Doyle, another thing that cannot be overstated is the devastating effect that Earl Van Dorn had on Confederate forces in Arkansas. One of the reasons that the State was protected by a conscript army was because Van Dorn had taken the volunteer army with him, along with everything else that wasn't nailed down, to Mississippi. Too late to help out at Shiloh, Van Dorn made no effort to get his army back to Arkansas. In fact, he seemed to relish serving east of the Mississippi River, where there were more opportunities to enhance the greater glory of Earl Van Dorn.

Hindman performed a minor miracle in reconstituting an army in Arkansas, but, with a few exceptions, it couldn't match the quality of troops that Van Dorn took with him -- the 1st and 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles, the 4th Arkansas Infantry, etc., were some of the best troops Arkansas had.