Confederate Army

Civil War History

Even before they could get into a battle line, the troops of the 1st Arkansas Infantry were drawing fire and taking casualties. It was the first day of fighting at the Battle of Shiloh, and the regiment was moving across an open field. An enemy artillery battery opened fire, dropping a round at the feet of Captain William A. Crawford and the men of Company E. The shell exploded, striking down Captain Crawford and several enlisted men. Although seriously wounded, Captain Crawford would survive to become a lieutenant colonel. The early fire, however, was an indication of what awaited them.

Every Inch was Hotly Contested

At about noon on April 6,1862, the regiment was ordered to assault a heavily fortified Federal position. Colonel James F. Pagan reported, "Exposed, facing great odds, with the enemy in front and on the flank, the regiment endured a murderous fire until endurance ceased to be a virtue. Three different times did we go into that valley of death, and as often were forced back by overwhelming numbers." In the repeated charges that day, the regiment's second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel John B. Thompson, and two captains were mortally wounded.
Although Federal forces were driven out of their camps and back toward the Tennessee River, the arrival of reinforcements enabled them to reclaim their lost ground the next day. For the troops of the 1st Arkansas, the first day's bitter fighting was matched by the second day of battle. "[We] were marched toward the right," Pagan reported, "where every inch of ground was being hotly contested, and here the regiment engaged the enemy for some time in the most desperate and determined style. [When] broken and temporarily thrown into disorder by the tremendous numbers before them, they only retired to rally again and come on with renewed eagerness to the charge. They rallied around their colors and pressed on time and again, until they were forced to retire by the overwhelming pressure against them." At battle's end, Confederate forces had failed to destroy the Federal army and the 10,694 Southern casualties included scores from the 1st Arkansas.

Organized at Little Rock, Arkansas in May of 1861, the 1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment served in both major theaters of the war. Recruited soon after Arkansas seceded, the regiment was dispatched to Virginia in the spring of 1861 and participated in the Battle of First Manassas. The regiment's first commander was Colonel James F. Pagan, who was a Mexican War veteran and Arkansas legislator. Pagan remained in command until promoted to brigadier general in 1862, and was succeeded by Colonel John W. Colquitt.
In March of 1862, the regiment joined the Confederate Army of the Mississippi and was engaged at the Battle of Shiloh. Some six months later, the 1st Arkansas was involved in the Battle of Perryville during Confederate General Braxton Bragg's invasion of Federally-held Kentucky. In November of 1862 the regiment was transferred to the Army of Tennessee and fought at the Battle of Murfreesboro.

"We Drove the Enemy in Utmost Confusion..."

After serving in Bragg's Tullahoma Campaign, the 1st Arkansas was engaged at the Battle of Chickamauga, where it distinguished itself in action on the second day of battle and helped drive the Northern army from the field. "We poured a continued and terrific fire upon them," reported Colonel Colquitt, "once or twice causing their fire to become very weak.... [The] enemy appearing to waver, we rushed with a shout to the charge and drove him from his fortified position. [We] again moved forward and drove the enemy in utmost confusion from this second stronghold. Many of them came running toward us in order to surrender before our galling fire should cut them down."
After Chickamauga, the regiment was involved in the Siege of Chattanooga and the Atlanta Campaign, where it was engaged at New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and Jonesborough. At Jonesborough, the regiment was overrun and its battle flag was captured by troops of the 14th Michigan Infantry. In late 1864, as part of General Patrick Cleburne's Division, the regiment fought in the disastrous battles of Franklin and Nashville — which nearly destroyed the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Following the battles, the regiment was consolidated with several other depleted regiments, then was consolidated again during the Carolinas Campaign in 1865. The surviving troops of the 1st Arkansas fought in the Battle of Bentonville as part of the battered remnants of the Army of Tennessee.
Outnumbered almost three-to-one by Federal forces under General William T. Sherman, General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered what was left of the Army of Tennessee at Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. Among the ragged Confederate fighters who finally put down their arms were the proud survivors of the 1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment.