Transportation to Virginia took place in response to orders from the Confederate War Department. Had it not been so, somebody would have had to pay expenses for travel, meals and lodging for several hundred officers and men.
Here's a list of resources for this this well-known regiment assembled by the U.S. Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks PA --
Bohannon, Keith. "Colonel Van Manning, 3rd Arkansas Infantry." Mil Images Mag (Sep/Oct
1987): pp. 14-15 (2 photocopied pages). Per.
Collier, Calvin L. "They'll Do to Tie To!": The Story of the Third Arkansas Infantry, C.S.A.
Little Rock, AR: CWRT Associates, l988 reprint of 1959 ed. 233 p. E553.5.3rd.C65.
Confederate Military History, Extended Edition. Vol. 14: Arkansas. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot,
1988. pp. 296-98 (2 photocopied pages). E484C65.1987v14. (Brief unit history).
Crute, Joseph H., Jr. Units of the Confederate States Army. Midlothian, VA: Derwent Books,
1987. Ref.
See pp. 44-45 (1 photocopied page) for a concise summary of the regiment's service.
Joslyn, Mauriel P. "'For Ninety Nine Years of the War" The Story of the 3d Arkansas at
Gettysburg." Gettysburg Mag 14 (Jan 1996): pp. 52-63 (12 photocopied pages). E475.53E482no14.
Sifakis, Stewart. Compendium of the Confederacy: Florida and Arkansas. NY: Facts on File,
1992. pp. 73-74 (2 photocopied pages). E553S53. (Unit organizational history).
Winkler, Angelina V. The Confederate Capital and Hood's Texas Brigade. Austin, TX: E. Von
Voeckmann, l894. 312 p. E580.4H6W55.
Wright, Marcus J. Arkansas in the War, 1861-1865. Batesville, AR: Independence CO Hist Soc,
1963. pp. 27-28 (2 photocopied pages). E553W7. (List of unit officers).
The following books contain information on Arkansas' Civil War units:
Dougan, Michael B. Confederate Arkansas: The People and Politics of a Frontier State in Wartime.
University, AL: U AL, 1976. 164 p. E553.D68.
Ferguson, John L., ed. Arkansas and the Civil War. Little Rock, AR: AR Hist Comm, 1964.
364 p. E553F4.
3d Arkansas Infantry (p. 2)
The following pertinent personal papers are in the Institute's Manuscript Archive:
Horn, R.E. - LeighColl Bk l7: 24 (Pvt's letter, Mar 24, 1862)
Lowry, Robert J. - BrakeColl (Pvt's diary, Jun 4-Aug 18, 1863)