The 19th Arkansas Infantry Regiment or Dockery's regiment was an infantry formation of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. There were two other regiments which were designated as the 19th Arkansas. Dawson's 19th Arkansas Infantry was organized at Nashville, Arkansas, on November 21, 1861. Hardy's Arkansas Infantry, which is also occasionally referred to as the 19th Arkansas was organized in 1863 from those parts of Dawson's 19th Infantry Regiment, the 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and Crawford's Arkansas Infantry Battalion, which escaped capture at the Battle of Arkansas Post.
Formation The 19th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was organized on April 2, 1862, at DeValls Bluff, with Col. Hamilton P. Smead in command. The regimental quartermaster was Capt. Thomas P. Dockery, future brigadier-general. The regiment comprised ten companies from Columbia, Hot Spring, Lafayette, Ouachita and Union counties. The unit was composed of volunteer companies from the following counties:
Company A – commanded by Captain James G. Johnson, and organized in Lewisville, Lafayette County, Arkansas on February 25, 1862; Company B – commanded by Captain Dave Dixon and organized in Columbia County, Arkansas on February 26, 1862; Company C – commanded by Captain Wiley H. Buffington and organized in Columbia County, Arkansas on February 27, 1862; Company D/E – the "Mountain Minute Men" – commanded by Captain R. S. Clayton and organized as a volunteer company in the 47th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia, Hot Springs County, Arkansas on December 25, 1861. The unit was sworn in to Confederate service on March 1, 1862;Kie Oldham Papers, Arkansas History Commission, One Capitol Mall, Little Rock Arkansas, Box 2, Items 91a Company F – commanded by Captain W. C. Langford, and organized at El Dorado, Arkansas on March 1, 1862; Company G – commanded by Captain John A. Meek, and organized in Union County, Arkansas on March 1, 1862; Company H – commanded by Captain John Cook, and organized at Caney, Arkansas on March 3, 1862; Company I – commanded by Captain B. R. Mathews, and organized in Union County, Arkansas on March 3, 1862; and Company K – commanded by Captain H. K. Perry, and organized in Columbia County, Arkansas on March 8, 1862.
The original Regimental officers were:
SMEAD, H.P. – Colonel DISMUKES, WILLIAM H. – Lieutenant Colonel WILLIAMS, H.G.P. – Major DOCKERY, THOMAS P. Captain – Commissary FELTON, ROBERT A. – Surgeon PEARCE, GEORGE W. – Assistant Surgeon DURHAM, F.M. – Surgeon Major MOHR, DAVID – Quartermaster Sargent EDENBO, WILLIAM H. – Musician TATUM, ORGAN Ordnance Sargent
American Civil War Soon after being organized, the regiment was ordered to Mississippi, along with the rest of Van Dorn's Army of the West.United 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/m1/462/?q=Arkansas Corinth Battery : accessed June 15, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. The unit boarded a steamer and moved down White River, out at its mouth, then up the Mississippi River and landed at Memphis, Tennessee. The Confederate commander at Memphis reported on April 7 that Colonel Smead's command with a total of 762 soldiers (of which 560 were fit for duty) was present but armed with double barrel shotguns and inferior rifles.Odom, Danny "Re: 17th Arkansas Regiment, No. 2", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 9 June 2012, Accessed 11 June 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=26502 The unit was assigned to the Brigadier General Albert Rust's brigade. The regiment was immediately ordered to move via paddle steamer to Fort Pillow, approximately north of Memphis, along with the remainder of Rust's Brigade.United 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/m1/415/?q=Army of the West Memphis : accessed June 14, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. At Fort Pillow, during a bombardment by Union gunboats, the regiment saw their first enemy fire.Elihu C. Beckham, "A GOOD STORY, Where I was And What I saw During the Late War By Elihu C. Bechkam, Sergeant Co. "K", 21st Ark.", The Izard County Historian, October 1977, Volume 8, Number 4. Accessed 6 June 2012, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/goodstor.html
The unit remained at Fort Pillow for about two weeks. The unit experienced few casualties in the bombardment of Fort Pillow, but many of the soldiers became sick, and several died due to the very muddy conditions and poor water supply at the fort. The unit left Fort Pillow on April 26 moved back to Memphis and then on to Camp Churchill Clark, near Corinth, Mississippi.
In early May 1862 the Confederate Army underwent an army-wide reorganization due to the passage of the Conscription Act by the Confederate Congress in April 1862. All twelve-month regiments had to re-muster and enlist for two additional years or the duration of the war; a new election of officers was ordered; and men who were exempted from service by age or other reasons under the Conscription Act were allowed to take a discharge and go home. Officers who did not choose to stand for re-election were also offered a discharge. The reorganization was accomplished among all the Arkansas regiments in and around Corinth, Mississippi, following the Battle of Shiloh. After settling in at Camp Churchill Clark, near Corinth, Mississippi, the 19th Arkansas was reorganized for the war and new officers were elected. All of the original field officers were thrown out in the election of May 12, 1862, and in their place the men elected Colonel Thomas P. Dockery, Lieutenant Colonel William H. Dismukes, and Major Horatio G. P. Williams. On June 2, 1862, the two Hot Spring County companies were consolidated. Company D (from Rockport) was merged into Company E (from Hot Springs).
Iuka-Corinth Campaign During the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, the 19th Arkansas was assigned to Brigadier General William L. Cabell's brigade of Brigadier General Dabney H. Maury's Division of Major General Sterling Price's 1st Corps the Confederate (Army of the West). The unit participated in the Battle of Corinth and the Battle of Hatchie's Bridge, and reported 129 casualties.
Vicksburg Campaign The regiment was assigned to Brigadier General Martin E. Green's brigade of Major General John S. Bowen's Division, of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's Army of Mississippi for the Vicksburg Campaign. When General Green was killed on June 27, 1863, Colonel Dockery was placed in command of Second Brigade, Bowen's Division, and so actual field command of the 19th Arkansas Regiment devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Dismukes, who led the regiment through the terrible battles that preceded the Siege of Vicksburg. The 19th Arkansas fought at Battle of Port Gibson, Battle of Champion's Hill,"Vivid Experiences at Champion Hill, Miss." Private A. H. Reynolds, Camden, Arkansas, 19th Arkansas Infantry, from the Confederate Veteran, January 1910. and the Battle of Big Black River Bridge, where Lieutenant-Colonel Dismukes was mortally wounded and most of the regiment was captured.United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 24, In Three Parts. Part 2, Reports., Book, 1889; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154603/m1/420/?q=Tappan's Brigade Arkansas 1863 : accessed June 29, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas Major Horatio Gates Perry Williamson was promoted to lieutenant-colonel after Dismukes' death, and the uncaptured remnant of the 19th Arkansas fell back to Vicksburg, where it endured the forty-day siege.
Paroled, exchanged and re-organized
This regiment surrendered with the Army of Mississippi at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863. General U. S. Grant initially demanded the unconditional surrender of the Vicksburg garrison, but faced with the necessity of feeding 30,000 starving Confederates and having the idea that these soldiers might do more harm to the Confederate cause by being released to return home rather than being exchanged as whole units, he relented and allowed for the immediate parole of the surrendered units. According to the Confederate War Department, Union leaders encouraged the surrendered confederates to simply return home, rather than reporting to parole camps to await their eventual exchange. The able bodied Confederate soldiers who were released on parole walked out of Vicksburg (they were not allowed to proceed in any military formations) on July 11, 1863. Paroling of these able bodied men was completed in their respective regimental camps inside Vicksburg prior to July 11. Those who were wounded or sick in the various hospitals in Vicksburg were paroled, and were released as soon as they could leave on their own. July 15/16 is the most common date of these Vicksburg hospital paroles. Some of the most seriously wounded and sick were sent by steamship down the Mississippi River and over to Mobile, Alabama, where they were delivered on parole to Confederate authorities.Simmons, Hugh "Re: 46th AL Co. C -- questions re: Demopolis/Vicks", Alabama in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 17 April 2004, Accessed 4 June 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/alcwmb/arch_config.pl?noframes;read=13786
Confederate commanders designated Enterprise, Mississippi as the rendezvous point (parole camp) for the Vicksburg parolees to report to after they got clear of the last Federal control point at Big Black Bridge. By August 3, 1864 it was apparent that most of the Arkansas units had bypassed the established parole camps, and with the assistance of their Union captors, simply crossed the river and returned home. On August 3, 1863 it was reported that only a very small number of the paroled Arkansas troops had reported to parole camps east of the Mississippi River.United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 24, In Three Parts. Part 3, Correspondence, etc., Book, 1889; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154593/m1/1043/?q=dockery : accessed February 11, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.