The 38th Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Organization

38th Infantry Regiment, began when General Hindman issued Special Order Number #12, Army of the Southwest, dated June 22, 1862, which authorized a Captain W. C. Adams to raise one or more companies of mounted infantry in Lawrence and Randolph Counties and to immediately attack enemy without waiting on special orders. On July 23, 1862, General Hindman wrote to Captain Adams and ordered him to take command of the companies now raised, organized and armed in the counties of Randolph, Green, Lawrence and Poinsett and "move them to a rendevous point near Jacksonport, ....and make a temporary organization of them into battalion or regiment depending on the number of men and companies.... to be used against enemy vigorously on Crowley's Ridge." On August 2, 1862, Special Order #43, Trans Mississippi District appointed William C. Adams Lieutenant Colonel and Capt. M. Baber as Major of a battalion composed of seven companies. Lieutenant Colonel Adams was authorized to assign staff officers with the approval of General McBride. He was directed to immediately dismount his command and march to McBride's camp. The intent was that the battalion to be increased to regiment as soon as possible.

When the regiment was finally assembled in September, 1862, it contained men from Yell, Izard, Lawrence, and Craighead counties. Early in June, 1862, Colonel Shaver, with General Hindman, was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department. The 38th was formally organized at Jacksonport, Arkansas

Jacksonport, Arkansas

Jacksonport is a town in Jackson County, Arkansas, United States, along the White River at its confluence with the Black River. The population was 235 at the 2000 census.- History :Jacksonport was once an important steamboat stop on the White River...

 on September 8, 1862. Colonel Shaver was unanimously elected colonel and he continued in command during the various campaigns and battles in the department. The unit was inducted into Confederate Service on September 21, 1862 at Jacksonport, Arkansas. Its field grade officers were Colonel Robert G. Shaver, Lieutenant Colonels William C. Adams and Milton D. Baber, and Major R. R. Henry. The unit was composed of volunteer companies from the following counties:

• Company A, Commanded by Captain James L. Sexton, organized at Lauratown, Arkansas on June 17, 1862
• Company B, Commanded by Captain Joshua Wann, organized in Lawrence County, Arkansas on July 19, 1862
• Company C, Commanded by Captain James J. Wyatt, organized at Camp Adams, Randolph County, Arkansas on July 19, 1862
• Company D, Commanded by Captain William J. Sanders, organized at Smithville, Arkansas on July 19, 1862
• Company E, Commanded by Captain M. Beshoar, organized in Pocahontas, Randolph County, Arkansas on July 8, 1862
• Company F, Commanded by Captain Alfred Gay organized in Evening Shade, Arkansas on July 16, 1862
• Company G, Commanded by Captain John R. Wells, organized in Powhatan, Lawrence County, Arkansas on June 7, 1862
• Company H, Commanded by Captain William A. Black, organized in Randolph County, Arkansas on July 15, 1862
• Company I, Commanded by Captain R. W. Echols, organized in Independence County, Arkansas on August 6, 1862
• Company K, Commanded by Captain Louis E. Knight, organized at Sulphur Rock, Arkansas on August 7, 1862
• Company L
• Company M, Formerly organized as Company F, 10th Missouri Infantry Regiment

In the fall of 1864, at the reorganization of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, Colonel Shaver was again elected colonel of the 38th, and on the same day, in a different field, he was also elected colonel of Shaver's 27th Arkansas Infantry. Gen. E. Kirby Smith consolidated these two regiments, and they were known thenceforth until the surrender in May 1865, as Shaver's Infantry Regiment.

Battles

The 38th Arkansas Infantry participated in most of the principal battles fought in the Trans-Mississippi Department after September 1862, among which were Prairie Grove, the fall of Little Rock, and the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. At the evacuation of Little Rock, September 10, 1863, Colonel Shaver was in command of the brigade and covered the Confederate retreat out of the city southward. He was greatly mortified that he was not permitted to engage the enemy, and he always contended that General Price should have offered battle. The unit was attached to R. G. Shaver's and Tappan's Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department, and during the spring of 1864 united with the 27th Regiment. During the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, the consolidated command lost 4 killed and 22 wounded. Many of the men from the Shaver's Infantry transferred to the newly-formed 45th Arkansas Mounted Infantry in the summer of 1864 and rode with General Sterling Price on his Missouri Campaign in the fall of 1864. The 38th is credited with taking part in the following battles:

• Battle of Prairie Grove
  Battle of Prairie Grove
  The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on 7 December 1862, that resulted in a tactical stalemate but essentially secured northwest Arkansas for the Union.-Strategic situation: Union:...
  
  , Arkansas, December 7, 1862
• Battle of Little Rock, Arkansas, September 10, 1863
• Red River Campaign
  Red River Campaign
  The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....
  
  , Arkansas March-May, 1864
• Battle of Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas April 30, 1864

Surrender

The 38th Arkansas, like most of the Arkansas infantry regiments, was located in the vicinity of Marshall, Texas, when the war ended. As the state had been so ravaged by war and thus was unable to subsist large numbers of troops, General Kirby Smith had sent most of his infantry to Texas the previous fall. None of the regiments camped around Marshall actually participated in a formal surrendered. They simply disbanded and went home. Some soldiers were paroled individually at various points as they made their way home, but most were never paroled. The 38th Arkansas was included in the formal surrender of the Army of Trans-Mississippi by General Kirby Smith at Marshall, on Texas May 26, 1865.

Sources

• Allen, Desmond Walls, "The Thirty-Eighth Arkansas Confederate Infantry". (Conway, AR: Arkansas Research, 1988)
• Banasik, Michael E., "Embattled Arkansas: The Prairie Grove Campaign of 1862". (Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company 1998)

External links

• Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home Page
• The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture
• The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
• The Arkansas History Commission, State Archives, Civil War in Arkansas

See also

• List of Arkansas Civil War Confederate units
• Lists of American Civil War Regiments by State
• Confederate Units by State
• Arkansas in the American Civil War
  Arkansas in the American Civil War
  The state of Arkansas was a part of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and provided a source of troops, supplies, and military and political leaders for the fledgling country. Arkansas had become the 25th state of the United States, on June 15, 1836, entering as a...
  
  
• Arkansas Militia in the Civil War
  Arkansas Militia in the Civil War
  The units of the Arkansas Militia in the Civil War included militia organizations to which the current Arkansas National Guard has a connection: the militia, Home Guard, and State Troop regiments raised by the State of Arkansas. Like most of the United States, Arkansas had an organized militia...