Re: first arkansas infantry volunteer unit (UNION)Posted by Bryan Howerton on July 24, 2001 at 22:23:03: In Reply to: first arkansas infantry volunteer unit (UNION) posted by judith Lavonia HUGG Grimes on July 24, 2001 at 21:55:42:
The unit to which your ancestor belonged was the 1st Arkansas Battalion U.S. Volunteers. The battalion consisted of four companies recruited in Independence, Izard, Van Burena and Conway counties, which enlisted for six-months service. The battalion was formally organized at Helena on July 20, 1862, and was attached to the District of Eastern Arkansas, stationed at Helena until October 1862. It was then transferred to St. Louis, Missouri, and spent the remainder of its enlistment on duty at Benton Barracks until it was mustered out of service on December 31, 1862. Although the battalion saw no action, it suffered an extraordinarily high death rate due to disease -- something like 30 to 40 percent. A few of the survivors later served in other Union regiments.
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