My point here is that according to orders in Hindman's Telegraph, Dawson's 19th Ark. was reorganized at White Sulphur Springs into 10 companies of 75 men each in August 1862. I would assume that this was the table of orginization and equipment that was in use at Ark. Post.

So 428 men of the 19th Ark. reorganizing into Hardy's Regiment means that better than 50% of the 19th Arkansas alone excaped being captured at Ark. Post.

That is a very high percentage of sick and disabled men to be in a hospital somewhere? It defies logic to assume that was where they all were at.

Then we have the 24th Arkansas who made up the bulk of Hardy's regiment. Again using the same formula of ten 75 man companies you have and even higher percentage of men of the 24th who appear, for one reason or another, also to have excaped Ark. Post and reorganize into Hardy's regiment. As you pointed out the 24th Arkansas post was St Charles, NOT Arkansas Post. So that would explain their lessor involvement in the affairs of Arkansas Post, EXCEPT for those 175 men who force marched from St. Charles to Arkansas Post arriving on Jan 11th just in time to surrender.

Then we also have Crawfords Battalion two companies of 75 men reorganize into one full strenght company of Hardy's.

From what I can determine with my pencil and paper math, there were only about 700 to maybe 750 men of Dunnington Brigade (19th and 24th Arkansas) who surrendered at Arkansas Post. This about fits with the number of men exchanged at City Point, Va. concidering the ones who died in Prison or shortly after being exchanged.

So my question is, where were those 400 plus men (5 full companies of men) of the 19th Arkansas that became part of Hardy's Regiment, if they were not at Arkansas Post?

OR, if they were at Arkansas Post, how did they keep from being shipped to a yankee prison camp?

Unless I am otherwise proven incorrect I am assuming that the 19th Arkanasas duty post was in fact Fort Hindman itself under Col. Dunningtons supervision. Five companies would have been just about right for the garrison of a Fort that size and construction.

Adm David Porter said that there were about 450 men inside Fort Hindman. Now he may be a lair, but I am wondering if those 450 men that Porter mentioned being in Fort Hindman, that Porter said surrendered to the Navy, which we know that Dunnington and his sailors did, were they the same 400 plus men that reorganized into the companies of Hardy's Regiment while those men of the 19th Ark. outside in the outerworks of the Fort in the trenches were the ones captured by Sherman's soldier and therefore were sent North to the Union Prisons?

This is the type of stuff that past accounting of the story of Battle of Arkansas Post leave hanging. But there is nothng wrong in that, it wasn't until recently that we even had any clue as to how Hardy's Regiment even came into being.