1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Confederate)

The 1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the "First Arkansas", was an infantry formation of the Confederate States Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

The regiment was raised in April 1861 by Colonel Thompson B. Flournoy. It moved first to Virginia, but transferred back to Tennessee and served the rest of the war in the western theater, seeing action in the Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Following its depletion in numbers, the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment. 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 into Confederate service at Pitman's Ferry, Arkansas, on 23 July 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.

Formation

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 12 April, 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. Governor Henry Rector famously refused Lincoln's request for troops.The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies; Series 1 – Volume 1, Page 687, accessed at Cornell University Library, 27 October 2011, https://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;g=moagrp;xc=1;q1=Rector;rgn=full%20text;idno=waro0001;didno=waro0001;view=image;seq=703;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset; 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.

Governor Rector initially responded that he had no power to comply with the Confederate request but he expected the state to secede when the secession convention reconvened on 6 May. 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. Thompson B. Flournoy was a planter from Laconia, in Desha County, and had supported the Douglas and Johnson ticket in the election of 1860.

Colonel Flournoy began by organizing the first companies which arrived in Little Rock seeking service in the Confederate forces. 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. 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. At the actual organization of the regiment at Little Rock on 6 May 1861, 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. Flournoy accepted the outcome with good grace; he was afterward promoted to brigadier-general in the Confederate service. The unit was composed of companies from the following Arkansas counties: Company A – "The El Dorado Sentinels" – of Union County, commanded by Capt. Asa Morgan. This unit was likely first organized as the El Dorado Troop, a volunteer cavalry company in the 29th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia, on February 15, 1861.Arkansas Military Department Records, List of Commissioned Officers in State Militia 1827–1862, Microfilm Roll 00000038-8, Page 72 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. This company had originally been organized as a volunteer company in the 39th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia on April 29, 1861.Arkansas Military Department Records, Spanish American War, List of Commissioned Officers of the Militia 1827–1862, Arkansas History Commission, Microfilm Roll 38-8, page 371 Company D – "The Clan McGregor" – of Jefferson County, commanded by Capt. Donelson McGregor. McGregor had been elected as the Colonel of the 24th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia, on February 22, 1860, and probably organized his company from his militia regiment.Kie Oldham Papers, Arkansas History Commission, One Capitol Mall, Little Rock Arkansas, Box 2, Item 119 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 H. Martin. Company G – "The Jackson Guards" – of Jackson County, commanded by Capt. A. C. Pickett. This company had originally been organized as a volunteer company in the 34th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia on March 8, 1860.Arkansas Military Department Records, Spanish American War, List of Commissioned Officers of the Militia 1827–1862, Arkansas History Commission, Microfilm Roll 38-8 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, commanded by Capt. D. B. Quertermous. This company had originally been organized as a volunteer company in the 1st Regiment, Arkansas State Militia, on February 8, 1861.

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

History

The regiment attracted attention on the road from Arkansas to Virginia, as folks along the way learned that it contained the offspring of two famous Tennessee families. Capt. Robert Patton Crockett a son of Davy Crockett & second wife Elizabeth Patton, and Capt. Donelson McGregor, who was reared near the Hermitage, and was grand-nephew of the President Andrew Jackson. The regiment was stationed at Aquia Creek, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the brigade of Gen. T. H. Holmes. The regiment was mustered into Confederate service on 19 May 1861, at Lynchburg, Virginia. It was then stationed at Evansport, where the men of the regiment, under Capt. Will H. Martin, made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Federal gunboat Pocahontas, on the Potomac. In July 1861, Holme's Brigade served as the reserve for Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard's Confederate Army of the Potomac during the battle of First Manassas, but the 1st Arkansas never became engaged.The Manassas Campaign, Virginia, July 21, 1861 - Order of battle; Manassas National Battlefield Park - The Battle of First Manassas, Confederate order of battle

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. The 1st Arkansas was attached to Colonel Randall L. Gibson's 1st Brigade of Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles' 1st Division of Major General Braxton Bragg's II Army Corps. 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 reorganizedUnited States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 10, In Two Parts. Part 2, Correspondence, etc., Book, 1884; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154614/m1/500/?q=Army of Mississippi : accessed June 17, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. and received replacements, then were assigned to Army of Mississippi for the upcoming Kentucky Campaign, the 1st Arkansas was assigned to Colonel Samuel Powel's 3rd Brigade of Brigadier General James Patton Anderson's 2nd Division of Major General William Joseph Hardee's Corps.Holman, Kurt. "Perryville Order of Battle: Forces Present at Perryville, October 8, 1862 (Revised January 10, 2008)", unpublished paper, Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site. After the battle of Perryville, the Army of Mississippi and the Army of Kentucky were reorganized and renamed as the Army of Tennessee and the 1st Arkansas was assigned to Brigadier General Lucius E. Polk's Brigade of Major General Patrick R. Cleburne's Division of Lieutenant General William Joseph Hardee's Corps with whom they would remain for the rest of the war.

The 1st Arkansas would go on to take part in the Battle of Murfreesboro,United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 20, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1887; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154629 : accessed 6 February 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battles for Chattanooga, and the Siege of Atlanta. Lieutenant Colonel Donelson McGregor and fourteen others soldiers for the Battle of MurfreesboroUnited States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 20, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1887, Page 974; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154629 : accessed 7 February 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. As of result of high casualties during the Chattanooga campaign, the 1st Arkansas was consolidated with the 15th Arkansas under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William H. Martin.United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 38, In Five Parts. Part 3, Reports., Book, 1891; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154634/m1/656/?q=Reynolds Arkansas : accessed June 26, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. This consolidation united the two units that had been designated "1st Arkansas" because upon its formation, the 15th Arkansas had originally been designated by the Arkansas State Military Board as the 1st Arkansas Infantry, State Troops.