"This battalion was organized at Shreveport on March 9, 1864, with four companies. Company E joined the battalion in June. At times, the unit was called the 1st Arkansas and Louisiana Cavalry Battalion or the 1st Battalion Mounted Cadets. The members of the unit were men and boys over or under conscript age and men who had received disability discharges from other units. Throughout its entire service, the battalion performed courier duty under the direct supervision of the headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department. The men carried messages to and from a number of cities and towns, including Shreveport, Alexandria, and Monroe, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; and Camden and Washington, Arkansas. At the end of the war, many men simply went home; others signed paroles at the cities nearest their duty stations."

http://www.acadiansingray.com/1st%20Bn.%20Trans.-MS%20C.S.%20Cav.htm