"Reign of Terror": General Thomas C. Hindman and the Confederate Military State in Arkansas, 1862-1863 (thesis)

Abstract

Through a consideration of this broad historiographical foundation and careful analysis of primary source material from both military and civilian perspectives, this thesis examines the seventy-four day tenure of General Thomas C. Hindman as commander of the Trans-Mississippi District, the policies he pursued during this brief but productive period, the reaction to his actions, and the ultimate repercussions of his actions through 1863. This thesis argues that, with his ambitious goal of mobilizing an underdeveloped frontier state for wartime and preventing the Union capture of Little Rock, Hindman established a centralized military state in Arkansas. [From Introduction]