18th Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Marmaduke's)


The 18th Arkansas Infantry was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The unit was also briefly identified as the 1st Arkansas Infantry Battalion. The unit was most often referred to as the 3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment. The designation "Confederate Infantry Regiment" was intended to convey the difference between Provisional Confederate Army units and Regular Confederate Army Units, with Provisional units being those regiments who received a state designation such as "XX Arkansas Infantry Regiment". In practice, the designation was most often utilized when Regiments were assembled utilizing companies from more than one confederate state. The "3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment" is occasionally misidentified as the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Van H. Manning.

Organization

The 18th Arkansas Infantry started out as 7 of 22 companies which comprised the so-called "Hindman Legion." Col. Thomas C. Hindman had recruited ten companies at his own expense for the 2nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and then an additional seven companies at his own expense which, along with four cavalry companies and an artillery battery, became known as the Hindman Legion. The "Legion" was not approved as an organization, and, after being mustered into the Confederate service on July 27, 1861, reverted to a regiment, an infantry battalion and a cavalry battalion. Capt. John S. Marmaduke was assigned as commander of the 1st Arkansas Infantry Battalion and promoted to lieutenant-colonel on August 1, 1861. A company from the 15th Tennessee Infantry was transferred to the 1st Arkansas Battalion, and two additional companies were added on December 18, 1861, which brought the battalion up to ten companies. On January 1, 1862, the unit was formally designated as a regiment, the 18th Arkansas Infantry, and Marmaduke was promoted to colonel. On January 31, 1862, the regiment was redesignated as the 3rd Confederate Infantry because it contained units from multiple states. Capt. John S. Marmaduke was assigned as commander of the 1st Arkansas Battalion and promoted to lieutenant-colonel on August 1, 1861. A company from the 15th Tennessee Infantry was transferred to the 1st Arkansas Battalion, and two additional companies were added on December 18, 1861, which brought the battalion up to ten companies. On January 1, 1862, the unit was formally designated as a regiment—the 18th Arkansas Infantry—and Marmaduke was promoted to colonel. On January 31, 1862, the regiment was redesignated as the 3rd Confederate Infantry.
The 3rd Confederate Infantry was composed of the following companies:
Note: Companies I and K were composed primarily of suspected members of the so-called Arkansas Peace Society, who were arrested and sent to Little Rock by members of the 45th Arkansas Militia Regiment, where they were given the choice of Confederate service or imprisonment. Most of the men were from Searcy County. The officers were non-Peace Society men appointed by the Governor.

Service record

Assigned to Hindman's Brigade, Hardee's Division in the Army of Central Kentucky from December 1861 through January 1862. The unit was involved in an engagement at Rowlett's Station, Kentucky, on December 17, 1861. Assigned to Hindman's brigade, Army of Mississippi in March, 1862 where it participated in the Battle of Shiloh on April 6–7, 1862 and in the Corinth Campaign from April through June of that year. At the battle of Shiloh the 3rd Confederate bore the guiding colors of Hindman's Brigade and captured the first prisoners of the day. Colonel Marmaduke was mentioned with praise in the official reports. In the second day's battle he was wounded and disabled, and while in hospital was recommended for promotion to the rank of brigadier-general. Colonel Marmaduke commanded his brigade of Arkansans during the Siege of Corinth, and later was ordered to the Department of the Trans-Mississippi.
In early May 1862 the Confederate forces underwent an army-wide reorganization due to the passage of the Conscription Act by the Confederate Congress in April 1862. All twelve-month regiments had to re-muster and enlist for two additional years or the duration of the war; a new election of officers was ordered; and men who were exempted from service by age or other reasons under the Conscription Act were allowed to take a discharge and go home. Officers who did not choose to stand for re-election were also offered a discharge. The reorganization was accomplished among all the Arkansas regiments in and around Corinth, Mississippi, following the Battle of Shiloh.
In the reorganization of Confederate forces before the start of the Kentucky Campaign, the 3rd Confederate, now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Virtner Keep was assigned to Brigadier General Sterling A. M. Wood's 4th Brigade of Major General Simon Bolivar Buckner's 3rd Division of Major General William Joseph Hardee's Corps of the Army of Mississippi. The regiment participated in Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, in October 1862.
In November 1862, following the Kentucky Campaign, General Bragg united his Army of Mississippi and the General Kirby Smith's Army of Kentucky to create the Army of Tennessee. In the reorganization, Wood's Brigade, including the 3rd Confederate now under the command of Major John F. Cameron, was assigned to Cleburne's Division and fought in the Battle of Stones River. Major J. F. Cameron filed the after action report of the 3rd Confederate Infantry following the battle of Stone's River :
By the time of the Battle of Chickamauga, the 3rd Confederate had been field consolidated with the 5th Confederate Infantry due to battle losses and placed under the command of Colonel James A. Smith. The consolidated 3rd/5th Confederate Infantry was assigned to the brigade of Brigadier General Lucius E. Polk in Cleburn's Division of the Army of Tennessee.
When General Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the Army of Tennessee to oppose General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, the 3rd Confederate was assigned to Govan's Brigade. The 3rd Confederate participated in the battles of Dalton, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and the Siege of Atlanta. During the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, the 3rd Confederate had only 62 effectives and reported 9 casualties.
The regiment and it colors were captured, along with much of Govan's Brigade at the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, on Sept. 1, 1864. Due to a special cartel between Union General Sherman and Confederate General John B. Hood, the unit was quickly paroled and exchanged for Union prisoner held at Andersonville Prison. The regiment re-entered service approximately a month later.
The 3rd Arkansas and the rest of Govan's Brigade were released and exchanged just in time to participate in General John B. Hood's disastrous Franklin-Nashville Campaign. Brigade effective strength was approximately 550, plus or minus a dozen or so, so each battalion fielded around 100-110 rifles. The 3rd Confederate had 47 men left on the march into Franklin and so the 3rd found itself once again consolidated with the 5th Confederate Infantry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel E.A. Howell. The remnants of Govan's Brigade that survived the Tennessee Campaign remained with the Army of Tennessee through its final engagements in the 1865 Carolinas Campaign.

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. On April 26, 1865, the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment was present with the Army of Tennessee when it surrendered in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Flag

This flag was issued in the spring of 1864 and bears characteristics similar to the other Hardee pattern flags issued to the division of Major General Patrick Cleburne, Army of Tennessee. It was captured on September 1, 1864, by the 113th Ohio Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia. In his report dated September 10, 1864 Captain Toland Jones noted that "we captured the battle-flag of the Third Confederate Infantry Regiment inscribed with the names of seven different battles." The flag was eventually forwarded to the U.S. War Department where it was assigned Capture Number 227. The flag was mistakenly identified as belonging to an Alabama unit and when the Confederate battleflags were returned to the states in 1905, the flag was mistakenly returned to Alabama. In 2001, the flag was transferred to the Old State House Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Battle participation

The 3rd Confederate Infantry took part in the following battles: