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== Surrender ==
== Surrender ==
This regiment remained in service in southwestern Arkansas until surrendered with Major General [[Kirby Smith]]'s army of the Trans-Mississippi, on May 26, 1865.<ref>Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, ISBN 0-8160-2288-7, page 69.</ref> With few exceptions, the Arkansas Infantry regiments in the Trans-Mississippi simply disbanded without formally surrendering. When the Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered, all of the Arkansas infantry regiments were encamped in and around Marshall, Texas (war-ravaged Arkansas no longer able to subsist the army). The regiments were ordered to report to [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], to be paroled but none of them did so. Some individual soldiers went to Shreveport on their own to be paroled, others reported to Union garrisons at Fort Smith, Pine Bluff or Little Rock to recieve their paroles, but for the most part, the men simply went home. <ref>Howerton, Bryan, "Re: 17th/1st/35th/22nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment.", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 26 October 2011, Accessed 26 October 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=24907</ref>
This regiment remained in service in southwestern Arkansas until surrendered with Major General [[Kirby Smith]]'s army of the Trans-Mississippi, on May 26, 1865.


== Bibliography ==
== Bibliography ==

Revision as of 20:41, 18 March 2012

30th Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)
Arkansas state flag
Active1862 – 1865
CountryConfederate States of America
AllegianceDixie CSA
BranchInfantry
EngagementsAmerican Civil War

Template:Infobox Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiments The 30th Arkansas Infantry (1861 – 1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. This Regiment was also called the 5th Arkansas Cavalry, the 5th Trans-Mississippi Regiment or 39th Regiment after April, 1863.[1] There were two regiments officially designated as the 30th Arkansas Infantry. The other 30th Arkansas served east of the Mississippi River and was redesignated as the 25th Arkansas Infantry. This regiment was converted to mounted infantry for Price's Missouri Expedition in 1864 and was known as Rogan's Arkansas Cavalry.[2][3]

Organization

30th Infantry Regiment was formed on June 18, 1862 with Colonel Archibald J. McNeill as the original commander. The unit was raised as a mounted infantry or cavalry regiment[4] and was originally designated as the 5th Arkansas Cavalry.[5][6]

In early June 1862 Major McNeill was ordered by Major General Hindman to Crowley's Ridge to conscript roving and unattached companies. The state was facing an invasion in the aftermath of the defeat of General Earl Van Dorn at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Immediately following the battle, General Van Dorn and his Army of the West had been ordered to the east side of the Mississippi to support what would become the Battle of Shiloh. General Van Dorn had stripped the State of Arkansas of all organized units and supplies. General Hindman was placed in command of the new Department of the Trans-Mississippi and immediate began organizing a new army. General Hindman's guidance to Major McNeill and others attempting to organize new regiments in Northeast Arkansas in the face of an imminent invasion threat was to organize rapidly and put each company in the field as soon as completed and attack the enemy.[7]

By June 13, 1862, Major McNeill reported from Madison to General Hindman:

"I found no organization at all here. I think I will have three companies in this county in ten days. I start for the upper part of my district to organize it, in the morning, which is in a better shape of organization. I have sent a scouting party toward Memphis to burn the boats on Blackfish River and ascertain the position of the enemy. I will not leave a stone unturned."[8]

The companies which Major McNeill found and began to organize into a regiment were originally mounted. By June 18, 1862 Major McNeil reported the companies organized under authority given him to raise a regiment. On August 8, 1862, in Special Orders 60, Army of the South West, General Hindman appointed Major A. J. McNeill as commander of McNeill's Regiment of Arkansas Infantry with date of rank to June 18, 1862, the date that McNeill had first reported the formation of his regiment. Companies continued to be added to McNeill's command through the summer, but by July 10, 1862, General Hindman had ordered McNeill's command dismounted and its horses sent home.[9]

Major General Hindman, in a report of his activities in the Trans-Mississippi Department during the period May 31 to November 3, 1862, dated Richmond, Va., June 19, 1863, said, "The scarcity of supplies now caused great distress. Nearly two months must yet elapse before the new crop would ripen. To lessen the consumption of corn, I found it necessary to dismount four regiments of Texans and three of Arkansians. This produced much dissatisfaction, and there were many desertions in consequence." Colonel McNeill's regiment was one of those which were dismounted. There is little information about the regiment when it was first organized as cavalry.[10] The unit was originally a "heavy regiment" composed of fourteen companies from the following counties:[11]

  • Company A - Commanded by Captain Cobb, Organized in April, 1862 at Oak Bluff, Green (now Clay) County.
  • Company B - Commanded by Captain Cameron N. Biscoe, Organized June, 1862 at Wittsburg, Cross County.
  • Company C - Commanded by Unknown, Organized June 20, 1662 at Madison, St. Francis County.
  • Company D - Commanded by Captain Michael S. Fielder, Organized June 20, 1862 at Pineville, Arkansas and consisted of troops from both Poinsett and Cross Counties.
  • Company E - Commanded by Captain M. J. Clay, Organized June 14, 1962 at Little Rock, Pulaski County, also known as Clay's Cavalry.[12]
  • Company F - Commanded by Captain John L. Kuykendall, Organized at Gainesville, Greene County in November 1861 in response to a request for Militia by Colonel Solon F. Borland . Company was reorganized in July 1862.
  • Company G - Commanded by F. M. Prewett, Organized on June 17, 1862 at Mt Vernon, Pulaski (now Faulkner) County.
  • Company H - Commanded by Captain Green D. Byers, Organized on July 10, 1862 at Jonesboro, Craighead County.
  • Old Company I - Commanded by Captain James H. McGehee, was transferred to Major Chrisman's Arkansas Cavalry Battalion and subsequently assigned as Company C of Dobbins’ 1st Arkansas Cavalry Regiment.
  • New Company I - Commanded by Captain Mitchel A. Adair, Organized on July 2, 1862 at Jonesboro, Craighead County.
  • Company K - Commanded by Captain Unknown, Organized on August 1, 1862 at Jacksonport, Jackson County.
  • Company L - Organized at Oak Bluff, in Green (currently Clay) County by Captain E. M. Allen in April of 1862. Allen was discharged from the service on September 8, 1862 due to rheumatism.[13] Company L was disbanded on the same date and its members were distributed among the companies, most of them going to Company A.[14]
  • Company M - Commanded by Captain James F. Hunter, was consolidated with Captain Bisco's Company B on September 8, 1862.
  • Company N - Unknown.
  • Company O - Unknown.

The orgional regimental officers were:

  • McNeill, Archibald J. Colonel
  • Cobbs, Paul M. Lieutenant Colonel[15]
  • Martin, Joseph C. Major
  • Barton, James V. 1lt - Quartermaster
  • Crump, B.M. Capt – Assistant Commissary
  • Gurley, John R, - Quartermaster Sergeant
  • Rector, William F. 1lt - Adjutant
  • Izard, J. Ordnance Sergeant
  • Headley, Alexander M. Surgeon
  • Dye, Thomas J. Assistant Surgeon

Colonel Archibald J. McNeill resigned on November 12, 1862; was succeeded by Col. Robert A. Hart, who died of wounds received at the Battle of Helena on August 6, 1863; and was succeeded by Col. James W. Rogan.[16] The remaining field officers were Lieutenant Colonels G. W. Baldwin and Paul M. Cobbs; and Majors Martin Dawson and Joseph C. Martin.[1]

Battles

The 30th Arkansas initially served in Brigadier General Dandridge McRae's and then Brigadier General John Selden Roane's Brigade. Reassigned to Brigadier General James Camp Tappan's Brigade under Major General Sterling Price in April, 1863, the regiment fought in the Battle of Helena. The 30th Arkansas suffered a total of 102 casualties at Helena. The regiment's Colonel, Major and Adjutant were all mortally wounded in the engagement.

The unit was present in the defense of Little Rock on September 10, 1863 and then retreated with General Price into southwestern Arkansas, where the regiment was consolidated with the 32nd Arkansas in December, 1863.[17]

The 30th fought throughout the Camden Expedition and at the Battle of Jenkins Ferry on April 30, 1864. Later the unit was reorganized and mounted, Consolidated again with Hardy's Arkansas Infantry Regiment in April, 1864 and moved with General Sterling Price on his raid on Missouri. The 30th Arkansas Infantry Regiment took part in the following battles:[1]

Colonel Robert A. Hart 30th Arkansas

Surrender

This regiment remained in service in southwestern Arkansas until surrendered with Major General Kirby Smith's army of the Trans-Mississippi, on May 26, 1865.[18] With few exceptions, the Arkansas Infantry regiments in the Trans-Mississippi simply disbanded without formally surrendering. When the Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered, all of the Arkansas infantry regiments were encamped in and around Marshall, Texas (war-ravaged Arkansas no longer able to subsist the army). The regiments were ordered to report to Shreveport, Louisiana, to be paroled but none of them did so. Some individual soldiers went to Shreveport on their own to be paroled, others reported to Union garrisons at Fort Smith, Pine Bluff or Little Rock to recieve their paroles, but for the most part, the men simply went home. [19]

Bibliography

  • Bears, Edwin C. "The Battle of Helena, July 4, 1863." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 20 (Autumn 1961): 256–297.
  • Christ, Mark K. Civil War Arkansas, 1863: The Battle for a State. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.
  • Christ, Mark K., ed. Rugged and Sublime: The Civil War in Arkansas. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1994.
  • Christ, Mark K. "‘We Were Badly Whipped’: A Confederate Account of the Battle of Helena, July 4, 1863." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 69 (Spring 2010): 44–53.
  • Hess. Earl J.; Shea, William L.; Piston, William G.; Hatcher, Richard W.: Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on Wire Road, Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A. Bison Books 2006, ISBN 978-0-8032-7366-5.
  • Schieffler, George David. "Too Little, Too Late to Save Vicksburg: The Battle of Helena, Arkansas, July 4, 1863." MA thesis, University of Arkansas, 2005.
  • Shea, William L. Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8078-3315-5.

References

  1. ^ a b c National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, Confederate Arkansas Troops, 30th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  2. ^ Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Itinerary of Price's Army", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 8 July 2004, Accessed 5 December 2011, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=7843
  3. ^ United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 41, In Four Parts. Part 4, Correspondence, Etc., Book, 1893; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145061 : accessed February 14, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.
  4. ^ Odom, Danny, "Re: 30th Arkansas", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 8 March 2012, Accessed 8 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=25820
  5. ^ Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Col John McNeil" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 13 September 2002, Accessed 6 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=2069
  6. ^ Isbell, Paul V.; "Paul M. Cobbs", Find A Grave, Accessed 12 March 2012, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15132578
  7. ^ Odom, Danny, "Re: 30th Arkansas", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 8 March 2012, Accessed 8 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=25820
  8. ^ Odom, Danny, "Re: 30th Arkansas", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 8 March 2012, Accessed 8 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=25820
  9. ^ Odom, Danny, "Re: 30th Arkansas", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 8 March 2012, Accessed 8 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=25820
  10. ^ Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Col John McNeil" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 3 September 2002, Accessed 6 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=2069
  11. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., 30TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT, Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/30index.htm
  12. ^ Howerton, Bryan R. "Clay's Co. Arkansas cavalry " Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 14 April 2005, Accessed 6 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=10043
  13. ^ Gerdes, Edward G. "30th Arkansas Infantry CSA", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home Page, Accessed 8 March 2012, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/30th_Ark_inf_Clay.htm
  14. ^ Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Pressley Huckabay" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 22 August 2004, Accessed 6 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=8226
  15. ^ Isbell, Paul V.; "Paul M. Cobbs", Find A Grave, Accessed 12 March 2012, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15132578
  16. ^ Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Col John McNeil" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 3 September 2002, Accessed 6 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=2048
  17. ^ Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Col John McNeil" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 3 September 2002, Accessed 6 March 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=2048
  18. ^ Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, ISBN 0-8160-2288-7, page 69.
  19. ^ Howerton, Bryan, "Re: 17th/1st/35th/22nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment.", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 26 October 2011, Accessed 26 October 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=24907

See also

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