The 21st Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), 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), fi ...

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The unit was organized from the consolidation of two understrength Arkansas units in May 1862. The unit participated in the Iuka-Corinth Campaign before becoming part of the garrison of Vicksburg Mississippi. After the capitulation of Confederate forces at Vicksburg, the 21st was paroled and exchanged back to Arkansas where it was combined with the remnants of several there Arkansas regiments to become the

1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment (Trans-Mississippi) The 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry (1864–1865) was a Confederate States Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment is separate from and has no connection with the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment which wa ...

. Another Arkansas Confederate infantry regiment, commanded by Colonel

Dandridge McRae Dandridge McRae (October 10, 1829 – April 23, 1899) was an American lawyer, court official, and Inspector General of Arkansas State Troops, as well as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He ...

was also labeled the "21st Arkansas". To avoid confusion between two 21st Arkansas Regiments, McRae's regiment was later redesignated as the

15th (Northwest) Arkansas Infantry Regiment The 15th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Northwest Arkansas, Northwest regiment", was an Line infantry, infantry formation of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It was originally formed as the 3rd Arkansas In ...

(making a total of three 15th Arkansas Regiments).

Organization

21st Arkansas Infantry Regiment was organized on May 15, 1862, by consolidating four companies of McCarver's 14th Arkansas and six companies of Lemoyne's 17th Arkansas Regiments, (also known as the 17th and 18th Arkansas Battalions) to form the 21st (McCarver's) Arkansas Regiment. The unit was composed of the following companies: *Company A – Commanded by Captain E.O. Wolfe. This company, originally organized at Pittman's Ferry, Arkansas, was previously assigned as Company C, McCarver's 14th Arkansas. *Company B – Commanded by Captain John M. Wasson. This company, originally organized at Pocahontas, Arkansas, was previously assigned as Company I, McCarver's 14th Arkansas. *Company C – Commanded by Captain Harper S. Taylor. This company, from Johnson County, was previously assigned as Company C, Lemoyne's 17th Arkansas.Gerdes, Edward G., "17TH(LEMOYNE'S ) ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT ", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed January 8 June 2012, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/17indx.html *Company D – Commanded by Captain George W. Berryman. This company was formed by the consolidation of Companies A and B, of Lemoyne's 17th Arkansas. Both of these companies were originally raised in Conway County. *Company E – Commanded by Captain Mathew L. Bone. This company was formed by the consolidation of Companies F and G of Lemoyne's 17th Arkansas. Both of these companies were originally raised in Yell County. *Company F – Commanded by Captain T. J. Shinpox. This company, enlisted at Pittman's Ferry, Arkansas, was previously assigned as Company K, McCarver's 14th Arkansas. Prior to being assigned to the 14th, this company had served as Company D, 1st Battalion, 2nd Arkansas 30 Day Volunteer Regiment. The company had originally been organized as a volunteer company in the 25th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia, from Lawrence (Modern Woodruff) County. *Company G – Commanded by Captain Jacob G. Becton. This company, from Prairie County, was previously assigned as Company H, Lemoyne's 17th Arkansas. *Company H – Commanded by Captain John W. Mills. This company, from Yell County, was previously assigned as Company D, Lemoyne's 17th Arkansas. *Company I – Commanded by Captain Calvin C. Nailor. This company, from Yell County, was previously assigned as Company E, Lemoyne's 17th Arkansas. *Company K – Commanded by Captain Green F. Bond. Colonels

Jordan E. Cravens Jordan Edgar Cravens (November 7, 1830 – April 8, 1914) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Arkansas. From 1877 to 1883, he served three terms in United States Co ...

and William G. Matheny, and Majors W. M. Dowdle and Harrison Moore were in command.

Service

During the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, the 21st Arkansas was assigned to Brigadier General William L. Cabell's brigade of Brigadier General

Dabney H. Maury Dabney Herndon Maury (May 21, 1822 – January 11, 1900) was an officer in the United States Army, instructor at West Point, author of military training books, and a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. ...

's Division of Major General

Sterling Price Sterling Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was an American politician and military officer who was a senior General officers in the Confederate States Army, officer of the Confederate States Army, fighting in both the Weste ...

's 1st Corps the Confederate ( Army of the West). During the Second Battle of Corinth, the 21st made a gallant attack on the Union works. The attack was described thus by one participating veteran of the 14th and later 21st Arkansas Infantry Regiment: The regiment reported 27 killed, 41 wounded, and 58 missing following the battles of Battles of Corinth and Hatchie Bridge. The regiment was assigned to Brigadier General Martin E. Green's brigade of Major General John S. Bowen's Division, of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's Army of Mississippi for the Vicksburg Campaign. When General Green was killed on June 27, 1863, Colonel Dockery of the 19th Arkansas was placed in command of Second Brigade. In January 1863, the 21st Arkansas joined the defenses of the approaches to Vicksburg, and joined the garrison fortifying Grand Gulf on the Mississippi River below Vicksburg. On April 29, 1863, Admiral David Porter's fleet of gunboats bombarded Grand Gulf in an attempt to clear the position in preparation for Grant's amphibious crossing of the Mississippi. Repulsed by the strong position and batteries at Grand Gulf, Grant moved further downstream to cross at

Bruinsburg, Mississippi Bruinsburg is an extinct settlement in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. Founded when the Natchez District was part of West Florida, the settlement was one of the end points of the Natchez Trace land route from Nashville to the lower ...

, flanking the Grand Gulf garrison out of their position. Marching to block the Union advance, Green's Brigade and the 21st Arkansas joined Confederate forces at the battles of Port Gibson on May 1, at Champion Hill and the Big Black River bridge on May 16 and 17, respectively, and was besieged at Vicksburg from May 19 until July 4, 1863. The unit suffered 37 casualties at Port Gibson early May and later had men (including Colonel Craven) captured at the battle of the Big Black River. The 21st Arkansas fell back to Vicksburg, where it endured the forty-day siege. This regiment surrendered with the Army of Mississippi at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863. General

U. S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

initially demanded the conditional surrender of the Vicksburg garrison, but faced with the necessity of feeding 30,000 starving Confederates and having the idea that these soldiers might do more harm to the Confederate cause by being released to return home rather than being exchanged as whole units, he relented and allowed for the immediate parole of the unit. According to the Confederate War Department, Union leader encouraged the surrendered confederates to simply return home, rather than being officially paroled and exchanged. The able bodied Confederate soldiers who were released on parole walked out of Vicksburg (they were not allowed to proceed in any military formations) on July 11, 1863. Paroling of these able bodied men was completed in their respective regimental camps inside Vicksburg prior to the July 11th. The soldiers of the 15th Northwest Arkansas were paroled on July 8 and 9, 1863. Those who were wounded or sick in the various hospitals in Vicksburg were paroled, and were released as soon as they could leave on their own. July 15/16 is the most common date of these Vicksburg hospital paroles. Some of the most seriously wounded and sick were sent by steamship down the Mississippi River and over to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, where they were delivered on parole to Confederate authorities.Simmons, Hugh "Re: 46th AL Co. C -- questions re: Demopolis/Vicks", Alabama in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 17 April 2004, Accessed 4 June 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/alcwmb/arch_config.pl?noframes;read=13786 Confederate commanders designated Enterprise, Mississippi as the rendezvous point (parole camp) for the Vicksburg parolees to report to after they got clear of the last Federal control point at Big Black Bridge. Most of the Arkansas units appeared to have bypassed the established parole camps, and possibly with the support or at least by the compliancy of their Union captors, simply crossed the river and returned home. Because so many of the Vicksburg parolees, especially from Arkansas, simply went home, Major General Pemberton requested Confederate President Davis to grant the men a thirty- to sixty-day furlough. The furloughs were not strictly adhered to so long as the soldier eventually showed up at a parole camp to be declared exchanged and returned to duty. Those who went directly home were treated as if they had been home on furlough if they eventually reported into one of these two parole centers. The exchange declaration reports issued by Colonel Robert Ould in Richmond for various units in the Vicksburg and Port Hudson surrenders began in September 1863 based upon men who actually reported into one of the two parole camps. Pemberton eventually coordinated with the Confederate War Department and Confederate General Kirby Smith, commanding the Department of the Trans-Mississippi to have the Arkansas Vicksburg parolee's rendezvous point established at

Camden, Arkansas Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County, Arkansas, Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state portals, U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlo ...

. As the 21st Arkansas Regiment, under Colonel Jordan E. Cravens, this regiment fought in the following engagements: * Iuka-Corinth Campaign **

Second Battle of Corinth The Second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, M ...

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaigns were a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi ...

Battle of Port Gibson The Battle of Port Gibson (May 1, 1863) was fought between a Union Army commanded by Major General Ulysses S. Grant and a reinforced Confederate States Army division led by Major General John S. Bowen. Though the outnumbered Confederate soldiers f ...

Battle of Champion's Hill The Battle of Champion Hill (aka Champion's Hill) of May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Union Army commander Major General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee ...

Battle of Big Black River Bridge The Battle of Big Black River Bridge was fought on May 17, 1863, as part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. During the war, the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, was a key point on the Mississippi River. On April 30, 1863, a Un ...

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed th ...

After being paroled and exchanged, the 21st Arkansas was consolidated with the 15th Northwest Arkansas, 16th Arkansas, and Powers' 14th Arkansas Infantry Regiments to form the 1st Consolidated Arkansas Infantry (Trans-Mississippi), and was stationed at

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of ...

, when the war ended. The consolidated regiment was assigned along with the

2nd Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment The 2nd Arkansas Consolidated Infantry (1864–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment is separate from and has no connection with the 2nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment which served in the Confedera ...

and the

3rd Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment The 3rd Arkansas Consolidated Infantry (1864–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment is separate from and has no connection with the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment which served in the Confedera ...

and to the 2nd (McNair's) Arkansas Brigade, 1st (Churchill's) Arkansas Division, 2nd Corps, Trans-Mississippi Department, from September 1864 to May 1865.

Surrender

The 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment surrendered with the Department of the Trans-Mississippi, General E. Kirby Smith commanding, May 26, 1865. When the Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered, all of the Arkansas infantry regiments were encamped in and around Marshall, Texas (war-ravaged Arkansas no longer able to subsist the army). The regiments were ordered to report to

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, to be paroled. None of them did so. Some soldiers went to Shreveport on their own to be paroled, but the regiments simply disbanded without formally surrendering. A company or two managed to keep together until they got home.Howerton, Bryan, "Re: 17th/1st/35th/22nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment.", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 26 October 2011, Accessed 26 October 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=24907

Notes

References

External links