I just realized that my post on the 3rd Arkansas Regiment(s) was incomplete, in that I neglected to mention another “3rd Arkansas” Regiment—the one known as Adams’ Regiment. So here’s the rest of the story……

After Van Dorn left the State in April 1862, taking with him most of the active regiments, and everything else that wasn’t nailed down, the State Military Board authorized the establishment of several new regiments of the line for the defense of the State, and ordered the conscription of the requisite number of men to fill the ranks. The new regiments were organized fairly quickly, and were mustered into service in June, July and August, 1862. As a sidenote, it was during this period of time that all those men from Arkansas regiments in service east of the Mississippi River, who were back here in hospitals, on furlough, or on detail, were “detained and attached” to these newly-organized regiments. A large percentage of the 33rd Arkansas Regiment was composed of these detainees. Regrettably, since these shanghaied men were prevented from showing up for work in their original commands, they were reported as deserters by the regiments east of the Mississippi—even though they were serving honorably, if reluctantly, in Arkansas.

Anyhow, among the newly-organized regiments authorized by the State Military Board were the 34th (Col. William H. Brooks), 35th (Col. Frank A. Rector) and 36th (Col. Samuel W. Peel). True to form, these designations were ignored, and they were mustered into service as the 1st (Rector), 2nd (Brooks) and 3rd (Peel) Regiments, Northwest Division, District of Arkansas. Peel was eventually superseded by Charles W. Adams, resulting in what is known as Adams’ 3rd Arkansas Infantry, which, as discussed in a previous thread, was disbanded after Prairie Grove.

The 1st and 2nd Regiments, Northwest Division, finally picked up their authorized designations of 35th and 34th Arkansas Regiments, respectively. To further confuse matters for us modern-day researchers, some regiments were redesignated in the general reorganization following the battle of Prairie Grove, and Col. John E. Glenn’s 28th Arkansas Regiment was given the now-vacant designation of 36th Arkansas Regiment.

Further, when the War Department clerks who put together the Compiled Service Records, decades after the war, ran across scattered records of certain men of the “3rd Arkansas” who had been paroled at Springfield, Missouri, after the battle of Prairie Grove, they tossed them in with the records of Manning’s “real” 3rd Arkansas Infantry. In fact, these men belonged to Adams’ so-called 3rd Arkansas (the “first” 36th Arkansas). This error has been inadvertently perpetuated in Collier’s and Simpson’s books, and a few researchers have picked up on this to “prove” that Manning’s 3rd Arkansas was engaged at Prairie Grove. When confronted with the fact that when the battle of Prairie Grove was being fought, Manning’s boys were digging in along the high ground south of Fredericksburg, Virginia, preparing to welcome Burnside’s Army of the Potomac, these researchers then adopt the fallback position that a “detachment” from Manning’s 3rd Arkansas fought at Prairie Grove. Untrue, of course, but unfortunately many genealogical researchers have picked up on this theory, preferring to have their ancestors serve in Manning’s famed 3rd Arkansas, rather than in Adams’ discredited “3rd Arkansas.” No amount of verbal jousting seems to change their conclusions, which leaves me to wonder at the quality of some of the genealogical research being done these days.

Anyway, that’s the rest of the story that I neglected to mention in my previous post. And the fight for truth, justice and the American way goes on.