3rd Arkansas Cavalry

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3rd Arkansas Cavalry

Active July 27, 1861April 26, 1865
Country Confederate States of America
Allegiance CSA Dixie
Branch Volunteer Army, American Civil War
Type Cavalry
Image:Cavalry3.gif
Engagements American Civil War
Second Battle of Corinth
Battle of Hatchie's Bridge
Knoxville Campaign
Atlanta Campaign
Battle of Bentonville
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Colonel Solon Borland
Colonel Samuel G. Earle
Colonel Anson W. Hobson

3rd Arkansas Cavalry (1861-1865) was a Confederate Army cavalry regiment from Arkansas during the American Civil War.

At the outbreak of hostilities between the north and south, Arkansas began raising troops to serve in the Confederate Army. The state raised some 48 infantry regiments, along with several cavalry regiments and artillery batteries. The 3rd Arkansas Cavalry was first organized in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 10, 1861, by former senator and soldier Solon Borland. Borland, who was at the time serving as a state militia commander for Northern Arkansas, was initially named a Colonel of the regiment. However, that post was "elected" by the members of the regiment, and Borland was not reelected in May, 1861.

On July 27, 1861, the regiment was mustered into the Confederate Army for one years service which they later extended, and sent to Corinth, Mississippi, but without Borland. Borland by this time had been replaced by Colonel Samuel G. Earle. The regiment was placed under the command of Major General Joseph Wheeler, and later became a part of the Army of Mississippi. They saw their first real battle action on October 3 and 4, 1862 at the Second Battle of Corinth, where Lieutenant Colonel Anson W. Hobson was wounded in both arms, with the regiment as a whole suffering heavy casualties. The very next day, on October 5, 1862, they fought in the Battle of Hatchie's Bridge. They saw considerable combat action in the months that followed. On March 5, 1863, Col. Earle was killed in action near Thompson's Station, Tennessee.

He was replaced by newly promoted Col. Anson W. Hobson. The regiment took part in the Knoxville Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign, and fought at the Battle of Bentonville. They surrendered with the Army of Tennessee on April 26, 1865.

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