The 37th Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Also known as: 29th Arkansas Infantry Regiment; 1st Trans-Mississippi Infantry Regiment.

Organization

The 37th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, was organized in Pope County by individual companies during March through June 1862 as the 1st Trans-Mississippi Infantry; and organized as the 29th Arkansas Infantry Regiment upon its acceptance into Confederate service on June 6, 1862 under the command of Colonel Joseph C. Pleasants. Field Officers were Lt. Col. Jeptha C. Johnson and Major John A. Geoghegan. Renamed as the 37th Arkansas Infantry regiment in the summer of 1862.

Battles

Initially assigned (along with the 34th, 35th, and 39th Arkansas and Chew's Arkansas Sharpshooter Battalion) to form Brigadier General James F. Fagan's brigade in Shoup's Division in Major General Thomas Hindman's 1st Corps of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi. The brigade fought in the battle of Prairie Grove on December 7–8, 1862. After the retreat from Prairie Grove to Van Buren, on July 4, 1863, the brigade and the 37th Arkansas served in the attack on the federal post at Helena, Arkansas.

Captured at Battle of Helena.

Detachments of the 43rd Indiana, 33rd Iowa and 33rd Missouri all seem to have been involved in the capture of the forward elements of the 37th Arkansas during the Battle of Helena, July 4, 1863. Here is what Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Heath, commanding 33rd Missouri, reported:
Lieutenant-Colonel Cyrus H. Mackey, commanding 33rd Iowa, reported:
Col. Samuel A. Rice, 33rd Iowa, commanding the brigade to which these regiments belonged, didn't credit any specific regiment with the capture of the 37th Arkansas, but the captured colors were credited to his own regiment.

Most of the men of the 36th and 37th Arkansas Regiments captured at Helena were sent to military prison at Alton, Illinois, and later sent to Fort Delaware, where they were held until March 1865, when they were forwarded to City Point, Virginia, for exchange. The Officers were sent to military prison Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, Ohio.

Service until the end

The 37th Arkansas subsequently served in the defense of Little Rock in September, 1863. The brigade, now under the command of Brigadier General A. T. Hawthorn, and composed of the 37th, 34th, and 35th Arkansas regiments, spent the winter of 1863 southwest of Little Rock, and then was sent south with General Churchill's Arkansas Infantry Division to Shreveport, Louisiana in the early spring of 1864 to assist General Kirby Smith's army in countering Union General Nathaniel Banks' advance along the Red River. After fighting in the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, Churchill's Division and Kirby Smith then marched back to Arkansas to assist General Price in dealing with the other half of the Red River campaign, Union Gen'l Frederick Steele's Camden Expedition moving southwest from Little Rock. The Division and Hawthorn's Brigade arrived in time to join the pursuit of Steele's army as it retreated from Camden, and join in the attack on Steele as he tried to cross the Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry on April 30, 1864. Gause's Brigade returned to the vicinity of Camden following Jenkins' Ferry, and saw no substantial combat for the remainder of the war. They would go on to take part in the following battles:

• Battle of Prairie Grove
  Battle of Prairie Grove
  The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on 7 December 1862, that resulted in a tactical stalemate but essentially secured northwest Arkansas for the Union.-Strategic situation: Union:...
  
  , Arkansas, December 7, 1862
• Battle of Helena
  Battle of Helena
  The Battle of Helena was a land battle of the American Civil War fought on July 4, 1863, at Helena, Arkansas. Overshadowed by the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the Battle of Helena secured eastern Arkansas for the Union.- Union forces :...
  
  , Arkansas July 4, 1863
• Battle of Little Rock, Arkansas, September 10, 1863
• Red River Campaign
  Red River Campaign
  The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....
  
  , Arkansas March-May, 1864
• Battle of Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas April 30, 1864

External links

• Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home Page
• The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture
• The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
• The Arkansas History Commission, State Archives, Civil War in Arkansas

See also

• List of Arkansas Civil War Confederate units
• Lists of American Civil War Regiments by State
• Confederate Units by State
• Arkansas in the American Civil War
  Arkansas in the American Civil War
  The state of Arkansas was a part of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and provided a source of troops, supplies, and military and political leaders for the fledgling country. Arkansas had become the 25th state of the United States, on June 15, 1836, entering as a...
  
  
• Arkansas Militia in the Civil War
  Arkansas Militia in the Civil War
  The units of the Arkansas Militia in the Civil War included militia organizations to which the current Arkansas National Guard has a connection: the militia, Home Guard, and State Troop regiments raised by the State of Arkansas. Like most of the United States, Arkansas had an organized militia...