13th Arkansas Infantry Regiment The 13th Arkansas Infantry ( 1861 – 1865 ) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War . Organized mainly from companies , including several prewar 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 Murfreesboro , the unit spent most of the rest of the war field consolidated with the 13th Arkansas Infantry Regiment , to form the 5th / 13th Arkansas Infantry Regiment . Organization . The 13th Arkansas was formally organized on July 29 , 1861 at Camp Ground in Greene County , Arkansas , with about 1 , 000 men . The companies ( less Co . K ) mustered into Confederate service at Harrisburg , Arkansas , on July 23 , 1861 . Company K , the " Erin Guards , " was from St . Louis , Missouri ; the rest of the companies were from northeast Arkansas . Colonel A . D . Grayson was the mustering officer . The regiment was organized from the following companies : The original regimental officers elected at the formation of the regiment were : Battles . The 13th Arkansas was ordered to a camp at Belmont , Missouri , just across the river from Columbus , Kentucky . On November 7 , 1861 , Brigadier General Ulysses S . Grant landed troops from Cairo , Illinois , via steamer on the Missouri side of the river . The " Camp of Observation " , occupied by the 13th Arkansas , was briefly overrun by Union forces , who set fire to the camp . Grant ' s forces were eventually driven off and , in the process , the 13th gained its first combat experience . Unfortunately in the process , it lost its original muster rolls which were lost when the regiment ' s camp was burned . As a result , the oldest surviving documents are from the regimental reorganization that took place nine months later in April 1862 . Consequently , the names of several hundred of the regiment ' s original members have been lost to history . 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 . The 13th Arkansas was assigned to Brigadier General Alexander P . Stewart ' s 2nd Brigade of Brigadier General Charles Clark ' s 1st Division of Major General Leonidas Polk ' s 1st Army Corps , of General Albert S . Johnston ' s Army of Mississippi . The regiment suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Shiloh . It lost 100 soldiers killed , wounded and missing , which represented almost one third of the 306 engaged there . Colonel Tappan was sick and absent on the first day of the battle so command fell to Lieutenant Colonel A . D . Grayson , who was killed in action while leading a charge . Upon Grayson ' s death , command of the regiment fell to Major James A . McNeely . In April 1862 the Confederate Army underwent an army - wide reorganization due to the passage of the Conscription Act by the Confederate Congress in April 1962 . All twelve - month regiments had to re - muster and enlist for two 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 . The 13th Arkansas reorganized for the war on April 29 , 1862 , and the following field officers were elected : As a result of the reorganization in April 1862 , the companies were re - lettered and new commanders were elected as follows : Note : Company E ( originally commanded by Captain R . C . Flournoy ) , from Desha County , had been attached to the 7th Kentucky Infantry as ( old ) Company K . It was transferred to the 13th Arkansas in the reorganization . Despite their heavy losses at Shiloh the regiment continued to function as a part of the Army of the Mississippi . By the time they took part in the Battle of Perryville the regiment had been consolidated with the 15th Arkansas Infantry Regiment ( Josey ' s ) , which had formerly been commanded by Colonel Cleburne . The unit was assigned to Brigadier General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne ' s 2nd Brigade of Major General Simon Bolivar Buckner ' s 3rd Division of William Joseph Hardee ' s Corps of the Army of Mississippi . The regiment lost 6 killed and 23 wounded at the Battle of Richmond , Kentucky . After the Kentucky Campaign , the unit was assigned to General Liddell / Govan ' s Brigade , Cleburn ' s Division , Army of Tennessee . It would remain in this brigade for the rest of the war . In 1863 , the 13th Arkansas was consolidated with the 15th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and placed under the command of Colonel Lucius E . Polk of the 15th . It was consolidated with the 15th Arkansas at Murfreesboro . The 13th / 15th reported 68 casualties in the fight at Murfreesboro . The 13th was field consolidated with the 5th Arkansas in September , 1863 and remained consolidated with the 5th until the closing month of the war . The regiment took part in the Battle of Chickamauga and the Tullahoma Campaign along with many other major engagements . The 5th / 13th lost forty - five percent of the 450 at Chickamauga , had 21 men disabled at Ringgold Gap , totaled 321 men and 222 arms in December 1863 , and reported 112 casualties at the Battle of Atlanta . The regiment and the rest of Govan ' s Brigade participated in General John B . Hood ' s disastrous Franklin - Nashville Campaign . Due to the appalling losses suffered by Govan ' s Brigade during the Atlanta Campaign , the 1st / 15th , 5th / 13th and 2nd / 24th Arkansas Regiments were consolidated into one regiment , which was commanded by Colonel Peter Green of the 5th / 13th ( specifically of the 5th ) . The other officers of the consolidated regiment were Major Alexander T . Meek , of the 2nd / 24th Arkansas , Captain Mordecai P . Garrett and Sergeant Major Thomas Benton Moncrief of the 15th Arkansas . The consolidated regiment fought under the colors of the consolidated 5th / 13th Arkansas Regiment , because this was one of the only colors not captured when Govan ' s Brigade was overrun at the Battle of Jonesboro . The flag of the combined 5th / 13th Arkansas was issued in March 1864 and was captured by Benjamin Newman of the 88th Illinois Infantry at the battle of Franklin . The consolidated regiment numbered just 300 rifles and sustained 66 % casualties during the Battle of Franklin . The remnants of Govan ' s Brigade that survived the Tennessee Campaign remained with the Army of Tennessee through its final engagements in the 1865 Carolinas Campaign . The 13th Arkansas is credited with the following engagements : African Americans in Confederate Service . A Lieutenant Shelton of the 13th Arkansas apparently took an African American slave with him to battle : Flags . There are two flags associated with the 13th Arkansas known to be in existence ; the flag of the Erin Guards , Company K , and the flag of the combined 5th and 13th Arkansas Infantry regiment . The flag of the Erin Guards is a 1st National Flag Pattern with the words " VICTORY or DEATH " inscribed on the white strip . The flag had a circle of ten stars on a blue field with an eleventh star in the center of the circle . The flag is currently in the collection of the Missouri Historical Society in St . Louis , Missouri . The flag of the 5th and 13th Consolidated Arkansas Infantry Regiment , and its flag staff , are thought to be in private hands . The flag of the combined 5th / 13th Arkansas was issued in March , 1864 and was captured by Benjamin Newman of the 88th Illinois Infantry at the battle of Franklin , Tennessee . The flag - staff for this flag is also in private hands and it is stenciled ; " 5th & 6th Arkansas – B . Newman " . The curator of the Carter House in Franklin , Tom Carter , says it was mistakenly labeled , and should have been the " 5th & 13th " , which were consolidated at the time of the battle . The 6th Arkansas by that time was consolidated with the 7th Arkansas . Research shows the flag at that time was a " white moon on a blue field " . The 5th / 13th Arkansas flag , was one of five captured by the 88th Illinois at the Battle of Franklin , and none were forwarded to the War Department . It was last seen at Nashville when the 88th Illinois displayed the captured flags to General Thomas . The division commander stated , " They were afterward sent home by those who captured them . Since then they have been ordered to be returned , and will be forwarded to department headquarters as soon as they arrive . " However , none were ever returned . Consolidation and surrender . The remnants of ten depleted Arkansas regiments , along with one mostly - Arkansas regiment , in the Army of Tennessee were consolidated into a single regiment at Smithfield , North Carolina , on April 9 , 1865 . The 1st Arkansas , was lumped together with the 2nd , 5th , 6th , 7th , 8th , 15th , 19th and 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment s and the 3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment as the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry . On April 26 , 1865 , the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment was present with the Army of Tennessee when it surrendered in Greensboro , North Carolina .