The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board - Archive

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In Response To: Stirman's Sharpshooters ()

Now that we've got a handle on the organization of Stirman's Regiment of Sharpshooters, I'm looking into when and why it was disbanded. Sometime after the battle of Corinth, the regiment was broken up. Companies A through H reverted to a cavalry battalion, and Stirman was reduced in rank from colonel to lieutenant-colonel. Companies I and K were formed into a battalion of sharpshooters under command of Henry W. Bridges, who was reduced in rank from lieutenant-colonel to major. Sometime in the Spring of 1863, Bridges' battalion was broken up, and the two companies returned to their original regiments -- the 6th and 9th Texas Cavalry. Bridges was subsequently given command of a cavalry battalion composed of Cochran's company of the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry, Savery's company of the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, and Stell's and Weeks' companies of Willis' battalion of Waul's Texas Legion, all of which had been operating as unattached companies. Bridges' cavalry battalion was disbanded on September 4, 1863, and the component companies returned to their original commands. In the meantime, Stirman's cavalry battalion was bagged at Vicksburg, subsequently exchanged in Arkansas, and served for the rest of the war in the Trans-Mississippi Army.

In some books, Bridges' cavalry battalion is sometimes mistaken for his earlier sharpshooter battalion; also, his sharpshooter battalion was originally part of Stirman's sharpshooter regiment, but is sometimes represented as being a separate command from its inception.

Confusing, but hey! this is an Arkansas command. And things were seldom straightforward in Arkansas regiments.

I'll post more as I get things worked out.

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Stirman's Sharpshooters
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Correction--Col. (not Lt.Col) Stirman *NM*
Field and Staff
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