1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles 130 Enlistments

Company C (“The Johnson Rifles”) of this regiment was composed, primarily of Johnson County men. Captain Hall S. McConnell of Company F was, likewise, from Johnson County. Company C was mustered into service at Fort Smith, in Sebastian County on the 10th of June 1861. They were moved north and joined with other Arkansas units in their invasion of Missouri. They took a very active part in the battle of Wilson’s Creek, Missiouri (called Oak Hills by the Confederates) on 10 Aug 1861, suffering a great number of killed and wounded. They spent the winter of 1861-1862 south of Clarksville near Spadra Bluff, Johnson County. In February 1862 they again rode north and participated in the maneuvers which culminated in the battle of Pea Ridge, where they were not directly engaged in the fighting.

After the retreat from Pea Ridge, the regiment moved across the state to DeValls Bluff on the White River. Here the regiment was dismounted and boarded boats bound for Memphis, Tennessee. The regiment served primarily as infantry during the balance of the war. The unit was moved to Corinth, Mississippi where it was reorganized in May 1862, for the duration of the war, and new officers and non-commissioned officers were elected. After the evacuation of Corinth, the regiment was moved south to Mobile, taken across the bay, transported across Alabama, northern Florida, into Georgia and arrived at Chattanooga, Tennessee. They participated in the Kentucky Campaign of October 1862, seeing action at Cumberland Gap and Perryville. Their next important engagement was at Murfreesboro, Tennessee (30 Dec1862-2 Jan 1863) where they incurred heavy casualties.

The regiment participated in the actions around Jackson, Tennessee during the attempted relief of Vicksburg in June and July 1863. The unit saw intense fighting at Chickamaga on 19-20 September 1863, was present at Chattanooga in November, and spent the winter in northwest Georgia. They fought in the important engagements of the Atlanta Campaign, seeing action at Resaca, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and Jonesboro. After the evacuation of Atlanta, the regiment participated in Hood’s campaign against the supply lines of Sherman, and accompanied the Army of Tennessee in the campaign the culminated in the battles of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville in Nov-Dec 1864.

The remnants of the regiment was moved to North Carolina in early 1865 and was consolidated with other Arkansas units in the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina on 10 April 1865---their last action of consequence in the war. The men were surrendered on April 26, 1865 and paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina on 9 May 1865. After the men were paroled, they marched 200 miles to Greenville, Tennessee to secure rail transportation home. The train conveying them west was wrecked while crossing a bridge near Knoxville, Tennessee. Ten members of the regiment were killed and over fifty injured. The survivors returned to Arkansas and their homes fully four years after their initial enlistments.

A regimental history, with roster: First Arkansas Confederate Mounted Rifles, compiled by Desmond Walls Allen, is available from Arkansas Research.