The 8th Arkansas Cavalry is Morgan's Cavalry Regiment. It started life as Col. Robert C. Newton's 5th Arkansas Cavalry. On December 24, 1863, Thomas J. Morgan was promoted to colonel, and the regiment became known as the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry, and later as the 8th Arkansas Cavalry.

W. A. Irvine was commissioned first lieutenant of Company L on December 26, 1862, and was subsequently promoted to captain. There is no record that he was promoted any higher.

This may be the same W. A. Irvine who first served in the 31st Arkansas Infantry. He was a physician, born c1833 in Kentucky, and died in 1885 in Arkansas. His widow, Nancy Irvine, applied for a Confederate pension from Independence County in 1901.