7th Arkansas Infantry Regiment The 7th Arkansas Volunteer Infantry ( 1861−1865 ) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War composed of troops from northeast Arkansas . Organized mainly from companies , including several preware volunteer militia companies , raised in northeastern Arkansas , the regiment was among the first transferred to Confederate Service , and spent virtually the entire war serving in Confederate forces east of the Mississippi River . After the unit sustained heavy casualties during the Battle of Shiloh and Bragg ' s Kentucky Campaign , the unit spent most of the rest of the war field consolidated with the 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment , to form the 6th / 7th Arkansas Infantry Regiment . Organization . The 7th Arkansas was mustered into State service on June 16 , 1861 at Smithville in Lawrence County , Arkansas . The unit was inducted into Confederate Service in July 1861 at Camp Shaver , near Pocahontas , Arkansas . The regimental staff at the time of organization of the 7th Arkansas were : The company officers at the time of organization were : Note : Capt . James Archer , Co . C , resigned before the company was mustered into service and was succeeded by Capt . William M . Blackburn , whose date of rank was July 26 , 1861 , the date of muster . Lieutenant Colonel Cain resigned at Camp Shaver because of failing health , and was replaced by John M . Dean as lieutenant colonel and Jack Horne as adjutant . Commissary Shaver resigned at about the same time , and John D . Sprigg replaced him . The unit ' s field officers were Colonels Robert G . Shaver and D . A . Gillespie ; Lieutenant Colonels W . R . Cain , John M . Dean , James Rutherford , and Peter Snyder ; and Majors John A . Hill , James T . Martin , and John C . McCauley . The regiment was armed with weapons which the state confiscated when the Federal Arsenal at Little Rock was seized by Arkanssas State Militia troops in February 1861 . Disposition of the weapons found in the Arsenal is somewhat sketchy , but from various records it can be surmised that the 5th , 6th , 7th , and 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiments , mustered in June , 1861 , were issued M1816 / M1822 . 69 caliber flintlocks . They retained these weapons until April , 1862 when they were able to exchange them for better weapons scavenged from the battlefield at Shiloh . The regiment remained in State service about six weeks , when General Hardee was ordered to make transfer of the State regiments into Confederate service . In making these transfers , nearly all the regiments lost the equivalent of a company in those men who declined to re - enlist for confederate service and were subsequently discharged . The 7th Arkansas transferred with the loss of only 17 men who refused to re - enlist as " Confederate troops " . Captain C . C . Straughan of Co . G , and Captain James F . Archer of Co . H retired , and were replaced by Captain Warner and Captain Blackburn , respectively . Battles . The 7th Arkansas saw no action in the coming months , only taking part in a small raid into Missouri with General Hardee ' s Command . The 7th Arkansas was ordered to Pittman ' s Ferry , where it was drilled and disciplined by General Hardee in person until the last of August , when Hardee ' s brigade marched by land to Point Pleasant , MO on the Missouri River , and then traveled by steamboat to the Confederate stronghold at Columbus , KY . By October 1861 , the regiment , along with the rest of General Hardee ' s division had been sent to Columbus , Kentucky to become the Army of Central Kentucky . From Columbus the brigade moved to Bowling Green , KY , in October , where it was assigned to the division commanded by General Simon B . Buckner . Here , Col . Shaver was appointed to command a newly - formed brigade made up of the 7th and 8th Arkansas regiments , the 19th Tennessee , and a battalion of the 9th Arkansas . Shaver ' s Brigade remained at Bowling Green until February , 1862 , when that place was evacuated . After the losses of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February 1862 , Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston withdrew his forces into western Tennessee , northern Mississippi , and Alabama to reorganize . Shaver ' s brigade guarded the Confederate rear during this retreat from Bowling Green , being shelled by the artillery of Buell ' s advance while the last trains of stores were being loaded . On leaving , Col . Shaver , by order of Gen . Hardee , burned the depot and took down the telegraph wires . It was during the worst month in that climate , with rain and snow and the thermometer at night below zero , when this retreat was made . The 7th was caused to stand at arms all night by a report that a large force of Buell ' s army was coming on its heels , which turned out to be Helm ' s Kentucky cavalry coming in his rear by an unexpected order of march . General A . S . Johnston , at Nashville , sent a message to Colonel Shaver that the enemy ' s cavalry was advancing on his rear . This was made known to General Wood , of Alabama , who had taken command of the brigade during the retreat . General Wood refused to wait for the rear guard , and for this reason Colonel Shaver applied for and secured a transfer of the 7th to Hindman ' s brigade . The regiment reached Nashville ten days after the fall of Fort Donelson , and went there to Murfreesboro . On March 29 , 1862 , the Army of Central Kentucky was merged into the Army of Mississippi in preparation for the Battle of Shiloh . From Murfreesboro the 7th went to Decatur and thence to Courtland , Alabama , and went into camp at Corinth , Mississippi to await the concentration of the Confederate armies to meet the federal advance through Tennessee . Shiloh . During the Battle of Shiloh , General Hardee nicknamed this unit " The Bloody Seventh . " The 7th Arkansas had been formed with 905 officers and men , but after the conflict at Shiloh there were only 380 present . Colonel Shaver was assigned to command a brigade , which consisted of the 2nd , 6th and 7th Arkansas Infantry Regiments . Shaver ' s Brigade struck the first blow in the battle before sunrise on April 6 , 1862 . The Arkansas troops initially rushed into a Union camp of two German regiments from St . Louis , MO , and regiments from Iowa , Wisconsin and Illinois — all commanded by Colonel Peabody . When the pickets ' fire was heard in the Union encampment , Colonel Peabody ' s men took up defensive positions on the edge of their camp and laid down heavy fire . Shaver ' s Brigade rushed them with a wild Rebel yell . The Uionn troops stood their ground until the Arkansas soldiers were within 30 feet of them and then they broke and fled . The Shaver ' s men pushed in amongst the retreating Union soldiers and a fierce hand - to - hand melee followed . More than Union troops were bayoneted , including Colonel Peabody . Shaver ' s Brigade had rushed forward so fast that General Hardee halted them at that point until the line of battle could catch up . The 7th Arkansas , together with most of the Arkansas troops at the Battle of Shiloh , was armed mainly with flintlock muskets , flintlock & percussion shotguns and various other outdated smooth bore weapons supplied from the soldiers ' own homes . In Colonel Peabody ' s camp they found 2000 new M1853 Enfield rifled muskets ( still in their wooden crates ) complete with ammunition . So the men of the 7th threw away their outdated weapons , took up the new Enfield muskets , and continued fighting . Later , still on the first day , Shaver ' s Brigade made an attack against the 24th Missouri Infantry Regiment ( Unionn ) . During the battle of Pittsburgh Landing every officer on Shaver ' s staff was either killed or wounded . Colonel Shaver had four horses killed under him before he was critically wounded by an artillery shell on the second day of fighting . Lieutenant Colonel John M . Dean , who had field command of the 7th in place of Colonel Shaver , was killed during a charge at Shiloh . Lieutenant Colonel Dean led his men into battle at Shiloh with his musicians ( drum and fife ) playing the song " Granny does your Dog Bite ? " Lt . Colonel Dean was mentioned in the afteraction reports for the gallantry that he and his men displayed at Shioh . The regiment returned to Corinth after the Confederate repulse at Shiloh , where it rested and refitted and participated in the defense of that railroad junction from April to June , 1862 . Upon Bragg ' s assumption of command of the Army of Mississippi , the army moved out again in a campaign intended to regain lost ground in Kentucky . In early May 1862 , Confederate forces underwent an army - wide reorganization due to the passage of the Conscription Act by the Confederate Congress in April 1862 . All twelve - month regiments had to re - muster and enlist for two additional years or the duration of the war ; a new election of officers was ordered ; and men who were exempted from service by age or other reasons under the Conscription Act were allowed to take a discharge and go home . Officers who did not choose to stand for re - election were also offered a discharge . The reorganization was accomplished among all the Arkansas regiments in and around Corinth , Mississippi , following the Battle of Shiloh . During its reorganization , Colonel Shaver , who had been wounded during the Battle of Shiloh , did not stand for re - election and Lieutenant D . A . Gillespie was elected Colonel . Consolidation with the 6th Arkansas . During the Battle of Perryville , the 7th Arkansas Infantry Regiment took devastating casualties , leaving that regiment all but ineffective . The 6th Arkansas had also suffered heavy casualties in that same battle , so the 7th Arkansas ' remaining soldiers were augmented into the 6th . The 6th and 7th Arkansas Infantry Regiments were combined December 22 , 1862 , and remained consolidated for the remainder of the war . The rolls of each company were , however , continued as though no consolidation had ever been made . After participating in the Kentucky Campaign , it was brigaded under Generals Liddell and Govan , Army of Tennessee . From December 31 , 1862 through January 2 , 1863 the 6th and 7th Consolidated Arkansas Infantry Regiment was heavily engaged during the Battle of Murfreesboro , losing a total of 29 killed and 140 wounded . The unit was engaged in the Battle of Chickamauga and the Battles for Chattanooga . Colonel D . A . Gillespie was wounded at the battle of Battle of Chickamauga and died in a hospital on October 26 , 1862 . The combined regiment had 16 disabled at the Battle of Ringgold Gap , totaled 314 men and 265 arms in December , 1863 , and sustained 66 casualties at the Battle of Atlanta . The entire regiment was captured along with several other regiments during the Battle of Jonesboro , which was part of the Atlanta Campaign , but were released several weeks later in a prisoner exchange . Returning to the Army of Tennessee , in time to participate in the Franklin - Nashville Campaign . After the retreat from Tennessee , the regiment was moved to North Carolina where they took part in the final charge of the army during the Battle of Bentonville . The 6th - 7th Arkansas actively took part in the following battles , skirmishes and / or campaigns : Toward the end of the war , ten depleted Arkansas regiments , including the 7th Arkansas , were lumped together as the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry , April 9 , 1865 . Battle flags . At least three flags attributed to the 6th & 7th Consolidated Infantry Regiment are known to exist . A Confederate 2nd national flag of the combined 6th & 7th Arkansas Infantry . currently in the Missouri State archives in Columbia , Missouri . When examined in 1978 , it consisted of a 40 1 / 2 " x 76 1 / 2 " white bunting field with a red canton bearing an unedged 3 1 / 2 " wide St . Andrew ' s cross bearing thirteen white cotton stars , those on the arms 3 1 / 2 " across their points , the center 5 " across its points , applied to the reverse and cut away on the obverse ( reverse side accordingly 1 / 2 " larger in diameter . ) The white field bears the following inscriptions : ( upper - in outline scrolls ) " 6th and 7th / ARK / REG ' T " ( middle ) " God & Our Country " ; ( lower ) " SHILOH . PERRYVILLE . MURFREESBORO . " , all in red painted lettering . This flag dates no earlier than May 1863 and was probably a " parade " flag used briefly between May and June 1863 , however no firm history survives regarding it . This is a 2nd pattern Hardee battle flag , originally of the 7th Arkansas , but modified for the combined 6th & 7th Arkansas ; 30 " x 37 1 / 4 " ; captured at Jonesboro , Georgia on 1 September 1864 by Private Henry B . Mattingly , 10th Kentucky Infantry ; War Department capture no . 531 . This flag bears the embroidered battle honor " SHILOH " in the center of the elliptical disc , over embroidered " Down with the Tyrant " , and with " 7TH ARK . " above it in paint , with " 6TH & " added in front of it , both in black . Similarly , three battle honors , " PERRYVILLE . " " MURFREESBORO . " and " CHICKAMAUGA " painted in black on the white border . Also painted in white on blue field , " LIBERTY GAP " , " RINGGOLD GAP " , and " TUNNEL HILL , Tenn . " This is the flag that the combined 6th and 7th Arkansas carried from their consolidation in November , 1862 until its loss in September 1864 . This flag was captured , along with the regiment , when Govan ' s Arkansas Brigade was overrun and captured by a Federal charge on their position at Jonesboro , Georgia on September 1 , 1864 . Private Henry B . Mattingly of Co . B , 10th Kentucky Infantry ( U . S . ) won the Medal of Honor for the capture of this flag . This flag is in the collection of the Old State House Museum in Little Rock , Arkansas . Dimensions : 28 . 5 " x 37 . 5 " ; blue wool bunting , white cotton , silk embroidery , with blue , black , and white painted letters . This is a small ( 23 1 / 2 " x 28 1 / 8 " ) flag , most likely a camp color or flag marker , in the form of the 2nd pattern Hardee battle flag , with the Arkansas coat - of - arms painted on the elliptical disc and the designation " 6TH and 7TH ARK . REG . " painted on the upper border in black . It was acquired in 1976 by the National Park Service , and is on display at the Stone ' s River National Battlefield visitor ' s center in Murfreesboro , TN . Dimensions : 28 " x 38 " ; blue wool bunting , white cotton , with black painted letters . Final consolidation and surrender . By the close of the war many of the Arkansas regiments assigned to the Army of Tennessee had suffered heavy casualties , so the 2nd , 5th , 6th , 7th , 8th , 13th , 15th , 19th , and 24th and the 3rd Confederate Infantry Regiments were consolidated into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry . According to the Muster rolls of the 1st Arkansas Consolidated , an attempt was made to maintain unit cohesion by allowing each of the original regiments to form one or two complete companies for the new unit . The following list indicates the regiment of origin for the companies of the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment : Organized in Smithfield , North Carolina , the 1st Arkansas Consolidated was combat ready by April 9 , 1865 , the very day General Robert E . Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia . The regiment was surrendered with the rest of the Army of Tennessee on April 26 , 1865 , in Durham Station , North Carolina .