| 31st Arkansas Infantry (Confederate) | |
|---|---|
Arkansas state flag |
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| Active | 1862 to 1863 |
| Country | Confederate States of America |
| Allegiance | CSA |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiments | |
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| 30th Arkansas Infantry Regiment | 32nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment |
The 31st Arkansas Infantry (1862–1863) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War from the state of Arkansas.
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31st Infantry Regiment originated when Major Thomas Hamilton McCray was appointed to command a four-company battalion of Arkansas volunteers on January 25, 1862. During the next two months, five additional companies were added to McCray’s Battalion, and he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. On May 25, 1862, a tenth company was added, and the battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry Regiment on May 27, 1862. McCray was elected colonel of the regiment.[1] Assigned to Colonel T. H. McCray's Brigade. Its commanders were Colonels Henry G. Bunn and Thomas H. McCray; Lieutenant Colonels J. L. Hays, John A. Jacoway, and James F. Johnson; and Majors J. W. Clark, Davis G. Daugherty, and James M. Morgan.[2] The unit was made up of volunteer companies from the following counties:[1]
Company A was organized at Jacksonport, Arkansas, on November 2, 1861, Captain James M. Morgan commanding. The company marched to Pocahontas, Arkansas, where it appears to have served for a time as an unattached company in the garrison commanded by Colonel Solon Borland. When McCray’s Battalion was organized on January 25, 1862, the Jacksonport company was assigned as Company A. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 104 men are known to have served with Company A. Nearly one-fourth of them died of disease during the war; and only three of them were still with the colors at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Private Jonathan Pool, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[3]
Company B known as the “Quitman Sharpshooters”, was organized at Quitman, Arkansas, on October 30, 1861, Captain Jesse E. Martin commanding. When McCray’s Battalion was organized on January 25, 1862, the Quitman Sharpshooters was assigned as Company B. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 85 men are known to have served with Company B. Nearly a third of them died of disease during the war; and only three of them were still with the colors at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Sergeant J. Greene Read, was posthumously awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[4]
Company C was organized at Springfield, Arkansas, on January 8, 1862, Captain Samuel H. Nichols commanding. When McCray’s Battalion was organized on January 25, 1862, the Springfield company was assigned as Company C. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 77 men are known to have served with Company C. Nearly a third of them died of disease during the war; none of them were left at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Private James N. Garvin, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[5]
Company D was organized at Clinton, Arkansas, on January 22, 1862, Captain Robert S. Hill commanding. When McCray’s Battalion was organized on January 25, 1862, the Clinton company was assigned as Company D. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 107 men are known to have served with Company D. Nearly a fourth of them died of disease during the war; only one of them was left at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Private William H. Huie, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[6]
Company E organized at Dover, Arkansas, on February 1, 1862, Captain J. W. Rittenberry commanding. The Dover company was assigned to McCray’s Battalion as Company E. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 69 men are known to have served with Company E. Nearly a fourth of them died of disease during the war; none of them were left at the surrender in April 1865.[7]
Company F was organized at Clinton, Arkansas, on March 3, 1862, Captain P. H. Britton commanding. The company was assigned to McCray’s Battalion as Company F. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 43 men are known to have served with Company F. Nearly a fifth of them died of disease during the war; only three of them were left at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Sergeant John N. Cannon, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[8]
Company G was organized at Point Remove, Conway County, Arkansas, on March 5, 1862, Captain T. J. Nunnelly commanding. The company was assigned to McCray’s Battalion as Company G. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 50 men are known to have served with Company G. Over a fourth of them died of disease during the war; only two of them were left at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Sergeant James W. Carter, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[9]
Company H was organized at Bayou de View, Jackson County, Arkansas, on March 1, 1862, Captain John N. Barnes commanding. The company was assigned to McCray’s Battalion as Company H. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 53 men are known to have served with Company H. Nearly a third of them died of disease during the war; only two of them were left at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Private Francis M. Arnold, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[10]
Company I was organized at Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas, on March 23, 1862, Captain Ebenezer H. Howser commanding. The company was assigned to McCray’s Battalion as Company I. The company retained this designation when McCray’s Battalion was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 43 men are known to have served with Company I. Nearly forty percent of them died of disease during the war; only one of them was left at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Sergeant George W. Williams, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[11]
Company K was organized at Dardanelle, Yell County, Arkansas, on February 28, 1862, Captain John A. Jacoway commanding. The company was assigned to Williamson’s Battalion Arkansas Infantry as Company G. Williamson’s Battalion was broken up on May 25, 1862, with its component companies being distributed among four other Arkansas units in Mississippi. The Dardanelle company was assigned to McCray’s Battalion, which was reorganized as the 31st Arkansas Infantry on May 27, 1862. A total of 62 men are known to have served with Company K. This company had the smallest number of deaths in the regiment during the war, less than twenty percent dying of disease, but had a higher desertion rate than the other companies; only one man was left at the surrender in April 1865. One member, Private James E. Coker, was awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Chickamauga.[12]
The 31st Arkansas served east of the Mississippi River in the Confederate Army of Tennessee, generally serving in McNair’s Arkansas Brigade along with the 4th Arkansas Infantry, 25th Arkansas Infantry, 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles, 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles, and 4th Arkansas Battalion.[1]
The regiment took an active part in the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky. The 31st was united with the 25th Arkansas Infantry Regiment from April to August 1863. Depleted by deaths and desertions, the 31st Arkansas Regiment and the 4th Arkansas Battalion were consolidated with the 4th Arkansas Regiment on September 1, 1863. At that time the field and staff officers were transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department. With barely enough men left to fill up two companies in the consolidated regiment, the soldiers of the 31st Arkansas served under the 4th Arkansas Regiment’s Colonel Henry Gaston Bunn until the end of the war, and the 31st ceased to exist.[2] Fighting with remarkable courage at the Battle of Chickamauga, in September 1863, nine men of the old 31st Arkansas were awarded the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor.[1]
On April 9, 1865, the depleted Arkansas regiments of D. H. Reynolds' Brigade, Walthall's Division, Confederate Army of Tennessee, including the 31st Arkansas, were consolidated into a single regiment the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles, at Smithfield, North Carolina. The companies of the consolidated regiment were consolidated from the following Arkansas regiments:[13]
The 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles surrendered with the Army of Tennessee at Greensboro, North Carolina, April 26, 1865. About a dozen soldiers of the 31st Arkansas men were left when the consolidated rifles regiment surrendered. The 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles were paroled on May 1, 1865, at Jamestown, North Carolina.[14]
Bass, Ronald R. History of the 31st Arkansas Confederate Infantry. (Conway, AR: Arkansas Research, 1997).