Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

[Andrew Kasmar]

I am looking for the photo of Company H, 3rd Arkansas. The photo was taken in Arkadelphia June 1861. It can be seen in the book Great Photographs of the Civil War page 63. I am hoping to find a larger image than the one in the book. Thank you for any help.



All the best,


Andrew

[lojafan]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

I found this one on the forum. The only other one I've seen on the forum that was rather large has been deleted and I cannot find a copy of it via google. I hope this helps!

http://www.geocities.com/genen81/hempsted.jpg

[CS Ensign]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

I was unfamiliar with this photo before ... just out of interest, is this Co H Third Arkansas that became part of the Texas Brigade, or is it the Third Arkansas State Troops (Gratiot's Third Arkansas)?

Thanks,
Greg

[mslaird]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

Here you go Andrew.

[Garrett Silliman]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

I was unfamiliar with this photo before ... just out of interest, is this Co H Third Arkansas that became part of the Texas Brigade, or is it the Third Arkansas State Troops (Gratiot's Third Arkansas)?

Thanks,
Greg

Greg,

I believe this is an image of the third state troops - not the 3rd Ark reg of the ANV. This photo and more information on it can be found in Brassey's Uniforms of the American Civil War: Confederate States (i think that's the title) in the Arkansas chapter.

-Garrett

[Dignann]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

This photo appears on page 26 of Bobby Roberts and Carl Moneyhon's Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Arkansas in the Civil War (Fayetteville, Ark.: The University of Arkansas Press, 1987). The assembled soldiers are identified as being from the 3rd Arkansas, state troops. The credit for the photo, by the way, is given as Henderson State University Museum. If you can find this institution, perhaps they can provide you with a high quality scan.

Eric

[mslaird]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

Henderson State is down in Arkadelphia. As far as I know the troops depicted in the photograph are the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Battalion of State Troops that fought under Ben McCulloch at Wilson's Creek. They were a short term enlistment unit. I will see if I can find some more information on what came of them after they disbanded with their enlistments expiring. Some of them re-enlisted in other Arkansas Confederate units that fought in the Trans-Mississippi and Tennessee. I believe that the members of this battalion split between a few different regiments when that took place.

[CS Ensign]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

Thanks to all for the clarification of state troops vs. the ANV unit. I had thought they were the former. I was interested because my g-g-gfather and g-g-g-uncle were in the Texas Brigade Co. H, 3rd Arkansas. Co. H was composed half of Arkansans and half of the Blackburn Guards, a unit from Kentucky that had joined up with the Arkansans as they passed through Nashville in June of '61. My ancestors were two of the Kentuckians, and were thus part of the only Kentucky "unit" in the ANV.

Best,
Greg

[thecivilwardude]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

Unfortunately, Henderson State University does not have that photograph. Our museum was dismantled several years after that book was published and every item not directly related to the institution was sent here, there, and every where. As the special collections curator in the library at Henderson, I would love to have an item like that. I know that Historic Washington State Park near Hope has quite a bit of information about the photograph as it has since been determined that it was actually taken in Washington. You can visit the website here http://www.historicwashingtonstatepark.com/
and can call or email them. I would ask for the curator as he and his father are quite the experts on this particular photo.

[Phelps' Reg't]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

The photographer shot at least two different photographs of this unit. The copy attributed to the Henderson State Museum (and which appeared in Portraits of Conflict-Arkansas, published in 1987) has several obvious scratches across the length of the plate.

The other photograph of Company H is quite similar, but not identical. It appeared in the September-October 1994 issue of Military Images magazine. That photo is in much better condition. It was owned at the time by Dr. Tom Sweeney of Republic, Missouri. His collection was purchased by the National Park Service in 2005. Today this photo is on display in the Civil War Museum at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.

Jeff Patrick
Librarian, Wilson's Creek NB

[mslaird]

Re: Company H, 3rd Arkansas Photo

I found some more information on what happened to the men in the 3rd Arkansas State Battalion of Volunteer Infantry. Some companies were disbanded after 90 days and when these companies enlisted again they formed portions of the following units: The companies that did not disband formed the 21st Arkansas under Dandridge McRae. Of the companies that disbanded, some formed the 16th Arkansas Infantry, Rector's 17th Arkansas Infantry with four companies forming the 35th Arkansas in 1862 when Van Dorn moved to Corinth and some formed the 22nd Arkansas and the 34th Arkansas under Hindman. the 21st Arkansas under Dandridge McRae (who commanded the 3rd Battalion at Wilson's Creek) later became the Northwest 15th Arkansas Infantry after Corinth. Following the conclusion of the Vicksburg campaign the survivors of the 14th, 16th and 15th NW were consolidated into the 1st Arkansas Regiment of Infantry Consolidated.