Danny,

Many thanks for the excellent material on Chew's Battalion! I had to shut off my computer and leave for work just after I had noticed your post yesterday. All I had was enough time to tell that you had uncovered some great information, and couldn't wait to get back last night to read it.

There is a lot of great material in your post, because it confirms so much of what had only been speculation and reveals new information. It will take me a while of studying to try and figure out how all of this ties together. Here are some random thoughts and observations of my own after going through the material.

- The information from Hindman confirms that the "sharpshooter battalion" served as an "infantry battalion" at Prairie Grove. It also confirms that it was Hindman's intent that the battalion would eventually have become a sharpshooter battalion.

- It's interesting that Gen. Fagan asks for the consolidation of the battalion and Hawthorn's Regiment on December 1st. Can you tell from your source if Gen. Fagan's request for consolidation was intended to be temporary for purposes of the upcoming battle....or was he already requesting a permanent consolidation?

- I had previously thought that the men of Chew's Battalion had actually been pulled from Hawthorn's existing regiment. It appears that the only connection between these two units prior to consolidation is that Colonel Hawthorn had previously served as commander of Chew's Battalion and that these two units fought side by side during the battle of Prairie Grove. Would you agree?

- While perhaps not the official date, it appears that Robert Chew's promotion to major occurred on November 5th. He must have been considered the "senior captain" due to his prior service in the 2nd Tennesseee Infantry.

- I had no idea that what eventually became Fagan's Brigade had already been formed with Col. William H. Brooks serving as commander. I was surprised to see the references to "Brooks' Brigade."

As I said earlier, I still need to figure out how this all these battalions, promotions, and consolidations tie together but am looking forward to it. Danny, I have noticed in previous threads how you manage to produce information from your research that nobody has ever seen before, adding new knowledge to the topic being discussed. You've certainly done it again, and I want you to know that I really appreciate it!

Allan