| 39th Arkansas Infantry (Confederate) | |
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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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| 38th Arkansas Infantry Regiment | |
The 39th Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. This regiment was known successively as Johnson’s, Hawthorn’s, Polk’s and Cocke’s Regiment of Arkansas Infantry.[1] When General Sterling Price's staff decided to designate all the Arkansas infantry regiments in the District of Arkansas as "Trans-Mississippi Rifle Regiments", The 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was designated as the 6th Trans-Mississippi Rifle Regiment.[2] One other Arkansas Infantry Regiment was also designated as the 39th Arkansas Infantry, The regiment commanded by Colonel's Hart, McNeill, and Rogan, was originally designated as the 39th Arkansas Infantry, but was later redesignated as the 30th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.[2]
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Johnson's-Hawthorne's-Polk's-Cocke's Infantry Regiment 39th Regiment Infantry Regiment was organized in the summer of 1862. It served in McRae's, Fagan's, and A.T. Hawthorne's Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department.[1] The field officers were Colonels John B. Cocke, Alexander T. Hawthorne, Alfred W. Johnson, and Cadwallader Polk, and Lieutenant Colonel D.W. Ringo.[3] The regiment was orgionally organized from the following volunteer companies:
The 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment has caused so many researchers so great problems in conducting research. Although John B. Cocke commanded "Cocke's Regiment" for only a little over three months, and although the historically accurate designation should be "39th (Johnson's, Polk's, Hawthorn's, Cocke's) Infantry Regiment or the 6th Trans-Mississippi Rifle Regiment, and Hailey's, Perkins' and Tumlinson's independent cavalry companies, historians have adopted the shorthand of "Cocke's Arkansas Regiment." They did this because the U.S. Department used this designator to catalog the service records of the men who served in the regiment. In the early 1900s, an army of War Department clerks pored over hundreds of thousands of Confederate army records, muster rolls, payrolls, quartermaster and commissary receipts, prisoner of war records, etc., and painstakingly extracted individual soldier information from them to create a Compiled Service Record for each Confederate soldier. This was a monumental task, and one of the most valuable services our Government rendered to future generations of researchers. But, those clerks had to deal with very confusing records, especially the Arkansas regimental records, and so they came up with cataloging and naming conventions that have bedeviled researchers to this very day. It is for these reasons, that most researchers have grudgingly adopted the U.S. War Department classification of "Cocke's Regiment" as the benchmark for this regiment.[2]
For reasons which remain unclear, the War Department clerks classified the records of the 39th Regiment Arkansas Infantry under the designation "Cocke's Arkansas Infantry." In fact, John B. Cocke was the last known colonel of the regiment, and only served as such from January to April 1864, when he was killed in action at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. Cocke was preceded in command by Colonels Albert W. Johnson, Cadwalader Polk, and Alexander T. Hawthorn. The Trans-Mississippi Department frequently used the name of the regimental commander, rather than a numerical designation, in its official correspondence, especially when it comes to Arkansas regiments.[2] The Order of battle for the Battle of Helena lists a "39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment" in McRae's brigade, but it is in fact referring to Hart's 30th Arkansas Regiment which was referred for a short time as the 39th Arkansas Regiment. Hart's regiment was with McRae, and Cocke's-Hawthorn's real 39th Infantry Regiment was in the brigade commanded by Brigadier General Fagan and is referred to in the after action reports as "Hawthorne's Regiment".[2]
The Arkansas State Military Board was responsible for authorizing, raising and designating Arkansas regiments, in response to calls from the Confederate War Department for new quotas of troops. The Board had a very straightforward method of recording each regiment, taking a piece of lined leger paper, numbering the lines from 1 to 48, and applying the next available number to each new regiment. Unfortunately, no one seemed to pay much attention to the State Military Board's paperwork. The Confederate War Department, the Trans-Mississippi Department, the Brigade Commanders, and even the Regimental Commanders often used designations different from that of the State Military Board.[2]
The State Military Board designated the unit which the War Department would later classify as "Cocke's Regiment" as 39th regiment of infantry listed on its ledger book. For a short period of time, some authorities referred to Hart's 30th Arkansas Regiment as the 39th Regiment, adding to an already confused situation. Then an anonymous staff officer on General Sterling Price's staff decided to designate all the Arkansas infantry regiments in the District of Arkansas as "Trans-Mississippi Rifle Regiments." Cocke's Regiment was designated as the 6th Trans-Mississippi Rifle Regiment; and, the officers and men of Cocke's Regiment quickly began referring to the regiment as the 6th Arkansas. This redesignation causes more confusion because Lyon's-Hawthorn's-Smith's elite 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment in the Army of Tennessee, on the east side of the Mississippi River. This incorrect association with the other 6th Arkansas infantry is further reinforced by the fact that Alexander T. Hawthorn commanded the original "6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment' for a time, and later commanded the "other" 6th Arkansas, the 6th Trans-Mississippi, (39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment).[2]
The regiment underwent a major reorganization on December 16, 1862, following the battle of Prairie Grove.[1] Hailey's, Perkins' and Tumlinson's unattached cavalry companies had been loosely organized into an unofficial battalion prior to the battle of Prairie Grove, and, in the general reorganization of the Confederate Army after the battle, the companies were consolidated with "Cocke's Regiment." The U.S. War Department clerks who created the Compiled Service Records combined all the service records of these cavalrymen into "Cocke's regiment", rather than catalog them as independent companies. The problem is that many of the men who served in those companies were not around when the companies were consolidated with Cocke's regiment.[2]
The unit fought at The Battle of Prairie Grove, and later reported 137 casualties at the Battle of Helena. The unit was active at the Battle of Little Rock. and participated in the Red River Campaign, with Colonel Cocke being killed at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry.[3] They would go on to take part in the following battles:[3]
This remnants of this regiment surrendered with the rest of the Department of the Trans-Mississippi at Marshall, Texas on May 26, 1865.[4]
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