Guerrillas, Jayhawkers and Bushwhackers in Northern Arkansas During the Civil War
By Leo E. Huff

http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow404s.htm

Captain Martin D. Hart probably was the most noted Federal guerrilla leader who operated in Arkansas. Certainly he has been a controversial figure ever since he met his death by a hangman's noose at the hands of the Confederate authorities in Fort Smith in January 1863. Hart and his guerrilla band terrorized western and northwestern Arkansas during the winter of 1862-63 with their plundering, robbing and killing. Hart has been called a Texas renegade, a fiendish murderer, a vile traitor and a notorious jayhawker. Perhaps he was all of these. Also, he has been called a brave patriot, a loyal Texan and a martyred hero. Since there are two sides to every controversy, it is possible that Hart was at once both a villain and a hero, depending upon the point of view. Nevertheless, Hart's exploits earned him a death at the end of a rope and grave far from home in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.