They tried several things in the Trans-Mississippi. While at Natchitoches in early 1865, three companies of the 2nd Louisiana Heavy Artillery Battalion were armed with rifles and acted as the post guard, while one company was stationed in the fortifications at Grand Ecore. About the same time, Kirby Smith issued orders dismounting the 6th and 8th Louisiana Cavalry Regiments and assigning them to an infantry brigade (commanded by BR William Boggs?). Of course, nothing was happening in the Trans-Mississippi, so these new "infantrymen" never saw combat in their new roles.