The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board

Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"

Joe,

You are quite correct in saying that many of the Texans were not native "Texicans" as they styled themselves. Most ignore the fact that John Bell Hood himself was a Kentuckian. As to "elite", just what criteria are used to denote a Civil War unit as "elite"? Training? Most CW training was at best hit and miss. Combat capability? Many units which have had no publicity fought in many engagements with the same tenacity as the Texans and Arkansans but had no one to write about them. Witness the 51st Virginia at New Market. Does elite apply to units chosen for especially important and hazardous duty? If so then the 63rd Virginia regiment in the AOT, which had a poor reputation with historians by the way, could qualify as they were part of the Army of Tennessee's rear guard throughout the retreat from Tennessee and through the Carolinas. Seems to me rear guard is an honorable position. Patrick Cleburne's Arkansas units could be given the same appellation. I think the term "elite" as applied to units by game designers, comes from the minds of guys who never served as soldiers and know only what they read in books. Much like the movie guys who hold their pistols in a horizontal position to fire simply because it looks cool. Uninformed wannabes trying to catch up.

Len

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3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
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Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
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Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"
Re: 3rd Arkansas Infantry "Elite"