Stone Gardens: "Captain Jimmy" Vanderpool emerged as a Union Civil War leader from the Confederate South

In the dense hills of Newton County, where the Buffalo River winds through limestone bluffs and time seems to linger, the name “Captain Jimmy” still echoes with tales of Civil War bravery and community committment.

James Roberson Vanderpool--farmer, blacksmith, merchant, and Civil War captain—left a legacy forged in iron and tested in battle.

Born in 1831 in Marion County, Indiana, James was the son of William and Mary “Polly” Fuson Vanderpool. In 1856, he moved south to Jasper where he established himself as a tradesman and community figure. But it was the crucible of the Civil War that would define his public identity.

When the war reached the Ozarks, Vanderpool enlisted in the Union-aligned 1st Regiment Arkansas Infantry Volunteers, Company C--a bold move in a region torn by divided loyalties.

He quickly rose to the rank of Captain, leading a company composed largely of local men—neighbors, kin, and farmhands—many of whom marched straight from their homesteads into history.

The 1st Arkansas Infantry’s wartime story is steeped in grit. They first tasted battle during the defense of Fayetteville in April 1863, where Captain Vanderpool’s leadership helped repel a Confederate raid under General Cabell.

Months later, his regiment aided in securing Fort Smith, a strategic river port that became a vital Union stronghold.

From there, the men of Company C found themselves in near-constant motion. Skirmishes around Mount Ida kept them entangled in dangerous guerrilla encounters. But the most grueling campaign came during the spring of 1864: the Camden Expedition.

The regiment trudged through the mud-soaked wilderness of southern Arkansas, engaging in battles at Prairie D’Ane, Moscow, and Jenkins’ Ferry--a brutal clash in waist-deep water under unrelenting rain. The latter became infamous for its confusion and carnage, with Vanderpool’s leadership holding firm amid chaos.

Throughout their service, the 1st Arkansas Infantry Volunteers also conducted scouting missions, guarded supply lines, and hunted guerrilla fighters across the Ozarks’ unpredictable terrain.

The war they fought was less about grand maneuver and more about endurance, terrain, and the deep fractures of loyalty within Arkansas itself.

After the war, Vanderpool returned to Jasper, known to all simply as “Captain Jimmy.”

He resumed life as a blacksmith, farmer, and merchant, providing for a growing family with his wife, Anna L. Henderson.

Their children included Dr. James Monroe Vanderpool and Levi Franklin Vanderpool, whose lives carried the family legacy forward into the next century.

Captain James Roberson Vanderpool died on March 22, 1880, at the age of 48. He was laid to rest in the Vanderpool Family Cemetery near Jasper, beneath the hills he once helped defend.

The cemetery, unkempt and forgotten to time, is on private property known as the "old Vanderpool family farm" just off County Road 136 and not far from the Dogwood Springs Campground. As of our visit there are only seven graves that can be verified.