Thanks. One of my ultimate goals for this research had been to establish a connection between current Arkansas guard units and the antebellum militia. Arkansas is the only Southern State whose current units are not entitled to the campaign participation credit for service during the Civil War. There are several reasons for this lack or connection. One is the relative lack of knowledge of the per-war militia, another is the fact that none of the per-war militia regiments were mobilized for the war, and finally the relative black hole of information regarding the militia between the end of the CW and the early 1890's. In retaliation for militia involvement in local activities during the Reconstruction Era, one of the first things that the Democrats did when they regained control of the legislature in the late 1870s was abolish the office of Adjutant General. As a result, there is a real dearth of records from the end of the war until just before the Spanish American War.

The more I learn about the Arkansas Militia Law and the rising of Volunteer Companies, it becomes clear that these units provide the best connection between the existing units and the antebellum militia. to Army Regulation 870–5, [1] the history of a National Guard unit is tied to the parent or preceding unit and to the unit's geographic station, or hometown.

An example of an existing National Guard unit that bears the campaign participation credit for the civil war is the 116th Infantry Regiment
of the Virginia National Guard. A link to their history is below. You will note that their connection to the Antebellum Militia is through Volunteer Companies, not the Militia regiments, themselves.