Mathew W. House enlisted in Co. H, 6th (aka Monroe's 1st) Arkansas Cavalry, sometime after March 1, 1864. He was captured in Union County, Missouri, on November 7, 1864, and was sent to the U.S. military prison at Alton, Illinois. He was held there until February 1865, when he was exchanged at City Point, Virginia.

He applied for a Confederate pension from Saline County in 1901. His application was approved on August 28, 1901 (Pension No. 10874). He was born c1825 in Tennessee, and reportedly died on March 6, 1908. He was a resident of Saline County, Arkansas.