...ederal army reached Batesville, on White river, near its junction with the Black, the home of Elisha Baxter (brother of Judge John B. Baxter of Knoxville, Tenn.), who had espoused the Union cause. Batesville is the seat of Independence county, one of the oldest in the State, and an important center of northeast Arkansas. A small force of Confederates under Colonel Coleman retired across the river as th...