"After organizing and fitting out your command as authorized by Special Order, No.27, March 20, it is desired that you will make your way as quickly as possible to the route between Leavenworth or Independence and Santa Fe, or other points in New Mexico, and use your utmost efforts to interrupt and capture the supply trains of the enemy in that department, to cut off their mails, and annoy them by every other means in your power."-8 Apr 62 letter Asst-Adj-Gen D.H. Maury to Col Clarkson[OR,Pt I, Vol 13,pg 813]
By May 62, Col Clarkson at Ft Smith where in his SO #1, M.W. Buster is appointed adjutant. Then by 16 Jun encamped near the Grand River in I.T.[SOR,Pt III,Vol 2,pg 362; and private correspondence w/ Nancy Bowen]
The formation of Clarkson's Bn may never be clear. On 14 Jun, Col C.A. Carroll(commanding district of NW Ark counties) credits Clarkson w/ 500 men; but then in a 22 Jun letter says "He has a quartermaster, two surgeons, commissary and he has one company [of] about 200 men, two of 25, one of 50 and one [of] some uncertain size." [SOR, Pt III, Vol 2, pg 408}. By the record of events for Clarkson's Bn in SOR, Pt II, Vol 73, pg 353-360, the following companies, their commander and muster in are given(note: an * are companies I believe represented in Col Carroll's accounting above):
*Co'A'-Cpt Leftwich H Stone-1 Feb 62
*Co'B'-Cpt J.H. Minhart-1 Apr 62
*Co'C'-Cpt John F Winfrey-1 May 62
Co'D'-Cpt Joseph B Forester-6 Sep 62
*Co'E'-Cpt William H Doak-29 Apr 62
Co'F'-Cpt James McDonel-1 May 62
Co'G'-Cpt Jesse B Davis-1 Feb 62
Co'H'-Cpt John F Ross-14 Jul 62
A note under Co'A' list of officers states "The company [was] divided into three companies August 4, 1862, and formed Captain [Jesse B] Davis'(G) and Captain [James] Mcdonel(F)..."[pg354]. Thus I assume the 200 man Co. is Cpt Stone's Co'A'. Yet, as shown above , Co.s 'F' and 'G' have earlier muster in dates[does this imply they existed and majority of their men captured at Locust Grove?].
A note under Co'H' says: "Formerly, First Company 'K', First(formerly called Second) Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Rifles(which see). Enlisted July 12, 1861 for 12 months. Reorganized July 14, 1862 for two years."[pg356].
In Col Clarkson's 29 Feb 64 report on his capture at Locust Grove he recalls having 6 companies within his Bn and "increased my own command to a full regiment by the consolidation of Major [Thomas R.] Livingston's battalion, which raised my regiment to nine companies of whites and one company of Indians(Osage)."[SOR,Pt I, Vol 3pg 35]
To further cloud the issue[source:Confederate Organizations, Officers and Posts: 1861-1865, Missouri Units] on pg 1 under entry for Mj Thomas R Livingstone's 1st Bn/1st Indian Bde has a footnote:
"Later investigation indicates that Maj T.R. Livingston, with three companies of recruits, believed to have been composed principally of Missourians, joined Col J.J. Clarjson's Battn of Independent Rangers,C.S.A., in May 1862, but they left that command soon after Clarkson & some of his men had been captured on July 3, 1862. They were subsequently joined by Capt. M.R. Johnson's Co, which may also been composed of Missourians & which also deserted Clarkson's Battalion...." From a Mar 65 roster, a list of officers for Co's 'A-D' of Livingston's Bn:
'A'-Cpt D.V. Rusk
'B'-Cpt Wm Robinson
'C'-Cpt L.F. Roberts
'D'-Cpt M.R. Johnson
[Not sure if above is beneficial in learning more about both Clarkson's and Livingston's Bn, but sometimes following the soldiers is beneficial.]
At some point during May or early June, Clarkson's Bn ordered to report to Col Charles A Carroll; but in GO#21, TM District dated 26 Jun 62:
"II. For the defense of our Indian allies against Federal enemies,..., Col J.J. Clarkson is hereby assigned to the command of all forces that now are or may hereafter be within the limits of the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole countries, until otherwise ordered by brigadier-general commanding the Department of the Indian Territory, who is now marching in that direction, and to whom Colonel Clarkson will report upon his arrival in the Cherokee country."[OR,Pt I,Vol 13,pg845-6](a side note- this was just one more event/incident which got stuck in the craw of BG Albert Pike, and further fueled his animositity toward MG Hindman and his later resignation)
In a 28 Jun letter to N.B. Pearce, Col Watie relates- "A force of about 1,300 of the enemy is encamped some fifty miles north of this place. I expect to be in sufficent force to attack and defeat them, having been faithfully promised the cooperation of Colonel [John} Drew's Regiment of 1,000 men. I therefore moved towards the enemy some twenty miles, expecting Colonel Drew's Regiment to meet me at a point agreed upon. I was then at the time fixed on, with Colonel [James J] Clarkson's command, but after waiting in vain for Colonel Drew two days, word was received from him in substance that his men would not cooperate with me."[SOR,Pt III,Vol 2,pg435]
On evening of 30 June, Col Clarkson received message from Col Watie informing him of approach of Feds. Col Watie then encamped 11 mi N of Clarkson. The next day, Col Clarkson ordered Cpt M.W. Buster to"...take command of the detail as specified in...,report to Col Stand Watie, join him and assist in breaking back the enemy in annoying them to extent of ability."[a posted message from John C. Livingston, Jr dated 22 Dec 02 on ITCWMB]. Cpt Buster in his 10 Jul report states "...,Colonel Clarkson being unwell and unable to go himself, placed me in command of a detail of 200 men...."[SOR,Pt III,Vol 2,pg466]. Col Clarkson, in his extremely delayed report(him being held as a "civilian" prisoner) of 29 Feb 64, recalled-"Being sick at the time, I detached to Colonel Watie a portion of my regiment to retard the advance of the enemy, retaining with me about seventy-five men in charge of the baggage of both my own and Colonel Watie's command."[SOR,Pt I,Vol 3, pg36]. Now if Col Sidney Drake Jackman, in his recollections-"Behind Enemy Lines"-can be relied upon, Col Clarkson was afflicted with the same weakness as BG(MSG) James Rains, Col Coffee, Col Cooper and many others-a strong love of alcohol and drunkedness. So was Col Clarkson's(and at Old Fort Wayne,22 Oct 62, Col Cooper's) 'sickness' an actual illness or drunkedness?
Anyhow, early on the morning of 3 Jul, the Federals surprised the encampment of Col Clarkson, capturing all but 1 wagon, Col Clarkson and (depending on the source) approx. 30-50 men. With the absence of Cpt Buster's detached detail of approx 200 men(remembering Col Carroll's accounting of June(300+ men)), the battalion should have remained relatively intact. Yet N.B. Pearce writes 5 Jul, from Ft Smith, " For the last twenty-four hours men have been coming in from Clarkson's headquarters,...; horses broken down; without arms, and many minus their hats, and report that Clarkson and some 100 men, and the trains..., have been taken by the Federals-taken by surprise, and we not firing a gun, the enemy being right in camp before they had any intimation of their approach."[OR,Pt I,Vol 13pg963]
In SOR,Pt III, Vol 2, pgs 466-8, is Cpt Buster's report of Locust Grove. The date portion of heading reads:
[FORT DAVIS],July 10, 1862,
via [Fort Smith and ] Clarksville,
Where does this place his command? One clue maybe-"...led the command by way of Tahlequah to this point, where I shall wait the arrival of Colonel [Douglas Hancock] Cooper and report to him for duty."(pg467). In a unnumbered GO of BG Pike dated 23 Jun, Col Cooper "assigned to the command of all the Confederate and allied troops north of the Canadian River...."[OR,PtI,Vol13,pg839]. On pg 965 of OR,Pt I,Vol 13, is a letter of Col Cooper dated 7 Jul 62 from Cantoment Davis saying he arrived there at noon on 6th. Why didn't Cpt Buster know of Col Cooper's arrival at Davis 3 days later? The following, though not conclusive, was taken from CSRs of Clark's Rgt, Mo Inf(note: I've yet to go completely through the complete rgt.):
Choate, Jackson and Choate, Winston both enlisted 14 Jul 62 by Col Buster at Ft Davis. Basham, Wm, Chastine, James and Gregory, Hiram enlisted 1 Aug 62 at Ft Gibson by Cpt Winfrey.
Thus, it is my conclusion that the reference in SOR "via [Fort Smith and ] Clarksville" is a reference to route report traveling to reciever MG Hindman(HQ Little Rock); the Clarksville is in Ark. along Ark river.
Throughout rest of Jul, Aug and early Sep, the bn undergoing a reorginazation, with many of the company commanders out recruiting. During this period, Buster was promoted to LTC on 5 Aug[CSR filed under Clarkson's Bn, plus info on his CSR filed w/ Clark's RGT]. On 4 Aug, under orders from Col Cooper, Cpt Stone's Co'A' divided into 3 Companies-'A','F' and 'G'. Earlier, on 14 Jul, while Watie's Cherokee Rgt undergoing reorg after it's initial 12 month enlistment expired, Co'K'(CPT Ross Cmding) was transfered to Clarkson's Bn. I'm unsure how many of origional company members, besides Cpt Ross, actually transfered. I've found amongest the CSRs of Clark's Rgt many men enlisted 12 and 14 Jul at Van Buren, Ark by Cpt Ross.
By early Sep, the battalion at Tahlequah, and on 19th Cos 'A' and 'F' marched to the Moravian Mission and took up camp. On 21 Sep, Cpt McDonel's Co'F' detailed to travel to Hildebrand's Mill to discover amount of grain to be had(they left morning of 22nd). Also on 21 Sep, Cpt Minhart's Sqd(Cos'B' and '?') arrived at Moravian Mission. Approx 1800 on 22nd, Cpts Doak's(Co'E') and Forrester's(Co'D') companies arrived at mission. On 23rd, Cpt Ross' Sqd(Cos'H' and '?') arrived from Tahlequah, along with commisary, medical dept and quartermaster; Cpt Winfrey's Company still hasn't arrived. The two Sqdns(Minhart's and Ross')-one should be company instead, while the other probably has Cpt Davis' Co'G', the only Co. not mentioned by name. I believe the former should be Minhart's(believe his 2nd Co. is Cpt Winfrey's(not yet arrived)), while the later is Ross'.
Throughout their stay at Moravian Mission, not only were frequent scouts sent out, but much time spent in drilling and training. On this message board, there has been a debate about whether this Bn a cav or mixed command. From reading pg 276 of OR,Pt I, Vol 13, I believe at this time it was fully cavalry(I myself-no proof yet-believe majority of Bn dismouted(or servicable horses consolidated into two companies) following retreat from Newtonia, and prior to Old Fort Wayne. It was at this time MG Hindman wanting to dismount all cav, except Shelby's Bde and Bryan's Cherokee Bn). The above two paragraphs taken from LTC Buster's report of Ops in IT 19-24 Sep in OR,Vol 13,pages 273-7.
By the 29 Sep, the Bn was encamped at Pineville in SW Mo. That evening it recieved orders to march to Col Cooper's command at Newtonia at dawn. At departure time, a private in Cpt Minhart's Co'B' murdered a fellow private in the company. The departure delayed til 1100. Company 'B' remained behind to bury private. The command arrived at Camp Coffee at 1500, took short break to quench thirst from spring, then moved toward Newtonia arriving by 1700. Cpt Minhart's Co., plus other officers left behind at Pineville arrived at battalion's location by 1900.[OR, Pt I, Vol 13, pg303].
On evening 3 Oct, LTC Buster ordered to take his Bn, along with Mj Bryan's Cherokee Bn, to Granby and occupy town. Companies were sent northward out of town to secure 3 crossings of Shoal Creek. That night, very early morning of 4th, the command pushed back by Federals. Shortly after finally arriving safely at Newtonia, the Rebs withdrew back toward Arkansas, halting for a few days at Pineville.
On Oct 15, Col Cooper ordered to make a march on Ft Scott with his brigade. Also at this time, his 4 Tx Cav Rgts, Bryan's and Buster's Bns to be taken from him. He managed to retain Bryan's and Buster's commands. This small party moved out to Old Fort Wayne where Cooper's indian troops to gather. Several failed to obey orders. Col Cooper took ill, leaving LTC Buster in command. On morning of 22 October, in less than an hour of battle, Buster's battery(Howell's Tx) captured and his command routed.
On 9 Nov, in vicinity of Ft Smith/Van Buren, the companies of Clarkson's Bn consolidated, forming 4 companies of the forming Clark's Mo Infantry. By SOR,Pt III, Vol 73,pgs353-60, the companies consolidated as:
Co'A'+part of Co'G'=Co'E'/Clark's, then Co'C'/15th Ark Cav Bn
Co'B'+part of 'F'+'H'=Co'D'/Clark's, then Co'D'/15th Ark Cav Bn
Co'C'=Co'I'/Clark's, then Co'A'/15th(Buster's) Ark Cav Bn
Co'D',Co'E',part Co'F'+part Co'G'=Co'G'/Clark's, then Co'B'/15th Ark Cav Bn
Not much on 15th Ark Cav Bn. On pg 1060 of OR,Pt I, Vol 34,Pt2 is a 19 Mar 64 circular which refers to LTC Buster's Bn garrisoning post at Spring Hill and taking charge of all commisary stores and mill in neighborhood.
The following two bits, I found in Buster's CSR filed with Clark's Rgt:
1)A 28 Feb 64 SO#28(HQ Dist of Ark) appointing Buster's command to duty w/ Price's Div. Released from garrison duty at Washington.
2)A 28 Mar 64 SO#75(TM Dept) Buster's Bn at Camp Sumpter. Ordered to report w/ his command to Shreveport.
Finally, just an interesting personal tidbit concerning LTC Buster- In 1861, him and his wife Elizabeth named their newborn son Sterling Price Buster. Then in Feb 1897, their daughter Nancy E married a Sterling Price(not the same as Gen Price. In 1880 this one only 18).