The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board - Archive
Re: 46th Ark. Cavalry = 46th Ark. Mounted Infantry
Posted By: Bryan Howerton
Date: Saturday, 9 November 2002, at 6:51 p.m.
In Response To: 46th Ark. Cavalry = 46th Ark. Mounted Infantry? (Hayes Lowe)
They are one and the same. The 40-series regiments were initially authorized by the State Military Board as infantry regiments. The decreasing availability of fodder for horses in 1864 led the Trans-Mississippi Department to issue an order proscribing the raising of any additional mounted regiments in Arkansas. However, when Sterling Price received authorization to campaign in Missouri that Fall, several of the new regiments were mounted in order to accompany him. As a result, the 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th Arkansas Regiments became mounted infantry regiments. They were rarely referred to in contemporary reports and orders by numerical designation. Price referred to them as McGehee's Cavalry, Crabtree's Cavalry, etc., which eventually resulted in their later being referred to as 44th Cavalry, 46th Cavalry, etc.