Helena's 19th-century cemetery holds 73+ Confederate dead from the 1863 Battle of Helena — and legends of a colonel still seen nodding in uniform
Holly St, Helena-West Helena, AR 72342
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public cemetery; no admission.
Access
Limited Access
Historic cemetery with uneven ground, aging stones, and hillside sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Battle of Helena (July 4, 1863) Confederate Burials · Helena Confederate Cemetery · Three Confederate Generals Interred · Civil War Arkansas Delta History
The Battle of Helena took place on July 4, 1863, when Confederate forces under Lieutenant General Theophilus Holmes launched an assault on the Union-held city of Helena, Arkansas. The attack failed, and Confederate casualties were significant. The aftermath of that battle — and the broader Civil War occupation of Helena — left the city's earlier burial infrastructure in disarray, creating the need for a reorganized cemetery.
Maple Hill Cemetery was established in this context. The Confederate section, now formally designated the Helena Confederate Cemetery, holds more than 73 soldiers. At least 23 of those were killed during the July 4, 1863 battle specifically. Three Confederate generals are also buried at Maple Hill: Hindman, Cleburne, and Churchill — though accounts vary on which generals' remains remained at the site versus being relocated.
Helena was a significant Union garrison city on the Mississippi River during the war, and the Battle of Helena is considered one of the more tactically decisive Union defensive victories in the western theater. The cemetery grounds therefore document both the Confederate human cost and the broader significance of Helena as a contested riverfront city.
The cemetery is a public site in Helena-West Helena, Phillips County, in the Arkansas Delta region along the Mississippi River. Helena-West Helena formed through the 2006 merger of the two adjacent cities and remains one of the more historically significant communities in the Arkansas Delta.
Sources
The legend of Colonel Hundley is the better-known of Maple Hill's two traditions. Accounts describe a figure in Confederate uniform appearing at the cemetery and nodding to visitors — identified in local lore as Colonel Hundley, presumably one of the Confederate officers buried in the Helena Confederate Cemetery section.
The second legend is more specific. In 1893, Dr. Emile Moore was shot and killed. His dog Pedro apparently remained at the grave site, howling, and the legend holds that the sound has persisted beyond the dog's natural life — still heard by visitors near Moore's grave. This kind of animal-loyalty ghost story appears across American folklore, and its presence at Maple Hill attaches the broader tradition to a specific documented individual: Dr. Emile Moore, Phillips County, 1893.
Verification of the specific claims — that Colonel Hundley is buried here by name, that Dr. Emile Moore's grave is identifiable — would require on-site research. Available sources confirm the legends without providing primary genealogical verification of the named individuals. Both legends were circulating in documented form prior to this entry's creation.
Notable Entities
Maple Hill Cemetery contains the Helena Confederate Cemetery, where 73 or more Confederate soldiers are buried, including at least 23 killed in the July 4, 1863 Battle of Helena. Three Confederate generals are also interred here. The grounds are open for self-guided walking.
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