14th Arkansas Infantry Regiment ( McCarver ' s ) The 14th ( McCarver ' s ) Arkansas Infantry ( 1861 – 1865 ) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War . Almost as soon as the regiment was formed , it was split into two units . The first five companies became the 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion and the remainder of the regiment was evenutally resignated as the 18th Arkansas Infantry Battalion . The 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion eventually mereged with the 8th Arkansas Infantry and served for the reset of the war with that unit . The 18th Arkansas Infantry Battalion was eventually consolidated with the remnants of the 17th Arkansas Infantry Regiment ( Lemoyne ' s ) and the new organization was designated as 21st Arkansas Infantry Regiment ( Craven ' s ) The unit served during the Vicksburg Campaign and after being surrendered with the garrison , was reorganized in Arkansas and eventually consolidated with the remnants of several other Arkansas Regiments to form the 1st Consolidated Arkansas Infantry ( Trans - Mississippi ) . Another Arkansas infantry regiment designated the 14th Arkansas . The other 14th Arkansas regiment was originally commanded by William C . Mitchell , but is best known as Powers ' 14th Arkansas Infantry Regiment . Organization . McCarver ' s 14th Arkansas Regiment has been described as the regiment that barely was , since it existed only briefly as a full regiment . The first eight companies were mustered into service between August 31 and September 23 , and the Field and Staff Officers were appointed on September 23 , 1861 at Pocahontas , Arkansas . October 22 , 1861 , is recognized as the date of the organization of the regiment because that ' s when the ninth company joined the unit , and the company muster rolls were submitted to the Confederate War Department along with official notification of the organization of the regiment , ( initially designated by Colonel Solon Borland as the 9th Arkansas ) . A tenth company was added in December , 1862 . The companies were from Izard , Lawrence , and Randolph counties . Stationed in the same area were the 1st , 2nd , 5th , 6th , 7th and 8th Arkansas Regiments , which led Col . Solon Borland , commanding Post of Pocahontas , to muster Col . James H . McCarver ' s new regiment into service as the 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment . This would have been logical , except for the fact that a 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment had already been authorized by the State Military Board and mustered into service at Pine Bluff on July 25 , 1861 , Colonel John M . Bradley commanding . When Colonel Borland sent the muster - in rolls to the Confederate War Department , he was informed that McCarver ' s regiment would instead be designated as the 14th Arkansas Regiment . It is unclear why the Confederate War Department assigned this designation to McCarver ' s regiment . Correspondence exists between Arkansas Governor Henry Rector and Confederate Secretary of War Walker , in which Mitchell ' s regiment is clearly identified as the 14th Arkansas . In a letter dated August 22 , 1861 , Governor Rector wrote , " The Fourteenth Regiment of Arkansas is at Yellville . We understand that General Hardee does not wish to receive it . " So the War Department was clearly informed of the existence of a 14th Arkansas Regiment ; yet they still assigned that designation to McCarver ' s regiment four months later . The unit was originally composed of volunteer companies from the following counties : McCarver ' s regiment had barely received its designation when it was placed in danger of losing it . In Brigadier General William J . Hardee made a decision to detach four of the regiment ' s best armed and equipped companies ( Companies A , B , E & H ) and designate them as the 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion , and place them under the command of Major John H . Kelly . It was Brigadier General Hardee ' s intention was take all of the organized Arkansas troops with him when transferred his command to Kentucky in September 1862 except for Colonel Borland ' s own regiment . However Hardee did not wish to accept poorly armed and untrained troops . It apeears that there were sufficient arms to equip four of McCarver ' s companies , so these companies were detached from the regiment as a separate battalion and departed with General Hardee , with the balance of the regiment to follow when they were properly armed and equipped . Clearly , McCarver considered the detachment of those companies to be temporary , because when the official notice of organization was sent to the Confederate War Department , he assigned the detached companies designations ( Cos . A - B - E - H ) and noted that they were detached with General Hardee . This arrangement caused some confusion at Richmond , which wrote back to Borland , " Does Col . J . S . McCarver ' s command consist of only five companies , or a full regiment ? If less than a regiment , it will be known as the Eighth Battalion ; if ten companies , the Fourteenth Regiment Arkansas Volunteers . Please inform the Department at your earliest convenience the exact state and condition of his command . Maj . F . W . Desha ' s command will be known as the Seventh Battalion Arkansas Volunteers . " McCarver certainly considered that he had a full regiment ( the tenth company had arrived on December 18 ) , because as late as February 1862 he was signing correspondence as " colonel commanding 14th Arkansas Regiment . " The balance of McCarver ' s regiment never joined Hardee because Borland , commanding post , was in a state of panic over reports that a large Union force was planning to attack Pocahontas . Borland stopped further troops movements to Kentucky , including Robert ' s Arkansas Battery which was intended for Hardee , and sent out a frantic call for emergency volunteers ' over two dozen of these poorly armed thirty - day companies converged on Pocahontas for an attack that never came . Borland ' s call resulted in the formation of the 1st and 2nd Arkansas 30 Day Volunteer Regiment s . The Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Arkansas quartermaster receipts from October and November 1861 show the remaining companies of McCarver ' s command furiously requisitioning large amounts of supplies and camp equipment . There was similar activity with the ordnance department , requisitioning arms and ammunition , which indicates that McCarver intended to equip the balance of his command sufficiently armed and equipped to join Hardee . However , McCarver ' s command remained in Arkansas . McCarver eventually replaced Col Borland and the commander of troop in northeast Arkansas , and McCarver ' s detached companies became a separate command , Kelly ' s 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion Battles . General Hardee took the 9th Arkansas Battalion with him when he transferred his command to Kentucky and organized the Confederate Army of Central Kentucky . When Hardee ' s command was attached to forces under Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston , The 9th Arkansas Infantry Battlaion , under the command of Major Kelly was assigned to Brigadier General S . A . M . Wood ' s brigade of Hardee ' s Corps , of the Army of Mississippi and participated in the Battle of Shiloh , Tennessee on April 6 , 1862 . The detachment of Kellys Battalion left McCarver with half a regiment . The War Department notified Colonel Borland that unless the 14th Arkansas was assigned its requisite ten companies , it would henceforth be known as the 8th Battalion Arkansas Infantry ( though that designation was later assigned to Lieutenant Colonel Batt L . Jones ' battalion ) . The remnants of the regiment spent much of the winter of 1862 encamped near Pittman ’ s Ferry , Arkansas , were several soldiers died of measles . The unit resonded to several alarms associated with the anticipated invasion of Northeast Arkansas by Union Force following the Battle of Pea Ridge . By late March 1862 , Colonel McCarver was in command of an organization dubed the “ White River forces ” which in addition to the remnants of his own regiment , included , the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry Regiment , Lemoyne ' s 17th Arkansas Infantry , a temporary battalion under the command of Captain Turnbull , and artillery battery and at least two companies of Missouri troops totalling 1599 troops . In the wake of the defeat at the Battle of Pea Rigde , the Army of the West was undergoing a comprehensive reorganization , and units were assigned and reassigned on virtually a daily basis . The White River forces at Pocahontas including the Arkansas infantry commands of McCarver , Lemoyne and Turnbull were involved in a confusing array of assignments and reassignments , primarily within the brigades of Brigadier General Albert Rust and Brigadier General Thomas Churchill . It appears that McCarver ’ s regiment was intended to be assigned to Churchill ’ s brigade . As with most of the other active units in Arkansas , the remainder of McCarver ' s regiment was ordered to Corinth , Mississippi , in April 1862 . The unit marched from Pittman ' s Ferry on April 1 , 1862 and reached Jacksonport on April 5 . Special Order Number 47 , Army of the West , directed Colonel McCarver ’ s regiment of Arkansas Infantry to transfer at once to the steamer " General Price " and sail for Memphis , Tennessee . Upon reaching Memphis , McCraven and Colonel Lemoyne were to report to Brigaider General Rust . The unit boarded the steamer and moved down White River , out at its mouth , then up the great Mississippi and landed at Memphis , Tennessee , on April 9 . At Memphis the regiment was met by some of the wounded from Shiloh , including men from the Kelly ' s 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion , who provided news of the battle of Shiloh . The regiment marched through Memphis to the Memphis & Charleston depot to board trains for Corinth . Before the train departed , the regiment was ordered to march back , board a steamer , and move further up the Mississippi River and was landed at Fort Pillow , above Memphis , on the Tennessee side . It was here that the men of McCarver ' s command saw their first enemy fire . It was described by Private Elihu C . Bechkam many years after the war . The unit remained at Fort Pillow for ten days . The unit continued to experience bombardment during its stay at Fort Pillow , but only one man was killed . Many of the soldiers were sick , and several died due to the very muddy conditions and poor water supply at the fort . The unit left Fort Pillow on the April 19 , with a fleet of Confederate gunboat and moved to nearby Fort Randolph the same day . On April 21 , 1862 , General Van Dorn issued Special Order Number 59 , from Memphis which announced the organization of the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 2nd Division of the Army of the West . McCraver ' s regiment is listed as part of Brigadier General Churchill ' s 2nd Brigade . On the April 22 , morning report of Chruchill ' s brigade , McCraver ' s regiment is listed as being on detached service . Then on April 24 , Special Order Number 64 , Army of the West , from Memphis , directed that Col McCarver ' s regiment of Arkansas Volunteers be transferred from Churchill ' s to Rust ' s Brigade . General Rust ' s brigade was to be composed of Colonel Carroll ' s 18th Arkansas , King ' s 22nd Arkansas , Smead ' s 19th Arkanssas , McCarver ' s 14th Arkansas and Lemoyne ' s 17th Arkansas and a yet to be named artillery battery . The 14th Arkanas remained at Fort Randolph until April 24 when it again moved by steamer to Memphis and from there to Corinth , Mississippi on April 25 . The unit camped about southeast of Corinth , where the unit was reorganized . There are few official records of teh unit between January and April 1862 . At Corinth , McCarver ' s command is listed in a return of troops in the Army of the West , dated at Corinth , Mississippi , May 4 , 1862 , as the 18th Battalion Arkansas Infantry , with 198 of 275 men present for duty . It is unclear how that designation came about . On the same return is listed Lemoyne ' s 17th Battalion Arkansas Infantry , with 387 of 627 men present for 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 . On May 15 , 1862 , McCarver ' s 14th and 17th Arkansas Infantry Regiment ( Lemoyne ' s ) s , ( or 17th and 18th Arkansas Battalions ) , were consolidated to form the 21st Arkansas Infantry Regiment . Col McCarver was not re - elected in the reorganization of the regiment and was discharged . Jordan E . Cravens was elected colonel of the new unit . The units new designation as the 21st Arkansas caused some initial confusion because the designation " 21st Arkansas " had already been assigned to the regiment of Colonel Dandridge McRae . To avoid confusion between two 21st Arkansas Regiments , McRae ' s regiment was later redesignated as the 15th ( Northwest ) Arkansas Infantry Regiment ( making a total of three 15th Arkansas Regiments ) . As the 21st Arkansas Regiment , under Col . Jordan E . Cravens , this regiment fought in the following engagements : Second Battle of Corinth , Battle of Grand Gulf , Battle of Port Gibson , Battle of Champion ' s Hill , Battle of Big Black River Bridge , and finally was surrendered with at the end of the Siege of Vicksburg . The 21st Arkansas was consolidated with the 15th Northwest Arkansas , 16th Arkansas , and Powers ' 14th Arkansas Infantry Regiment s to form the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment ( Trans - Mississippi ) , and was stationed at Marshall , Texas , when the war ended . The consolidated regiment was assigned along with the 2nd Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment and to the 2nd ( McNair ’ s ) Arkansas Brigade , 1st ( Churchill ’ s ) Arkansas Division , 2nd Corps , Trans - Mississippi Department , from September 1864 to May 1865 . Surrender . The 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment was formerly surrendered with the Department of the Trans - Mississippi by Major General E . Kirby Smith on May 26 , 1865 . When the Trans - Mississippi Department surrendered , all of the Arkansas infantry regiments were encamped in and around Marshall , Texas ( since war - ravaged Arkansas was no longer able to sustain the army ) . The regiments were ordered to report to Shreveport , Louisiana , to be paroled . None of them did so . Some soldiers went to Shreveport on their own to be paroled , but the regiments simply disbanded without formally surrendering . A company or two managed to keep together until they got home . For example , Company G , 35th Arkansas Infantry Regiment , traveled back to Van Buren , Arkansas where they surrendered to the U . S . post commander in a formal ceremony , drawn up in front of the court - house , laying down their weapons , etc . But for the most part , the men simply went home . Many of the Arkansas Cavalry units , which had largely been furloughed for the winter of 1864 - 1865 following Price ' s disastrous Missouri Expedition did formally surrendered at Jacksonport , Wittsburg , and a few other locations .