Re: 38th Arkansas Infantry Reg.
The 38th Arkansas was in winter quarters at Camp Bragg, near Camden, Arkansas, on Christmas day of 1863. They had been south of the Arkansas River since the evacuation of Little Rock back in September 1863.
There were a lot of absentees from the 38th Arkansas (and other regiments) in northeast Arkansas at that time, who were either voluntarily or involuntarily attached to various Missouri cavalry units.