The 46th Arkansas Infantry (Mounted) (1864–1865) was a

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

Mounted Infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely specially m ...

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 ...

. While authorized by the State Military Board as an infantry regiment, the unit was mounted for

Price's Missouri Expedition Price's Missouri Expedition (August 29 – December 2, 1864), also known as Price's Raid or Price's Missouri Raid, was an unsuccessful Confederate cavalry raid through Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the Amer ...

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. The unit is almost always referred to as either Coleman's Arkansas Cavalry Regiment or Crabtree's Cavalry 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 The Missouri State Guard (MSG) was a military force established by the Missouri General Assembly on May 11, 1861. While not a formation of the Confederate States Army, the Missouri State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at various ...

soldiers to form Coleman's Missouri Cavalry Regiment. 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 Price's Missouri Expedition (August 29 – December 2, 1864), also known as Price's Raid or Price's Missouri Raid, was an unsuccessful Confederate cavalry raid through Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the Amer ...

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. Colonel Wiliam O

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 Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...

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. 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 45th 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 E ...

. The unit was composed of companies from Greene, Independence, Jackson, Van Buren and White counties: 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: :Colonel William O. Coleman :Lieutenant Colonel John W. Crabtree :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 Thomas Hamilton McCray (1828 – Oct. 19, 1891) was an American inventor, a businessman and a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War. Biography Thomas McCray was born in 1828 near Jonesborough, Tennessee, to Henry and Marth ...

'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 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. In response to Colonel McCray's movements, Union Brigadier General

Joseph R. West Joseph Rodman West (September 19, 1822 – October 31, 1898) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Union general in the United States Army during and after the American Civil War and the chief executive of the District of Columbia. As a ...

conducted an expedition from Little Rock to the Little Red River, August 7–14, 1864 in antempt 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. Shelby reported that McCray succeeded in tearing up track and burning several trestles. In late August 1864, Colonel McCray and his brigade accompanied General Shelby in a raid against Union hay cutting operations in west of DeValls Bluff in Prairie County, Arkansas. The purpose of this operation was to draw union forces east of Little Rock, in order to provide a diversion for General Sterling Price's crossing of the Arkansas River west of Little Rock. McCray's brigade functioned as the reserve for Shelby's attack on Ashley's Station and four other hay cutting stations west of DeValls Bluff, in which Shelby succeeded in capturing Colonel Greenville M. Mitchell, and over 500 troops of the 54th Illinois Infantry Regiment. General Price crossed the Arkansas River near Dardanelle on September 7, 1864, on his way to link up with General Shelby at Batesville in order to prepare for his raid on Missouri. Major General Sterling Price issued General Order No. 8, dated September 18, 1864, which shifted the 46th, under the command of Colonel Coleman from Colonel McCray's brigade, in Major General

James F. Fagan James Fleming Fagan (March 1, 1828September 1, 1893) was an American farmer, politician, and senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. His brigade distinguished itself in the Camden Exp ...

's division, to Brigadier General Joe Shelby's division of Missouri troops, of

Army of Missouri The Army of Missouri was an independent military formation during the American Civil War within the Confederate States Army, created in the fall of 1864 under the command of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price to invade Missouri. Price's Raid was unsuccessfu ...

, for

(commonly referred to a Price's Raid). The 46th is listed as an unattached command, (meaning not assigned to a brigade) in Shelby's division. However reports of Union officers opposing Price indicate that the 46th was still included in Colonel McCray's Brigrade. Brigadier General Thomas Ewing, Jr., reporting on the composition of the Confederate forces which attacked Pilot Knob (Fort Davidson) on September 27, 1864, list Coleman's Regiment as being assigned to McCray's Brigade. Lieutenant A.M. Jackson, reporting on the composition of Price's Army on November 3, 1864, lists McCray's Brigade as including, Colonel Reves, Colonel Crandell's (47th Arkansas), Colonel Baber's (45th Arkansas) and Colonel Crabtree's (46th Arkansas) Regiments. The confusion over which division the 46th Arkansas was assigned to and whether it was under the command of Colonel Coleman or Lieutenant Colonel Crabtree during Price's raid may be clarified by an article that Colonel Coleman wrote for the ''Confederate Veteran Magazine'' in May 1909. Coleman indicates that following Shelby's raid on Ashley's Station, he was sent north in to Missouri, ahead of Price's army, to organize new units. This he apparently did, joining Price's force in Missouri. Since Fagan's Division was intended to include all Arkansas Troops, while Marmaduke's Division was mainly Missouri troops, this would have left the 46th assigned to Fagan's Division, and probably McCray's Brigade, as described by Brigadier General Ewing and Lieutenant Jackson. Confederates often referred to regiments by the name of their commander, and Colonel Coleman's regiment is mentioned on several occasions in various reports from Price's Raid. The 46th was involved in the following actions during Price's Raid: Some of these reports appear to refer to the 46th Arkansas as Coleman's Regiment, and others appear to be describing the new command that Coleman organized at the very beginning of Price's Raid. :*

Price's Missouri Raid Price's Missouri Expedition (August 29 – December 2, 1864), also known as Price's Raid or Price's Missouri Raid, was an unsuccessful Confederate cavalry raid through Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the Am ...

, Arkansas-Missouri-Kansas, September–October 1864 :*

Battle of Fort Davidson A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

(September 27, 1864) :* Fourth Battle of Boonville (October 11) :*

Battle of Glasgow, Missouri The Battle of Glasgow was fought on October 15, 1864, in and near Glasgow, Missouri, as part of Price's Missouri Expedition during the American Civil War. The battle resulted in the capture of needed weapons and improved Confederate morale, ...

(October 15) :* Battle of Sedalia (October 15) :*

Second Battle of Lexington The Second Battle of Lexington was a minor battle fought during Price's Raid as part of the American Civil War. Hoping to draw Union Army forces away from more important theaters of combat and potentially affect the outcome of the 1864 United S ...

(October 19) :*

Battle of Little Blue River The Battle of Little Blue River was fought on October 21, 1864, as part of Price's Raid during the American Civil War. Major General (CSA), Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army led an army into Missouri in September 1864 ...

(October 21) :*

Second Battle of Independence The Second Battle of Independence was fought on October 22, 1864, near Independence, Missouri, as part of Price's Raid during the American Civil War. In late 1864, Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army led a cavalry fo ...

(October 21–22) :*

Battle of Byram's Ford The Battle of Byram's Ford (also known as the Battle of Big Blue River and the Battle of the Blue) was fought on October 22 and 23, 1864, in Missouri during Price's Raid, a campaign of the American Civil War. With the Confederate States of ...

(October 22–23) :*

Battle of Westport The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West", was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union Army, Union forces under Major General (United States), Major G ...

(October 23) :*

Battle of Marais des Cygnes The Battle of Marais des Cygnes () took place on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, during Price's Missouri Raid in the American Civil War. It is also known as the Battle of Trading Post. In late 1864, Confederate Major General (CSA), Ma ...

Linn County, Kansas Linn County (county code LN) is a county located in east-central Kansas and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 9,591. Its county seat is Mound City, and its most populous city is Pl ...

, (October 25) :*

Battle of Mine Creek The Battle of Mine Creek, also known as the Battle of the Osage, was fought on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, as part of Price's Missouri Expedition during the American Civil War. Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate Stat ...

(October 25) :*

Battle of Marmiton River The Battle of Marmiton River, also known as Shiloh Creek or Charlot's Farm, occurred on October 25, 1864, in Vernon County, Missouri during the American Civil War. Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army commenced an expedi ...

(October 25) :*

Second Battle of Newtonia The Second Battle of Newtonia was fought on October 28, 1864, near Newtonia, Missouri, between cavalry commanded by Major General James G. Blunt of the Union Army and Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby's rear guard of the Confederate Army of ...

(October 28) After the completion of Price's raid, the 46th was furloughed to return to the area from which it was recruited in order to forage and recover absentees and to return to the army at a prescribed date. A scouting report made by Major Harris S. Greeno, of the 4th Arkansas Cavalry (U. S. Army), November 15, 1864, made from Devalls Bluff relayed information on the post raid condition of the 46th Arkansas Cavalry: Major Greeno stated that he had attempted to engage Lieutenant Colonel Crabtree but the unit had scattered: Lieutenant Colonel Crabtree was captured by Colonel Matterson of the Third Minnesota near Augusta, Arkansas, on December 15, 1864, along with approximately thirty of his men.

The execution

A member of Company A, 46th Arkansas Mounted Infantry, Private Harvey H. Blackburn, was executed by Union authorities in retaliation for the alleged murder of Major James Wilson, Third Cavalry Missouri State Militia, and six men of his command by Confederate Colonel and alleged guerrilla Tim Reves during Price's Raid. Private Blackburn and the other men executed were not connected in any way with the incident, but were selected at random from among prisoners of war being held by the United States at Gratiot Street Military Prison, St. Louis, Missouri. Another soldier from the 46th Arkansas Mounted Infantry, John N. Ferguson, was also originally scheduled to be executed in the same action, but at the last minute his name was removed from the execution order because it was found that he had "never bore arms" and was only a teamster. Another soldier, Private George F. Bunch, Company B, Third Missouri Cavalry, who apparently had "borne arms", was substituted for Ferguson and was executed along with Private Blackburn on October 29, 1864. Despite his reprieve from execution, Ferguson did not survive his imprisonment. He died on April 5, 1865, while still a prisoner of war, and is buried at Jefferson Barracks.Gerdes, Edward G.; "46TH (CRABTREE'S) REGIMENT ARKANSAS CAVALRY", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 10 January 2012, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/46th.htm

Surrender

Brigadier General

M. Jeff Thompson Brigadier-General M. Jeff Thompson (January 22, 1826 – September 5, 1876), nicknamed "Swamp Fox," was a senior officer of the Missouri State Guard who commanded cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. The () ...

surrendered his command at Chalk Bluff, Arkansas, on May 11, 1865, and agreed to have his men assemble at Wittsburg and

Jacksonport, Arkansas Jacksonport is a town in Jackson County, Arkansas, United States, along the White River at its confluence with the Black River. The population was 212 at the 2010 census. History Jacksonport was once an important steamboat stop on the White R ...

, to lay down their arms and receive their paroles. Thompson's command was widely dispersed throughout northeast Arkansas, more for reasons of available forage than anything else. The 46th Arkansas Cavalry surrendered with its command structure intact and was paroled at Jacksonport on June 5, 1865.Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Jacksonport 1865 surrender list?", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 1 January 2004, Accessed 1 January 2012, http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/archive_index.cgi?noframes;read=6006 At the time of the surrender, the regiment was assigned to the following command: Military Sub-District of Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri, commanded by Brigadier General M. Jeff. Thompson (Surrendered at Jacksonport), McCray's Brigade, commanded by Colonel

(Surrendered at Jacksonport), 46th Arkansas Mounted Infantry, commanded by Colonel William O. Coleman (Surrendered at Jacksonport).

References

Bibliography

* Allen, Desmond Walls. (1988). ''Forty-fifth Arkansas Confederate Cavalry''. Conway, AR: Arkansas Research. . * Castel, Albert. (1968). ''General Sterling Price and the Civil War in the West''. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. * Kerby, Robert L. (1972). ''Kirby Smith's Confederacy: The Trans-Mississippi South, 1863-1865''. Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press. * Mobley, Freeman. (2005). ''Making Sense of the Civil War in Batesville-Jacksonport and Northeast Arkansas, 1861-1874''. Batesville, AR: P.D. Printing. * Monaghan, Jay. (1956). ''Swamp Fox of the Confederacy: The Life and Military Services of M. Jeff Thompson''. Tuscaloosa, AL: Confederate Publishing Co. * Donat, P. ''Fagan's Attack on Fayetteville''. Flashback, 35, No. 4 (November 1985): 8-13. * Feathers, Tom C. "The History of Military Activities in the Vicinity of Fayetteville Arkansas, Including the Battle of Fayetteville and the Siege of Fayetteville During the War Between the States." Washington County Flashback, 3 (April 1953): 2-33.

External links

Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home Page

The 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* {{American Civil War, expanded=CTCBS 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 1864 establishments in Arkansas Military units and formations established in 1864