16th Arkansas Infantry Regiment 271 Enlistments

Companies A, B, and C of this regiment were organized in Johnson County. Company B was raised primarily from men south of the Arkansas river. The companies assembled at Clarksville during September and early October and marched, individually, to Fayetteville. They were united with seven other companies from Northwest Arkansas to form the 16th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. Captain John F. Hill, of Company C, was elected Colonel of the regiment. The unit began training and went into winter camp near Elm Springs, Benton County, Arkansas.
The regiment fought at Pea Ridge (7-8 Mar 1862) where it was involved in both days’ fighting. It retreated through the Boston Mountains and assembled at Van Buren. The men marched across the state during the last of March and first week of April 1862, via Clarksville, and boarded boats for Memphis. Those who had not recovered from their wounds at Pea Ridge and those too sick to keep up on the march across the state were left behind in Arkansas. Many of these were re-enlisted in other Arkansas units. At Memphis the 16th Arkansas “took the cars,” traveling by train to Corinth, Mississippi. They were posted to the east of Corinth, near Farmington, Mississippi where they fought in several skirmishes and actions during May as Federal forces advanced upon the strategic railroad juncture. On the 8th of May, 1862, the regiment was reorganized, for the war, with officers and non-commissioned officers being elected and assigned to duty. After the evacuation of Corinth, they took the trains south and encamped at several different points along the Mobile and Ohio railroad, such as Saltillo, Tupelo, and Camp Priceville in Itawamba Co., Mississippi
On September 19, 1862 the regiment fought at Iuka, Mississippi, going into action on the Confederate left during the evening and night. They participated in the attack upon Corinth, Mississippi on October 3-4, 1862: the assault upon Battery Powell on October 4th being the bloodiest day in the regiment’s history.
The regiment again withdrew from Corinth and made its way through western Mississippi and into Louisiana where it was assigned to the garrison of Port Hudson. They participated in all the engagements during the investment, siege and eventual surrender of Port Hudson during May-Jul 1863. Here they were paroled and the men allowed to return to Arkansas while the officers were to be confined in prisons in the North.
Some members of the unit reported to the parole camp at Demopolis, Alabama where they were ordered back to Arkansas and formed into two companies of the 1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment, Trans-Mississippi Department. There are few extant records of that unit, so it is unclear how many men did so. A great many of the survivors of the 16th Arkansas enlisted in various Confederate and Union regiments during 1863-1864 in Arkansas.
A narrative history of the unit was published in 2000 called “If I Should Live: A History of the 16th Arkansas Confederate Infantry,” and is available through Arkansas Research.