page_title: 5th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops
section_title: Organization
hierarchical_section_title: 5th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops / Organization
caption_attribution_description: English: Brigadier General Thomas P. Dockery, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System. Note: Dockery started off the war in command of the 5th Infantry Regiment, Arkansas State Troops, which he led at Wilson's Creek. He was later put in command of the 19th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. Following his capture at Vicksburg and later parole, Dockery was promoted to brigadier general. He returned to Arkansas and assumed command of a brigade, which he led during the Camden Expedition.
context_page_description: The 5th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops was an Arkansas State infantry regiment that served during the American Civil War. Formed in mid-1861, the regiment was assigned to the command of Brigadier General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, commander, 1st Division, Provisional Army of Arkansas. It was disbanded after the Battle of Wilson's Creek in August 1861. Another Arkansas unit also had the designation 5th Arkansas, the 5th Arkansas Infantry Regiment which belonged to the Confederate Army of Tennessee. There is no connection between the two units.
context_section_description: In the spring of 1861, as the secession crisis deepened, many additional volunteer companies were being formed in the Arkansas State Militia.  The Militia Law of Arkansas as published in 1860 provided for a two-tiered militia system.  Section one of the law made all able-bodied free white male inhabitants between the ages of 18 and 45 liable for service. Section 57 of the Militia Act established the second tier of militia organization, the volunteer company. The act allowed each county to raise up to four volunteer companies. These volunteer companies were to be either infantry, riflemen, cavalry, or artillery. While the volunteer companies were to be separate from the regular militia units, they remained under the supervision and authority of the local militia regimental commander, who was required to set the time and place of the election of officers for volunteer companies and certify their election to the governor.  Volunteer Companies were allowed to select and acquire their own uniforms and their officers were authorized to wear the uniform of the company.  While the standard militia units were organized into lettered companies organized roughly along township boundaries, volunteer companies usually adopted colorful names to set them apart.  One example of the volunteer militia company is the ""Bell Point Guards", which would eventually become Company G of the 5th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops.  The unit was originally organized on July 10, 1860, in the 51st Regiment, Arkansas State Militia, of Sebastian County.  The unit was composed primarily of German immigrants from Sebastian County.
  In a letter "To The Militiamen Of The State Of Arkansas" dated August 27, 1860, Governor Conway exhorted the raising of additional volunteer companies:  He commented that if all the volunteer companies authorized by the act were to be raised, the state would have a force of 22,000 volunteers.
  Although several volunteer companies were already in existence at various locations around the state, the Governor's call sparked a wave of formations. State newspapers in the summer and fall of 1860 contain several stories of volunteer companies being formed, drilling, and participating in the regular muster of the militia regiments. The leaders of these volunteer companies began to search for uniforms and equipment, often requesting them through militia channels to the Governor, but then turning to private sources when the State Government was unable to help. The state legislature responded to the need for arms and equipment in January 1861 by appropriating $100,000 for the arming and equipping of the militia being formed into volunteer companies. Act Number 192, which was approved on January 21, 1861, appropriated money "for the purpose of arming the volunteer militia of this state, when formed into volunteer military companies..."
  In the beginning, these volunteer militia companies continued to operate under the authority of the local militia commander, with the local regimental commander overseeing the election of officers and forwarding the election results to the Governor.  After the state actually seceded in May 1861, new volunteer companies would be organized under the authority of the State Military Board, and began to be organized into volunteer regiments which would be referred to as the Arkansas State Troops.
  The Star Company of Sevier County and the Davis Blues of Hempstead County are examples of these volunteer companies organized under the militia laws in southwest Arkansas. The Stars formed in April, the Blues were organized at Nashville, Arkansas, on June 18, 1861. On the following day, June 19, the Nashville community hosted the Davis Blues to a going away gathering, together with a barbecue dinner and other gifts of clothing and such. The Honorable Charles B. Mitchel of nearby Washington, Arkansas, former U. S. Senator, now a Confederate Senator from Arkansas, spoke at the gathering. That afternoon the Blues, under the command of Captain Joseph L. Neal, left for Little Rock, arriving about June 23.  The unit soon moved to
caption: Tom P. Dockery
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