We know Thomas Peterson served in the Dallas County Home Guard; after the fall of Little Rock he served in the State Troops (presumably the troops commanded by Col William H. Trader / and LtCol Pettus). He served at Poison Springs when the State Troops battalion was assigned to Cabell's Brigade; he served at Mark's Mill when the battalion of State Troops was commanded by LtCol Pettus and assigned to Cabell's Brigade. He was injured there. Charlotte Schick has posted (back in 2005) that Thomas served in Reed's Company. I was wondering what the source is for that information -I have not found it.
His son, Alfred Marion Peterson, enlisted in June 1861 in Company C (The Dallas Rifles), 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. He was captured at Chickamauga, Georgia and sent to prison camp in Louisville. Not sure what happened after that...BUT...in 1917 he was a member of UCV Camp 778 in Camden, and applied to the UDC for a Southern Cross of Honor. The application states that he was an Orderly Sergeant and served until May 1865.
So...what happened after capture at Chickamauga? The family lore that he served at Mark's Mill with his father Thomas Peterson - I don't think likely. I had assumed the men were sent back to their units after capture/parole/etc. Where could he have served as an Orderly Sergeant? I would love to see if he is listed on the list of men paroled from the 1st Consolidated Arkansas Infantry, since that is where the 6th and 7th Arkansas Infantry regiments eventually ended up. If it were true that he stayed in Arkansas - could it have been the 10th Regiment where the State Troops eventually ended up?
Thomas' brother Samuel also served in the Dallas County Home Guard. Samuel's sons (Alfred Marion Peterson's cousins) served in Compan D, 12th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.
Their cousin back in Coosa County, Alabama, James Goggin Peterson, served in Company A, 46th Alabama Infantry. An even more remote cousin from the home-country of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Basil Peterson, served as a Second Lieutenant in Company D, 19th South Carolina Infantry.
I'm still researching other family connections.
If anyone has information on these ancestors, I would greatly appreciate the follow-up. Thank you!