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Arkansas Civil War Chronicles
- 1861 January 12, 1861 - Arkansas Gazette
Attention Militia!!
Patronise Home Manufacture.
The undersigned is now manufacturing Military Drums, Bass and Tenor, of
the very best quality and fine finish at Rockport, Arkansas. Orders for
Drums will be filled as quick as possible. Prices reasonable.
H.C. Ward
Rockport, Ark., Jan. 12, 1861
January 15, 1861
Governor Rector signed an act of the legislature
which provided for the holding of an election to decide whether the
state should hold a convention to consider the question of seceding from
the Union.February 5, 1861
A body of armed men, about 800 strong, arrived at
Little Rock for the purpose of taking possession of the Little Rock
Arsenal. The City Council of Little Rock was hurriedly convened
and a resolution adopted declaring this movement disrespectful to the
constituted state authorities; that the armed men who demanded the
surrender of the Arsenal were nothing more or less than a mob, which
requested the governor to demand the surrender of the Arsenal and its
supplies.February 8, 1861
Governor Rector, in compliance with the request of
a mass meeting of citizens of Little Rock, demanded the surrender of the
Little Rock Arsenal. The post commander, Captain James Totten,
promptly complied, and was allowed to withdraw his troops with the
honors of war. The state then took possession, and Captain George
Otey, with a detachment of militia, known as the Phillips County Guards,
was placed in charge.February 18, 1861
The election on the question of "Convention" or
"No Convention" resulted in a majority for the convention of 11,586
votes. (The canvassers seem to have made no announcement of the
total number of votes cast). The Convention composed of 73 delegates,
each county being entitled to elect one delegate for each representative
that it had in the House of the General Assembly. Of those
elected, 28 had avowed themselves out and out secessionists "from the
stump," prior to the election. These, without a single exception,
came from the cotton growing section of the state - most of them from
Eastern Arkansas, augmented by a few from southern counties, such as
Columbia, Union, Sevier, Calhoun, ect. The delegates from the hill
counties, to the number of about 40, declared themselves as "for the
Union," "anti-secessionist", "state rights", "southern rights", etc.
March 4, 1861
The Secession Convention assembled in the hall of
the House of Representatives, at Little Rock, with the following
delegates: Arkansas county, James L. Totten; Ashley, Marcus L. Hawkins;
Benton, A.W. Dinsmore; and Haley Jackson; Bradley, Josiah Gould;
Carroll, B.H. Hobbs and W.W. Watkins; Calhoun, Phillip H. Echols; Clark,
Harris Flanagin; Columbia, George P. Smoote and Isaiah C. Wallace;
Conway, S.J. Stallings; Chicot, Isaac Hilliard; Craighead, (not
represented); Crawford, Hugh F. Thomasson and Jesse Turner; Crittenden,
Thomas H. Bradley; Dallas, Robert T. Fuller; Desha, Jilson P. Johnson;
Drew, W.F. Slemons and J.S. Rhodes; Franklin, W.W. Mansfield; Fulton,
S.W. Cochran; Greene, J.W. Bush; Hempstead, Alfred H. Carrigan and Rufus
K. Garland; Hot Springs, Joseph Jester; Independence, M.S. Kennard
and Urban E. Fort; Izard, Alexander Adams; Jackson, J.H. Patterson;
Jefferson, William P. Grace and James Yell; Johnson, Felix I.
Battson and W.W. Floyd; Lafayette, William P. Cryer; Lawrence, Milton D.
Barber and Samuel Robinson; Madison, Isaac Murphy and H.H. Bolinger;
Marion, Thomas F. Austin; Mississippi, Felix R. Lanier; Monroe, William
M. Mayo; Montgomery, Alexander M. Clingman; Newton, Isaiah Dodson;
Ouachita, A. W. Hobson; Perry, L.D. Hill; Phillips, Charles W. Adams,
and Thomas B. Hanley; Pike, Samuel Kelley; Poinsett, H.W. Williams;
Polk, Archibald Ray; Pope, William Stout; Prairie, Benjamin C. Totten;
Pulaski, Augustus H. Garland and Joseph Stillwell; Randolph, James W.
Crenshaw; St. Francis, J.N. Shelton and G.W. Laughinghouse; Saline,
Jabez M. Smith; Scott, E.T. Walker; Searcy, John Campbell; Sebastian,
William M. Fishback and Samuel L. Griffith; Sevier, James S. Dollarhide
and Benjamin S. Hawkins; Union, H. Bussey and W.V. Tatum; Van Buren,
James H. Patterson; Washington, T.M. Gunter, John P.A. Parks, James H.
Stirman and David Walker; White, Jesse N. Cypert; Yell, W.H. Spivey.
The convention organized by electing David Walker,
of Washington county, president, and E.C. Boudinot, chairman of the
Democratic State Central Committee, secretary.
March 6, 1861
A.C. Spain, commissioner from South Carolina, and
D.P. Hill, commissioner from Georgia, presented their credentials,
together with copies of the ordinances of secession, which those states
had passed. Both commissioners were permitted to take seats within
the bar of the Arkansas convention.
March 8, 1861
W.W. Floyd of Johnson county, introduced the first
ordinance of secession in the convention. (Two other ordinances of
secession were introduced: one by Hugh F. Thomasson of Crawford county,
on March 13th, and another by James Yell, of Jefferson county, on March
20th. All were defeated by substantial majorities, after several
days of spirited debate.)March 15, 1861
A volunteer military company was organized at
Little Rock and given the name of "Rector Guards" in honor of the
governor. Companies were being organized in the other principal
towns of the state.March 20, 1861
The convention passed an ordinance for submitting
to the voters of the state on August 5, 1861, the question of
"co-operation or secession".
March 21, 1861
The secession convention adjourned to meet again
on August 19, 1861, after authorizing the president of the convention to
call the delegates together "at any time between this and the 19th
day of August, A.D. 1861 if his opinion an exigency should arise."
April 11, 1861
By order of President Lincoln, the receivers of
public moneys in the several Land Districts of Arkansas carried or sent
public funds in their custody to St. Louis for deposit. It had
been customary for receivers to make their deposits at Little Rock.
April 20, 1861
David Walker, from his home in Fayetteville,
issued a proclamation reconvening the secession convention at Little
Rock on Monday May 6th. Walker said he was "satisfied that
preparations are being made for a war between the citizens of the free
and slave states, in which the safety, peace and prosperity of the
people of Arkansas are involved."
April 22, 1861
Governor Rector received from Simon Cameron,
Secretary of War, a requisition for 780 men (one regiment) to be
furnished by Arkansas to suppress "the rebellion." To this
requisition Governor Rector replied as follows:
"Little Rock, Ark.
April 22, 1861
Hon.
Simon Cameron,
Secretary of War
Washington City, D.C.
In answer to your requisition for troops from
Arkansas to subjugate the Southern States, I have to say that none will
be furnished. The demand is only adding insult to injury.
The people of the commonwealth are freemen, not
slaves, and will defend to the last extremity t heir honor, lives and
property against Northern mendacity and usurpation.
Henry M. Rector
Governor of Arkansas"
April 25, 1816
The True Democrat announced that Richard H.
Johnson, its editor and lately the Democratic candidate for governor had
"laid down the pen to take up the sword." He had volunteers as a
private and joined Captain Thomas J. Churchill's company of light
cavalry. (Governor Rector had issued two or three days before,
a proclamation calling for volunteers "to go to Fort Smith on our
western frontier to demand the surrender of Fort Smith." In
response to this call, four companies, the Capital Guards, commanded by
by Lieut. John E. Reardon, the Peyton Rifles, Captain Daniel Ringo, the
Totten Artillery, Captain William E. Woodruff Jr. and the Pulaski Light
Cavalry, Captain Thomas J. Churchill, left Little Rock on April 21st by
the steamers Notrebe and Tahlequa bound for Fort Smith.
April 25, 1861
A group of women in Little Rock and its vicinity
held a meeting and resolved to offer their services to the Southern
Confederacy. (A note in the press on the same day said: "The
ladies have taken up the cause in earnest. They were up until one
o'clock, we under, on Tuesday night, making uniforms for the company
from Prairie County, who came in about 12 o'clock on Monday on their way
to Fort Smith. 50 jackets had to be bought, cut and made; and
though they were not finished in time, as the boat left at 11 o'clock,
they were sent up on the first boat thereafter.")
May 2, 1861
The Arkansas troops who had volunteered to go to
Fort Smith to take possession by force if necessary, of the army post
there, returned to Little Rock and were disbanded. They reported
that the western frontier was quiet; that Captain Sturgis, the United
States officer in command at Fort Smith, had evacuated the post a few
hours before the arrival of the Arkansas volunteers. The fort was
in charge of state troops. (Solon Borland, United States senator
from Arkansas, 1848-1853, and the United States minister to Nicaragua,
1853 - 1854, had acted as colonel of the volunteers whome the governor
had dispatched to Fort Smith.)May 6, 1861
Pursuant to the proclamation of its president, the
Secession Convention reassembled at Little Rock and immediately took
steps to prepare an ordinance of secession. At 3 o'clock in the
afternoon of that same first day of the convention, the ordinance was
reported, and immediately the voting began, almost without a word of
debate. There were 70 delegates present, 69 of whom voted to the
affirmative and one, Isaac Murphy, of Madison county, in the negative.
"We were present at the passage of the ordinance
of secession by the convention, and never yet have we witnessed a more
solemn scene," wrote one of the editors of the True Democrat. "Every
member seemed impressed with the importance of the vote he was giving.
The hall of the House of Representatives was crowded almost to
suffocation. The lobby, the gallery, and the floor of the chamber
was full, and the vast crowd seemed excited to the very highest pitch.
A profound stillness prevailed all the time, as vote after vote was
taken and recorded, except occasionally when some well known Union
member would rise and reface his vote with expression of stirring
patriotic Southern sentiments, the crowd would give token of its
approbation, but the announcement of the adoption of the ordinance of
secession was the signal of one general shout of acclamation that shook
the building to its very foundations. A weight seemed suddenly to
have been lifted off the hearts of all present, and manifestations of
the most intense satisfaction prevailed on all sides.
May 10, 1861
The Secession Convention passed an ordinance
accepting the provisional constitution of the Confederate States of
America, and then proceeded to elect the following "commissioners" to
the Confederate Congress at Montgomery: Robert W. Johnson, H.F.
Thomasson, A.H. Garland, W.W. Watkins, and Albert Rust. (A.H. Garland,
one of the representatives in the secession convention from Pulaski
County, was succeeded by George C. Watkins.
May 10, 1861
Albert Rust, representative in the United States
Congress from the Second Congressional District, resigned his seat and
returned to South Arkansas to raise a regiment for the Confederate Army.
The men in this regiment were enlisted for "the duration of the war."
(Rust received his commission from the Confederate government early in
July. He and his regiment were then in Virginia.)
May 11, 1861
The Secession Convention elected two brigadier
generals to take command of the troops of Arkansas; Thomas H. Bradley,
in command of the eastern half of the state; N.B. Pearce, in command of
the western district of Arkansas.
May 13, 1861
The Secession Convention created a Military Board,
charged with raising and equipping of an army of state troops. It
was composed of Governor Henry M. Rector, Christopher C. Danley and
Benjamin C. Totten. The board immediately issued a call for 10,000
volunteers to defend the state against invasion. (Danley was soon
afterwards succeeded by Samuel W. Williams; and some months afterward
when Williams entered the army, he was succeeded by L.D. Hill.
Under the supervision of the Military Board the following regiments were
promptly raised: First Regiment commanded by Col. Thomas J. Churchill;
Second by Col. James McIntosh; Third by Col. John R. Gratiot; Fourth, by
Col. J.D. Walker; Fifth, by Col. Thomas P. Dockery. Col. Evander
McNair raised another regiment of infantry known as the Southwest
Arkansas regiment; Col. DeRosey Carroll raised a regiment of
cavalry. These first regiments rendezvoused at Pocahontas,
Randolph county, as soon as they were ready to march.
May 18, 1861
The Arkansas Commissioners were formally admitted
to membership in the Confederate Congress at Montgomery.
May 22, 1861
The secession convention elected James Yell of
Jefferson county, major general, and commissioned him to take command of
the two brigades of state troops being raised and organized by Brigadier
Generals Pearce and Bradley.May 25, 1861
Benjamin McCulloch of Texas arrived in Little Rock
en route to the Arkansas frontier. McCulloch had just been
commissioned a brigadier general by the Confederate government and
ordered to take command of the Confederate troops then assembling at
Fort Smith for the defense of the border. At Little Rock he was
joined by Col. James McIntosh, of the Second Arkansas regiment of state
troops, who had been transferred to the Confederate service and assigned
to General McCulloch's staff.May 28, 1861
As a means of providing funds for the expense of
the war, the Secession Convention raised the rate of taxation for the
year 1861 from one-tenth of one per cent to one - sixth of one per cent;
for the year 1862 the rate was raised to one-third of one per cent.
The convention also authorized the treasurer of
the state to issue immediately state bonds, to be known as "Arkansas
state bonds", to the amount of $2,000,000, for the sums of $5, $10, $20,
$50, $100, $300, $400 and $500 each to bear interest at the rate of
eight per cent. (The convention confiscated all public lands, moneys,
etc., within the state which had been the property of the United States.
May 30, 1861
The First Arkansas Confederate Cavalry, raised and
commanded by Thomas J. Churchill, made ready at Little Rock to march to
the western frontier. Miss Mattie Faulkner, on behalf of the women
of Little Rock, presented the regiment with a regimental flag.
(The First Regiment of Arkansas Infantry, raised
by authority of the Confederate government, had already departed for
Virginia. Its commander was Col. James F. Fagan, James B. Johnson,
brother of Robert W. and Richard H. Johnson, was engaged in raising and
organizing at Little Rock another regiment of infantry for the
Confederate Service. Johnson had been designated as colonel of
this regiment and Robert C. Newton, as lieutenant colonel. Thomas
C. Hindman, Patrick R. Cleburne and Edward W. Gantt had also been
designated to raise regiments in the eastern part of the state for the
Confederate service.
June 20, 1861 - Arkansas Gazette
From an authoritative source
we learn that Gen. McCullouch, tendered to our esteemed fellow citizen,
Dr. P.O. Hooper, the position of Surgeon General to his command. This
was indeed, an exalted compliment from a high source, to the merit and
skill of one whose modest virtues are only equaled by his proficiency in
the high art which his talents adorn and brighten. Other engagements
compelled the Dr. to decline the proffered honor.
------------------------
On Wednesday last, the Sixth
Arkansas Regiment, commanded by Col. R. Lyon, having received orders,
were put in motion, and crossed the river about noon, with drums beating
and colors flying. Their departure was witnessed by a large concourse
of our people, many of whom had husbands, brothers, sons and lovers
within the ranks, and the holy appeal of the mother, the sincere prayer
of the wife, and the pure invocation of the sister, together ascended to
the throne of the God of Battles, for the safety of the son, the
husband, and the brother, who panoplies in truth, had pressed forward to
meet the invader, and for the maintenance of constitutional liberty.
We believe that this Regiment
is ordered directly to the Missouri line, and from the men who compose,
and the officers who command it, our people can safely rely upon the
gallant Sixth doing its entire duty in the field.
------------------------
We received yesterday the
following note from Lieut. Brown of the Pulaski Artillery:
Editor Gazette – Will you
please notice in your first issue, that all letters or other mail matter
for members of the Pulaski Artillery Corps, to be mailed to Osage Mills
P.O., Benton county, Arkansas. By so doing you will favor many friends
in our corps.
Yours truly,
L.W. Brown
Fort Smith, June 19, 1861
June 27, 1861
John A. Jordan, as the agent of C.G. Memminger,
secretary of the Treasury for the Confederacy, issued at Little Rock an
appeal to the people of Arkansas for voluntary subscriptions to a bond
issue of $50,000,000 by the Confederate government for meeting the
current expenses of the war.June 30, 1861
The Little Rock newspapers appeared with column
after column of the companies which were mustering in most of the
principal towns of the state. There were the "Camden Knights,"
"Hempstead Rifles," "Ouachita Grays," the "Jefferson County Volunteers,"
"El Dorado Volunteers, "Saline Volunteers," etc., etc.
July 11, 1861
A notice in the press said that Little Rock "seems
deserted; there are but few left, and they, the old residenters;
nine-tenths of the young men have shouldered their muskets and are off
to the wars. Business of every kind is at a stand still, and
strange as it may seem, on Monday afternoon, a person who stood on the
corner of Main and Markham streets, says that for 17 minutes not a
person could be seen walking in any direction.
July 25, 1861
Mrs. Elizabeth B. Wright of Little Rock subscribed
400 bales of cotton to the Confederate loan. She was the daughter
of William S. Fulton and the wife of Moorhead Wright.
August 8, 1861
News from the west, as learned in Arkansas through
the columns of the Fort Smith times, said that "Captain Albert Pike,
commissioner on the part of the Confederate States, had held a grand
council, composed of 600 delegates from all the tribes of the frontier,
except the Cherokees, where a treaty of co-operation had been discussed
and unanimously ratified. The Indians had agreed to support the
Southern cause.August 8, 1861
William E. Ashley, president of the State
Agricultural Society, offered to give a large gold medal, with suitable
inscriptions, to the lady, married or single, who shall weave the most
woolen jeans and linseys, quantity and quality both being considered,
during the three months of September, October, and November. The
cloth, which is intended for uniforms for our soldiers, will bring a
full price, and the fair worker will get the medal as an award and
reward for industry.August 10, 1861
The battle of Oak Hill, called by the Union forces
the battle of Wilson Creek, was fought in southwest Missouri near
Springfield. This was the first battle in which any of the
Arkansas Volunteers participated. The Confederate, said to number
about 6,000, were commanded by General Benjamin McCulloch. The
Federals, commanded by General Nathaniel Lyon, were about 10,000 strong.
The Arkansas troops, including regiments commanded by Colonels Thomas J.
Churchill, De Rosey Carroll, Thomas P. Dockery, James McIntosh, John R.
Gratiot, and William E. Woodruff's battery, formed a brigade of which
General N.B. Pearce was in command. Besides the Arkansas brigade
commanded by General Pearce, there were a regiment of Louisiana
volunteers, a Texas regiment and one or more regiments of Missourians.
It had been the intention of General Lyon to surprise the Confederate
camp, but the approach of the Federals was discovered by Captain Lee M.
Ramseur of Churchill's regiment, in time to give the alarm. Thus
before the Confederates were fairly in battle formation, they were
thrown into some confusion, because of the near surprise of the attack
by the Federals. The battle began about 7 o'clock in the morning
and lasted until 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Arkansas lost 91
killed, 317 wounded and four reported as missing. The total loss
to the Confederates was about 500 killed with 1,200 missing. The
Federals were said to have had 800 killed and about 2,000 wounded.
General Lyon was among those killed.
(Omar R. Weaver of Little Rock, a lieutenant in Woodruff's battery, was
reported as the first Arkansas slain in the war. Of him, General
Pearce wrote in his official report of the battle: "We are pained to
have to record the loss of Lieutenant Weaver of Little Rock by a cannon
ball; his loss is a severe blow to the service, to which he was an
honor, and will be seriously felt in the battery. Brave and
generous was he and his state will long remember his services.")
August 15, 1861
The merchants of Helena were offering to take
Arkansas war bonds in exchange for merchandise, etc. at par.
August 21, 1861
Many leading citizens were serving as volunteers
to assist in the campaign for subscriptions to the issues of state and
Confederate war bonds. E.H. English, chief justice of the Supreme
Court of Arkansas, reported to John A. Jordan, financial agent of the
Confederacy: "In the canvases that I am making, I had as my first
appointment a meeting at Plum Bayou church, Bolivar Township, Jefferson
county. Because of the limited circulation of the notice of the
meeting, the audience was not as large as might have been; but
every cotton planter present, who had not previously done so, subscribed
liberally. The grain growers present, also, would have subscribed
liberally, had I been authorized to take their subscriptions. They
are anxious for the grain agent to afford them the opportunity of
subscribing supplies for the sustenance of our armies. Captain
Berry Mason said he had no cotton, and not much grain, but he has a
sawmill and he wishes to divide, he said, "his last plank with Jeff
Davis." Mrs. L.A. Caldwell subscribed 150 bales of cotton; Mrs.
M.E. Stone, 100 bales; other ladies encouraged their husbands in
subscribing half of their crops. James Nichol subscribed 100
bales; James H. Mosby, 100; George Brodie, 35; C.T. Lawhon, 18; Rev. S.J.
James, 30. I appointed Mr. Mosby to complete the canvas of the
township, who estimates that they will subscribe as much as 1,500 bales.
At Pine Bluff, I met Mr. M.L. Bell, esq., chairman of the cotton loan
committee for Jefferson County, who said he had already forwarded to Mr.
Memminger, Secretary of the Treasury, subscriptions by the planters of
the county amounting to 6,000 bales.
August 29, 1861
Brigadier General William J. Hardee was
commissioned by the Confederate government to take charge in Arkansas
and arrange for the transfer of troops in the service of the state to
the Confederacy. General Hardee, after conferring with the
governor and the Military Board at Little Rock, went to Pocahontas,
where he established his headquarters. On October 7th, following,
he was promoted to the rank of major general, by which time, he had all
but completed the work of transferring the Arkansas troops and
organizing an army, which was composed of the following regiments:
Colonel Thomas C. Hindman's regiment, called the Second Arkansas
Confederate; Colonel Evander McNair's regiment, called the Fourth (the
Third regiment, Colonel Albert Rust's was already in the service of the
Confederacy in the Army of Virginia); Colonel David C. Cross' regiment,
called the Fifth; Colonel Richard Lyon's regiment, called the Sixth;
Colonel Robert G. Shaver's regiment, called the Seventh; Colonel William
K. Patterson's regiment, called the Eighth; Colonel John M. Bradley's
regiment called the Ninth; Colonel T.D. Merrick's regiment, called the
Tenth; Colonel Jabez M. Smith's regiment called the Eleventh; Colonel
E.W. Gantt's regiment, called the Twelfth; Colonel James C. Tappan's
regiment, called the Thirteenth; Colonel M.C. Mitchell's regiment,
called the Fourteenth; Colonel Patrick R. Cleburne's regiment, called
the Fifteenth; Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel J. Mason's battalion, called
the Ninth; Colonel Francis A. Shoup's battalion of artillery; Captain
John T. Trigg's battery; Captain J.H. Calvert's battery, and Captain
George T. Hubbard's battery. (Most of the regiments were later
organized into the "Third Army Corps," and were commanded by General
Hardee, as part of the "Army of the Mississippi," of which General
Albert Sidney Johnston was commander-in-chief.
August 29, 1861
L.D. Hill qualified as a member of the Military
Board in the place of Sam W. Williams, who had resigned to raise a
regiment of troops.September 5, 1861
The editors of the Arkansas Gazette and Democrat,
the Washington Telegraph, and the True Democrat, at a meeting in Little
Rock, made up a Confederate States ticket for submission to voters of
Arkansas in the election which had been set by the Confederate Congress
for November 6, next. The presidential ticket was as follows:
For President
Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi
For Vice President
Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia
For Arkansas Electors,
Edward Cross, of Hempstead County
David Walker, of Washington County
John A. Jordan, of Arkansas County
W.C. Bevans, of Independence County
H.L. Grunsted, of Ouachita County
W.W. Mansfield, of Franklin County
One the
same day Governor Rector issued an appeal in which he had said that the
state government had almost ceased to function because of the "continued
absence of a large number of state officials, most of whom are connected
with the Confederate Army. So many members of the General
Assembly, sheriffs, judges, attorneys, etc., etc., have joined the army
as to render it almost impossible that the machinery of government can
be kept in motion, and the law executed. One half of the state and
county offices are now practically vacant." In order that he might
have the necessary co-operation in his administrations of the civic
government, the governor asked that all public officials serving in the
Confederate Army resign from their civil offices so that special
elections could be held and new officials chosen, since he had no
authority to declare such offices vacant.
It was
estimated that Arkansas had already under arms and in the field, in the
service of the state and of the Confederacy, about 20,000 men.
September 12, 1861
Solon Borland, former United States senator, was
appointed agent, with the rank of colonel, for the Confederate
government, and assigned the duty of superintending the work of
providing clothing for the army in process of organization by General
Hardee at Pocahontas.September 16, 1861
Dr. John A. Jordan, financial agent of the
Confederate government for Arkansas, and a candidate for presidential
elector in the national election of November 6, died at Little Rock.
His place on the electoral ticket was taken by John R. Hampton of
Bradley county.September 19, 1861
Governor Rector, as president of the Military
Board, called for five new regiments of volunteers as recruits for the
army of the frontier, under the command of General Ben McCulloch.
This call was thought necessary because "of the large accumulation of
United States Troops at St. Louis, and other points in Missouri,
designed for aggressive movements upon Arkansas, and the friends of the
southern rights in Missouri." The new volunteers were instructed
to report to Colonel F.A. Terry, recruiting officer at Little Rock; to
Colonel George P. Smoote, at Magnolia; to Colonel C.L. Dawson, at
Paraclifta; to Colonel Frank W. Desha, at Batesville; to General Edmund
Burgevin, at Carrollton. Each regiment was expected to contain not
less than 64 men, and not more than 96, exclusive of commissioned
officers.General McCulloch had in his
command, on August 10, 1861, at the battle of Oak Hill, the following
Arkansas Regiments: Colonel T.J. Churchill's First Mounted Rifles,
Colonel De Rosey Carroll's First Cavalry, Colonel T.P. Dockery's Fifth
Infantry, Colonel John R. Gratiot's Third Infantry, Colonel James
McIntosh's Second Mounted Rifles, Captain William E. Woodruff's Battery.
Most of these regiments together with the new levies which were raised
at this time were transferred from the state to the Confederate service.
October 3, 1861
The women of Little Rock were at work "night and
day in the Theatre hall," manufacturing uniforms for soldiers. In
addition to getting up musical benefits to raise funds for the relief of
poor families, whose men had joined the army, they engaged in the
manufacture of various useful articles for the comfort of the soldiers.
They made great quantities of "a simple salve for the relief of the
soldiers' tired feet on the march," by taking equal parts of gum
camphor, olive oil, and pure beeswax, mixing them together while warm
until they were united into a soft salve.
October 5, 1861
Thomas C. Hindman, colonel of the Second Arkansas
Infantry, General Hardee's Corps was promoted to the rank of brigadier
general.October 11, 1861
The army which General Hardee had organized at
Pocahontas, having crossed the Mississippi river in Missouri at Bird's
Point several days before arrived at Bowling Green, Kentucky, where it
crossed the Tennessee river. There, at night, while engaged in
putting his men across the river, Colonel Richard Lyon, of the Sixth
Arkansas Regiment was accidentally killed. A telegram to Little
Rock said: "The night was windy, the rain was falling heavily, and it
was very dark. In the darkness and confusion, Colonel Hawthorne's
horse stumbled down the bluff bank of the river, and the colonel was
thrown; his neck dislocated and his thigh bone broken; death was, of
course, instantaneous. His body will be returned to his home at
Camden, Arkansas, for burial."
October 15, 1861
As a means of facilitating communication between
Little Rock and the army under General McCulloch in the West, the
Confederate government took steps to build a telegraph line from Fort
Smith to Little Rock. A contract to build such a line was awarded
to H.A. Montgomery, of Snow, Ketchum & Co. who had built the line from
Memphis to Little Rock.October 17, 1861
The Van Buren Press reported that the cotton
factory at that place was in full operation. The factory had two
set of wool cards, which carded 300 pounds of wool per day; 1,808
spindles, which turned out 500 pounds of cotton yarn per day. The
factory had no looms "except for making seamless sacks." A wheat
and corn mill was run in connection with the factory, which ground "from
100 to 150 bushels of grain per day." The plant was operated by an
engine of 150 horse power. Said The Press: "This factory is, we
believe, the only one in the state that is making cotton yarn; the
factory at Cane Hill is not running. Our factory is working full
time, and will be able to supply the demand, at least for this state,
with cotton yarn.November 4, 1861
The Thirteenth General Assembly met in
extraordinary session.November 6, 1861
Arkansas voted in the Confederate states election.
The presidential electors, instructed to vote for Jefferson Davis, for
president, and for Alexander H. Stephens, for vice president, received
the following votes: Edward Cross, 26,530; David Walker, 24,188; John R.
Hampton, 24,804; W.C. Bevens, 25,774; W.W. Mansfield, 24, 240.
Four Congressmen were elected. In the First
District, the vote was as follows: Felix I. Batson received 4,234 votes;
H.F. Thomasson, 1,879. In the Second District, G.D. Royston
received 3,459 votes; A.S. Huey, 1,323. In the Third District,
John P. Johnson received 2, 125 votes; A.H. Garland, 2,157. In the
Fourth District, T.V. Hanley received 3,277 votes; James H. Patterson,
2, 127.
R.M. Gaines, of Chicot county, received 4,436
votes for elector, and there were a number of other persons for whom a
few votes were cast. November 7, 1861
News was received in Arkansas by telegraph from
Kentucky to the effect that the Arkansas troops under General Hardee had
participated in a battle at Columbus, Kentucky the day before: "The
fight began at 11 o'clock and lasted until 5 p.m.; General Pillow, with
Tappan's, Wright's, Pickett's, and Russell's regiments, number 2,500
men, were attacked by 8,000 Federals, under Grant, McClernand, and
Buford. Till one o'clock, there were alternations of successes and
reverses; Pillow was then reinforced by Walker's, Carroll's and Mark's
regiments, under General Cheatham. Pillow ordered a flanking
movement, which was made, supported by Smith's and Blythe's regiments,
under General Leonida Polk. The enemy fled, and were pursued to
their gunboats. Colonel Tappan's Arkansans suffered severely, but
fought like heroes."(This was the third
engagement of the war in which Arkansans had participated: At Oak Hill,
on August 10; at Cheat Mountain, in Virginia, on October 3, where
Colonel Albert Rust's regiment had been engaged by the enemy.
Colonel James F. Fagan's regiment though it was a part of the army in
Virginia at the time, had no part in the battle of Manassas of July 21,
1861. November 9, 1861
The legislature held a joint session for the
purpose of electing Confederate States senators. The following
persons were put in nomination: Robert W. Johnson, Charles B. Mitchell,
Albert Pike, James Yell, and N.B. Burrow. On the first ballot,
Johnson received 67 votes; Mitchell, 49; Pike, 31; Yell, 13; Burrow, 6.
Johnson having received a majority of all the votes cast was declared
elected; Mitchell, and on the next ballot, received a majority and was
also elected.(It was publicly stated at
the time that Albert Pike did not want the office. He had been
appointed a brigadier general by President Davis and was on his way to
Richmond to arrange a return to the Indian country to organize an army
composed of men from the various Indian tribes.)
November 18, 1861
The extraordinary session of the legislature
adjourned. Among the most important acts passed were the
following: To abolish certain offices in the state government; to confer
extraordinary powers upon counties for the period of the war; to provide
for the payment of the war tax imposed by the Confederate Congress; to
repeal the ordinance of the state convention authorizing a tax levy for
military purposes; to facilitate the circulation of Arkansas war bonds
and treasury warrants; and to provide relief for sick and disabled
Arkansas volunteers.(The provisional
Congress of the Confederate States had levied a tax of 50c on each $100
worth of property owned by the citizens of the several states,
applicable to all citizens except as such as did not possess taxable
property to the amount of $500. The Arkansas Secession Convention
had doubled the rate of taxation, which in view of the later Confederate
levy of 50c per $100, was reduced from one third of one percent to one
sixth of one per cent. November 21, 1861
Patrick R. Cleburne, colonel of the 15th Regiment
of General Hardee's corps, was promoted to the rank of brigadier
general.December 12, 1861
James B. Johnson with the rank of major, who had
just completed the organization of a battalion of eight companies of
Arkansas infantry for service in Hardee's corps., was authorized to
raise two more companies, so as to raise his battalion to the rank of a
regiment. This new regiment was promised, provided the men enlisted "for
the duration of the war," that it should be known as the "First
Confederate Regiment," or the many troops from Arkansas in the
Confederate service (about 30,000), there were only two regiments,
Hindman's and Rust's, and Johnson's battalion who had enlisted "for the
war."December 19, 1861
W.M. Randolph of the legal firm of Garland and
Randolph, of Little Rock, was appointed Confederate States attorney for
the eastern district of Arkansas.
Arkansas Civil War
Timeline
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