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Official Website of Yell County, Arkansas
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Yell County History

Yell County was created December 5, 1840, from parts of Pope and Scott counties and was named for Archibald Yell, second Governor of the State of Arkansas.

The county has dual seats, Danville and Dardanelle. The courthouse at Dardanelle is located on one of the earliest military roads in Arkansas, one named in honor of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy by act of the General Assembly of 1925.

On the east lawn, the statue of a Confederate soldier with a boyish face stands as a memorial to Yell County Confederate veterans.

From the Arkansas Association of Counties.

Civil War Medal of Honor

WASHINGTON, D.C. – First Sergeant William Elise of Company K, Third Wisconsin Cavalry, has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Elise earned the medal for his valor and bravery above and beyond the call of duty of January 14, 1865, at Dardanelle, Arkansas. He is the first Arkansan to earn the Army Medal of Honor.

Elise enlisted in the Union Army at Little Rock, Arkansas. He is representative of the large number of Arkansans (one Arkansan in five who fought in the war did so wearing the Union blue) who did not favor secession and the disruption of the United States.

In January of 1865 the Confederates sent a detachment of troops under Colonel William H. Brooks to harass Union steamboats traveling on the Arkansas River between Little Rock and Fort Smith. To stop the Confederate attack the Union commander at Lewisburg, Colonel Abraham H. Ryan, sent Major James D. Jenks with 276 men to occupy Dardanelle and contest control of the south bank of the Arkansas River with any Confederate forces he might find in the area.

At 10 a.m. on January 14, 1865, Brooks with 1,500 men attacked the Union forces entrenched on the outskirts of the town and a fierce four-hour battle was waged. In the end Colonel Brooks was unable to overcome the Union defenders of the town and was forced to retreat.

It was during this battle that Elise held his position even after receiving three wounds and would not withdraw for medical attention until he received a fourth wound and was ordered to retire by his commanding officer.

*His name was listed as "William Ellis" on the Arkansas Medal of Honor Memorial on the State Capitol Grounds, but the U.S. Army History website lists his name as "William Elise".

References -  Old Statehouse Museum - "The Arkansas News"

 

Sergeant William Elise Memorial

Sgt. William (Ellis*) Elise

From a memorial plaque on the Arkansas State Capitol Grounds to Arkansans who were recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor.