1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment: Difference between revisions

1st Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)
Arkansas state flag
Active	1861 to 1865
Country	Confederate States of America
Allegiance	CSA
Branch	Infantry
Engagements	First Battle of Bull Run[1] Battle of Shiloh, Kentucky Campaign Battle of Richmond, Battle of Perryville, Battle of Murfreesboro, Tullahoma Campaign, Battle of Liberty Gap, Chattanooga Campaign, Battle of Chickamauga, Siege of Chattanooga, Atlanta Campaign, Battle of New Hope Church, Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Battle of Atlanta, Siege of Atlanta, Battle of Jonesboro, Franklin–Nashville Campaign Battle of Franklin, Battle of Nashville, Carolinas Campaign, Battle of Bentonville,
Battle honours	Southern Cross of Honor Lieutenant Colonel D. McGreger and fourteen others soldiers for the Battle of Murfeesboro[2]

Template:Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiments The 1st Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. There were three regiments known as "1st Arkansas" during the war. The second unit with the designation of "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Infantry, Arkansas State Troops, which was mustered in to Confederate service at Pitman's Ferry, Arkansas, on July 23, 1861, under the command of Colonel Patrick Cleburne; this unit was eventually redesignated as the 15th Arkansas Volunteer Infantry. The third unit bearing the title "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, which served with the Union Army.

The 1st Arkansas regiment began its organization in April 1861, before Arkansas had even seceded from the Union. The first Arkansas Secession Convention had convened in March and voted against secession. On April 12, Confederate forces under General P. G. T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter, forcing its capitulation. President Abraham Lincoln called upon the "militia of the several states" to provide 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion.^[3] Governor Henry Rector famously refused Lincoln's request for troops.^[4] Upon learning of Rector's refusal, Confederate Secretary of War, L.P. Walker, immediately wrote to Governor Rector on behalf of the Confederate Government at Montgomery and requested that the state provide a regiment for the Confederacy.^[4]

MONTGOMERY,

Gov. HENRY M. RECTOR, Little Rock, Ark.: SIR: Your patriotic response to the requisition of the President of the United States for troops to coerce the Confederate States justifies the belief that your people are prepared to unite with us in repelling the common enemy of the South. Virginia needs our aid. I there- fore request you to furnish one regiment of infantry without delay, to rendezvous at Lynchburg, Va. It must consist of ten companies, of not less than sixty-four men each. The regiment will be entitled to one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major, one adjutant from the line of lieutenants, one~ sergeant-major from the enlisted men. Each company is entitled to one captain, one first lieutenant, two second lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, and two musicians. The officers, except the staff officers, are to be appointed in the manner prescribed by the law of your State. Staff officers are appointed by the President; the term of service not less than twelve months, unless sooner discharged. They will be mustered into the service at Lynch- burg, but transportation and subsistence will be provided from the point of departure. They will furnish their own uniform, but will receive its value in commutation. You have arms and ammunition with which to supply them. Answer and say whether you will comply with this request, and, if so, when.

L.P. Walker

Secretary of War

Governor Rector initially responded that he had no power to comply with the Confederate request but indicated that he expected the state to secede when the secession convention reconvened on May 6. He stated that after secession the state could and would aid the Confederacy. Governor Rector sent another dispatch requesting to know if the Confederacy would accept a regiment raised by T. B. Flournoy, as Colonel, John B. Thompson as Lieutenant Colonel, and W.N. Brougnah and James. B. Johnson. Further, Governor Rector agreed to arm and equip the regiment when it rendezvoused at Little Rock Arsenal.^[5] Thompson B. Flournoy was a planter from Laconia, on the Mississippi River, and had been a supporter of the presidential ticket of Douglas and Johnson.^[6]

Colonel Flournoy organized the first companies which arrived in Little Rock and sought admission into this regiment. Many of these initial companies had originally been organized as volunteer companies under the Arkansas Militia law which authorized each county to form, in addition to the standard militia regiment, up to four volunteer companies, one each of Rifles, Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry.^[7] Units such as the DeWitt Guards from Arkansas County and the Jackson Guards from Jackson County had organized months earlier in the state militia as sectional frictions increased.^[8] At the actual organization of the regiment at Little Rock on May 6, 1861, Colonel Flournoy was defeated for the colonelcy, and Captain James F. Fagan, of Saline County, was elected colonel; Capt. James C. Monroe, of Clark County, was elected lieutenant-colonel, and John Baker Thompson, major. Prof. Frank Bronaugh, of the military department of St. John's college, Little Rock, was chosen adjutant. Colonel Flournoy accepted the outcome with good grace, he was afterward promoted to brigadier-general in the Confederate service.^[6] The unit was composed of companies from the following Arkansas counties:^[9]

Company A, “The El Dorado Sentinels” of Union County, commanded by Capt. Asa Morgan.

Company B, “The Clark County Volunteers” of Clark County, commanded by Capt. Charles Stark.

Company C, “The Camden Knights” of Ouachita County, commanded by Capt. Crenshaw.

Company D, “The Clan McGregor” of Jefferson County, commanded by Capt. Donelson McGregor.

Company E, “The Saline Guards” of Saline County, commanded by Capt. William A. Crawford.

Company F, “The Ettomon Guards” of Pulaski County, commanded by Capt. William F. Martin.

Company G, “The Jackson Guards” of Jackson County, commanded by Capt. A. C. Pickett.

Company H, “The Crockett Rifles” of Arkansas County, commanded by Capt. Robert H. Crockett.

Company I, “The Monticello Guards” of Drew County, commanded by Capt. James Jackson.

Company K, “The DeWitt Guards” of Arkansas County,^[8] commanded by Capt. D. B. Quertermous.

The regiment was sent to Lynchburg, Virginia, for training the same month it was accepted into the Confederate ranks.^[10]

On the road from Arkansas to Virginia, the regiment attracted much attention, being known to have among its captains a grandson of Davy Crockett, and Capt. Donelson McGregor, who was reared near the Hermitage, and was grand-nephew of the beloved wife of President Andrew Jackson. The regiment was stationed at Aquia Creek, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the brigade of Gen. T. H. Holmes, and was led by him into the battle of First Manassas. The regiment was mustered in to Confederate service on May 19, 1861, at Lynchburg, Virginia. It was then stationed at Evansport, where the men of the regiment, under Capt. Will H. Martin, made a daring but unsuccessful attempt to capture the Federal gunboat Pocahontas, on the Potomac.^[6]

In February 1862 they were transferred and attached to the Army of Mississippi under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard, and fought at the Battle of Shiloh. It was at Shiloh that they became best known, mainly due to the heavy casualties they sustained. Entering the battle with a force of just over 800, they took 364 casualties, 45 percent of their force. Following that battle, they were reorganized and received replacements, then were assigned to General Pat Cleburne’s division as a part of the Army of Tennessee, with whom they would remain for the rest of the war. They would go on to take part in the Battle of Murfreesboro.^[11], Battle of Chickamauga, the Battles for Chattanooga, and the Siege of Atlanta. As of result of high casualties during the Chattanooga campaign, the 1st Arkansas was consolidated with the 15th Arkansas during the summer of 1864. This consolidation united the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry with the 1st Arkansas Infantry, State Troops (Josey's 15th Arkansas).^[12]

During the Battle of Kennesay Mountian the 1st/15t Arkansas became involved in a famous humanitarinan act. At one point in the battle on June 27, not far from the position known as the "Dead Angle", the Union frontal assualt had failed leaving hundreds of dead and wounded Union soliders between the Confederate works and the Union lines. The woods and brush between the two armies caught fire because of the gun fire and artillery. The fire began to creep toward the wounded soldiers. Lt. Colonel William P. Martin who was commanding the 1st and 15th combined Arkansas Regiments, jumped on the earthworks and ordered his Confederate soldiers to cease firing. He then waved a white flag of truce yelling to the Union soldiers to "come and get your wounded, they are burning to death." For a short time the Union and Confederate soldiers helped remove the wounded and put out the fires. The next day the Union generals presented Martin with two Colt Revolvers as a thank you for his humanitarian efforts. Later the opposing forces begain to fire at each other again.^[13]

During the siege of Atlanta, the regiment, along with the rest of Govan's Brigade, was captured.^[14] The regiment was freed as part of a prisoner exchange on September 9, 1864, in time to participate in the Battle of Franklin, and the Battle of Nashville as well as several other smaller battles.^[15] The Confederacy had only one medal for valor, the Confederate Medal of Honor (a.k.a Southern Cross of Honor). Twenty seven soldiers of the 1st Arkansas Infantry were awarded the medal, although the Confederacy lacked the funds to manufacture the actual medals.^[16]

	Arkansas 1st Infantry Battle flag Cotton and wool flag with faded blue field. The central device is a white disc with black crossed cannons in the center (each 3 1/2" wool). Designation lettering is 2" Capitol Romans with red shadow: 1st ARK. REG'T. Honors lettering on the field above the disc is 2 1/2" tall Capitol Romans: RICHMOND, KY, TUNNELL HILL, LIBERTY GAP, RINGGOLD GAP. Honors lettering below the disc are gold, ornate, 4" letters: CHICKAMAUGA, border is white with black capitol Romans: MANASSAS, EVANSPORT, SHILOH, TUSCUMBIA CREEK, PERRYVILLE, FARMINGTON, BRIDGECREEK, MURFREESBORO. All lettering is painted. Captured by the 14th Michigan Inf. in Jonesboro, Georgia on Sept. 1, 1865. Returned to the State of Arkansas in 1905by the U.S. War Department. Currently in the collection of the Old State House Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas.	2nd Pattern Hardee
	On May 5, 1861, Lieutenant Sydeny s. Gause, of the the local volunteer militia company, the "Jackson County", recieved a 1st National Flag Pattern flag, bearing a blue panel on the white stripe, with the words, "LADIES OF JACKSONPORT TO THE JACKSON GUARDS". The flag measured 59" by 110", with a circle of eight stars, with a ninth star in the center of the circle. The flag was utiized as the regimental colors of the 1st Arkansas while the regiment was in Virgina in the summer of 1861. It is now in the collection of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virgina.	1st National Flag Pattern

The remnants of ten depleted Arkansas regiments, along with one mostly-Arkansas regiment, in the Army of Tennessee were consolidated into a single regiment at Smithfield, North Carolina, on April 9, 1865. The 1st Arkansas, was lumped together with the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 15th, 19th and 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiments and the 3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment as the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry on April 9, 1865.^[17] On April 26, 1865, the regiment was present with the Army of Tennessee when it surrendered in Greensboro, North Carolina.^[10]

Sutherland, Daniel E., ed. Reminiscences of a Private: William E. Bevens of the First Arkansas Infantry, C.S.A. (Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1992).

Gingles, Violet. "Saline County, First Arkansas Infantry Volunteers, C.S.A." Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 18 (Summer 1959): 90-98.

• List of Arkansas Civil War Confederate units
• Lists of American Civil War Regiments by State
• Confederate Units by State
• Arkansas in the American Civil War
• Arkansas Militia in the Civil War

• Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home Page
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture
• The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
• The Arkansas History Commission, State Archives, Civil War in Arkansas