3RD Arkansas at Gettysburg

With

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 3RD

Known as the "Ashley Volunteers", the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment was organized July 5, 1861 and mustered into Confederate service for the war in July 1861. The regiment contained men from Ashley, Drew, Desha, Hot Spring, Union, and Dallas counties. They surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. The unit was assigned to H. R. Jackson's command and took part in Lee's Cheat Mountain Campaign, then moved to Winchester and served under General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.

Later it was assigned to General J. G. Walker's, J. B. Robertson's, and Gregg's command and became part of the Texas Brigade. The unit was part of the Texas Brigade from November 1862 until it surrendered at Appomattox. After fighting the Seven Days' Battles, the 2nd Arkansas Battalion was merged into the regiment.

It went on to participate in the many conflicts of the Army of Northern Virginia from the Maryland Campaign to Cold Harbor, except when they were with General Longstreet at Suffolk, Chickamauga, and Knoxville. The 3rd Arkansas was active in the long Petersburg siege north of the James River and later in the Appomattox Campaign. In December 1861 it totaled 756 men, reported 182 casualties during the Maryland Campaign. Of the 479 engaged at Gettysburg, 35% were disabled. Out of 1,500 men in the regiment, only 15 officers and 130 men surrendered at Appomattox.

The field officers were Colonel Albert Rust, Colonel Van H. Manning, Colonel Robert S. Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel Seth M. Barton, Lieutenant Colonel William H. Tebbs, Major J. Hickson Capers, Major John W. Reedy, Major Samuel W. Smith, and Major W.K. Wilkins.

OUR SPEAKER

Cal Collier, will join us again this year to tell us more of the story of the 3^RD Arkansas. Cal was a member of the Arkansas Civil War Centennial Commission in the early sixties, and is a Founding Member of our Round Table. He is a recipient of our group’s Patrick Cleburne Award, an etched Staff Sword. Renamed as the Jerry L. Russell Award it is given for significant contributions to Arkansas Civil War history, Battlefield Preservation, and the safekeeping of Arkansas’ rich History; he joined Ed Bearss, Jerry L. Russell, Don Hamilton, and Bill O’Donnell, who were the previous recipients. Since that time, former Sen. Dale Bumpers, Dr. Bobby Roberts, and Carl H. Moneyhon have also become recipients.

Perhaps one of the former recipients will bring their sword to the meeting for display.

Cal served in the U.S. Air Force, spending some of his time at LRAFB. A native of Virginia, he grew up on the Civil War, and, while he was in Arkansas, became interested in the activities of Arkansas’ Confederate soldiers. This resulted in his writing of three books:

“They’ll Do To Tie To”, a history of the Third Arkansas Infantry, which served in the Army of Northern Virginia;

“First In, Last Out”, a history of the Capitol Guards (First Arkansas Infantry), which served in the Army of Tennessee;

and “The War Child’s Children”, a history of the Third Arkansas Cavalry, which served under Forrest and Gen. Joe Wheeler (called the war child because of his slight stature). 

He and Melba moved to Baltimore several years ago, to be near his children in the Washington, D.C., area. He is an active member of the Baltimore CWRT and has made several talks to that group. He has also spoken to the National Congress of Civil War Round Tables and the Confederate Historical Institute on several occasions.

Each May, Cal and Melba return to Little Rock for his Air Force squadron re-union, and we take advantage of those visits to add an outstanding program to our schedule.

His program last year was about "The Third Arkansas at Antietam”. In the autumn of 1862, the 3^RD joined Brig. Gen. John Walker (Walker’s Brigade) and decided to take a little stroll with General Lee to visit Maryland. The 3^RD and the 27th North Carolina stopped along an old sunken road separating the Roulette and Piper farms.

 You won’t want to miss Cal’s dynamic presentation (Cal’s presentations are always dynamic), this year he continues to follow the 3^RD on to Gettysburg.

 

Among the files of the CWRT of Arkansas. Can you identify all of these men?

DAMAGE AT BAYOU FOUCHE

A Note from Don Hamilton

Fence damage near the monument happened a few days ago when an air conditioning contractor's white pick up truck going east approaching the bridge hauling a black trailer carrying two air conditioners jackknifed and ended up in the split rail fence. 

A witness said that he thought the trailer was going in the river, but it stopped in the fence, breaking it up.   There is a red reflector on the ground near the fence apparently from the trailer.   Don sent a  copy of the report to Matt Gardner of the City Parks and Recreation, let him know what happened in case he wants to turn this information over to the police or pursue the matter further.   It is lucky that no one was out there to be hurt.  

It appears that three of the split rails (in the background of the picture) needed to be replaced.  Ron Kelly and his brother spent some time at the site and fixed the fence. Big thanks to both.

COMING THIS FALL

Keep your eye out this fall for a couple of special events:

1)      “If All of Arkansas Read the Same Book” is a program that brings an author into the state for a book tour. In the fall of 2005, they are trying to schedule Jeff Shaara and his book “GODS AND GENERALS”. We are working on a special event for CWRT members and will keep you informed as his visit nears.

2)      Ed Bearss’s first book will be out in October 2005. “FIELDS OF HONOR’ Pivotal Battles of the Civil War” Culled from recordings of his wildly popular battlefield tours. Bearss recounts twenty of the war’s most significant battles in lively, detailed prose.

 

STAY TUNED TO YOUR

CWRT NEWSLETTER

FOR DEVELOPMENTS ON BOTH OF THESE FRONTS.

COMING PROGRAMS

June 28, 2005 –

Don Hamilton –

The Tullahoma Campaign

July 26, 2005 – TBA

Don Nall –

Helena on the Mississippi

 

August 23, 2004 – TBA

 

September 27, 2005 –

Terry Winschel,

Historian - Vicksburg NMP –

“A Tragedy of Errors: Failure of the Confederate High Command in the Defense of Vicksburg”

 

October 25, 2004 –TBA

 

November 22, 2005 –

Dave Gruenewald –

Pat Cleburne's Ireland
and

Election of Officers

December 2005 –

No meeting Scheduled in December

We Who Study Must Also Strive To Save!

 

THE OFFICERS

Randy Bladwin, President
rbaldwin63@comcast.net

Don Hamilton, Vice President
don.hamilton@lrwu.com

Brian Brown, Treasurer
BrianB1578@aol.com
Brian Brown is still accepting dues of $15.00

Chas. Durnette, Secretary/Editor
milhistory@aristotle.net

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Wild Rose

Written by Ann Blackman

 

A unique observation of an all too familiar war from the seldom-viewed perspective of a spy behind the Yankee lines. It is interesting that, in the early days, everyone seem to accept what Rose Greenhow was doing, perhaps because they considered the rebellion in the south as a mere annoyance. Ann Blackman has provided an interesting biography of a person and an era. ... COD

 For sheer bravado and style, no woman in the North or South rivaled the Civil War heroine Rose O’Neale Greenhow. Fearless spy for the Confederacy, glittering Washington hostess, legendary beauty and lover, Rose Greenhow risked everything for the cause she valued more than life itself. In this superb portrait, biographer Ann Blackman tells the surprising true story of a unique woman in history.

“I am a Southern woman, born with revolutionary blood in my veins,” Rose once declared–and that fiery spirit would plunge her into the center of power and the thick of adventure. Born into a slave-holding family, Rose moved to Washington, D.C., as a young woman and soon established herself as one of the capital’s most charming and influential socialites, an intimate of John C. Calhoun, James Buchanan, and Dolley Madison.

She married well, bore eight children and buried five, and, at the height of the Gold Rush, accompanied her husband Robert Greenhow to San Francisco. Widowed after Robert died in a tragic accident, Rose became notorious in Washington for her daring–and numerous–love affairs.

But with the outbreak of the Civil War, everything changed. Overnight, Rose Greenhow, fashionable hostess, become Rose Greenhow, intrepid spy. As Blackman reveals, deadly accurate intelligence that Rose supplied to General Pierre G. T. Beauregard written in a fascinating code (the code duplicated in the background on the jacket of this book). Her message to Beauregard turned the tide in the first Battle of Bull Run, and was a brilliant piece of spycraft that eventually led to her arrest by Allan Pinkerton and imprisonment with her young daughter.

Indomitable, Rose regained her freedom and, as the war reached a crisis, journeyed to Europe to plead the Confederate cause at the royal courts of England and France.

Drawing on newly discovered diaries and a rich trove of contemporary accounts, Blackman has fashioned a thrilling, intimate narrative that reads like a novel. Wild Rose is an unforgettable rendering of an astonishing woman, a book that will stand with the finest Civil War biographies.

Ann Blackman is the author of Seasons of Her Life: A Biography of Madeleine Korbel Albright and co-author of The Spy Next Door, about the traitorous FBI agent Robert Hanssen. In her long career as a news reporter with Time magazine and the Associated Press, Blackman covered American politics, social policy, and the powerful personalities that make up Washington society. She is married to Michael Putzel. They have two grown children and live in the nation’s capital.

Format: Hardcover, 400 pages
Pub Date: June 2005
Price: $25.95
ISBN: 1-4000-6118-0
Also available as an eBook.
 
“This is a fascinating tale of intrigue and suspense. Blackman has discovered some truly remarkable, never-before-published papers that reveal how deeply involved Rose Greenhow was in the Confederate cause.”  
–Cokie Roberts, National Public Radio commentator, author of Founding Mothers

Confederate Courage on Other Fields
Four Lesser Known Accounts of the War Between the States

Mark J. Crawford
ISBN 0-7864-2227-0
Cost $29.95

Description
While many soldiers in the army of the Confederate States of America fought on famous fields like Gettysburg and Antietam, others demonstrated equal valor in lesser known places. Here are collected, for the first time, the accounts of four little known pieces of Confederate history. These four pieces are important components in understanding Confederate life in both small and large scale.

The first section concerns the battle of Dinwiddie Court House on March 31, 1865, the last significant Confederate victory and the prelude to the battle of Five Forks the next day. The second section chronicles the experiences of Col. Charles C. Blacknall of the 23rd North Carolina Infantry, whose letters offer insight into the life of an officer and his personal struggles before his death from wounds received at the battle of Winchester. The third section examines a tragic and bloody series of conflicts and retaliations in southeast Missouri that demonstrated the revenge and violence against civilians that often erupted during the war. Finally, the history of General Hospital Number One, at Kittrell Springs, is analyzed, including accounts from the hospital’s chaplain and its chief surgeon, and many of the last words they recorded in the performance of their duties.

These four accounts illustrate very personal experiences of war by Confederate soldiers, in their own words from letters and diaries, period and contemporary photographs, and maps.

About the Author
Scholarly author, novelist and songwriter Mark J. Crawford lives in Madison, Wisconsin. After a career as an exploration geologist, his writings have specialized in Civil War history, the environment, and science.

 

POETS OF THE CIVIL WAR

Editor: J. D. McClatchy
Publication date: April 2005
Price: $20.00

This moving anthology traces the advent, progress, and legacy of the Civil War as revealed in the works of famous poets such as Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Emily Dickinson, as well as less well known writers, including combatants on both sides. Included as well is a selection of hymns, spirituals, and marching songs indelibly associated with the war. Here is a collected verse epic of a nation’s struggle with itself.

Writers on both sides of the American Civil War "brought to the crisis" (in editor J. D. McClatchys' words) "poetry's unique ability to stir the emotions, to freeze the moment, to sweep the scene with a panoramic lens and suddenly swoop in for a close-up of suffering or courage." This vibrant collection brings together the most memorable and enduring work inspired by the conflict: the masterpieces of Whitman and Melville, Sidney Lanier on the death of Stonewall Jackson, the anti-slavery poems of Longfellow and Whittier, the front-line narratives of Henry Howard Brownell and John W. De Forest, the anthems of Julia Ward Howe and James Ryder Randall. Grief, indignation, pride, courage, patriotic fervor, ultimately reconciliation and healing: the poetry of the Civil War evokes unforgettably the emotions that roiled America in its darkest hour.

J. D. McClatchy has written several books of poems and essays, most recently American Writers at Home (2004). In 2003 he edited Edna St. Vincent Millay: Selected Poems, the inaugural volume in the American Poets Project. He teaches at Yale University.We Who Study Must Also Strive To Save!