1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Union)

The first combat test for most of the men serving under the 1st Arkansas would be in Fayetteville on the morning of April 18 1863. The situation was not ideal going into their first engagement. Half of the regiment, including Colonel Johnson, was away for various reasons leaving only about 500 Infantrymen in the city. To add to their misfortune some men were still without uniforms and muskets. When the first shots of confederate artillery began to rain upon the town about 30 men from the regiment fled north to safety. Colonel Harrison decided to place 7 companies of the 1st Arkansas in reserve under orders to stand by, with companies A, F and H forming the center battle line along with 4 companies of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry. As the battle raged, Harrison ordered two companies of the 1st Arkansas in reserve to leave and form up along the left flank of the federal line. The battle lasted 3 hours and was over by noon. The two loyal Arkansas regiments held the line against the Confederate cavalry under General William Cabell, most of them being Arkansans as well. The First Arkansas would later report 10 casualties during the attack, with two men dead and 8 wounded, including Captains Smith and Parker. In addition, one man was captured, who was later paroled, and the regiment's quartermaster fled during the battle and was later dismissed.[6] Due to Johnson being absent from the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Elhanan J. Searle took command of the regiment along with Major Elijah Ham. Harrison would later reported that the two men "did good service in keeping their men in position and preventing them from being terrified by the artillery".[7] Following their victory, the uniforms intended for the first Arkansas had arrived and Col. Harrison quickly had them distributed. On April 25 Harrison, fearing his command was getting increasingly vulnerable, decided to abandon Fayetteville and relocate to Springfield, Missouri, which the first Arkansas would reach on May 4.[8]

The regiment would spend the rest of spring and early summer in Missouri with its only movements around this time being on July 6, when it was ordered to Cassville, near the border. The decision to send the regiment north of Arkansas was likely done to keep them out of harm's way while they received proper federal equipment, most of which probably arrived from Rolla, the closet supply depot. On the 17th of August, the First Arkansas joined Major General Blunt's Army of the Frontier where it was ordered to Indian territory, with the intent to follow a confederate force under Stand Watie. On August 23 however, a confusing affair would take which brought them back to Fayetteville. Prior to the entering of Indian Territory, a small group of the regiment got lost. The 1st Arkansas, along with the 2nd Arkansas and Kansas Cavalries, searched for their respective regiments together which brought them Fayetteville. Captain James Vanderpool of company C also arrived at Fayetteville with 150 new recruits.[9] Upon entering the town however a group of Confederates attacked and many of the new recruits fled, while others fended off the rebels. Both sides later withdrew shortly after.[10]

While in Indian Territory, the regiment was present at the skirmish at Perryville on August 26 but did not take part in any combat. The skirmish ended after the remaining Confederates retreated and Blunt later ordered the town to be burned. Following this Blunt decided to take his force and invade western Arkansas. He ordered a Union force under Col. William Cloud to follow the retreating confederates, which cumulated in the Battle of Devil's Backbone, while blunt, along with the First Arkansas, pushed forward capturing Fort Smith on September 1, 1863, without firing a single shot. The 1st Arkansas was the first Union regiment to enter the garrison since its abandonment by the federal government in 1861. Upon entering, an officer of the 1st Arkansas noted "the regiment entered Fort Smith in advance of the Federal forces. The entire distance traveled 400 miles on scanty rations and poor water". The regiment remained on duty there till March 1864.[4][11]

Despite the federal presence now in the state, many of the unionists, dubbed “Mountain feds”, still found themselves without any means of support or long-term protection. Many would form groups and hide out in northwest mountains where they would occasionally fend off bushwakers and other threats. Some of these men were no different than their confederate counterparts in that they would similarly raid towns, farms, and harass the local population. One such man was Williams “Wild Bill” Heffington. Heffington, a former confederate soldier, was one of the more famous Union bushwackers in the state. In February he and about 100 of his followers arrived at Fayetteville where they later enlisted into company I the following March.

Heffington would die under mysterious circumstances in August and the remaining mountain feds would continue to hide out in the mountains where they were occasionally given assistance by Union forces, as was the case in late September of 1863. Portions of companies H and I, led by captain Parker, were sent to deliver ammunition to local unionists hiding out on Mount magazine and the surrounding areas. Their mission was a success and Captain Parker decided to set up camp at Haguewood Prairie, an area that would allow the men to visit their families. On September 27, 1863, the First Arkansas would encounter a portion of Confederate cavalry known as “Shelby's Iron Brigade” prior to their raid into Missouri. Both sides acted quickly and organized their men for a fight. The overall strength of the two sides isn’t definitively known but the confederates appear to have outnumbered Parkers men. Despite this, the First Arkansas skirmished for around 2 hours, thanks in large part to retreating into the woods for superior cover. The battle ended with a confederate cavalry charge that forced the First Arkansas to flee back to Fort Smith. The regiment lost 2 killed and 28 captured while killing 10 and wounding 8 of their assailants. Of the 28 captured, all but 1 would be eventually released. Captain Parker himself escaped and reported back to Fort Smith where he detailed the attack, to which his superiors quickly spread the word of Shelby's movements.[1][12]

Following the battle of Haguewood Prairie, the first Arkansas was presented with a flag made by the ladies of Van Buren, a town the regiment would occasionally be posted at. According to the newspaper Fort Smith New Era, "The ladies of that place made and presented to the 1st Reg't Ark. Infantry, a large Federal flag". They also reported the flag was raised above the Crawford County courthouse with speeches being made by Col Johnson, Lt. Col Searle, and other commanders which were "loudly applauded, and were well calculated to encourage the patriotic aspirations of the numerous assemblage of citizens and soldiers.” This event is in direct contrast with the mood in Van Buren at the beginning of the war, as in May of 1861 the women of the town had also made a flag for the confederate volunteer company “Pope Walker Guard”, which later made up company B of the First Cavalry Regiment, Arkansas State Troops.[13] [12]

On October 30, a meeting took place at Fort Smith with the intent of electing Arkansas unionists to represent the northwestern part of the state in the U.S. Congress. Colonel Johnson was nominated during this meeting and was elected the following November, and again in October of 1865. While President Lincoln was sympathetic to the southern unionist, Congress was apprehensive and did not recognize either election. Johnson, by now an aspiring politician, was persistent however and in his attempts to petition the Government he was often called away from the regiment. In his absence, Lieutenant Colonel Searle would take command.[4]

In the months following their capture at Fort Smith, the First Arkansas ranks had increased to what would be their highest amount during the war, numbering 979 men in total in November. The same month the regiment would see these numbers drop as, during a smallpox vaccination clinic, about 300 men had received a “spurious” or defective vaccine. While vaccines were nothing new, the process of distributing large quantities of them across the union was and as such inadequate vaccines were sometimes issued. Of the 300 men who received the spurious vaccines, some became so sick they were required to be discharged for disability.[14][4]

The regiment participated in the skirmish at Mt. Ida November 13. The regiment participated in the scout from Waldron to Mt. Ida, Caddo Gap and Dallas December 2–7.[4]

In November the First Arkansas captured Waldron, Arkansas in Scott County while under the command of Colonel Johnson. A detachment of the First Arkansas was later ordered to remain in the town and set up an encampment for winter. That winter was especially brutal on the men, where temperatures reportedly reached negative 18 degrees. Couple this with snowfall in December, sickness, and disease spread fast, killing a sizable number. All the while men were sent out on patrols, searching for any bushwhackers in the area. In late January two of these patrols would turn deadly with 3 men being slain. Not all was negative, however as the First Arkansas’s ranks were steadily increased with new recruits from the area. These men would be needed for the following spring as the Union prepared for an offensive into Louisiana. By February the regiment was ordered to return to Fort Smith and on their exit burned most of the town. In total the regiment lost at least 31 soldiers, the majority being from sickness and desertion.[15]

Developments began to take shape in the union high command in the spring of 1864 which would result in the ill-fated Red River Campaign. Part of this campaign involved sending the federal army in Arkansas, under the command of General Steele, south where it would attack the confederate army in Louisiana from the north, while another federal army attacked from the south. Steele's part of the campaign is known as the Camden Expedition. The entire expedition, along with the campaign as a whole, was a disaster for the Union, and the First Arkansas would later get to experience this failure first hand.

As part of the Expedition, the regiment was attached to Brigadier General Thayer's "Frontier Division", serving part of Colonel John Edwards's 1st brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Searle. On March 24 the First Arkansas left Fort Smith and marched south where it would then meet up with Steel's other two divisions. The Frontier Division fell behind schedule but would eventually reach Steele on April 9th but by then the expedition was already marred with issues, chief among them being dwindling supplies. On April 12th Steele attacked the confederate rearguard and began the Battle of Prairie D’ane. There is conflicting accounts as to whether the regiment took part in this engagement.[16] Regardless the regiment did take part in a skirmish on the following day at Moscow, on the southern end of the prairie, when confederates attacked Steels rear guard which was made up of the Frontier division. The skirmish at Moscow involved three loyal Arkansas units, the First and Second Arkansas Infantries and the First Arkansas Light Artillery. The regiment would lose 3 men altogether in these battles and reportedly suffered many wounded. On April 16th the regiment entered Camden, Arkansas. Following the Battle of Poison Springs, the First Arkansas was sent to recon the confederate forces. Steele's army was in full retreat by this point with the only remaining goal being to arrive at the better supplied and fortified Little Rock. On the 29th the army reached Jenkins Ferry, 50 miles from Little Rock, and hastily built a pontoon bridge to get across the Saline River. Steele had successfully managed to get his cavalry and some artillery across the river but by the time the confederates arrived it was to late for the rest of his army to proceed safely. The Battle of Jenkins Ferry began on the morning of April 30th when the confederates, who had pursued Steele since he left Camden, attacked at 8 A.M. During the battle the union left flank was getting increasing vulnerable so the First Arkansas and Twelfth Kansas Infantry were ordered forward to protect it.[17] Major Francis Johnson, then a 1st Lieutenant, would later report that the regiment “Repulsed a strong flanking party with considerable loss to the enemy, and losing no men itself”.

Captain John Whiteford of company I gave this account of the fighting in a letter to his wife:

We fought all day on swampy land The night before we were up all night in the rain in line of battle, and during the fight we were up to our knees in water, and when we had drove the enemy back we had to march on return four miles through mud knee deep.

By 12:30 P.M. the confederate army began to withdraw and the battle, the largest the regiment would take part in, was over and the rest of Union army crossed the river heading towards Little Rock. Much of the armies wagons needed to be left behind in order to quickly cross the swollen Saline River. Anything left in these wagons were destroyed, including a few enlistment records from Company D. The aforementioned flag of the First Arkansas was nearly confined to share the same fate until a man named Pete, an African-American who was attached to the regiment, saved it. Reportedly after seeing the flag he "rolled it up and carried it on his back all the way to Little Rock".[12] The First Arkansas, with Pete and the flag in tow, arrived in Little Rock on May 1st. Any thought of rest would be quickly dismissed as on the day of arrival they were ordered to march another 159 miles back to Fort Smith, essentially making a gigantic circle since their departure in March. Much of the regiments movements and casualties from the exhibition are unknown, party due to the fact that General Thayer did not file an after action report, unlike his fellow divisional commanders.[4][18]

Following the Camden Expedition the First Arkansas was ordered to escort and guard duty along the frontier. This would involve detachments of the regiment being sent out to skirmish with local confederates, rescue any unionists and protect convoys of loyalist families. Arkansas regiments were chosen for this duty due to their knowledge of the surrounding areas. In November the regiment would have skirmishes at Bates Township and Newton County. In 1865 much of the frontier began to quite down and by summer the Civil War was over. The First Regiment of Arkansas Infantry Volunteers was mustered out on August 10th, 1865, serving the union for over 2 years.[19]