On November 11, 1861, the 50th Militia Regiment elected commanders for a series of Volunteer Companies Lettered A through I. It is unclear of the recorder mislabeled these units as Volunteer Companies or if this was a special election. Elections were held for the normal Lettered companies of the Regiment, A through F in March, 1863. It could be that the "Volunteer Companies Organized in November 1981 were raised in response to the call for militia issued by Colonel Solon Borland, Confederate Commander at Pitman’s Ferry.

A second round of recruiting for new regiments was just getting underway when Col. Borland began receiving reports of enemy movements in Missouri. The initial reports seemed to indicate a possible movement on Pitman’s Ferry. The Union army was massing troops in southeast Missouri mainly for the purpose of a thrust down the Mississippi River. But this posed a very real threat to all areas of northeast Arkansas. Col Borland indicated that he had reliable information that "that there are 300 infantry and 150 cavalry at Rives’ Station, on Black River, 35 miles north of Pitman’s Ferry Also that there is a strong infantry force-7,000-at Greenville, 15 miles north of Rives’ Station." Borland was maintaining a regular correspondence with Brig Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, of the Missouri State Guard, who commanded the First Military District of Missouri at Bloomfield, Missouri.[318]

Col. Borland moved his command from Pitman’s Ferry to Pocahontas and was sufficiently alarmed over the reports to issue a call for reinforcements from the militia. On November 5, 1861, Col. Borland issued an appeal for volunteers in the surrounding counties to hastily organize companies for the defense of Pitman’s Ferry until new November 11, 1861, the following Company Officers were elected in Prairie County:

M.M. McKay Captain Volunteer Company A
M.R. Lowder 1LT
W. H. Stevens 2LT
W. A. Adams 3LT

John F. Thomas Captain Volunteer Company B.
W S Roscol 1LT
P. M. Ballow 2LT
F A. Soch 3LT

Felix R. Gleaves Captain Volunteer Company C
A. S. Erwin 1LT Elected 29 November
W. B. Crocher 2LT Elected 29 November

Wiley Nicholas Captain Volunteer Company D
John H Bulls 1LT
Thos. B. Raz 2LT

James H. Edminson Captain Volunteer Company E
C. W. Thompson 1LT
A. C. Dunnaway 2LT
A. B. Porter 3LT

A H. Burns Captain Volunteer Company F
George J. Bose 1LT
H. Jellas 2LT
J.M. Wall 3LT

William T High, Captain Volunteer Company G
I T Webster 1LT
William B. Simmons 2LT
William Coleman 3LT

W.J. McCombs Captain Volunteer Company H
James Karr 1LT
W. F. McCombs 2LT

On December 21,

S. C. Pican Captain Volunteer Company I
W. L Cook 1LT
H. L Floner 2LT
J. A. Wood 3LT

Of these units, only Captain William T High's Volunteer Company G, appears to have actually entered service as Company B, 2nd Arkansas Regiment, 30-Day Volunteers. “High’s Repellers,” Company B, was organized at Brownsville, Prairie County, Arkansas; enlisted for thirty days at Camp Borland, near Pocahontas, Arkansas, on November18, 1861; and was discharged on December 18, 1861. Most of the men subsequently enlisted in regular Confederate regiments for the duration of the war. Endorsement on muster roll—“Muster Roll of Capt. W. T. High’s Co. of Vol. Inf., raised in response to Col. Borland’s call of Nov. 5; mustered into the Confederate service Nov. 18 for 30 days; and discharged Dec. 18, 1861; entitled to pay from date of muster to the time set opposite their respective names, and to transportation and subsistence from Pocahontas to Brownsville, Ark., 385 miles by water and railroad. Camp Borland, Ark., Decr 18, 1861.” http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/2volcob.html