The 4th Battalion, Arkansas Infantry was an

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 ...

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the

Confederate States 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 ...

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 battalion served in the same brigade and was later consolidated with the 4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, but units began as completely separate and unrelated organizations.

Organization

4th Infantry Battalion was organized at Little Rock, Arkansas, on November 10, 1861, with five companies, from Clark, Prairie, Pulaski and White counties. The battalion was composed of the following companies:.Gerdes, Edward G.," 4TH BATTALION ARKANSAS INFANTRY", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 20 May 2012, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/4btninf_f&s.html * Company A, the "Bayou Metre Hornets", later renamed the "Turnbull Guards" from Pulaski County, commanded by Captain Thomas F. Murff. * Company B, the "McKeever Guards", from Prairie County, commanded by Captain Thomas J. Payne. * Company C, from Clark County, commanded by Captain Samuel O. Cloud. * Company D, The "Magruder Guards", from Pulaski County, commanded by Captain F. W. Hoardly. This unit was detached to the Artillery during the engagement at Island No. 10 and became

Company H, 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

. * Company E, from White County, commanded by Captain J. M. Moore. Lieutenant Colonel Francis A. Terry, and Majors John McKay and Jesse A. Ross were in command. On the 18th of October, 1861, a grand barbacue was held at the residence of Eylas Beals to honor Capt. Murff's company, the Bayou Metre Hornets. The company was presented with a flag by Mrs. J. R. R. Adams at this event. Mrs. Adams made the following speech at the flag presentation: Capt. Murff's Reply:

Battles

The battalion was assigned to the defenses of Columbus, Kentucky, then to

Island No. 10 Island Number Ten was an island in the Mississippi River near Tiptonville, Tennessee and the site of a major eponymous battle in the American Civil War. In the mid-19th century the United States Government began to adopt a uniform numbering plan ...

. Captain Frederick William Hoadley's Company D was detached at Island No. 10, given charge of a battery of heavy guns and reorganized as Company H, 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery. Company D was captured at the fall of Island No. 10 on Apr. 6-7, 1862, and exchanged later that summer, where they manned the water batteries at Vicksburg with the rest of the 10th Tennessee Artillery, and were surrendered again with the Vicksburg garrison after the siege of that place. The remainder of the battalion was stationed at Tiptonville at the time of the surrender of Island No. 10 and managed to escape by wading through the river's overflow to the transport Jeff Davis, on which they floated in the dark down to Fort Pillow, TN. Writing from the units station at Corinth Mississippi, on May 11, 1862, Captain T. J. Payne, of Company B, wrote home describing the units condition:Howerton, Bryan R., "4th Arkansas Battalion", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 13 December 2006, Accessed 20 May 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?read=14126 The battalion was then sent to Fort Pillow, Tennessee, until after the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

, when it was sent to

Corinth, Mississippi Corinth is a city in and the county seat of Alcorn County, Mississippi, Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,573 at the 2010 census. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835. It lies on the state line with Tennessee. Histor ...

, and became part Brigadier General

Evander McNair Evander McNair (April 15, 1820 – November 13, 1902) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life Evander McNair was born at Laurel Hill in Scotland County, North Carolina. His parents moved t ...

's brigade of the Confederate

Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating i ...

. At Corinth, the battalion was reorganized under Maj. T.F. Murff, and participated in the Corinth Campaign from April through June of that year. McNair's brigade included the following Arkansas units, the 1st and 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles (dismounted), 4th and 13th Arkansas Infantry Regiments, 4th Arkansas Infantry Battalion, and Humphreys' battery of artillery.Hempstead, Fay, "A Pictorial History of Arkansas" St. Louis and New York, N. D. Thompson publishing company, 1890, Call number: 9197481, Page 394, Accessed 29 August 2011, https://archive.org/stream/pictorialhistory00hemp#page/394/mode/2up The battalion's stations as reported on the muster rolls were as follows: :31 Dec 1861 – Columbus, Kentucky. :28 Feb 1862 – Corinth, Mississippi. :30 Apr 1862 – Camp Priceville, near Tupelo, Mississippi. :30 Jun 1862 – Near Chattanooga, Tennessee. :31 Aug 1862 – Loudon, Tennessee. :31 Oct 1862 – Loudon, Tennessee. :31 Dec 1862 – Shelbyville, Tennessee. :28 Feb 1863 – Shelbyville, Tennessee. :30 Apr 1863 – Shelbyville, Tennessee. :30 Jun 1863 – Camp in the Field, near Livingston, Mississippi. :31 Aug 1863 – Meridian, Mississippi. :31 Oct 1863 – Brandon, Mississippi. During the

Kentucky Campaign The Confederate Heartland Offensive (August 14 – October 10, 1862), also known as the Kentucky Campaign, was an American Civil War campaign conducted by the Confederate States Army in Tennessee and Kentucky where Generals Braxton Bragg and ...

, McNair's brigade was assigned to Churchill's division, under the overall command of General

Kirby Smith General Edmund Kirby Smith (May 16, 1824March 28, 1893) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indi ...

. General Smith pushed rapidly into the bluegrass region of Kentucky, and defeated the Union army at the

Battle of Richmond The Battle of Richmond, Kentucky, fought August 29–30, 1862, was one of the most complete Confederate victories in the war by Major General Edmund Kirby Smith against Union major general William "Bull" Nelson's forces, which were defending ...

. In the desperate battle that occurred there, McNair's brigade turned the enemy's right and contributed to the rout that followed. The 4th Arkansas Battalion and 4th Arkansas Regiment operated together until after the

Battle of Murfreesboro The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was a battle fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the Am ...

, Tennessee, on December 21, 1862, when the battalion, severely understrength because of battle losses, was consolidated into the 4th Arkansas Regiment. During the

, McNair's brigade took part in the brilliant charge of McCown's division, which, aided by the Divisions of Withers and Cheatham, drove the Federal right a distance of between three and four miles, bending it back upon the center, until the line was at right angles to its original position. In accordance with Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General's Office Order Number 131, four soldiers of the battalion were recognized for courage and good conduct on the field for the Battle of Murfreesboro.

Consolidation

By late August 1863, losses had forced the consolidation of the 4th Arkansas with other depleted Arkansas regiments. The 4th was consolidated with the remnants of the

31st Arkansas Infantry Regiment 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. In mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits ...

and the 4th Arkansas Infantry Battalion. The survivors of the battalion served in the 4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment to the end of the war. Companies C and D of the 4th Arkansas formed one company, under the company of Captain Coatney. Companies F; G; H; and I of the same regiment into one company, under the command of Captain Lavender. All companies of the 31st were consolidated into two companies. Colonel H.G. Bunn, of the 4th Arkansas commanded the consolidated regiment. The 4th Arkansas Infantry Battalion took part in the following battles as a separate command prior to its formal consolidation with the 4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment: * Battle of Island No. 10, April 6–7, 1862. * Battle of Farmington, Mississippi, May 9, 1862 *

, Kentucky, August 29–30, 1862Hawkins, Anthony "Of Savage Fury", Hawkins Historical Publications, 20 May 2012, http://www.ofsavagefury.com/ *

, Tennessee, December 31, 1862, to January 3, 1863 * Battle of Jackson, Mississippi, July 10, 1863.

References

Bibliography

* Dedmondt, Glenn "The Flags Of Civil War Arkansas", (Pelican Publishing Co., 2009). . *Gammage, Washington L., The Camp, the Bivouac, and the Battlefield, Being a History of the Fourth Arkansas Regiment, from its First Organization Down to the Present Date. *Lavender, Captain John W. 1837-1921. The War Memoirs of Captain John W. Lavender, CSA The Southern Press, 1956. Sub title: *Lavender, John. They Never Came Back: The Story of Co. F. Fourth Arkansas Infantry, C.S.A. (Pine Bluff, AR: The Southern Press, 1956). *Reynolds, Daniel Harris and Bender, Robert P., Worthy of the Cause for Which They Fight: The Civil War Diary of Brigadier General Harris Reynolds, 1861-1865. (University of Arkansas Press, 2011), accessed at Google eBooks, https://books.google.com/books?id=H10SkwjYznkC&dq=Reynolds+arkansas+brigade .

External links