38th Arkansas Infantry Regiment The 38th Arkansas Infantry ( 1862 – 1865 ) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War . The unit was often referred to as Shaver ' s Arkansas Infantry . The unit served in the Department of the Trans - Mississippi from its formation in the summer of 1862 until the surrender in May 1865 . 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 the 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 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 : In the fall of 1864 the 38th , and the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment were consolidated , and they were known thenceforth until the surrender in May 1865 , as Shaver ' s Infantry Regiment . Battles . The 38th Arkansas was assigned to Colonel Robert G . Shaver ' s 2nd Brigade of Daniel M . Frost ' s 3rd Division of Major General Thomas C . Hindman ' s 1st Corps of the Army of the Trans - Mississippi for the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7 , 1862 . The other regiments in the brigade were the 27th , 33rd , and Adams ' Arkansas Infantry Regiment s . Only a portion of the 38th Arkansas was engaged at Prairie Grove , because the unit was not fully armed . The portion of the regiment with weapons , which totaled men 152 , from Companies A , C , G , H , and probably K , were placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William C . Adams and supported General Joseph Orville Shelby ' s brigade during the battle . According to Lieutenant Colonel William C . Adams ' report of the engagement , the unit lost 5 killed , 25 wounded , 22 missing at Prairie Grove . On February 28 , 1862 , Brigadier General J . C . Tappan , formerly commander of the 13th Arkansas Infantry Regiment , was ordered to assume command of Shaver ' s brigade , consisting of the 38th Arkansas Infantry Regiment , commanded by Colonel Robert G . Shaver , the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel James R . Shaler , and the 33rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Hiram L . Grinstead . General Tappan was ordered to move his brigade to Louisiana to support General Taylor ' s operations against General ' s Grant ' s forces laying siege to Vicksburg Mississippi . The 38th spent the month of July 1863 in the vicinity of Delhi , Louisiana where they conducted raids on Federal interests between Delhi and the Mississippi River . The 38th and Tappan ' s brigade was ordered to Arkansas , via Pine Bluff , in August 1863 . The Tappan ' s Brigade and the 38th Arkansas missed the Battle of Helena on July 4 , 1863 , because of its operations in Louisiana . Tappan ' s Brigade with the 38th returned to Arkansas in August 1863 and was involved in the defense of Little Rock . 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 38th retreated down the Southwest Trail to Benton and on to the vicinity of Arkadelphia , while they spent the winter of 1863 . During the spring of 1864 the 38th Arkansas was consolidated with the 27th Arkansas . Colonel Shaler of the 27th had proved to be unpopular with his men and junior officers . Shaler was a Missourian and made several attempts to have the 27th added to a brigade of Missouri Troops . Because of this consolidation , and because of the similarities between the names Shaver and Shaler , several historian ' s have mistakenly reported that Colonel Robert Shaver was elected as commander of both regiments . Upon the launch of the Union Army ’ s Red River Campaign , seizing Alexandria , Louisiana and moving on Natchitoches and Shreveport , General Kirby Smith ordered Churchill ' s Arkansas Division which had most of his infantry ( including Tappan ' s and Gause ' s brigades ) south to Shreveport , Louisiana in early March , 1864 to assist in countering Union General Nathaniel Banks ' advance along the Red River . Churchill ’ s division reached Keatchie , Louisiana in time to support Richard Taylor ’ s main force who routed Banks ’ army in the Battle of Mansfield ( Sabine Crossroads ) on April 8 , 1864 . The next day , the Confederate forces united to attack the Union rear guard at Pleasant Hill on the afternoon of April 9 . The Confederates had endured a long forced march from south central Arkansas to Mansfield , and another of ten hours to Pleasant Hill that day with only two hours ’ rest . The Union troops held a formidable position , and although the Arkansans and Missourians fought valiantly , they were repulsed and retreated six miles to the nearest water . After the battle of Pleasant Hill , Churchill ' s Division made a hasty return with General Kirby Smith back to Arkansas to assist General Price in dealing with the other half of the Red River campaign , Union General Frederick Steele ' s Camden Expedition moving southwest from Little Rock . The Division and Tappan ’ s Brigade arrived just in time to join the pursuit of Steele ' s army as it retreated from Camden , and join in the attack on Steele as he tried to cross the Saline River at Jenkins ' Ferry on April 30 , 1864 . After an all - night march through a rainstorm and ankle - deep mud , Tappan ’ s Brigade reinforced Gause ' s Brigade , and personally led by General Churchill , the Confederate force made repeated attacks on the Union federals attempting to cross the river . 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 : 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 surrender . 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 , Texas , on May 26 , 1865 .