4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops

The 4th Infantry, Arkansas State Troops (1861) was an Arkansas State infantry regiment that served during the American Civil War. After being raised in mid-1861, the regiment was assigned to the command of Brigadier General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, who was the commander of the 1st Division, Provisional Army of Arkansas.[1] The regiment is referred to as the "4th Regiment Arkansas Volunteers", or "Walker's Regiment" in contemporary accounts; it was disbanded shortly after the Battle of Wilson's Creek in August 1861. Another Arkansas unit also had the designation 4th Arkansas, the 4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment which formed after the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and spent most of its service in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. There is no connection between the two units.[1]

4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops
Flag of the Joe Wright Guards
Active1861
DisbandedAugust 1861
Country Confederate States of America
Allegiance Arkansas
BranchInfantry
EngagementsAmerican Civil War
Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiments
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Organization

At the beginning of the war, the Arkansas Succession Convention created the Provisional Army of Arkansas. The Provisional Army was to consist of two divisions, the 1st Division in the western part of the state was to be commanded by Brigadier General Pearce, and the 2nd Division in the eastern half of the state, commanded by Major General James Yell. The intent of the Secession Convention was to transfer these state troop regiments into Confederate service as quickly as possible, to avoid the cost of paying for a large state army. The troops of the eastern division were transferred to the command of Brigadier General Hardee in July 1861, but the troops of the western division under Brigadier General Pearce were not transferred to Confederate service before they became engaged in the Battle of Wilson's Creek. The unit was composed of the following volunteer companies:[2][3][4]

Colonel James David Walker, 4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops
Company A, of Sebastian County, commanded by Captain Patrick H. Sanders.
Company B, of Madison County, commanded by Captain Larkin Bunch.
Company C, of Washington County, commanded by Captain Hugh L. Tinnen.
Company D, the Fort Smith Grays, of Sebastian County, commanded by Captain Cabell.
Company E, of Crawford County, commanded by John T. Humphreys.
Company F, of Washington County commanded by Captain Thomas Montague Gunter.
Company G, of uncertain county commanded by Captain J. W. Johnson.
Company H, the Jo. Wright Guards, of Carroll County commanded by Capt. Hampton B. Fancher.
Company I, of Carroll County, commanded by Captain John Denny.
Company K, of Carroll County, commanded by Captain James Midleton Pittman.

The regimental officers were:[1]

Walker, James D., Colonel
Berry, Tom, Lieutenant Colonel
Peel, S.W., Major
Dunlap, A., Surgeon
Morrow, J.M., Assistant Surgeon

Battles

The 1st Division (Brigade) Arkansas State Troops, along with Brigadier-General Ben McCulloch's Confederate brigade, marched north into Missouri, where they linked up with Major General Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard. The combined force then moved towards Springfield, Missouri. Under the command of Colonel James D. Walker, the 4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops was present at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri, on August 10, 1861,[5] but was not engaged.[6] On the morning of August 10, 1861, while encamped along Wilson's Creek, just south of Springfield, Missouri, the Southern army was attacked by a Union force under Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon. The ensuing battle was one of the largest and most desperately fought engagements in the western theater.[7]

Report of Col. J. D. Walker, Fourth Arkansas Infantry.

IN CAMP ON WILSON'S CREEK, MO., August 11, 1861.

The Fourth Regiment, on the morning of the 10th, was placed under the command of Adjutant-Gen. Rector, who remained in command during the day. This regiment was not brought into immediate action, being stationed upon the hill for the protection of Reid's battery, and although exposed to danger from the fire of the enemy, all the officers and men of the regiment behaved with the greatest promptness and coolness in all their movements during the day. There were none killed or wounded in the Fourth Regt.

I have the honor to be, respectfully, &c.,

J. D. WALKER,

Col. Fourth Regt. Arkansas Volunteers.

Brig.-Gen. PEARCE.[8]

Disbanded

Following the battle, the regiment, with the rest of the Arkansas troops, was marched back to Arkansas and given the opportunity to vote on the issue of being transferred into Confederate service. The regiment, along with the rest of the 1st Division voted to disband rather than be transferred to Confederate service.[9] Many veterans of the regiments joined other Confederate units later in the war.[10]

Flag
Flag of the Joe Wright Guards, which later became the colors of the 16th Arkansas Infantry Regiment

Many of the original companies raised for the war received handmade flags which were presented to them in elaborate ceremonies in their hometown before marching off to war. In the first year of the war, many of these homemade banners were "1st National Flag" pattern, meaning that they were patterned after the first national flag authorized for the new Confederate Government. The new Confederate Banner, often referred to as the "Stars and Bars", consisted of "a red field, with a white space extending horizontally through the center, equal in width to one third the width of the flag, and red spaces above and below to the same width as the white, the union blue extending blue extending down through the white space and stopping in the lower red space, in the center of the union, a circle of white stars corresponding in number with the States of the Confederacy." The white stripe was a convenient place for the flag makers to embellish the flag with some motto or inscription.[11]

One of these "1st National" pattern flags was given to the Joe Wright Guards, which became Company H, 4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops. The flag was made by Ms. Josephine Wright and Ms. Jane Bailey.[12] The flag is 36" by 72" and has the words GO AND THE LORD BE WITH THEE" painted on the white stripe. The flag was alleged chosen for the colors of the 4th Regiment. After the 4th Regiment was disbanded, many of the former members of the Joe Wright Guards joined Company D, of the new 16th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and according to the Memoirs of Captain J. B. Bailey,[13] the flag was chosen as the regimental colors of the 16th. The flag was carried by the 16th Arkansas during the Battle of Iuka and the Battle of Hatchie's Bridge during the Iuka-Corinth Campaign. The flag was retired when the 16th Arkansas was issued a new Van Dorn Pattern Battle Flag. The 16th Arkansas was captured during the Siege of Port Hudson, but the old set of colors was smuggled out and returned to the family of Ms. Wright. The flag remained in the family until 1981, when it was donated to the Atlanta Civil War Museum, but current location of the flag is unknown.[14]

See also

References
  1. Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page "4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment", Arkansas State Troops, Accessed 10 January 2010, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/4arinfst.html
  2. MILITIA LAW OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS; PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, AND OF THE MILITIA THEREOF, Accessed 8 January 2010, https://books.google.com/books?id=3lFKAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA59#v=onepage&q&f=false ; See Also, Acts Passed at the Fourths Session of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, An act for the better organization of the Militia of this State, page 149, accessed, 8 Jan 2010, https://books.google.com/books?id=48c3AAAAIAAJ&dq=Acts%20of%20Arkansas%201843%20General%20Assembly&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q=Acts%20of%20Arkansas%201843%20General%20Assembly&f=false , See Also, Revised statutes of the State of Arkansas: adopted at the October session of the General Assembly of said State, A.D. 1837, Page 543, accessed 10 December 2010, https://books.google.com/books?id=ohxEAAAAYAAJ&dq=acts%20General%20Assembly%20Arkansas%20militia&pg=PA543
  3. The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board – Archive Company Names Posted By: Bryan Howerton, accessed 1 Nov 2010, "Company Names". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  4. Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Companies of Pearce's Brigade", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 12 February 2007, Accessed 16 February 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=14760 , See also Dandrige McRae Papers, Arkansas History Commission, http://www.ark-ives.com/manuscripts/detail.aspx?id=181
  5. The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. ; Series 1 - Volume 3, Page 124, http://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;g=moagrp;xc=1;q1=Walker;q2=Wilson%20s%20Creek;q3=Gratiot;rgn=full%20text;idno=waro0003;didno=waro0003;view=image;seq=0138
  6. Papers of John R. Gratiot, August 11, 1861, to August 12, 1861, Missouri History Museum. St. Louis, Mo., Accessed 7 February 2012, http://collections.mohistory.org/archive/ARC:A0286_7272
  7. The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. ; Series 1 - Volume 3
  8. United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 3., Book, 1881, page 124; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154606/m1/131/?q=Gratiot : accessed February 18, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.
  9. Huff, "Military Board", p. 90: See Also, The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. ; Series 1 - Volume 3, Page 716, Accessed 10 January 2010, http://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;xc=1;idno=waro0003;g=moagrp;q1=Arkansas;q2=Wilson%20s%20Creek;q3=Gratiot;node=waro0003%3A4;frm=frameset;view=image;seq=729;page=root;size=s
  10. Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page "The Hempstead Rifles", Arkansas State Troops, Accessed 10 January 2010, ""The Hempstead Rifles" Arkansas State Troops". Archived from the original on 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  11. Dedmondt, Glenn. "The Flags Of Civil War Arkansas", (Pelican Publishing Co., 2009). ISBN 978-1-58980-190-5, page 13.
  12. Fitton, Garvin, "I am "The Flag" Boone County Historian, Volume XXII, No. 2, (1999), page 29. Accessed 25 February 2012, http://www.bchrs.org/publications/historian/1999/index.html Archived 2009-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Massey, James T. ed. Memoirs of Captain J. M. Bailey (Independence, Mo.: Two Trails Publishing) 12, Accessed 25 February 2012,http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arcivwar/BAILEY.htm
  14. Dedmondt, Glenn. "The Flags Of Civil War Arkansas", (Pelican Publishing Co., 2009). ISBN 978-1-58980-190-5, page 33.

Further reading
  • Piston, William Garrett, and Richard W. Hatcher III. Wilson's Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000, ISBN 9780807855751.
  • Hess Earl J, Hatcher, William G., Piston, Richard W., and Shea, William L. Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on Wire Road, University of Nebraska Press, 2006, ISBN 9780803207370.
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