The 1st Cavalry Regiment, Arkansas State Troops (1861) was an

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The regiment was organized at Camp Walker, near

Harmony Springs In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...

, Benton County,

. The regiment was officially designated as the Third Regiment (Cavalry), Arkansas State Troops by the State Military Board, but was designated as the 1st Arkansas Cavalry by Brigadier General

Nicholas Bartlett Pearce Nicholas Bartlett Pearce (commonly known as N. Bart Pearce) (July 20, 1828 – March 8, 1894) was a brigadier general in the Arkansas State Troops during the American Civil War. He led a brigade of infantry in one of the war's earliest battles in ...

, Commander, 1st Division, Provisional Army of Arkansas. The regiment is referred to as the "Carroll's Regiment" in contemporary accounts.

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 Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was the first major battle of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri, Springfield, Missou ...

. The unit's designation as the 1st Cavalry Regiment, Arkansas State Troops has its origins in the confusion caused by Brigadier General Nicholas B. Pearce's failure to comply with the numbering system for regiments adopted by the State Military Board. The State Military Board authorized a 1st and 3rd Arkansas Regiment of State Troops. The 1st Regiment was commanded by Colonel Patrick R. Cleburne and was organized a Mound City, in the 2nd or Eastern Division of the Army of Arkansas. The State Military Board had authorized a 3rd Regiment of State Troops as a cavalry regiment under Colonel DeRosey Carroll, and ordered it to join the 1st Division" (actually a brigade) of the Army of Arkansas commanded by General Nicholas B. Pearce in northwest Arkansas. The free-spirited General Pearce ignored the unit designations authorized by the State Military Board, and assigned his own designations, based on when each regiment showed up in camp to muster. The first units to arrive at the designate assembly point were naturally the mounted units which became Carroll's regiment, so the 3rd Regiment Arkansas State Troops was re-designated the 1st Regiment. The officially sanctioned 2nd Regiment Arkansas State Troops, under Colonel John R. Gratiot, arrived at the assembly point third, and was immediately renamed the 3rd Regiment. Thus, all accounts of the State Troops in northwest Arkansas, including the battle of Wilson's Creek, refer to Gratiot's regiment as the 3rd Arkansas. Carroll's Regiment was composed of the following companies: *Company A – "Pope Walker Guards" – of Crawford County, commanded by Captain Charles Arthur Carroll This unit was originally organized as a volunteer cavalry company in the 5th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia on June 14, 1861.Van Buren Press, Van Buren, Arkansas, Friday, March 1, 1861, Accessed January 24, 2011, Arkansas Military Department Records, List of Commissioned Officers in State Militia 1827–1862, Microfilm Roll 00000038-8, Page 23 *Company B – "Sebastian County Cavalry" – of Sebastian County, commanded by Captain Thomas Lewis This unit was originally organized as a volunteer cavalry company in the 51st Regiment, Arkansas State Militia on May 17, 1861. *Company C – Captain Armstrong's Company of Johnson County, commanded by Captain Lynus Armstrong This company was originally organized on December 28, 1860, as a volunteer cavalry company in the 10th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia. *Company D – the "Independent Light Horse Guards" – of Crawford County, commanded by Captain Powhatan Perkins. This unit was originally organized as a volunteer cavalry company in the 5th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia. *Company E – of Washington County, commanded by Captain Thomas J. Kelly. This company was originally organized on May 28, 1861, as a volunteer cavalry company in the 20th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia. *Company F – of Benton County, commanded by Captain Daniel R. McKissick. *Company G – of Franklin County, commanded by Captain John J. Walker. This company was originally organized on May 1, 1861, as a volunteer cavalry company in the 7th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia. *Company H – of Scott County, commanded by Captain George W. Featherston. This company was originally organized on June 4, 1860, as a volunteer cavalry company in the 17th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia. *Company I – of uncertain county, commanded by Captain Harleston Reid Withers. *Company K – of uncertain county, commanded by unknown.

Battles

Under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

DeRosey Carroll, the 1st Cavalry Regiment, Arkansas State Troops was present engaged at the

, Missouri, on August 10, 1861. Unit suffered a total of five killed and 20 wounded in the battle. A statement of ammunition on hand, omitted from above report, shows that the several companies averaged less than eight rounds per man. Captain Charles Arthur Carroll's company, the "Pope Walker Guards," of Crawford County, was assigned as Company A of Col. DeRosey Carroll's regiment of cavalry, however, this assignment should be considered as purely administrative. Historians believe that at least four of the regiments's companies never actually served with the regiment, but instead operated independently under the direct command of the division commander, Brigadier General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, as scouts and escorts. Captain Carroll made his own report of the engagement to Brigadier General Pearce: Captain Carroll's company had been part of a force that General Pearce had sent to oppose and attack on the army's rear by Union Colonel Siegel. Pearce described the regiment and Captain Carroll's company's actions in his official report of the battle:

Disbanded

Following the Battle of Wilson's Creek, 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. Many veterans of the regiments joined other Confederate units later in the war. DeRosey Carroll held no further commands during the war. He was reportedly murdered by bushwhackers in the front yard of his home at Charleston, Arkansas, in 1863.Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Col DeRosey Carroll" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 18 August 2008, Accessed 20 July 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?read=18791

References

External links

Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home PageThe Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110718122909/http://arkansascivilwar.com/ The Arkansas History Commission, State Archives, Civil War in Arkansas*{{US government, url=http://www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/regiments.cfm, title=Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, agency=National Park Service Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Arkansas 1865 disestablishments in Arkansas Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Military units and formations in Arkansas Military in Arkansas 1861 establishments in Arkansas Military units and formations established in 1861

Organization

Battles

Disbanded

See also

References

Further reading

External links