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This webpage reproduces an article in the
Arkansas Historical Quarterly
Vol. 21 No. 3 (Autumn 1962), pp231‑246

The text is in the public domain.

This page has been carefully proofread
and I believe it to be free of errors.
If you find a mistake though,
please let me know!

 p231  Confederate Generals from Arkansas

By
Jno. P. Morrow, Jr.
Batesville

Arkansas' contribution of general officers to the Confederacy is comparable to that of her sister states in number, quality and mortality. Like the total number of such general officers, the sum of those who might be credited to Arkansas is not of an indisputable quantity. The state's estimated military population of 65,231 at the beginning of the war was some six per cent of the total shown in the Confederacy and the twenty-nine general officers sometimes credited to Arkansas represent six per cent of the total of 425 to 440 Confederate generals.

It is impossible to be positive on either the military qualifications of rank or the actuality of their Arkansas residence. There is lack of agreement as to whether they were duly appointed by President Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Davis and confirmed by the Confederate Senate, though there are definite dates of such ranking. Furthermore, opinions differ as to their Arkansas citizen­ship.

The sources cited are: Colonel Robert C. Wood, Confederate Hand Book (New Orleans, 1909); Fay Hempstead, Pictorial History of Arkansas (St. Louis, 1890); John M. Harrell, Arkansas (Vol. X, Atlanta, 1899, in C. A. Evans, ed., Confederate Military History, 12 vols., 1899); David Y. Thomas, Arkansas in War and Reconstruction (Little Rock, 1926); V. Y. Cook, "List of General and Field Officers Arkansas Troops, C. S. A., and State Troops," Arkansas Historical Association PublicationsI (Fayetteville, 1906), 411‑422; a similar list by V. Y. Cook in United Confederate Veteran  p232 Program (1921); Marcus J. Wright, General Officers of the Confederate Army . . . . (New York, 1911) and an undated manuscript which appears to be in Wright's handwriting and which seems to be a working copy of his General Officers of the Confederate Army; Ezra Warner, Generals in Gray (Baton Rouge, 1959); and Memorandum Relative to the General Officers Appointed by the President in the Armies of the Confederate States — 1861‑65 (Washington: Military Secretary's Office War Department, 1908).

David Y. Thomas and Fay Hempstead are familiar names to students of Arkansas history and Ezra Warner is a current writer on the Civil War.

V. Y. Cook, a private in Company H., 7th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, Forrest's Cavalry, and colonel of the 2d Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, Spanish-American War, was one of the two original life members of the Arkansas Historical Association. Active in Confederate veteran affairs, he was an authority on personnel in the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate Army. His two lists are quoted because in the first, printed in the Publications of the Arkansas Historical AssociationI (1906), p411, footnote, he states that the list is "a correct compilation as copied from original in War Department in Richmond" and that it "closes all Arkansas organizations of which I have any record." Cook's second list, published in United Confederate Veteran Program, in 1921, differs from the first only in giving the dates from which T. H. McCray and E. W. Gantt ranked as generals. His papers do not disclose from whence he gained this additional information, but it was probably from his close friend, Marcus J. Wright.

Marcus J. Wright (June 5, 1831–December 27, 1922), a native of Tennessee, was mustered into the Confederate Army as Major, 154th Tennessee Infantry and ranked as a brigadier from December 11, 1862. After the war he returned to Memphis, practicing law and holding an appointment in the Navy Yard until 1878, when he was made responsible for the collecting and editing of the Confederate  p233 records that were to be included in the War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Thirtynine years of his life were devoted to this work, and the South is indebted to him for his contribution in saving much of the Confederate history. For a number of years it was truly a labor of love at which he worked at great personal loss. An effort is being made to locate his manuscript of "Arkansas and the War, 1861‑65," which he offered to sell to the state, the Association, or the University for $75.00 in 1910. None of the agencies felt sufficiently able or interested to complete the transaction. The work would be invaluable today.

Colonel John M. Harrell, born in North Carolina in 1828, had come to Little Rock in 1849 and was practicing law at the outbreak of the War. He served in Virginia as volunteer aide to General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Theophilusº Holmes and later was with General Breckinridge at Corinth in the same capacity. He was appointed adjutant-general of Monroe's Cavalry, fighting at Cane Hill and Prairie Grove. He then raised and commanded a battalion of cavalry with rank of lieutenant-colonel and brought General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Cabell's brigade back from Price's Raid after Cabell was captured. After the war he held various legal offices and the rank of brigadier-general of state militia.

The nine sources consulted agree that the following sixteen qualify on confirmation of rank and on residence in the state:

Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.William Nelson Rector Beall (March 20, 1825–July 25, 1883) was one of four West Point graduates who became Arkansas generals. He finished the Military Academy too late for service in the Mexican War but served in the Indian campaigns and was commissioned first lieutenant of the First Cavalry, March 3, 1855, and in less than a month was promoted to captain. He held this rank until 1861 and carried it into the Confederate Army when Arkansas, his adopted state, seceded. General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Van Dorn's recommendation that he be promoted to colonel was more than  p234 fulfilled and Beall was commissioned a brigadier-general on April 11, 1862. He served under Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Beauregard, commanding the cavalry at Corinth and was prominent in the defense of Port Hudson, surrendering there on July 9, 1863.

After the war he was a commission merchant in St. Louis and served many Arkansas planters in their business transactions.

He died July 25, 1883, at McMinnville, Tennessee.

Thomas James Churchill (March 10, 1824–March 10, 1905) had served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War before coming to Little Rock where he married Anne Sevier, daughter of the ex‑senator. He was quick to leave his plantation for the army in 1861 and was elected Colonel of the First Arkansas Mounted Rifles. He served gallantly at Oak Hills and Pea Ridge and went on the Kentucky campaign under Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.E. Kirby Smith. He was returned to the state and placed in command of Arkansas Post in time to be captured there in January, 1863. He had been commissioned brigadier in March, 1862, and a year later was promoted to major general. After a short tour of duty in Tennessee, he was again transferred to the Trans-Mississippi and served there until the end of the war.

He served six years as State Treasurer and was elected Governor in 1880. His term saw the "Perry County War," which the governor tranquilized with the Quapaw Guards under General Robert C. Newton.

Churchill died March 10, 1905, and is buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery, Little Rock.

Patrick Ronayne Cleburne (March 17, 1828–November 30, 1864) (usually pronounced "Clayburn") was a native of Ireland and had served three years in the British army before coming to America. He settled in Helena, as a druggist, but had been admitted to the bar and was a practicing attorney when war broke out. He raised a company in the First Arkansas, later called the Fifteenth, and was elected Colonel almost unanimously. His commission  p235 as brigadier dates from March 4, 1862, and that of major general from December 13 of the same year. He served gallantly in Kentucky and Tennessee, and on Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Bragg's retreat after Missionary Ridge Cleburne and his men made the heroic fight at Tunnel Hill and Ringgold Gap that allowed the army to escape total destruction. He served brilliantly in the Atlanta campaign, only to die at the head of his men in Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.John Bell Hood's tragic fight at Franklin, Tennessee, November 30, 1864.

His remark the day before Franklin, as they passed the lovely Ashwood graveyard, President Polk's family burial ground near Columbia, that it would almost be worth dying to be buried in so beautiful a spot, was too soon a reality.

His body was later removed to Helena.

Thomas Pleasant Dockery (December 18, 1833–February 27, 1898) a North Carolinian, went into the Confederate Army as Colonel of the 19th Arkansas Infantry and fought bravely at Oak Hills under Churchill and McCulloch. He crossed the Mississippi with Price and Van Dorn in May, 1862, and took a prominent part in the battle of Corinth. He was commissioned a brigadier August 10, 1862, and organized a brigade that fought against Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Steele in the Camden, Mark's Mill and Jenkin's Ferry campaign. He died in New York City in 1898.

James Fleming Fagan (March 1, 1828–September 1, 1893) a Kentuckian, came to Arkansas with his father, who was one of the contractors on the first State House. The elder Mr. Fagan died soon after the move and Mrs. Fagan married Samuel Adams who succeeded to the governor­ship when Archibald Yell resigned to fight in the Mexican War. The future Confederate general went to Mexico with Yell and came home a lieutenant. He was among the first to raise a company for Confederate service and was, upon its organization, elected colonel of the First Arkansas Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general September 12, 1862. His brigade bore the brunt of the Helena fight,  p236 July 4, 1863, losing 435 men out of a total of 1,339 present for duty.

He commanded a cavalry division against Steele's Camden expedition and was promoted to major general April 24, 1864. He led the Arkansas cavalry on Price's Missouri Raid late in 1864 and was one of the last active fighting generals west of the Mississippi River.

Fagan's wife was a sister of General W. N. R. Beall and after her death he married a Miss Ripley, a niece of Major Ben J. Field, who was a brother of the first wife of Governor Henry M. Rector.

His daughter, Jimmie,º married Oren D. Watson of Newport, and their daughter, Lady Elizabeth Luker, is president of the Jackson County Historical Society.

Daniel Chevilette Govan (July 4, 1829–March 12, 1911) a native of North Carolina, Colonel of the Second Arkansas, fought at Shiloh, in the Kentucky campaign, at Murfreesboro and Chickamauga. He commanded a brigade at Missionary Ridge and was with Cleburne on the rear-guard action at Ringgold, Georgia. Promoted to brigadier December 29, 1863, he led the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiments through the Atlanta campaign. He was captured while protecting Hood's retreat but was exchanged in time to take part in the Tennessee battles, the retreat from Nashville and the final fighting in North Carolina.

He was the last surviving Confederate general from Arkansas, dying March 12, 1911.

General Pat Cleburne, complimenting Govan, said that he was one of the four best officers in the Confederate army.

Thomas Carmichael Hindman (January 28, 1828–September 28, 1868) a native of Tennessee, was living in Mississippi at the outbreak of the Mexican War and served as a lieutenant in a regiment from that state. After the war he moved to Arkansas and was elected to Congress in 1858, serving until he was commissioned colonel of the  p237 Second Arkansas Infantry, June 21, 1861, and brigadier-general, September 28. He served under Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Hardee in his Kentucky campaign and had a conspicuous part in the battle of Shiloh. In May, 1862, he was given command of the Trans-Mississippi District and strove diligently to restore order and confidence in Arkansas. His zeal and energy made many enemies among the citizens but his efforts saved the state for the South for the term of his command. He led the ill-advised campaign which resulted in the costly battle at Prairie Grove in December, 1862. He was moved East of the Mississippi and commanded a division at Chickamauga and through the Atlanta campaign.

Hindman was one of the Confederate leaders who spent some time in Mexico after the war but returned to Helena in 1867, where he violated a fundamental precaution exercised by most former veterans and was shot through a lighted window in his home in 1868. The assassin was never brought to trial and while it was generally accepted that he was killed by some of the carpet-bagger followers, citizens of Prairie County, years later, would point to a neighbor, a former Confederate, as "the man who shot Tom Hindman."

Alexander Travis Hawthorne (January 10, 1825–May 31, 1899) from Alabama, was elected lieutenant-colonel of the Sixth Arkansas Infantry upon its organization in 1861 and led the regiment at Shiloh and the attack on Helena. He was commissioned brigadier general February 18, 1864, and commanded a brigade under Churchill against Steele in April, 1864.

He continued under Churchill until the close of the war. His last years were spent in Atlanta and Dallas, where he died May 31, 1899.

Lucius Eugene Polk (July 10, 1833–December 1, 1892), born in North Carolina and educated at the University of Virginia, was the nephew of Lt. General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Leonidas Polk, one-time Bishop of Arkansas and Louisiana. A resident of Phillips County before the war, he entered the Confederate army as a private but was soon promoted to lieutenant in  p238 Company B, 15th Arkansas Infantry. His first service was under Hardee in Arkansas but he was transferred across the Mississippi in time to fight and be wounded at Shiloh. The next week he was promoted to colonel of the regiment. Wounded again in Kentucky, he recovered in time for his commission as brigadier, which came just before the battle of Murfreesboro. He was with Cleburne at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and the rear-guard action at Ringgold, where Cleburne grouped him with Lowrey, Govan and Granbury, saying that four better officers were not to be found in the army. He was severely wounded by artillery fire at Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, not far from the spot where General Leonidas Polk was killed, and retired from service. He died in Tennessee in 1892.

Evander McNair (April 15, 1820–November 13, 1902) a North Carolinian, fought at Oak Hills and Pea Ridge as colonel of the Fourth Arkansas Infantry, succeeding to brigade command on the death of General McCulloch. He led the brigade in the Kentucky campaign and was made a brigadier general November 4, 1862, in time for the battle of Murfreesboro. After service in Mississippi and at Chickamauga, McNair's brigade was returned to Arkansas for the remainder of the war. McNair lived until 1902.

Dandridge McRae (October 10, 1829–April 23, 1899) settled in Searcy, where he had moved from his native Alabama, in 1849, engaging in the practice of law. He married Miss Angie Lewis of Mississippi in 1855.

He raised and was elected colonel of the 21st Arkansas Infantry, fighting well at Oak Hills, Pea Ridge and other smaller actions in Arkansas. He and McNair received their commissions as brigadiers the same day. He took part in the battle of Helena and the campaign against Steele at Camden, Mark's Mills and Jenkin's Ferry.

Upon his return to White County, McRae and Col. Jos.º Frolich headed the Ku Klux Klan in that county and were indicted after the Klan was disbanded. Frolich went  p239 to Canada and McRae to Louisiana. He returned after a year and sought Judge J. N. Cypert who went before the Circuit Court, then in session to have McRae released on bail. The amount was set at $100,000, an amount the carpet-baggers thought could not be raised but it was secured within a few hours. McRae was never tried and spent the rest of his life in Searcy, dying in 1899. The town of McRae is named in his honor.

The daughters of General McRae married and lived in Searcy, Annie becoming Mrs. R. P. Neely and Minnie, Mrs. J. F. Rives. Oran J. Vaughan, of Searcy, states that Mrs. Neely has a descendant now living in Searcy, Mrs. Angie Mae Dellinger. Mrs. Dellinger's daughter, Mrs. A. R. Young, lives in Pontiac, Mich. The descendants of the Rives are Mrs. Robert Tripp, Brownsville, Tennessee, and Mrs. Bettie Sue Hutchinson, Jackson, Mississippi.

The Confederate Military History states that:

Albert Pike (December 29, 1809–April 2, 1891) was given credit for "raising a company of cavalry for the Mexican War and being present at the battle of Buena Vista." His inability to get along with higher authority produced a duel in the Mexican War and Pike's resignation from the Confederate Army some fourteen years later. He had been legal advisor for the Choctaws before the Civil War and was appointed to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes on behalf of the Confederacy. He was commissioned a brigadier general August 15, 1861, and led a brigade of Indians in a confused performance at Pea Ridge. He and Hindman had misunderstandings and Pike resigned in November, 1862. He sat out the war in seclusion and after a year in newspaper work in Memphis he moved to Washington, D. C., for the remainder of a life devoted to law, literature and Freemasonry. He died there in 1891.

Daniel Harris Reynolds (December 14, 1832–March 14, 1902) was born in Ohio, moved to Lake Village and began the practice of law in 1858. He raised a company  p240 and was elected captain of the Chicot Rangers, attached to the First Arkansas Mounted Rifles under Churchill. His company fought at Oak Hills and went with Van Dorn to Corinth and with Kirby Smith and Bragg in the Army of the Tennessee. As a lieutenant colonel of the First Battalion Dismounted Rifles, Reynolds was conspicuous at Chickamauga and in the Georgia campaign.

His commission as brigadier dates from March 5, 1864, and he saw all the bitter fighting around Atlanta, on Hood's campaign against Nashville, and on to the surrender in North Carolina, suffering a severe wound at Bentonville. Reynolds served briefly in the Arkansas Senate after the war and died in Lake Village in 1902.

John Seldonº Roane's (January 8, 1817–April 8, 1867) birthplace is sometimes given as Wilson County, Arkansas, although it should have read Tennessee. He was lieutenant-colonel in Archibald Yell's regiment at Buena Vista and commanded after Yell's death. Albert Pike's comments on Roane's conduct in the battle resulted in a duel between two poor marksmen. The voters had not shared Pike's views and Roane was elected governor, serving from 1849 to 1852. He was appointed a brigadier March 20, 1862 and was assigned by Van Dorn to command of the state when Confederate forces went eastward after Shiloh. He managed to keep the forces together and hold on until the arrival of Hindman. He fought at Prairie Grove and other engagements in the state.

He was the first survivor of the war to succumb after the surrender, dying in Pine Bluff, April 7, 1867.

Albert Rust (1818-April 4, 1870) was born in Virginia, had represented the Second District of Arkansas in Congress from 1855‑57 and was serving in 1861. He was elected colonel of the Third Arkansas and went to Virginia with that regiment. He served under Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Robert E. Lee in Lee's early command in the West Virginia campaign and was later under Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Stonewall Jackson. Commissioned a brigadier March 4, 1862, he was sent West and took part in the battle of  p241 Corinth before being assigned to General Sterling Price in the Trans-Mississippi Department in April, 1863, where he served until the end of the war.

He died April 4, 1870 and is buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery, Little Rock.

James Camp Tappan (September 9, 1825–March 19, 1906) came to Helena from Williamson County, Tennessee, in 1848 and practiced law until the outbreak of the war. He organized and led the Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry at Shiloh and in the Kentucky campaign before being commissioned a brigadier and transferred to the Trans-Mississippi in November, 1862. He took part in the fight against Banks on Red River and made a forced march to help beat Steele at Jenkin's Ferry. He closed the war with Price's Raid in 1864. After the war, Tappan returned to Helena and formed, with Major J. J. Horner, the law firm of Tappan and Horner. He died there March 19, 1906.

Hempstead includes as generals from Arkansas, Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Lucius MarshaIndicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class. Walker (October 18, 1829–September 6, 1863) a Tennessean, William L. (Old Tige) Cabell (January 21, 1827–February 22, 1911) a Virginian, Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.James McIntosh (1828-March 7, 1862) from Florida, John H. Kelley (March 31, 1840–September 4, 1864) an Alabamian, and John Ed Murray. The latter received his commission July 22, 1864, as he rode out to his death in front of Atlanta. He is better known as the colonel of the 5th Arkansas.

Kelley, colonel of the consolidated 8th and 9th Arkansas, led a brigade in Cleburne's Division and was mortally wounded at Franklin, Tennessee, September 2, 1864. Less than twenty-four when he received his commission as brigadier, Kelley was the youngest general officer in the Confederate Army. Usually credited to Alabama, he led Arkansas troops from September, 1861, through his field grade ranks until he was assigned a division of Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Wheeler's Cavalry after being made a brigadier November 16, 1863.

 p242  Although Walker, a West Pointer, was a native of Tennessee, he had lived in St. Francis County some time before the war. He was made colonel of the 40th Tennessee Infantry, later designated the 5th Confederate, composed of men from Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky as well as Tennesseans and promoted to brigadier general March 11, 1862. He and Braxton Bragg did not get along and Walker was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi and commanded a cavalry brigade in the attack on Helena. He and Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Marmaduke had words over Marmaduke's alleged criticism of Walker's conduct near Little Rock and they met in a duel fatal to Walker on September 6, 1863.​b

Arkansas' claim to Cabell (pronounced Cab′-ell) comes from his joining the Confederate Army in Arkansas, his service in the state during the war and his residence in Ft. Smith after the close of the hostilities. A West Point graduate, he had been a lieutenant and regimental quartermaster of the Seventh Infantry and was a captain when war broke out. He was commissioned a major in the Confederate Army, serving under Beauregard, Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Joseph E. Johnston and Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Albert Sidney Johnston until he was sent to Jacksonport, in command of all Confederate forces on White River, in January, 1862. After the Pea Ridge battle Cabell had charge of the movement across the Mississippi and completed work within a week. After the battle of Corinth, in which he was severely wounded, he was returned to Arkansas to recover and do inspection duty. Promoted to brigadier January 20, 1863, he raised the largest cavalry brigade in the Department and led it in more than twenty battles, until he was captured on Price's Raid.

His wife, the former Kate Rector, daughter of Elias Rector, the first United States Marshal for Arkansas after statehood, had followed his military movements and returned with him to Ft. Smith after the war. He moved to Dallas, Tex., served three terms as mayor and died there February 11,​c 1911.

His grandson Earl Cabell, is the present mayor. A  p243 nephew, DeRosey C. Cabell, was Lt. Colonel Second Arkansas Infantry, War with Spain, and was in the regular army until his retirement.

James McQueen McIntosh was a native of Florida and a graduate of West Point. He saw service against the Indians and was promoted to a captaincy in the First Cavalry. He resigned in 1861, was commissioned a captain in the Confederate cavalry and soon assigned to the Second Arkansas Mounted Rifles as colonel. He was made a brigadier general January 24, 1862, six weeks before his death at Pea Ridge.

The History alone credits Stand Watie (December 12, 1806–September 9, 1871) to Arkansas, because there was no Volume of the History devoted to Indian Territory and Arkansas was his closest and nearest connection. The only Indian commissioned a general officer in either army, Watie led the Cherokees into military alliance with the South and was made colonel of the First Cherokee Regiment. He was authorized to raise a brigade in the spring of 1863 and was commissioned a brigadier, May 10, 1864. While still a colonel he had captured a Federal steamboat, the J. M. Williams, at Pheasant Bluff, near what is now Vian, Oklahoma. Watie died in 1871 and is buried at Tallaquah, the Cherokee capital.

Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Seth M. Barton (September 8, 1829–April 11, 1900) is designated as an Arkansas general only in Hempstead. He was a major, then colonel of the Third Arkansas Infantry, fighting in Virginia and was made a brigadier March 11, 1862. He is generally considered a Virginian.

Frank C. Armstrong (November 22, 1835–September 8, 1909) is credited to Arkansas by Wright's manuscript, his book and the Memorandum. Born in Indian Territory, he first saw service with McCulloch as Adjutant General. Assigned a temporary rank in January, 1863, he was confirmed on April 23 of that year to rank from January 20. After Pea Ridge he went East of the Mississippi to serve  p244 with Beall and later with Price. He fought with Forrest, Wheeler and in the Georgia campaign, returning in time for Hood's Tennessee disaster. He helped cover the retreat from Nashville and was the last regiment across the Tennessee River.

The Confederate Handbook lists him from Tennessee.

The manuscript states that Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Nicholas Bartlett Pearce (July 20, 1828–March 8, 1894) received his commission as a Confederate brigadier on August 20, 1861, listing him as commanding the First Division Army of Arkansas. He was a graduate of West Point, class of 1850, resigning from the army in 1858 to settle at Osage Mills, Arkansas, where he entered the mercantile business. After the war he joined the mathematics faculty of the University of Arkansas for two years (1872‑74). He died at Dallas, Texas. In General Wright's published work the notation says that Pearce was assigned by E. Kirby Smith as a brigadier but he was not appointed by President Davis or confirmed by the Senate.

The manuscript also names Edward Gantt as a brigadier, dating from September 11, 1862, but he is missing from the book. Cook includes Gantt in his lists.

Gantt, as colonel of the Twelfth Arkansas, was captured at Ft. Donelson and after being exchanged was in command of the Eleventh and Twelfth Regiments at the surrender of Island No. 10. Severe criticism for this unavoidable action and the withholding of his brigadier's commission resulted in the termination of his war efforts for the South.

T. H. McCray is named as a general only by Cook, who gives his date of rank as November 7, 1863. He is generally known as a colonel, although he led a brigade in Fagan's Division on Price's Raid. Thomas credits McCray with taking a force East of the Mississippi River and returning with a large supply of rifles and ammunition with which Shelby armed his new recruits. McCray operated over  p245 North Arkansas and at the close of the war he was review brigade commander under Gen. M. Jeff Thompson.

Charles W. Adams (August 16, 1817–September 19, 1878) is listed by Hempstead, and Archibald S. Dobbins (born 1836) and Adams are mentioned by Cook and Thomas, although they are generally ranked as colonels, at times commanding brigades.

Mrs. J. C. Jeffries, Librarian, Helena Public Library, names the seven generals from Phillips County as: "Cleyburne," Govan, Hindman, Polk, Tappan, Dobbins and Adams.

Three of them, Cleburne, Hindman and Tappan are buried at Helena and Tappan has collateral descendants living there. Govan, closely connected with Marianna, has descendants there, although he is buried in Holly Springs, Mississippi. The last of the Hindman family died recently leaving a considerable sum for a memorial to the general. Polk, buried at Columbia, Tennessee, has distant cousins in Phillips County. Adams' most famous descendant was Helen Keller, his granddaughter. Dobbins went to Brazil and it is supposed that he died there. He has a great-great-grandson, Robert H. Dalehite, now living in Galveston.

Mrs. Jeffries states that Dobbins, commissioned a brigadier after Mark's Mills, and Adams, who served as Hindman's chief of staff, were never ratified by the Confederate Senate or President Davis, although they served in the capacity and with the rank of a general officer.

All sources list four Major Generals: Churchill, March 17, 1865; Cleburne, December 13, 1862; Fagan, April 24, 1864; and Hindman, April 14, 1862. Hempstead alone ranks McNair as a Major General.


[image ALT: missingALT. It is American Confederate general James F. Fagan.]
		
[image ALT: missingALT. It is American Confederate general Patrick R. Cleburne.]

James F. Fagan

Patrick R. Cleburne


[image ALT: missingALT. It is American Confederate general Thomas J. Churchill.]
		
[image ALT: missingALT. It is American Confederate general Thomas C. Hindman.]

Thomas J. Churchill

Thomas C. Hindman

Arkansas' Four Confederate Major Generals

Courtesy The Arkansas History Commission

Inconsistencies and discrepancies in the names, dates and ranks of Arkansas officers are not unusual. No two authorities agree on the final number of general officers in the Confederate Army totaled. Warner probably used the smallest figure, 425. The Confederate Hand Book leaves a nice problem in arithmetic: It gives a total of 8 generals, 20 lieutenant  p246 generals, 102 major generals and 432 brigadiers, for a grand total of 562. This note follows: "This does not indicate that 562 different men held generals' commissions in the Confederate Army. Of the 102 Major Generals 99 were commissioned from Brigadiers; of the 20 Lieutenant Generals 19 were promoted from Major Generals; of the 8 Generals 4 had served in lower grades."


Thayer's Notes:

a Our author gives Marshall as Gen. Walker's middle name; his tombstone (q.v.) has Marsh.

[decorative delimiter]

b A carefully worded sentence: the duel was fought on September 6, but Gen. Walker did not die until the following day.

[decorative delimiter]

c So our author; not as easy to correct as it could be, since sources disagree. Cullum's Register has "Feb. 21"; his tombstone and his AOG obituary have February 22, which is very likely the correct date. At any rate, here "February 11" is not right; Ockham's razor suggests a typo for "21", copied from Cullum.


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Page updated: 20 Feb 14