The origins of the Yell Rifles are murky (to me, anyway). The company appears to have been organized in 1860 at Helena, and Patrick R. Cleburne was enrolled as a private. At some point he was elected captain, and led the company during the seizure of the Little Rock Arsenal. After that, the story is much clearer.

The Yell Rifles was reconstituted and reorganized in preparation for the war on April 8, 1861, at Helena. It was mustered into State service on April 27, 1861, for three months. When the 1st Regiment Arkansas State Troops was organized at Camp Rector, Mound City, Arkansas, on May 14, 1861, Captain Cleburne was elected colonel, and the Yell Rifles became Company F.

The regiment was mustered into Confederate service at Camp Yell, Pitman's Ferry, Arkansas, on July 23, 1861, for twelve months, and was redesignated as the 1st Regiment Arkansas Volunteers, and Company F (Yell Rifles) was redesignated as Company B. When it was discovered the 1st Arkansas designation had already been assigned to Fagan's regiment, Cleburne's regiment was redesignated as the 15th Arkansas Infantry on December 31, 1861, and Company B (Yell Rifles) was redesignated as Company C. It retained this latter designation until the end of the war.