement of Major General John Sappington Marmaduke fighting withdrawal from his second Missouri raid, April 17–May 2, 1863, as the Confederate forces held off an initially determined but ultimately faltering Union pursuit to escape back into Arkansas across the St. Francis River on a makeshift floating bridge. Marmaduke entered Missouri with 5,000 men, of whom 1,200 were unarmed and 900 dismounted, planning to trap
