| 14th (McCarver's) Arkansas Infantry (Confederate) | |
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Arkansas state flag |
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| Active | 1861 to 1865 |
| Country | Confederate States of America |
| Allegiance | CSA |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiments | |
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| 13th Arkansas Infantry Regiment | 14th Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Powers') |
The 14th (McCarver's) Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The unit is also known as the 9th Arkansas Infantry regiment and the 18th Arkansas Infantry Battalion.[1] There were two Arkansas units 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.
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McCarver's 14th Arkansas Regiment has been described as the regiment that barely was, since it existed only briefly as a full regiment. This regiment was organized on October 22, 1861, at Pocahontas, Arkansas, with nine companies (a tenth company was added in December) 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. This would have been logical, except for the fact that a 9th Arkansas Regiment had already been authorized by the State Military Board and mustered into service at Pine Bluff on July 25, 1861, Col. 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.[2]
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.[2]
McCarver's regiment had barely received its designation when it was placed in danger of losing it. Four of the regiments companies (Company A, B, E & H) were detached in January 1862 and designated as the 9th Battalion Arkansas Infantry, and placed under command of Brig. Gen. William J. Hardee. General Hardee took the 9th Arkansas Battalion with him when he transferred his command to Kentucky. This 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 given to Lieut. Col. Batt L. Jones' battalion). As with most of the other active units in Arkansas, McCarver's regiment was ordered to Corinth, Mississippi, in April 1862. Research breaks down between January and April 1862, and when McCarver's regiment appears again, in a return of troops in the Army of the West, dated at Corinth, Mississippi, May 4, 1862, it is reported 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. 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. This increased the confusion because the 21st Arkansas had already been assigned to the regiment of 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). Confusion solved![2]
The unit was composed of volunteer companies from the following counties:[3]
As the 21st Arkansas Regiment, under Col. Jordan E. Cravens, this regiment fought in the following engagements:[2] Battle of Corinth, Battle of Grand Gulf, Battle of Port Gibson, Battle of Champion's Hill, Battle of Big Black River Bridge, and finally ended up at the Siege of Vicksburg.
The 21st Arkansas was consolidated with the 15th Northwest Arkansas, 16th Arkansas, and Powers' 14th Arkansas Infantry Regiments to form the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment (Trans-Mississippi),[2] and was stationed at Marshall, Texas, when the war ended.[14] 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.[15]
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 (war-ravaged Arkansas no longer able to subsist 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.[2]
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