2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles The 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles ( 1861 – 1865 ) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment that served during the American Civil War . Raised in 1861 , the regiment consisted of nine companies , which were drawn from various counties in Arkansas . Throughout the course of the war , the 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles fought in a number of battles , including those at Wilson ' s Creek and Pea Ridge , and participated in a number of campaigns such as Tullahoma , Atlanta and the Carolinas . The regiment ' s final battle came at Bentonville in March 1865 after which its remaining personnel were consolidated into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles . Organization . The 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles was organized in the summer of 1861 , with James McIntosh appointed as Colonel . Other appointments upon establishment included : Ben T . Embry , Lieutenant Colonel ; Brown , Major ; W . D . DeBerry , Surgeon ; W . A . C . Sayle , Assistant Surgeon . The regiment was inducted into Confederate Service on June 15 , 1861 at Osage Prairie , outside Bentonville , Arkansas . The unit was composed of volunteer companies from the following counties : General McIntosh was killed at the battle of Elkhorn Tavern , or Pea Ridge . In May 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 . When the regiment was reorganized after the battle of Shiloh , the following field officers were elected : Captain Harris Flanagin was elected Colonel ; Major J . A . Williamson , was elected Lieutenant - Colonel ; and Captain James P . Eagle , was elected Major . Upon Colonel Flanagin being elected Governor of the State of Arkansas in 1862 , Lieutenant Colonel Williamson became Colonel and Captain Eagle became the Lieutenant Colonel . Colonel Williamson lost a leg at the battle of Resaca , May , 1864 , and J . T . Smith , was appointed Colonel . After Smith was killed in battle on July 28 , James P . Eagle then succeeded him as Colonel of the regiment . African Americans in Confederate Service . It was not uncommon for African American slaves to accompany their Confederate masters in the army ; there are several documented accounts of African Americans serving as cooks or performing other menial tasks . The 33rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment even included African American cooks on its unit muster rolls . However , accounts of African Americans participating in combat on behalf of the south are rare . Martin Cole ' s negro killed two Dutchmen and got a good gun . " Battles . Colonel McIntosh was educated at the United States Military Academy . He was impetuous to a degree that scorned all caution Being ordered by General McCulloch into the Indian Territory against the Creek chief , Hopoeithleyohola , he dispersed the Indian Federal organization . It is said his regiment was deployed in groups of two for five miles , when he at its head began the attack upon the Indian camp . He was speedily promoted to brigadier - general , and Embry became colonel . The regiment took part in the battles of Oak Hills and Elkhorn , and in the Kentucky campaign under E . Kirby Smith . Among its battles were Richmond , Ky . , Murfreesboro , Jackson , Miss . , Chickamauga , Resaca , Atlanta , Ezra Church , Lovejoy ' s Station , Jonesboro , Moore ' s Station , Franklin , Tenn . , Nashville , Sugar Creek , and Bentonville , N . C . In accordance with Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General ' s Office Order Number 131 , ten soldiers of the regiment were recognized for courage and good conduct on the field for the Battle of Murfreesboro The unit is entitled to the following Campaign Participation Credits : After the Battle of Nashville , Tennessee , the Arkansas regiments of Reynolds ' Brigade marched via Bainbridge , Alabama , Tuscumbia , Iuka and Corinth to Tupelo , Mississippi , where they went into camp on January 10 , 1865 . They departed Tupelo on January 30 and marched to West Point , Mississippi . From West Point they traveled by rail to Selma , Alabama . From Selma they traveled by steamboat to Montgomery , then by rail to Columbus , Georgia . From Columbus they marched via Macon and Milledgeville to Mayfield , Georgia . From Mayfield they traveled by rail to Augusta , Georgia . From there they marched to Newberry , South Carolina . On March 19 , 1865 , they fought their last major engagement at the Battle of Bentonville , North Carolina . They then marched to Smithfield , North Carolina , where the entire brigade was consolidated into a single understrength regiment , the 1st Consolidated Mounted Rifles on April 9 , 1865 . Consolidation and surrender . On April 9 , 1865 , the depleted Arkansas regiments of D . H . Reynolds ' Brigade , Walthall ' s Division , Confederate Army of Tennessee , were consolidated into a single regiment the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles , at Smithfield , North Carolina . The companies of the consolidated regiment were drawn from the following Arkansas regiments : The 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles surrendered with the Army of Tennessee at Greensboro , North Carolina , April 26 , 1865 . The regiment was paroled on May 1 , 1865 , at Jamestown , North Carolina . After the surrender , the men were offered free rail transportation ( where available ) in the direction of their homes , by what was left of the Southern railway companies . Most of the men traveled by rail , where they could . A large number of men were killed or seriously injured in a railroad accident at Flat Creek Bridge , Tennessee on May 25 , 1865 .