Damon, there is a gap in my record of Col. William Ferguson Slemons, from June 30, 1863 (when he signed a pay receipt) and September 18, 1864 (when he appeared on a report of officers in the Trans-Mississippi Army as "present"). In fact, there are very few records of the regiment during this period.

Likewise, there is a gap in my record of Maj. Elisha Lawley McMurtrey, from May 21, 1863 (when he signed a pay receipt) and January 5, 1864 (when he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel) and then a further gap until he is mentioned as commander of McMurtrey's (18th) Battalion Arkansas Cavalry, following Price's Missouri campaign.

The 18th Arkansas Battalion Cavalry is the only "McMurtrey's Battalion" I know about. Perhaps other researchers have additional information. I wonder if the order of battle you referred to reflected a temporary division of the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry into two battalions, because, as far as I know, McMurtrey was a member of the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry from its inception to its reduction to a battalion sometime in late October 1864.

Damon, on another subject -- I know at one time you were keeping track of various Arkansas companies and captains. While pawing through a box of my old research papers recently, I came across my notes on several western Arkansas companies which served in various Cherokee battalions and regiments. I transcribed their service records and brief organizational notes, boxed them up when I was transferred from Washington, D.C., and had forgotten about them until I recently re-discovered them. Do these companies fit into the research project you were doing? If so, let me know and I'll be glad to keyboard them into my 'puter and post them.