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As a brigade of Union cavalry soldiers commanded by Colonel Washington Geiger moved from Two Mile Prairie Bayou toward Brownsville, they were attacked by Confederate troops hiding in the underbrush. After a Union detachment launched a saber attack, Confederates withdrew in confusion to Brownsville (Lonoke County), where they attempted to mount a defense before ultimately retreating. The Skirmish at Brownsville was a brief and inconsequential engagement during the Federal campaign that took place near present-day Lonoke (Lonoke County). Confederates had a goal to delay the advance of Major General Frederick Steele’s forces as they moved westward. However, the Federal movement of the army was halted more by sickness than by Confederate activity.