The 46th Arkansas Infantry (Mounted) (1864–1865) was a Confederate Army Mounted Infantry regiment during the American Civil War. While authorized by the State Military Board as an infantry regiment, the unit was mounted for Price's Missouri Expedition and served as mounted infantry. Due to its mounted status, the unit is sometimes referred to as the 46th Arkansas Cavalry when a numerical designation is used.National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, Confederate Arkansas Troops, 46th Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry. Retrieved 3 December 2011 The unit is almost always referred to as either Coleman's Arkansas Cavalry Regiment or Crabtree's CavalrySikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, , page 121. in official reports from the period.
Organization In 1862, Colonel William O. Coleman returned to Carter County, Missouri and recruited heavily among former Missouri State Guard soldiers to form Coleman's Missouri Cavalry Regiment.Martin, George, "Coleman's Missouri Cavalry", Missouri in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 31 December 2011, Accessed 9 January 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/mocwmb2/webbbs_config.pl?read=18255 Many of the same men appear on the rosters (compiled from individual service records) of Coleman's Missouri Cavalry regiment as the roster of the 4th Missouri Cavalry. Several of these men were from Arkansas, including Captain Wiley C Jones, who was the commander of a company in Coleman's 4th Missouri Cavalry. Apparently, Coleman's Missouri Cavalry Regiment operated for some time without formal recognition, until the summer of 1864, and it was granted in July 1864 official status as a Partisan Ranger Regiment (Independent Cavalry Command) under the Partisan Ranger Act of 1862. It was only an officially independent command for a few months, before the reorganization of commands for Price's Raid in Missouri which occurred between August and October 1864. At some point several of the previously independent cavalry regiments, battalions, and companies were organized into new commands.Tipton, Jay B. "", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 2 January 2012, Accessed 9 January 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?read=25408
In May 1864, General J. O. Shelby occupied Northeast Arkansas, well behind Union army lines. In early June 1864, General Shelby commissioned Colonel Thomas Hamilton McCray, among others to begin raising regiments in Northeast Arkansas. By June 13, Shelby reported to General Sterling Price that McCray's efforts were bearing fruit.
Colonel McCray's efforts led to the recruitment of at least three regiments, the 45th, 46th and 47th Arkansas Infantry Regiments. These 40-series regiments consisted mostly of conscripts, and absentees from existing units, organized around a small cadre of detailed from infantry regiments, which were expected to be idle during the fall and winter of 1864.Howerton, Bryan R.: "Re: Wm. H. Fisher, Crandall's 47 Cav. CSA", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 23 October 2008, Accessed 1 January 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?read=19041
The decreasing availability of fodder for horses in 1864 led the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department to issue an order proscribing the raising of additional mounted regiments in Arkansas. However, when General Sterling Price received authorization to conduct a campaign in Missouri that fall, several of the new regiments were mounted in order to accompany him. As a result, the 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th were officially mounted infantry regiments instead of cavalry regiments. They were rarely referred to in contemporary reports and orders by numerical designation. Price referred to them as McGehee's Cavalry, Crabtree's Cavalry, etc., which eventually resulted in their later being referred to as 44th Cavalry, 46th Cavalry, etc.Howerton, Bryan R.: "Re: 46th Ark. Cavalry = 46th Ark. Mounted Infantry", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 9 November 2002, Accessed 1 January 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=23921
William O. Coleman was formally assigned as the commander of the 46th Arkansas Mounted, while several of the former Coleman's officers and men (e.g. Captain Jones) were reassigned to other regiments such as the 45th Arkansas Infantry (Mounted). The unit was composed of companies from Greene, Independence, Jackson, Van Buren and White counties:Howerton, Bryan R.: "Re: Crabtree's 46th Cavalry", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 24 March 2007, Accessed 9 January 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?read=15221
Officer appointments in the 40-series regiments date from the June to August 1864 time frame, so it is assumed that the regiments were mustered into service about the same time at various points in northeast Arkansas.Howerton, Bryan R.: "In Response To: 45th Arkansas Cavalry (Jo Bennett)", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 16 April 2004, Accessed 1 January 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=7086 The list of regimental officers follows:Howerton, Bryan R.: "46th Crabtree's Regiment Arkansas Cavalry", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 9 January 2012, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/46th.htm Colonel William O. Coleman Lieutenant Colonel John W. CrabtreeAllardice, Bruce S.: "Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register," (University of Missouri Press 2008), Pages 112-3. Lieutenant Colonel S. J. McGuffin Major E.N. Floyd Captain James Rutherford, Acting Quartermaster First Lieutenant Robert Weaver, Adjutant Captain A. C. Dunaway, Acting Commissary S.W. Allen, Surgeon P.N.A. Billingsly, Sergeant Major
There are no known muster rolls of the 46th Arkansas Mounted Infantry and no record of enlistments. Apart from a few prisoner of war records, the records of this regiment consist of paroles of soldiers who surrendered at Jacksonport, Arkansas, on June 5, 1865. The following list commanders is composed almost entirely from the Jacksonport parole records:
Company A, Commanded at the surrender by 1LT Samuel P. Wycough, enlisted in Batesville, Independence *County. Company B, Commanded at the surrender by 1LT Harrison Blevins enlisted in Independence County Company C, Commanded by Capt. William H. Lenox, enlisted in Jacksonport, Jackson County Company D, Unknown Company E, Unknown Company F, Commanded by Capt. J.T. Spring, enlisted at Jacksonport, Jackson County Company G, Commanded by Capt. B. W. Bolton, enlisted in White County Company H, Unknown Company I, Commanded by Capt. J.T. Johnson. Company K, Commanded at the surrender by 2LT James B. Stalling
There is also a Floyds company mentioned.
Service It appears that the 46th was originally assigned to Colonel Thomas H. McCray's brigade and operated as part of General Shelby's division in northeast Arkansas in the summer of 1864. The regiments organized by Colonel McCray were apparently ready for operations by 25 July 1864 when Brigadier General Shelby ordered McCray's Brigade to move south and attack the railroad near Brownsville, in current day Lonoke County, Arkansas.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 2, Correspondence, Etc., Book, 1893; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145054/m1/1025/?q=McCray : accessed March 29, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.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 2, Correspondence, Etc., Book, 1893; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145054/m1/521/?q=McCray : accessed March 29, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.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 1, Reports., Book, 1893; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145053/m1/45/?q=McCray : accessed March 29, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. The purpose of these attacks were to cut off supplies to the Union army under General Steele in Little Rock, which was dependent on supplies flowing up the Arkansas River and down the rail road from Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas.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 2, Correspondence, Etc., Book, 1893; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145054/m1/248/?q=McCray : accessed March 29, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. In response to Colonel McCray's movements, Union Brigadier General Joseph R. West conducted an expedition from Little Rock to the Little Red River, August 7–14, 1864 in attempt to destroy McCray's forces. West's forces encountered some of McCray's forces at Hickor Plains, Arkansas, on August 7, 1864, and captured seven prisoners.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 1, Reports., Book, 1893; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145053/m1/239/?q=McCray : accessed March 29, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. Shelby reported that McCray succeeded in tearing up track and burning several trestles.