The 4th Infantry, Arkansas State Troops (1861) was an

Arkansas State 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 l ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

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 ...

that served 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 ...

. After being raised in mid-1861, the regiment was assigned to the command of 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 ...

, who was the commander of the 1st Division, Provisional Army of Arkansas. 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 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 ...

in August 1861. Another Arkansas unit also had the designation 4th Arkansas, the

4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment The 4th Arkansas Infantry (August 17, 1861 – April 26, 1865) was a Confederate States Army infantry regiment from the state of Arkansas during the American Civil War. The 4th Arkansas served throughout the war in the western theater, seeing act ...

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.

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

. The unit was composed of the following volunteer companies: James D Walker

: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: :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 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 ...

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 ...

. The combined force then moved towards

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

. 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 ...

James D. Walker, the 4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops was present at the

, Missouri, on August 10, 1861, but was not engaged. On the morning of August 10, 1861, while encamped along Wilson's Creek, just south of

, the Southern army was attacked by a Union force under Brigadier General

Nathaniel Lyon Nathaniel Lyon (July 14, 1818 – August 10, 1861) was the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War. He is noted for his actions in Missouri in 1861, at the beginning of the conflict, to forestall secret secessionist plans of th ...

. The ensuing battle was one of the largest and most desperately fought engagements in the western theater.The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. ; Series 1 - Volume 3
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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. Many veterans of the regiments joined other Confederate units later in the war.

Flag

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. 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. 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 The 16th Arkansas Infantry Regiment (also known as the "Sixteenth Arkansas") was an infantry formation in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Organized from volunteer companies from northwest Arkansas, the regiment participa ...

, and according to the Memoirs of Captain J. B. Bailey, 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 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 ...

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 The siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, (May 22 – July 9, 1863) was the final engagement in the Union (American Civil War), Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. While Major General#United States, Union Gen ...

, 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.Dedmondt, Glenn. "The Flags Of Civil War Arkansas", (Pelican Publishing Co., 2009). , page 33.

References

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* {{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