The 1st Arkansas Light Artillery, originally known as the Fort Smith Artillery (1861), was an artillery battery of the Confederate States Army that served during the American Civil War. The unit was actually a pre-war volunteer militia company which was activated as part of the Arkansas State Troops and mustered out of state service following the Battle of Wilson's Creek. The unit immediately re-organized and re-enlisted for Confederate service. The unit spent the majority of the war in the western theater, fighting as part of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. The unit is also known as Reid's Battery, Provence's Battery, Humphreys' Battery and finally Rivers' Battery.Howerton, Bryan "Numbering of Artillery Units", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 11 February 2011, Accessed 18 October 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=23296
Organization Captain John G. Reid was elected as commander of a volunteer militia company of the 51st Militia Regiment, Sebastian County, Arkansas, on September 27, 1860.Kie Oldham Papers, Arkansas History Commission, One Capitol Mall, Little Rock Arkansas, Box 1, Items 18a The battery was originally identified simply as the "Independent Artillery" but was later styled the "Fort Smith Battery" or the "Fort Smith Artillery". Commissions were issued to the following officers on October 2, 1860:Arkansas Military Department Records, Spanish American War, List of Commissioned Officers of the Militia 1827–1862, Arkansas History Commission, Microfilm Roll 38-8, page 409
Captain John G. Reid First Lieutenant William M Hightower Second Lieutenant Marcus S. Wilcox. Third Lieutenant Archabald Freeman.
The unit was inducted into state service for 90 days' service as part of Brigadier General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce's 1st Division (brigade), Army of Arkansas, in June 1861.Howerton, Bryan R, "Reid's Battery", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 26 March 2003, Accessed, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?noframes;read=3662 The battery officers at the time of entry into state service were:Howerton, Bryan R. "Reid's Battery", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 13 September 2001, Accessed, 2 November 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?noframes;read=82
Captain John G. Reid. First Lieutenant [unknown]. Second Lieutenant Marcus S. Wilcox. Third Lieutenant James H. Reed.
The Fort Smith Battery was well drilled. Captain William E. Woodruff, Jr., who commanded the Pulaski Light Artillery, is said to have watched the drill of Captain Reid's Battery in order to recall the correct procedures for artillery drill. In keeping with the practice in the Confederate Army of referring to an artillery battery by the name of its current commander, the First Arkansas Light Artillery was variously known as Provence's Battery, Humphreys' Battery and Rivers' Battery. The Compiled Service Records of the men are filed under "Rivers' Battery" on Microfilm Roll #41.Howerton, Bryan R. "First Arkansas Light Artillery (Rivers' Battery)", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 2 November 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/1starty.html
Two of the guns belonging to the battery were themselves somewhat famous. During the Mexican–American War, Captain Braxton Bragg had commanded a battery of 6 pounder howitzers. While the battery was under heavy fire during the Battle of Buena Vista, on February 23, 1847, General Zachary Taylor road up to Captain Bragg's guns. When Bragg asked the General what he should do, the general allegedly replied, "A little more grape, Captain Bragg." This event first raised the young captain to national prominence. The very guns were lying in the Little Rock Arsenal when it was seized by the Arkansas State Militia before the state seceded. Two of the guns were issued to the Crawford Artillery, a battery organized in Crawford County by James T. Stewart. The Crawford Artillery was eventually converted to infantry, and two of Bragg's guns were passed to the Fort Smith Artillery.Howerton, Bryan R. "The Crawford Artillery" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, accessed August 24, 2013, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/crawarty.html
Service
Wilson's Creek
The ninth day of August, 1861, found the Fort Smith Artillery, camped on Wilson's Creek, ten miles south of Springfield, in south-west Missouri, assigned to the 1st Division (Brigade) of the Provisional Army of Arkansas (State Troops) commanded by State Brigadier General Nicholas B. Pearce. Pearce's Division, comprised one part of the Southern force under the overall command of Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch. The other two components of the Southern force were McCulloch's own Western Army, consisting one Louisiana regiment, one Texas regiment, two Arkansas regiments and one battalion of Arkansas Confederate Troops, and Major General Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard.Piston, William Garrett & Richard W. Hatcher, III. Wilson's Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press), 2003.
When notified of the approach of General Nathaniel Lyon's Union force, General Pearce stationed the Ried's battery "on an eminence to command the approaches to our right and rear, and gave him the 5th Arkansas Infantry (Colonel T.P. Dockery) as a support." When Union General Sigel commanding the union left column of the advance from Springfield, came upon Pearce's right and established a battery, Pearce directed Reid's battery to engage. Reid succeeded in getting his range accurately, so that his shot proved very effective."Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, , page 40. Following the battle, Brigadier General Pearce Arkansas State Troops returned to northwest Arkansas and voted to be mustered out of service rather than being transferred to Confederate Service. The battery was mustered out of State service on September 17, 1861, and all of its members were discharged.Howerton, Bryan R, "Re: Marcus S. Wilcox" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted, 12 September 2001, Accessed 2 November 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?noframes;read=69
Reorganized The battery reorganized after Wilson's Creek, but Captain Reid did not stand for re-election, having accepted a staff position. The battery elected David Provence as captain on September 17, 1861. On March 7 and 8, 1862, during the Battle of Pea Ridge, the battery was assigned to Major General Benjamin McCulloch's Division of Major General Earl Van Dorn's Army of the West. Following the Confederate defeat at Pea Ridge, Van Dorn's Army retreated first to Van Buren and then moved east before boarding river boats and beginning a move to link up with Confederate forces massing near Corinth Mississippi. The Fort Smith Battery was sent east of the Mississippi River and served there for the rest of the war. Captain Reid would later command yet another battery during the Battle of Prairie Grove, but that organization bore no relation to the Fort Smith Battery.
Captain David Provence was elected commander of the re-organized battery. Most of the men originally assigned to the Fort Smith Artillery subsequently reenlisted in Confederate service in Provence's Arkansas Battery (1st Arkansas Light Artillery). The battery retained the name and battery colors of the Fort Smith Artillery, but it was officially referred to as Provence's, and later Rivers', Battery Arkansas Light Artillery. A comparison of enlistment documents between the two units indicates that about three fourths of the original Fort Smith Artillery Battery continued to serve with the battery in Confederate service. The officers elected when the battery reorganized were:
Captain David Provence. First Lieutenant Stephen D. McDonald. Second Lieutenant John T. Humphreys. Third Lieutenant William H. Gore.
Battle of Pea Ridge The battery fought at the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas, in March 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 10, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1884; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154613/m1/797/?q=Reid's Arkansas Battery : accessed February 01, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. The battery was assigned to Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch's Division of Major General Earl Van Dorn's Army of the West. Following the Confederate defeat at Pea Ridge, the army reconsolidated at Van Buren, Arkansas, The battery was assigned to an artillery brigade commanded by Brigadier General D.M. Frost.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 53. Reports, Correspondence, Etc., Book, 1898; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154642/m1/798/?q=military board Hardee : accessed February 14, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas
East of the Mississippi River
Then marched overland to Des Arc where the army was transported by steamboat to Memphis in an attempt to unite the Army of the West with the Confederate Army of Mississippi to attack Grant at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, but arrived too late for the Battle of Shiloh.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 battery would spend the rest of the war 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 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.