Having compiled a complete list of volunteer companies which were organized and their officers commissioned in accordance with Arkansas's antebellum militia law laws, I have done some analysis to demonstrate the formation of companies beginning with John Brown's raid through the formation of the District of the Trans-Mississippi in January 1862. (There were an additional group of companies of State Troops organized by drafts from the Militia Regiments after the fall of Little Rock but those will be discussed separately.) Commissions were issued to 200 Commanders of Volunteer militia companies, of all branches, infantry, artillery, and cavalry. Of these companies, at 140 can be traced to either an Arkansas State Troops organization or became part of a Confederate unit. Formation of these companies is initially spurred by Governor Conway in response to John Brown's raid in 1859. Formation of new companies continues at a fairly steady pace, gaining momentum as the secession crisis develops, and then exploding when Arkansas secedes with 75 companies being formed between the secession on May 6, 1861, and the transfer of State Troops to Confederate Service on July 15, 1861.