Battle of Swift Creek Battle of Swift Creek The Battle of Swift Creek or Arrowfield Church was fought on May 9, 1864, between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Union forces were only partially successful: they inflicted damage on the local railroad, but further advance was halted. On May 9, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler made a thrust toward Petersburg and was met by Bushrod Johnson's Division at Swift Creek. A premature Confederate attack at Arrowfield Church was driven back with heavy losses, but Union forces did not follow up. After skirmishing, Butler seemed content to tear up the railroad tracks and
Whisky Creek Cabin sheds and added a large walk-in pantry next to the cabin. Martin also constructed a cable car to haul firewood across the creek. To accomplish that, he strung half-inch steel cable across the creek, and tightened it with a system of hand-winches and pulleys. Martin remained the on-site caretaker until 1973 when the property was sold to the Bureau of Land Management. In 1973, Bureau of Land Management installed interpretive signs at the site and opened the cabin to the public for self-guided tours. Because of cabin's unique heritage as the oldest surviving mining cabin in the Rogue River Canyon,