Chew ' s Arkansas Infantry Battalion The Chew ' s Arkansas Infantry Battalion ( 1862 ) was a Confederate Army infantry battalion during the American Civil War . The unit was originally known as Hawthorne ' s Battalion , but the battalion is most often referred to as Chew ' s Sharpshooter Battalion . The unit was eventually consolidated with the 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment . Organization . On October 19 , 1862 , at Camp Reagan , Arkansas Colonel A . T . Hawthorne was assigned to the command of an unarmed battalion composed of the companies of Dawson , Tumlinson , Perkins and Hailey and the new unit was referred to as Hawthorn ' s Battalion Arkansas Volunteers . The four companies that made up Hawthorne ' s Battalion were : Dawson ' s Company was the last to be organized and apparently never served as cavalry . The other three companies mentioned above spent approximately two months serving together as cavalry in Gipson ' s Battalion Mounted Rifles . They were eventually dismounted at the approximate dates mentioned above to serve as infantry . It appears that a portion of Tumlinson ' s Company was divided and placed into Perkins ' Company as two men from the former company show up on the casualty list of Company C at the battle of Prairie Grove . On Oct 23 , 1862 an order to Colonel C . W . Adams , ( Adams ' Arkansas Infantry Regiment ) countermanded a previous order assigning Captain Chew as Lieutenant Colonel of Adams ' Regiment " in deference to the wishes of men and officers of the regiment in their memorandum to the Major General commanding . " Two weeks later , Major Hawthorn was elected colonel of the 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment . On November 3 , 1862 Captain Robert E . Chew was appointed major and placed in command of the battalion which then became known as " Chew ' s Sharpshooter Battalion . " On November 5 , 1862 an order from Colonel Brooks at Camp Hindman mentioned a " memorial " of the commissioned officers of Hawthorne ' s Battalion to have Captain Chew appointed Major to fill the vacancy caused by promotion of Major Hawthorne . It appears that this battalion was a sharpshooter battalion in name only . Had it survived after the battle of Prairie Grove it may have become one in time . Sharpshooters were equipped in the same manner as infantry , with the standard rifle or rifle - musket ; some were even armed for a time with smoothbore weapons . There was no difference in the organization of what was called a " sharpshooter battalion " and a regular light infantry battalion . The term " battalion " implies that the unit was organized with fewer than the full ten companies required for a regiment . Tactically , these units were specialists in skirmishing . " Sniping " — at least in the manner we think of it today — was the main purpose of a " sharpshooter " unit . Civil War infantry units received little formal instruction in rifle marksmanship ; however skirmishers were expected to deliver individual , aimed fire at targets of opportunity rather than the massed volleys of the infantry line of battle . No known roster of the battalion exists . The casualty list of this unit at Prairie Grove did survive as it was published in the True Democrat newspaper in Little Rock on December 31 , 1862 . Battles . On December 1 , 1862 Brigadier General James F . Fagan asked for the consolidation of Major Chew ' s Arkansas Infantry battalion and Hawthorne ' s 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment both of his brigade . While this order was not approved until after the Battle of Prairie Grove , the battalion and Hawthorn ' s 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment regiment fought side by side during the battle . It is well documented that all four infantry regiments of Fagan ' s Brigade sent out their own skirmishers , so Chew ' s men did not act as skirmishers for the entire brigade . Their primary role was serving as an infantry battalion alongside Hawthorn ' s Regiment during the fighting at Prairie Grove . In that role , they took part in the charges of Fagan ' s Brigade driving back the 20th Wisconsin , 19th Iowa , and 37th Illinois and 26th Indiana regiments when these Union troops ascended the ridge . On the day of the Battle of Prairie Grove , only one of the original company commanders was present . The other three are absent , most likely due to illness . At the time of the battle on December 7 , the battalion ' s command was as follows : Major Robert E . Chew , was killed during the Battle of Prairie Grove . He was born circa 1822 in Virginia , the son of John Winslow and Ann Thornton ( Voss ) Chew . The family moved to Humphrey Co . , Tennessee and by 1850 they were living in Fayetteville , Arkansas . In the census of that year the father was listed as the postmaster and Robert , 28 , was listed as a farmer . Robert ' s father died in 1855 and at some point the family moved away probably to Missouri . A query in the Confederate Veteran magazine by Chew ' s nephew stated that his uncle belonged to a Tennessee regiment and was killed at Prairie Grove . The nephew said he was told that his uncle ' s sword and watch had been recovered from his body and was hoping these items could be reunited with the family . Chew had , in fact , served as a Captain in Company H , 2nd Tennessee Infantry ( Col . J . Knox Walker commanding ) . This regiment was formed entirely in Memphis , so Robert apparently had moved to this city sometime before the war started . The Official Records mentioned that Capt . Chew had assisted in the recapture of an artillery piece at the battle of Belmont , Missouri . At Shiloh the 2nd Tennessee Infantry suffered severe casualties and afterwards was consolidated into four companies . This left Captain Chew without a company to command . Apparently through Arkansas connections , he managed to get transferred back across the river to serve as a staff officer for Gen . Thomas C . Hindman . In that capacity , late in September , 1862 , he met face to face with General William T . Sherman when he hand delivered a letter to him from General Hindman and returned with a reply . Sometime in October November , 1862 Robert Chew received a promotion to major and was given the assignment of commanding his own sharpshooter battalion . Adding up the numbers in the casualty list that appeared in the True Democrat , Chew ' s Battalion went into action with 12 officers and 104 enlisted men . They suffered 3 killed , 22 wounded ( five of them mortally ) , and 5 missing for a total loss of 30 . Consolidation with Hawthorn ' s Regiment . On December 14 , 1862 , Major General Thomas C . Hindman endorsed General Fagan ' s request to consolidate Chew ' s Battalion and Hathorn ' s 39th Arkansas Infantry : Major General Hindman mentioned the battalion again on December 23 , 1862 in a letter to General Theophilus Hunter Holmes : Chew ' s Battalion was consolidated into Hawthorn ' s Regiment in the following manner : From its initial service as Chew ' s Battalion through its consolidation with the 39th Arkansas Infantry , its members participated in the following engagements : Surrender . The survivors of Chew ' s Battalion surrendered with the remnants of the 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and the rest of the Department of the Trans - Mississippi at Marshall , Texas on May 26 , 1865 . Additional Reading . Shea , William L . Fields of Blood : The Prairie Grove Campaign . Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press , 2009 . ISBN 978 - 0 - 8078 - 3315 - 5 Hess . Earl J . ; Shea , William L . ; Piston , William G . ; Hatcher , Richard W . : Wilson ' s Creek , Pea Ridge , and Prairie Grove : A Battlefield Guide , with a Section on Wire Road , Lincoln , Nebraska , U . S . A . Bison Books 2006 , ISBN 978 - 0 - 8032 - 7366 - 5