Researching War Records

Cannon at Pea Ridge, AR

If your ancestor was in the south he was probably in the Civil War

Montgomery Co. War Memorial 
Civil War 
WWI  | WW2 enlistment  | Uniforms

War of 1812. Pvt William Pettijohn, 1789 - 1865. CO SPIES Ohio Trps. Old Mount Tabor Cemetery, Welsh, Montgomery County, AR

"A history of America might be characterized as a history of its military experiences"

After the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), discharge certificates were given. Copies of these records, especially for the Civil War and World Wars I and II veterans, were often recorded in the local county records.

   Twentieth Century Military Records

Civil War  April 12, 1861 - May 26, 1865  

FamilySearch Online Records
1861-1865 Arkansas Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers
1890-1963 Arkansas Confederate Soldier Home
1891-1939 Arkansas Ex-Confederate Pension Records
1901-1929 Arkansas Confederate Pensions

Arkansas joined the Confederacy in May 1861. The first major engagement on Arkansas soil was the Battle of Pea Ridge in (7th) March 1862.  When the Federals began to approach Little Rock in May 1862, the State Capitol was temporarily moved to Hot Springs, but came back to Little Rock in a few weeks. The Federals did take Little Rock in September 1863 and the capital was moved to Washington, in Hempstead County. December 7, 1862 the battle of Prairie Grove, Washington County, was fought. January 11 1863 Arkansas Post was captured by the Federal forces. David O. Dodd was executed as a Confederate spy in Little Rock January 8 1864. Under Federal supervision a 'loyal' state government was formed in January 1864, with Isaac Murphy, the only member of the legislature who had voted against secession, as governor. For more than a year Arkansas had two state governments. The War in Arkansas was practically over by the close of 1864. The Confederate government in Arkansas came to an end. The scalawags and carpetbaggers, with Congressional blessing, took control of the State in 1868. Thousands of ex-Confederate were disfranchised. A new constitution was drafted. Arkansas was re-admitted to the Union as a State in June, 1868. The next six years corruption was the rule, rather than the exception. In this period over $20,000,000 of tax funds were unaccounted for. The carpet baggers were thrown out of the office in the election of 1874. December 1 1890 the Confederate Soldiers' Home, six miles east of Little Rock, was opened.  Reference: Historical Report of the Secretary of State 1958 , C.G. "Crisp" Hall, Secretary of State. Printed and bound in Arkansas.

"The records of the 4th Arkansas Infantry are among the most complete of any Arkansas regiment, but even they aren't much good after about mid-1864."

Located in front of the Montgomery Co. Mt Ida Courthouse which is now back of the couthouse.
During the Civil War companies were reported based on county of origin that existed at that time.

I hope Montgomery County genealogy buffs will consider contributing pen portraits of any Montgomery County veteran's, pension and /or service record data, photographs, snippets of history involving Montgomery Co. and the 'War between the States'.

Company C, 4th Arkansas Infantry CSA Caddo Rifles
Company F, 4th Arkansas Infantry CSA  Montgomery County Hunters
Company I, 33rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment CSA, majority enlisted at Caddo Gap, June 1862
Fourth Arkansas Infantry CSA
Civil War veterans buried in Montgomery County
Union Reports
- Caddo Gap and Mount Ida skirmishes
Co. D. 4th AR Cavalry Union
Union Sympathizers   Men of Montgomery County (wayback)
Company L, Arkansas Seventh Cavalry, Col. John F. Hill's Regiment, mustered at Mt Ida,  October 1, 1863. CSA
Hill was authorized to recruit a sort of partisan-ranger battalion from among the local population to scout and harass the enemy, operating more or less independently. Eventually, several independent mounted companies were attached to Hill's Battalion, and it was assigned to Cabell's brigade as a standard-issue cavalry regiment. Cavalry regiments were different than that for infantry... allowing for twelve companies rather than ten. Maybe allowed the regiment to operate in three squadrons of four companies each, maybe a little more flexible operation for service on the frontier vs. the Indians. Hindman had spent the last 6 months ruthlessly dismounting numerous mounted regiments, battalions and companies and converting them to the desperately needed infantry. Additionally, the multitude of cavalry horses represented a very real threat of eating up the countryside to the determent of the rest of the army, and the civilian populace. And, there never seemed to be enough horses for supply wagons, ambulances, etc. The losses to the infantry at Prairie Grove in December only served to accentuate the need for more infantry, not more cavalry. I would imagine that the formation of this and other new cavalry regiments was not too popular with the several pre-existing cavalry regiments who had been forced to serve dismounted.

Gammage. W.P. The Camp, the Bivouac, and the BATTLEFIELD: being the history of the Fourth Arkansas Regiment, from its first organization down to the present date; its campaigns and its battles... / Little Rock : Arkansas Southern Press, 1958 Muster Rolls: Co. C     Co. F   

ARGenWeb Archives under Simms Gibbs Washita
Civil War Div. of US petition, 1915 from Simms / Gibbs / Washita, Ark

NPS Civil War Soldiers Includes the history of the units, rosters and battles. The project includes the compiled service records of Union and the Confederacy combatants for Arkansas. (Don't miss)
Confederate Parole Records
- Index
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
images online
1883 Pensioners

Nov. 1863
10-18 - Expedition from Benton to Mount Ida
11 - Skirmish, Caddo Gap  CSA AR. 38th Inf.
13 - Skirmish, Mount Ida

Dec. 1863
02-07 - Scout from Waldron to Mount Ida, Caddo Gap, and Dallas CSA AR. 38th Inf.
04 - Skirmish, Caddo Gap CSA AR. 38th Inf.

Jan. 1864
24 - Skirmish, Baker's Spring, Caddo Gap, CSA AR. 38th Inf.
26 - Skirmish, Caddo Gap

Feb. 1864
12-14 - Skirmishes, Scott's Farm, Caddo Gap, Caddo Mountains
16 - Skirmish, Caddo Gap

March 1864
01 - Skirmish, Cedar Glade

July 1864
10 - Skirmish, Montgomery County  CSA AR. 38th Inf.
11 - Skirmish, Caddo Gap  CSA AR. 38th Inf.

*The Original Arkansas Genealogy Project, Civil War (couchgenweb.com)

The late E. G. Gerdes Civil War site for Arkansas. wayback  A wonderful site. Searchable.  

1st Arkansas Infantry Reg. USA Co. K
HALL, HARVEY Cpl
Enl 15 Mar 1863 at Fayetteville, AR. Age 23, farmer, ht 5' 11", eyes blue, hair lt, complx fair, born in Montgomery Co, AR. On duty as company cook Mar 1865.

1st Arkansas Infantry Reg. USA Co. I
HALL, JAMES C. Pvt Enl 2 April 1865 at Ft Smith, AR. Age 18, farmer, ht 5' 7", eyes blue, hair lt, complx fair, born in Montgomery Co, AR.

1st Arkansas Infantry Reg. USA Co. I
PRIDDY, JOHN C. Pvt Enl 1 July 1863 at Cassville, MO. Age 37, farmer, ht 5' 9", eyes drk, hair drk, complx drk, born in Montgomery Co, AR. Absent attending legislature of Ark from 19 Jan-22May 1865. Absent sick in gen hospital 25 Jun 1865.

Rapley
's Sharpshooters, CSA
Garner, Stephen Riley Co. D Private. Enlisted in Co. E, 19th Arkansas Infantry at Little Rock, Arkansas, March 1, 1862; transferred to Co. D, 12th Arkansas Battalion, June 30, 1862; wounded at Corinth, Mississippi, October 4, 1862; present, February 28, 1863; captured on Big Black river, Mississippi, May 17, 1863; confined at Fort Delaware; exchanged at City Point, Virginia, August 1, 1863; born in McNairy county, Tennessee, April 7, 1843; died in Garland county, Arkansas, March 18, 1929; buried in Mountain Valley Cemetery, Garland county, Arkansas; married Georgia Ann Hilton in Montgomery county, Arkansas, October 1, 1867; filed Arkansas pension application #22949 from Garland county, 1916; listed in Hot Spring county 1860 census.

Surname: Garner
Given Name: Stephen R.
Application Number: 22949
Widow Surname: Garner
Widow Given Name: Georgie Ann
Company: E
Regiment: 19
State Served From: Arkansas
Division: Infantry
Pension County: Garland
Death Date: 3/17/1929
Comments: widow applied 1929 / questionnaire

8th Arkansas Infantry Reg. CSA Co. A
Small, Elias, Pvt Age 20. Enl 6 July 1861 at Jacksonport, AR. Wounded 6 Apr1862 at Shiloh, TN. Disch 25 Oct 1862. Ht 6' 1", eyes blk, hair drk, complx drk, born Montgomery Co, AR, age 19.

33rd Arkansas Infantry Reg. CSA Co. B
White, George W., Pvt - Age 18. Enl 24 June 1862 in Montgomery Co, AR. Left on the retreat from Van Buren, AR 27 Dec 1862. Reported as deserter 2 Jan 1863. On a list of men from various regts now in the Cavalry without authority 27 Jan 1864. In Cpt Head's Co of Gipson's Bn.

 

Little Rock National Cemetery

The Walk

'Upon the approach of the Civil War of 1861-65, the people of Montgomery County, with a very few exceptions, were in favor of the Southern cause, and a liberal percentage of them joined and served in the Confederate armies. Toward the close of the war, when the Federal Army controlled the greater portion of the State, a few men, some of whom deserted from the Confederate Army, went out of the county and joined the United States forces. During the war a few raids were made into the county by small bodies from each of the contending armies, and the guerrillas prowled about to some extent, and a few individuals were killed, but little or no damage was done to property. Aside from the few individuals that were killed the county well escaped the ravages of war, and when the struggle was over the people had no more trouble such as was the case in many portions of the State following the close of the war. The people here did not suffer the privations endured in many other sections of the country, as they manufactured their own clothing, and in the main raised their own provisions.' Reference: "The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas."  Published by Southern Publishing Company 1891.

The AHC have a considerable collection of Civil War indexes, service and pension records. No refund so check indexes first.
Form For Copies of Arkansas Confederate Pensions
Form For Copies of Arkansas Military Service Records
Civil War pension cards
List of pensioners: Index to Arkansas Confederate Pension Applications

Consolidated Index to Compiled Service Records of  Confederate Soldiers M253 535 microfilm rolls. These are index cards which contains only the soldiers name, company, unit and rank on enrollment and rank on discharge.

Index to Compiled Service Record of Confederate Soldiers who served in Organizations from the State of Arkansas National Archives Microfilm Publication. Same information as above but specific for Arkansas companies. At major genealogical libraries, AHC, National Archives and Family History Library

Index to Arkansas Confederate Soldiers by Desmond Walls Allen 3 Vols. Use this as a research tool

Arkansas 1911 Special Census of Confederate Veterans. Name index to the three volumes series of Arkansas CSA Soldiers. The original questionnaire represents 44 counties. Does not include Montgomery, Polk, Garland or Hot Spring counties.

Civil War memories - Abstract Mrs. J.A. Cubage, Caddo Gap. Publication Arkansas Gazette p.5 Mar 27, 1932
                                  - Article by Ida Sublette Cobb on Albert Pike  

Arkansas History Commission
Josiah H. Demby papers, 1865-1957, SMC.7.8
Josiah H. Demby was born in Georgia around 1840 and moved to Arkansas prior to 1860. He served in the Civil War as First Lieutenant in Company G, 4th Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry, United States Army. He was discharged June 13, 1865. After the war, he served in General R.F. Catterson's militia that helped maintain order against the Ku Klux Klan in southern Arkansas. He served as a State Representative in 1868 for Scott, Polk, Montgomery, and Hot Spring counties and in 1879 for Montgomery County. This collection contains historical accounts written by Josiah H. Demby about the Catterson Militia, with signed affidavits of witnesses and a letter to Powell Clayton. Also included is Demby's Civil War discharge.
[A.C. Ussery, 64 years old, present post-office address is Bear, Montgomery County]
[J. L. Wacaster. I am 64 years of age, was born in Montgomery County near Caddo Gap.]
[Thomas J. Rawles. I am 66 years old, was born in Montgomery County, Arkansas near Bear post-office.]

Arkansas History Commission
Polk Township, Montgomery County, poll book, 1864, SMC.28.36 This poll book from Polk Township, Montgomery County, Arkansas, was used for an October 3, 1864, general election, in which few men voted.

Daily Southern Cross, 6 November 1863, Page 5
The rebellion which the U. S. Government is engaged in putting down is not to be crushed like an egg nor yet like ever so tough a nut. It is rather like a nest of viper, in spongy ground - the old ones are dead, the young ones must come one at a time, under the heel. So the Confederacy may not topple to its utter ruin with a crash that will startle the world, but inch by inch settle away as pillar after pillar falls until it lies a mass of ruins long before the victors discover how successful their assaults have been. The war is in its third year. We have had alternate seasons of victory and defeat, triumph and failure, glory and shame. 

North Otago Times, 4 January 1866, Page 3
A Plain Salad. The Southerners at the commencement of the war being asked what they wanted, replied, "lettuce alone;" and the Northerners have, out of sheer perversity been trying ever since to give them a dressing.

CIVIL WAR PARTICIPANTS BORN or buried IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
William Augustus Douglas Durnett
Charles W Flowers

Links

AR Civil War info       : Fourth Arkansas Union Calvary
                                       : Third Arkansas Union Calvary 
Co. L 7th AR Cavalry Regiment CSA organized in part Oct. 1st 1863 at Mount Ida.
Earnest’s Company, Local Defense- Montgomery Co.
One documented case of a regularly-organized and officially-sanctioned Confederate home guard unit in Arkansas being accused of crimes, that being Capt. Jeremiah Earnest's Local Defense Company of Montgomery County, Arkansas. Captain Earnest was captured and executed by the Yankees for murdering Union sympathizers, but it must be said that the case against Captain Earnest was highly circumstantial. There are numerous cases of atrocities carried out by bands of men calling themselves Home Guards -- on both the Union and Confederate sides. None of these self-described Home Guards were officially mustered, sanctioned or authorized. 
Battle of Pea Ridge
Cyndi Howells How to order Civil War records page

"That Ragged Old Flag" 
Arkansas Civil War Memorial Page

Civil War Research Database
Searchable. Arkansas now included
2nd AR Inf. Reg. Co. H. Union
Battle of Devil's Backbone in Sebastian County, Arkansas in the Ouachita Mountains.
Civil War Script and here. One dollar

Pension Records for Union Soldiers

The act of June, 27 1890, requires, in the case of a soldier:
(1) An honorable discharge
(2) A minimum service of ninety days
(3) A permanent physical disability not due to vicious habits. (It need not have originated in the service)
(4) The rates under the act are graded from $6 to $12, proportioned to the degree of inability to earn a support, and  not affected by rank held.
(5) A pensioner under prior laws may apply under this one, or a pensioner under this one may apply under other laws, but he cannot draw more than one pension for the same period.

Pension records may contain declaration for original invalid pension, surgeon's certificate, neighbor's affidavit, death certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, declaration for widow's pension, chancery court record of a decree for a divorce, claim for allowance for burial expenses, affidavit supporting burial claim and multiple questionnaires e.g.

Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Pensions,
Washington, D.C.
_____ Division, soldier's name ______, Co____, Reg't______.
Sir: To aid this Bureau in preventing any one falsely personating you, or otherwise committing fraud in your names, or on account of your service, you are required to answer fully the questions enumerated below.
1. When were you born?
2. Where were you born?
3. Where did you enlist?
4. Where had you lived before you enlisted?
5. What was your post-office address at enlistment?
7. What was your occupation at enlistment?
8. When were you discharged?
9. Where where you discharged?
10. Where have you lived since discharge?
11. What is your present occupation?
12. What is your height?                     What is your weight?                  The color of your eyes?        The color of  your hair ?               Your complexion?               Are there any permanent marks or scars?
13. What is your full name?

Sir: Will you kindly answer, at your earliest convenience, the questions enumerated below? The information is requested for future use, and it may be of great value to your family..
1. Are you a married man? If so please state your wife's full name, and her maiden name.
2. When where, and by whom are you married?
3. Does a marriage record exist?
4. Were you previously married? If so please state the name of your former wife and the date and place of her death or divorce.
5. Have you any children living? If so, please state their names  and dates of their birth.
    State the names of all your children living or dead.

BTW

Montgomery County ARGenWeb Project

On the wall opposite the 'Clabber Girl' mural, the courthouse square, Mount Ida, March, 2008.