The Camp White Sulphur Springs Confederate Cemetery is an American Civil War cemetery in Arkansas. It is located northeast of the village of Sulphur Springs, also known as White Sulphur Springs, in Jefferson County.HistoryThe American Civil War started in April 1861 and White Sulphur Springs became a staging and training area for troops who came into Pine Bluff to be organized into units. In late July 1861, the 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was organized and trained at White Sulphur Springs and remained there for about a month before being shipped out to Tennessee. A few months later the Fagan’s Guard, which later became the 2nd Arkansas Infantry Battalion, camped and trained near the springs before going on to Virginia. By the spring of 1862, the war had reached Arkansas and the Battle of Pea Ridge, in the north part of the state, was fought. It had become evident that the Union Army had come to stay and would attempt to take the state by marching on Little Rock. However, most of the Confederate Army was ordered to leave the state and go across the Mississippi River to help defend against the Union invasion of Mississippi. This left Arkansas almost totally defenseless. Protests were made to the Confederate government, and the governor of the state started raising another army. He had troops from Texas, who were passing through the state going east to the war, stopped and many of them were sent to White Sulphur Springs for their training and to be used in Arkansas. The Confederate Hospital was moved to White Sulphur Springs from Pine Bluff, and was set up in the Poole Hotel, the Female High School and the Methodist Church. Troops that arrived at White Sulphur Springs from Texas and Oklahoma brought a measles epidemic with them and many of them died from the disease before even seeing a battlefield. Those who died were either buried in the Camp White Sulphur Springs Confederate Cemetery, which was near the Poole Hotel hospital, or where their camps were located throughout the community.
