The 38th Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The unit was often referred to as Shaver's Arkansas Infantry.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. The unit served in the Department of the Trans-Mississippi from its formation in the summer of 1862 until its surrender in May 1865.
Organization 38th Infantry Regiment began when General Hindman issued Special Order Number #12, Army of the Southwest, dated June 22, 1862, which authorized a Captain W. C. Adams to raise one or more companies of mounted infantry in Lawrence and Randolph Counties and to immediately attack the enemy without waiting on special orders. On July 23, 1862, General Hindman wrote to Captain Adams and ordered him to take command of the companies now raised, organized and armed in the counties of Randolph, Green, Lawrence and Poinsett and "move them to a rendevous point near Jacksonport, ....and make a temporary organization of them into battalion or regiment depending on the number of men and companies.... to be used against enemy vigorously on Crowley's Ridge." On August 2, 1862, Special Order #43, Trans Mississippi District appointed William C. Adams Lieutenant Colonel and Capt. M. Baber as Major of a battalion composed of seven companies. Lieutenant Colonel Adams was authorized to assign staff officers with the approval of General McBride. He was directed to immediately dismount his command and march to McBride's camp. The intent was that the battalion to be increased to regiment as soon as possible.
When the regiment was finally assembled in September, 1862, it contained men from Yell, Izard, Lawrence, and Craighead counties. In early May 1862, Colonel Shaver, with General Hindman, was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department. The 38th was formally organized at Jacksonport, Arkansas, on September 8, 1862. Colonel Shaver was unanimously elected colonel and he continued in command during the various campaigns and battles in the department. The unit was inducted into Confederate Service on September 21, 1862, at Jacksonport, Arkansas. Its field grade officers were Colonel Robert G. Shaver, Lieutenant Colonels William C. Adams and Milton D. Baber, and Major R. R. Henry. The unit was composed of volunteer companies from the following counties:
Company A, Commanded by Captain James L. Sexton, organized at Lauratown, Arkansas, on June 17, 1862 Company B, Commanded by Captain Joshua Wann, organized in Lawrence County, Arkansas, on July 19, 1862 Company C, Commanded by Captain James J. Wyatt, organized at Camp Adams, Randolph County, Arkansas, on July 19, 1862 Company D, Commanded by Captain William J. Sanders, organized at Smithville, Arkansas, on July 19, 1862 Company E, Commanded by Captain M. Beshoar, organized in Pocahontas, Randolph County, Arkansas, on July 8, 1862 Company F, Commanded by Captain Alfred Gay organized in Evening Shade, Lawrence County, Arkansas, on July 16, 1862. This company appears to have been first organized as Company G, 1st Arkansas 30 Day Volunteer Regiment at Evening Shade on November 15, 1861, under the command of Captain Daniel Yeager. The company was discharged on December 15, 1861. On April 5, 1862, Danile Yeager was elected Captain of Company A, 25th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia. The other company officers were First Lieutenant John Huddleston, Second Lieutenant John A. Moody, and Third Lieutenant Joseph F. Wainsight.Arkansas Military Department Records, List of Commissioned Officers in State Militia 1827–1862, Microfilm Roll 00000038-8, Page 161 Company G, Commanded by Captain John R. Wells, organized in Powhatan, Lawrence County, Arkansas, on June 7, 1862 Company H, Commanded by Captain William A. Black, organized in Randolph County, Arkansas, on July 15, 1862 Company I, Commanded by Captain R. W. Echols, organized in Independence County, Arkansas, on August 6, 1862 Company K, Commanded by Captain Louis E. Knight, organized at Sulphur Rock, Arkansas, on August 7, 1862 Company L Company M, Formerly organized as Company F, 10th Missouri Infantry Regiment
In the fall of 1864 the 38th, and the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment were consolidated, and they were known thenceforth until the surrender in May 1865, as Shaver's Infantry Regiment.
Service Prairie Grove campaign The 38th Arkansas was assigned to Colonel Robert G. Shaver's 2nd Brigade of Daniel M. Frost's 3rd Division of Major General Thomas C. Hindman's 1st Corps of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi for the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1888; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154600/m1/906/?q=west's Arkansas battery : accessed January 14, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. The other regiments in the brigade were the 27th, 33rd, and Adams' Arkansas Infantry Regiments.Thompson, Alan, "Re: Shaver's Report on Prairie Grove", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 6 July 2012, Accessed 6 July 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?read=26769 Only a portion of the 38th Arkansas was engaged at Prairie Grove, because the unit was not fully armed. The portion of the regiment with weapons, which totaled men 152, from Companies A, C, G, H, and probably K, were placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William C. Adams and supported General Joseph Orville Shelby's brigade during the battle. According to Lieutenant Colonel William C. Adams' report of the engagement, the unit lost 5 killed, 25 wounded, 22 missing at Prairie Grove.Thompson, Alan, "Re: Shaver's Report on Prairie Grove", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 6 July 2012, Accessed 6 July 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?read=26773
Summer 1863 On February 28, 1863, Brigadier General J. C. Tappan, formerly commander of the 13th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, was ordered to assume command of Shaver's brigade, consisting of the 38th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Robert G. Shaver, the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel James R. Shaler, and the 33rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Hiram L. Grinstead. General Tappan was ordered to move his brigade to Louisiana to support General Taylor's operations against General's Grant's forces laying siege to Vicksburg Mississippi.United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 2, Correspondence., Book, 1888; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154590/m1/857/?q=Tappan : accessed July 02, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas Tappan's Brigade was present at the Battle of Goodrich's Landing on June 29, 1863, where they helped force the capitulation of two companies of the 1st Arkansas Infantry, African Descent.Parsons vs. 1st Arkansas at the Mound, Milliken's Bend, A Civil War Battle in History and Memory, accessed 26 January 2018, http://www.millikensbend.com/parsons-vs-1st-arkansas-at-the-mound/ The 38th spent the month of July 1863 in the vicinity of Delhi, Louisiana, where they conducted raids on Federal interests between Delhi and the Mississippi River.Howerton, Bryan R., "Re: George W. Harbour, 33 Arkansas Infantry Company", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 5 November 2005, Accessed 8 February 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?read=11192 The 38th and Tappan's brigade was ordered to Arkansas, via Pine Bluff, in August 1863.United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 2, Correspondence., Book, 1888; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154590/m1/951/?q=Tappan : accessed July 02, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. The Tappan's Brigade and the 38th Arkansas missed the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863, because of its operations in Louisiana.
Tappan's Brigade with the 38th returned to Arkansas in August 1863 and was involved in the defense of Little Rock. At the evacuation of Little Rock, September 10, 1863, Colonel Shaver was in command of the brigade and covered the Confederate retreat out of the city southward. He was greatly mortified that he was not permitted to engage the enemy, and he always contended that General Price should have offered battle. The 38th retreated down the Southwest Trail to Benton and on to the vicinity of Arkadelphia, while they spent the winter of 1863.
Red River Campaign During the spring of 1864 the 38th Arkansas was consolidated with the 27th Arkansas. Colonel Shaler of the 27th had proved to be unpopular with his men and junior officers. Shaler was a Missourian and made several attempts to have the 27th added to a brigade of Missouri Troops. Because of this consolidation, and because of the similarities between the names Shaver and Shaler, several historian's have mistakenly reported that Colonel Robert Shaver was elected as commander of both regiments.Taylor, Doyle "Re: 33rd Arkansas Letter', Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 14 January 2004, Accessed 6 July 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?read=6286
Upon the launch of the Union Army's Red River Campaign, seizing Alexandria, Louisiana and moving on Natchitoches and Shreveport, General Kirby Smith ordered Churchill's Arkansas Division which had most of his infantry (including Tappan's and Gause's brigades) south to Shreveport, Louisiana, in early March, 1864 to assist in countering Union General Nathaniel Banks' advance along the Red River. Churchill's division reached Keatchie, Louisiana, in time to support Richard Taylor's main force who routed Banks’ army in the Battle of Mansfield (Sabine Crossroads) on April 8, 1864. The next day, the Confederate forces united to attack the Union rear guard at Pleasant Hill on the afternoon of April 9. The Confederates had endured a long forced march from south central Arkansas to Mansfield, and another of ten hours to Pleasant Hill that day with only two hours’ rest. The Union troops held a formidable position, and although the Arkansans and Missourians fought valiantly, they were repulsed and retreated six miles to the nearest water.