5th Arkansas Infantry Regiment

5th Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)

Arkansas state flag
Active 1861–1865
Country United States
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Branch Arkansas
Type infantry
Part of Colonel John E. Murray†
Engagements Second Battle of Corinth, Battle of Richmond, Battle of Stone's River, Battle of Chickamauga, Atlanta Campaign, Siege of Chattanooga, Second Battle of Franklin, and the Battle of Bentonville
Battle honours Confederate Medal of Honor awarded to Captain William T. Jones
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Colonel John E. Murray†
Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiments
Previous Next
4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment

The 5th Arkansas Infantry, also called the Fighting Fifth (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment organized in Arkansas to serve for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

Contents

Organization

This regiment was organized for one year in state service at Gainesville, Greene County, Arkansas on June 28, 1861 and was transferred to Confederate service on July 27, 1861 at Pocahontas, Arkansas. Reorganized for the war at Corinth, Mississippi on May 12, 1862.[1] The field officers were David C. Cross, Lucius Featherston, Peter V. Green, and J. E. Murray; Lieutenant Colonels E. A. Howell and B. F. Sweeney; and Majors T. W. Ellsberry and Riddick Pope. The regiment would spend the duration of the war in the service of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, fighting in the western theater. The unit was composed of volunteer companies from the following counties:

Battles

The regiment was transferred to Bowling Green, Kentucky, then fought at Perryville. It was assigned to General Liddell's and Govan's Brigade, and consolidated with the 13th Arkansas Regiment from August 1863 to April 9, 1865. The unit participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Murfreesboro to Nashville, then saw action in North Carolina. It was organized with 722 officers and men and lost forty-two percent of the 336 at Murfreesboro. The 5th/13th lost forty-five percent of the 450 engaged at Chickamauga, had 21 men disabled at Ringgold Gap, totalled 321 men and 222 arms in December, 1863, and reported 112 casualties at the Battle of Atlanta.[11]

The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Corinth, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battle of Richmond, the Battle of Stone's River, the Siege of Chattanooga, the Atlanta Campaign, the second Battle of Franklin, and their final Battle of Bentonville. They would also take part in numerous small skirmishes. Colonel John E. Murray, was killed in action during the Atlanta Campaign, and Captain William T. Jones would be awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor for valor during that same campaign.[12]

Consolidation and Surrender

The remnants of ten depleted Arkansas regiments, along with one mostly-Arkansas regiment, in the Army of Tennessee were consolidated into a single regiment at Smithfield, North Carolina, on April 9, 1865. The 1st Arkansas, was lumped together with the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 15th, 19th and 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiments and the 3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment as the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry on April 9, 1865.[13] On April 26, 1865 the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment was present with the Army of Tennessee when it surrendered in Greensboro, North Carolina.[14]

Biblography

Barnhill, Floyd R., Sr. with Calvin L. Collier. The Fighting Fifth: Pat Cleburne's Cutting Edge, The Fifth Arkansas Infantry Regiment, C.S.A. (Jonesboro, AR: The Authors, 1990).

References

  1. ^ UPTON, EMORY, Bvt. Maj. Gen., United States Army; "THE MILITARY POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES" WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1912, Page 471, Congressional edition, Volume 6164, Google Books, Accessed 4 November 2011, http://books.google.com/books?id=2-tGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA471&lpg=PA471&dq=Confederate+conscription+law+reorganization+regiment&source=bl&ots=7ptDBF0n2D&sig=-K_6PQoHglmh_SOzuobv_JyNWUw&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Confederate%20conscription%20law%20reorganization%20regiment&f=false
  2. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., "COMPANY A,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcoa.html
  3. ^ a b c Gerdes, Edward G., "COMPANY B,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcob.html
  4. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., "COMPANY C,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcoc.html
  5. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., "COMPANY F,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcof.html
  6. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., "COMPANY G,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcog.html
  7. ^ Gerdes, Edward H., "COMPANY B,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcoh.html
  8. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., "COMPANY I,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcoi.html
  9. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., "COMPANY K,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infcok.html
  10. ^ Gerdes, Edward G., "UNLETTERED COMPANY,5TH ARKANSAS INFANTRY REGIMENT" Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/5infno.html
  11. ^ National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, Confederate Arkansas Troops, 5th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  12. ^ Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, ISBN 978-0-8160-2288-5, page 79.
  13. ^ Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, ISBN 978-0-8160-2288-5, page 93.
  14. ^ 1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment, CSA

External links

See also
  •  American Civil War portal
  •  Military History: American Civil War
  •  Special Project: Brothers at War