5th Arkansas Infantry Regiment The 5th Arkansas Infantry , also called the Fighting Fifth ( 1861 – 1865 ) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment organized in Arkansas to serve for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . It served throughout the war in the western theater , seeing action in the Kentucky , Tennessee and Georgia campaigns . Following its depletion in numbers the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments , finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment . Another Arkansas unit also had the designation 5th Arkansas , the 5th Regiment , Arkansas State Troops which participated in the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , but was never transferred to Confederate Service . There is no connection between the two units . Organization . This regiment was organized for one year in state service at Gainesville , Greene County , Arkansas , on June 28 , 1861 and was transferred to Confederate service on July 27 , 1861 at Pocahontas , Arkansas . It was reorganized for the war at Corinth , Mississippi on May 12 , 1862 . The field officers were David C . Cross , Lucius Featherston , Peter V . Green , and J . E . Murray ; Lieutenant Colonels E . A . Howell and B . F . Sweeney ; and Majors T . W . Ellsberry and Riddick Pope . The regiment would spend the duration of the war in the service of the Confederate Army of Tennessee , fighting in the western theater . The unit was composed of volunteer companies from the following counties : A letter from a member of the Brownsville Rifles to the " Des Arc Citizen " described the outcome of the election for regimental officers : The regiment was armed with weapons which the state confiscated when the Federal Arsenal at Little Rock was seized by Arkansas 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 . Battles . The regiment moved with the rest of General Hardee ' s division to Bowling Green , Kentucky where Hardee ' s Division became the Army of Central Kentucky . 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 . and then retreated through western Tennessee to northern Mississippi . In the reorganization of forces , the 5th Arkansas was assigned to Hindman ' s ( later Liddell ' s ) brigade , Army of Mississippi in March , 1862 . At the time the Battle at Shiloh took place , the 5th Arkansas was on picket duty along the Memphis & Charleston Railroad , about 7 miles north and west of Corinth . Colonel David C . Cross pleaded with Gen . Albert Sidney Johnston to permit the 5th Arkansas to take part in the movement towards Shiloh , but Johnston replied that " the post of duty was the post of honor , " and kept the 5th Arkansas on picket duty . 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 . When Corinth was evacuated on the approach of Halleck and Grant in May 1862 , the regiment fell back with the Confederate army to Tupelo Mississippi , where it was reorganized . Captain L . P . Featherston was elected colonel , J . E . Murray , Lieutenant Colonel , and Captain Peter Green , major ; J . J . Winston was appointed adjutant . When General Braxton Bragg led the Army of Mississippi on the Kentucky Campaign , the 5th Arkansas became engaged in the Battle of Perryville . While in Kentucky , John Edward Murray was made Lieutenant Colonel , upon the resignation of Lieutenant Colonel Sweeney . The regiment was assigned to General Liddell ' s and Govan ' s Brigade , and consolidated with the 13th Arkansas from August 1863 to April 9 , 1865 . The regiment was organized with 722 officers and men and lost forty - two percent of the 336 at the Battle of Murfreesboro . The 5th / 13th lost forty - five percent of the 450 engaged at the Battle of Chickamauga . Colonel L . Featherston was also killed during on the first day of battle and was succeeded by Colonel Murray . The unit had 21 men disabled at the Battle of Ringgold Gap . Colonel John E . Murray , was killed in action on July 22 , 1864 during the Atlanta Campaign , and Captain William T . Jones would be awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor for valor during that same campaign . Colonel Peter V . Green succeeded Colonel Murray and remained in command until the close of the war . The consolidated 5th / 13th 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 unit is credited with the following engagements : Flags . It is likely that 5th Arkansas had a First National pattern regimental flag when it entered service , but after being transferred to the Army of Central Kentucky at Bowling Green in late 1861 , they would have been issued the first of the Buckner / Hardee pattern battle flags , blue field with a white circle in the center and possibly the unit ' s name in the circle . The regiment was assigned to St . John Lidell ' s Brigade , part of Major General Patrick Cleburne ’ s Division , which fought the entire war under Hardee Pattern battle flags . There are two existing flags of this type for the 5th Arkansas ; one is currently in the collection of the Texas Civil War Museum in Fort Worth Texas and the second is in private hands . The flag which is currently located at the Texas Civil War Museum is of a later issue than the January 1862 flags and has the unit number in the white circle while the other is for the combined 5th / 13th Arkansas . 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 9 , 1865 . On April 26 , 1865 , the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment was present with the Army of Tennessee when it surrendered in Greensboro , North Carolina .