| 32nd Arkansas Infantry (Confederate) | |
|---|---|
Arkansas state flag |
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| Active | 1862 to 1865 |
| Country | Confederate States of America |
| Allegiance | CSA |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiments | |
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| 31st Arkansas Infantry Regiment | 33rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment |
The 32nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment, also called 4th Trans-Mississippi Regiment, (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. Also Known As: This Regiment was designated at various times as Matlock's Battalion Arkansas Cavalry, 4th Regiment (Gause's) Trans-Mississippi Infantry, Gause's Regiment Arkansas Infantry.
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In the Summer of 1862, General Thomas C. Hindman appointed Charles H. Matlock to establish a recruiting headquarters at Camp Cache, near Cache River. General Hindman appointed Charles H. Matlock Lieutenant Colonel on June 11, 1862 and on 16 June 1862, Matlock organized Matlock's Battalion of Arkansas Cavalry. Lucien C. Gause, formerly of the Jackson Guards, became Matlock’s adjutant and Charles L. Young was appointed Major. Captain William L. Jeffers’ Missouri Cavalry Company was attached to Colonel Matlock's Battalion on the 16th of June, having previously operated independently in Southeast Missouri and Northern Arkansas.
Matlock's Cavalry Battalion was dismounted to serve as infantry on July 18, 1862, by orders from General Hindman. Jeffers’ Missouri Cavalry Company was re-mounted and transferred on July 18, 1862, by order of Major General Hindman to Brigadier General Dadridge McBride's Brigade. Jeffers’ Missouri Cavalry Company served in Brig. Gen. McBride’s Brigade until August 15, 1862.
Matlock was promoted to Colonel on August 6, 1862 and his Battalion of dismounted cavalry was re-organized into the 32nd Regiment Arkansas Infantry. When the regiment was organized, all regimental officers were from Jackson County:
Colonel Matlock resigned November 10, 1862 on Surgeon's Certificate of Disability. He was succeeded by Lucien C. Gause as Colonel of the 32nd. The unit was formed from the following existing companies:[1]
The regiment served in McRae's, Churchill's, L. C. Gause's, and Roane's Brigade. The field officers were Colonels Lucien C. Gause and C. H. Matlock, Lieutenant Colonels William Hicks and C. L. Young, and Major Arthur F. Stephenson.[5] The unit was field consolidated with the 30th Arkansas Infantry Regiment from December 1863 until sometime in 1864.[6]
Many of the companies composing the regiment were in service long before the organization of the regiment. In response to Solon Borland’s call for volunteers, a company of 30 day volunteers was organized in Jackson County by Captain Richard Hooker. The company was organized at Jacksonport November 5, 1861 and went to Pocahontas where it was mustered into Confederate service November 29, 1861, and discharged on December 28, 1861, also at Pocahontas. The men were armed with shotguns and borrowed sabers. The company was known as Captain Hooker’s Company, Arkansas 30-Day 1861 Mounted Volunteers. The company re-organized on February 26, 1862 at Jacksonport and more men mustered into it. Before becoming part of the 32nd Infantry Regiment it figured prominently in the action around Jackson County in the spring and summer of 1862. The March 31, 1862 morning report gave Hooker’s Company’s strength at 130 officers and men. The original members of Hooker’s Company were divided between companies C and D of the new 32d regiment.
The beginnings of Company A were being recruited in Northeast Arkansas by Captain William Hicks. On April 23, 1862, a scouting party made up of Company A recruits, under Lieutenant James A. Poe advanced to Smithville in Lawrence County, Arkansas in a few miles of the advance of the enemy under Union General Thomas Curtis. The enemy surrounded the place and captured two of the houses which the men were forced to abandon. Then, on May 17, 1862, Lieutenant Poe’s scouting party attacked a foraging party of the enemy on Little Red River. Again in May a scout from Company A under Captain Hicks attacked the enemy’s outposts at Searcy Landing on Little Red River, drove in their pickets and wounded one. On May 19, 1862, Captain Hicks’Company A was engaged in the skirmish at Whitney’s Lane near Searcy, Arkansas, against a foraging party of infantry and cavalry of the enemy. Company A lost one taken prisoner and 5 wounded, none severely. One citizen was also killed.
June 28, 1862, 6 companies of the Battalion under command of Captain Hicks, attacked the enemy in force and in position on White River near Groves Glaze. The battle commenced near night and was continued until the flash of the enemy’s guns could be distinctly seen in the darkness. The enemy’s loss was recorded as 90 killed and wounded. Confederates lost 1 killed and 4 wounded. The Union troops withdrew from the field.
Jeffers’ Missouri Cavalry Company was dismounted on the 7th of July which caused desertions. July 8 Company A was in the fight near Cotton Plant on Cache River under General Rust. On the following day, Captain William L. Jeffers resigned. The morning report for August 15, 1862 shows the station of the regiment at Camp Bragg near Batesville, Arkansas.
General Holmes issued Special Orders September 28, 1862, assigning Colonel Dandridge McRae to command of a brigade composed of his own 28th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, Pleasant’s 29th Arkansas, McNeill’s 30th, Matlock’s 32nd, Morgan’s 26th, A.N. Johnson’s regiment and Woodruff’s Arkansas Battery. This brigade was ordered to move at once to Elkhorn in northwest Arkansas and report to Brig. Gen. J.S. Rains.
The regiment participated in the campaign in Northwest Arkansas under General Hindman and the in the Battle of Prairie Grove. Lieutenant Colonel Charles L. Young was killed December 7, 1862, in the Battle of Prairie Grove. Captain William Hicks of Company A, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel December 10, 1862, to replace Young. May 1, 1863, 18 men who had returned from desertion, most from Company F, were detailed to work in the Nitre Works in Searcy County, Arkansas.
On May 5, 1863, the regiment moved camp from Little Rock to Camp Anderson 4 miles North. On May 20, the regiment moved camp to Bayou Meto 12 miles east of Little Rock because of a scarcity of water. The regiment took up line of march from Bayou Meto direction northeast June 1, 1863, arriving at Jacksonport June 6, a distance of 90 miles. The regiment left Jacksonport June 21 enroute to Helena, Arkansas, a distance of 100 miles, through swamp country.
July 4, 1863, the regiment, as part of McRea’s Brigade, participated in the Battle of Helena, Arkansas by attacking the Union forces in their entrenchments. They took one fort on Graveyard Hill but failed to take the town. After action reports inaccurately show 5 officers (Captain J. R. Morris, and Lieutenants. R. B. Camp, Thos. A. Eppes, R. F. McKinney, and W. T. Tompkins and 12 enlistedmen killed; 7 officers and 39 enlistedmen wounded; 1 officer and 25 enlistedmen missing or captured. Another source indicates that the 32nd Regiment losts at Prairie Grove and Helena were 17 killed, 46 wounded, and 26 missing.[5]
From Helena, the regiment moved back to Camp on Bayou Meto near Little Rock, Arkansas. Arrived there July 23, 1863. Marched through swamp country and lost many men by death and desertion. A portion of Company C, Captain Anderson commanding, was detailed as Provost Guard at Jacksonport and rejoined the command at Searcy, Arkansas, on the march to camp on Bayou Meto. August 31, 1863, shows station of Regiment at Camp Bowen. The regiment participated in the defense of Little Rock and on September 10, 1863, the city fell to the Union forces.
The 32nd Arkansas Infantry was re-organized December 1, 1863. Miscellaneous records, Certificates and Rolls show that the 30th (McNeill's) and 32nd Regiments Arkansas Infantry were consolidated during December 1863 and remained consolidated until the summer of 1864.
On January 28, 1864, the regiment took up the line of march from Camp Bragg, Ouachita County to Camp Sumpter, Hempstead County, Arkansas. Distance 40 miles. Official reports show the regiment assigned to Churchill’s Brigade, Price’s Division, District of Arkansas, January 31, 1864. The regiment remained at Camp Sumpter during February 1864.
During early March 1864 the 32nd Arkansas Infantry was reassigned to Tappan's Brigade, Arkansas Division. From March 23 through May 3, 1864, the regiment participated in the Camden Expedition as part of Gause’s Brigade, Arkansas Division. While Colonel Gause was assigned as Brigade commander, Lieut-Colonel William Hicks commanded the regiment. Captain John Bland, Company D was killed April 1, 1864. The regiment fought at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry on April 30, 1864.
September 30, 1864 the regiment was assigned to Brig. Gen. John S. Roane’s 1st (Arkansas) Brigade, Actg. Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill’s 1st (Arkansas) Division, Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder’s Second Army Corps, Army of the Trans-Mississippi and remained in that assignment through December 31, 1864. They continued service in southwestern Arkansas for the remainder of the war. Lieut-Colonel William Hicks resigned February 1, 1865 to become State Senator.
Union commanders in the Department of the Gulf reported on March 20, 1865, that General Roane's brigade was composed of four regiments—Colonel Gause, 250 men; Colonel Hill, 250 men; Colonel Brooks, 250 men; Colonel Davie, 250 men. The regiment disbanded near the White River in March, 1865, but was included in the surrender of Major General Kirby Smith’s Army of the Trans-Mississippi on May 26, 1865.[7]