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for the Civil War

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The Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas
"The Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas," March 7, 1862. Kurz & Allison print reproduced as postcard.
(Source: Postcard Collection) 
1. Eliza Adams.
Diary, 1859-1863; 1 roll.
Eliza Adams was a young woman living with her family near Arkadelphia (Clark County) in the late 1850s. On April 1, 1859, she began keeping a diary, recording her day-to-day activities. Her entries are usually quite terse, no more than a sentence or two, and generally record visits to neighbors, weather conditions, and her health. Four of her brothers enlisted in the Confederate army, but other than mentioning her concern for their welfare, the diary sheds little light on their service experiences. Microfilm copy of the original volume held by the Arkansas History Commission.
2. Nathaniel Madison Aldridge.
Records, 1874-1904; 10 items.
Positive photocopies of U. S. Court of Claims records pertaining to the case of Nathaniel Madison Aldridge of Rienzi, Mississippi. Aldridge was a Union sympathizer who supplied Federal soldiers with livestock and agricultural products during the Civil War.
3. Arkansas. State Legislature.
State legislative journals, 1819-1935; 17 rolls.
Journals include bills, proceedings, resolutions, and other legislative matters considered by the Arkansas House and Senate during the the Civil War and Reconstruction. Included are records produced when the seat of government transferred to Washington (Hempstead County) in 1863. Microfilm copy, made in 1942, of original documents then held in the office of the Arkansas Secretary of State.
4. Arkansas. Military Board.
Ledger, 1861-1862; 1 volume.
An official account ledger maintained by the state of Arkansas detailing purchases from various individuals and businesses. The ledger was looted from the State House in Little Rock (Pulaski County) by Private Johann Afelt, Third Minnesota Infantry, in late 1863. The first section (44 pages) of the ledger records transactions at Little Rock from October 30, 1861, to January 3, 1862.
5. Arkansas Missionary Baptists.
Printed records and documents, 1857-1970; 436 items.
Minutes and proceedings, yearbooks, directories, clippings, histories, and other material pertaining to Arkansas Missionary Baptists and other Baptist groups. Among the materials in this collection are positive photocopies of twenty pages from the diary of Captain Robert Mullins Thrasher, Company B, Eighteenth Arkansas Infantry. Thrasher was a Baptist minister prior to the war, fought in several engagements in Mississippi, and was captured at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on July 9, 1863. He was shipped to Johnson's Island on Lake Erie where he spent the remainder of the war with other prisoners from the western theater. Thrasher's diary contains "letters" which he composed to his wife, describing prison life and religious observances from December 26, 1863, to July 17, 1864.
6. Chester A. Arthur.
Papers, 1843-1938; 3 rolls.
Chester A. Arthur was twenty-first president of the United States and, during the Civil War, quartermaster general for the New York State Militia. Most of Arthur's papers were burned at his direction the day before he died, but this small collection contains a few letters written during the war. Post-war correspondents include William T. Sherman. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the Library of Congress.
7. Badgett Family.
Papers, 1843-1877; 62 items.
Positive photocopies of correspondence and other documents pertaining to members of the Henry Badgett family of Blackwell, North Carolina. Henry Badgett was a planter and slave dealer in North Carolina prior to the Civil War. He had at least three sons, William, Alfred, and Thomas, who lived at home, and a brother, Alfred, who lived in Texas. Most of the letters written to Henry from his brother and others dated prior to 1860 concern business matters, primarily the slave trade. Thomas Badgett was a student at both the University of North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania from 1858 to 1860. His letters from Pennsylvania include observations on Northern culture and political sentiments following the execution of John Brown. Alfred and William both joined the Confederate army, and one letter from each, written in 1861 while on duty in Virginia, is included in the collection, along with Alfred's certificate of exemption from military service dated 1863. The collection includes handwritten transcriptions of each letter.  Finding aid available online.
8. Joseph M. Bailey.
Memoir, undated; 1 item.
Positive photocopy of a typewritten autobiographical manuscript entitled "Story of a Confederate Soldier, 1861-1865" written by First Lieutenant Joseph M. Bailey, Company D, Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry. Originally from Tennessee, Bailey moved to Carroll County with his family in the 1850s. He enlisted in the Arkansas state troops when the war broke out and was initially assigned to the Fourth Arkansas Infantry. Following the battle of Wilson's Creek, Bailey mustered out of state service but then reenlisted in the regular Confederate army and was assigned to the Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry. He fought with his unit at Pea Ridge (Benton County), Corinth, and Port Hudson, Mississippi, where the entire regiment was taken prisoner. Bailey and a comrade managed to escape and make their way back to Arkansas where he finished out the war in an unidentified company of irregulars. The original typewritten manuscript is held by the Texas State Library. Finding aid available online.
9. Clinton Owen Bates.
Memoir, 1949; 3 items.
Two photographs and a typewritten memoir dated May 1949, by Clinton Owen Bates, a retired teacher from Tahlequah, Oklahoma. In his autobiographical essay, Bates describes his memories of the battle of Prairie Grove (Washington County) which occurred while he was about four years old and visiting a relative in the area.
10. James Henderson Berry.
Letters and papers, 1905-1913; 120 items.
Personal correspondence, essays, and obituary notices pertaining to James Henderson Berry (1841-1913), former governor and United States senator from Arkansas. Berry served as a second lieutenant of Company E, Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry, and left the service after he lost a leg in fighting near Corinth, Mississippi, in 1862. Following his 1906 defeat for reelection to the Senate, Berry was appointed by the secretary of war to mark the graves of Confederate soldiers who had died in Union prison camps. This collection includes a few letters pertaining to Berry's activities with the grave-marking commission and as an officer of the United Confederate Veterans. Finding aid available online.
11. James Russell Berry.
Memoir, 1906; 1 item.
Typed manuscript autobiography entitled "Facts and Reminiscences, Recorded by Hon. James R. Berry," September 20, 1906. Berry was a prominent post-war Arkansas political figure and son-in-law of Unionist governor Isaac Murphy. His story includes many incidents he witnessed while a wartime resident of Huntsville (Madison County) and Little Rock (Pulaski County), and observations on Arkansas political events during the Reconstruction era.
12. Mary C. Berry.
Biographical essay [1942]; 1 item.
Typewritten biographical essay entitled "Hon. James H. Berry" written by his granddaughter, Mary C. Berry. Four of the eighteen pages touch upon James Berry's Civil War experiences. Finding aid available online.
13. C. P. Bolding.
Oath, 1865; 1 item.
Positive photocopy of a parole oath sworn by Sergeant C. P. Bolding, Company A, Forty-first Mississippi Infantry, following his surrender at Oklona, Mississippi, May 31, 1865.
14. Amanda Malvina Fitzallen McClellan Braly.
Family papers, 1841-1920; 120 items.
Correspondence, diary, notebook, photographs, and other records pertaining to the Braly family of Cane Hill (Washington County). Amanda Braly moved to the Cane Hill area in 1853 with her husband, Frank, and children, William, Mary Francis, Frank, Jr., and Samuel. Frank Braly served as minister for the Salem congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church until his death in 1856. When the war broke out, William enlisted in Company B, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry, and saw action at Prairie Grove (Washington County), Helena (Phillips County), and Jenkins' Ferry (Grant County), while the rest of his family remained at Cane Hill. Much of the correspondence from the war years is between Amanda and William. Although his letters fail to mention the fight at Prairie Grove, two of William's later missives describe his combat experiences at Helena and Jenkins' Ferry. Another letter in the collection, dated January 8, 1863, is from Sergeant John J. Pierson, Company H, Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry, while he was stationed near Grenada, Mississippi. A diary kept by Cane Hill resident Laura Hagood from 1864 to 1865 is also included in the collection.
15. Jennie E. Brander.
Letter, July 4, 1863; 1 item.
Letter written by Jennie E. Brander, a school teacher in Bolivar, Mississippi, to "My Beloved Friend," living in Bellevue, Louisiana. Brander describes the previous year's burning of her town by Union troops, rumored conditions in the Vicksburg area, and her activities as a teacher at Bolivar.
16. Joseph K. Brantley.
Roster, 1860-1865; 1 item.
Memorandum book, kept by Sergeant Joseph K. Brantley, Zimmerman's Battery, Arkansas Light Artillery (Seventh Arkansas Field Battery), containing a roster of non-commissioned officers and enlisted men, a list of shoes issued to the unit on May 12, 1865, and what appear to be sales transactions recorded in February 1860.  Finding aid available online.
17. J. N. Bromley.
Biography of John W. Morris, 1916; 1 roll.
Mrs. J. N. Bromley of Marshall (Searcy County) wrote this biography of her father, Lieutenant John Wortman Morris, Company H, First Arkansas Cavalry (Union), in 1916. Much of it is genealogical information on the Morris family. Although Morris served with the Union army only briefly, he did participate in the opening movements of the battle of Prairie Grove (Washington County). Microfilm copy of an original typewritten manuscript held by the University of Central Arkansas.
18. H. J. Briggs.
Oath, 1863; 1 item.
Oath of allegiance issued by the provost marshal's office of Helena (Phillips County) to H. J. Briggs on January 5, 1863.
19. John William Brown.
Diary, 1852-1865; 2 rolls.
John William Brown was a merchant, planter, and businessman in Camden (Ouachita County) during the war. Born in Tennessee and educated at Louisville, Kentucky, Brown moved to Arkansas after living in Memphis, Tennessee. He tried running his own plantation in Dallas County for a while but then moved to Camden in the early 1850s. He served as a city alderman in 1857. When the war broke out, Brown remained at home and recorded his observations on his daily activities and those of his community with graphic regularity. He was an eyewitness to the Federal occupation of the town in April 1864 by troops under the command of Major General Frederick Steele, and to the subsequent return of Confederate control under soldiers commanded by Lieutenant General E. Kirby Smith. The diary has been extensively quoted in various articles in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly over the past three decades but has never been published in its entirety. The first roll of microfilm is of the original volumes; the second consists of a typed transcript. The original and typed transcription are held by the Arkansas History Commission.
20. Herbert Earle Buchanan.
Family papers, 1837-1935; 61 items.
Letters, deeds, diplomas, and certificates pertaining to the James Albert Buchanan family of Washington County. This collection includes a letter dated February 24, 1863, Shelbyville, Tennessee, from A. B. Flint to John Clark, address unidentified. Flint, apparently a Confederate army surgeon, wrote to Clark to report the death of Private Nathan Williamson (Tenth Texas Infantry) from wounds sustained during the battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862.
21. Frederick W. Bush.
Letters, 1861, 1863; 5 items.
Positive photocopies of five letters from Sergeant Frederick W. Bush, Company E, First Arkansas Infantry, to his cousin, Emily Shoppach of Arkadelphia (Clark County). Bush's first letter, dated May 10, 1861, was written from his mustering camp near Benton (Saline County) and contains many references to camp conditions and expectations shared by his comrades. The next two letters, both dated in 1861, are from locations in Virginia and contain very little information on military movements. The final two letters were written in 1863 when Bush was serving with his regiment in Tennessee. These Tennessee letters express Bush's emphasis on camp conditions and news from home.
22. Butler-Paisley Family.
Letters and papers, 1829-1890s; 2 linear feet.
Correspondence, photographs, and papers pertaining to the Butler-Paisley families of Tulip (Dallas County) and Gurdon (Clark County). Alexander Butler had four sons serving in the Confederate army, all of whom enlisted in Company I, Third Arkansas Infantry, and served east of the Mississippi River. Other Butler children, including Alexander's daughter, Emma, remained at home throughout the war. The wartime correspondence in the collection includes letters from three of the Butler sons, Henry, George, and Lewis, along with W. S. Marshall (another member of the Third Arkansas), and Phenie Phinley, a girlfriend of Emma Butler. Of particular interest are the letters by George Butler, who enlisted as a private but later became the chaplain to the regiment. Most of the Butler-Paisley letters were published by Elizabeth Paisley Huckaby and Ethel C. Simpson in Tulip Evermore: Emma Butler and William Paisley, Their Lives and Letters, 1857-1887 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1985). Finding aid available online.
23. Cyrus Byington.
Letters, 1819-1861; 24 items.
Typewritten transcription of letters sent by Cyrus Byington to his relatives in Massachusetts. Byington was a missionary to the Choctaw nation in the Indian Territory prior to the Civil War and wrote a number of letters describing his work. The last, dated September 5, 1861, from Stockbridge, Eagleton Post Office, describes conditions in the area since the outbreak of hostilities, including shortages of medical supplies and recruitment of Indians by both sides.
24. Mary Vincenheller Byroade.
Family papers; 1808-1946; 5 1/2 linear feet.
Letters, legal documents, financial papers, and photographs pertaining to the Austin, Vincenheller, and Byroade families of Van Buren (Crawford County). A portion concerns the John Austin family from 1830 to 1911. Austin, an Irish immigrant who settled in Van Buren around 1842, was a merchant and one-time mayor of the town in 1854. He took no part in the military aspects of the conflict, but in 1863 he served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention called by Union authorities and in 1864 went to Little Rock (Pulaski County) as a state representative. The collection includes Austin's oath of allegiance to the Federal government, travel passes issued to Austin for wartime journeys to Little Rock, Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Cincinnati, Ohio, and some documentation of post-war reparation claims. Among the pre-war legal documents are deeds recording the sale of slaves. Finding aid available online.
25. Jonathan W. Callaway.
Letters and papers, 1861-1864; 1 roll.
First Lieutenant Jonathan W. Callaway, Company E, Second Arkansas Mounted Rifles, enlisted in the regiment at Arkadelphia (Clark County), in the early summer of 1861 and was officially enrolled into the Confederate service at Camp McRae on July 27 of the same year. Callaway accompanied his regiment to camps in southwest Missouri and was present at the battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861. After the battle Callaway and his regiment returned to Arkansas and went into winter quarters near Van Buren (Crawford County). The Second Arkansas saw action again at the battle of Pea Ridge (Benton County) and then joined with other Southern forces east of the Mississippi at Corinth, Mississippi. Callaway began writing letters home to Arkadelphia shortly before the Wilson's Creek fight, usually addressing them to W. T. Thompson. Most of the letters were written in 1861 and 1862 from places in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, including Chattanooga and Cumberland Gap. One letter, dated April 15, 1864, was sent from a location in Texas and describes some fighting in Louisiana during the Camden Expedition. Other documents in the collection include samples of the Hornet's Nest, a handwritten regimental "newspaper" produced in Missouri in 1861. Microfilm copy made by the Arkansas History Commission in 1960.
26. James M. Campbell.
Letter, December 20, 1866; 1 item.
Letter from Tazel Sidney Williams, Titus County, Texas, to James M. Campbell, Fayetteville (Washington County), describing social and economic conditions in Reconstruction-era Texas.
27. William Harper Cardwell.
Papers, 1854-1866; 26 items.
Letters and papers pertaining to the William Harper Cardwell family of Fayetteville (Washington County). The collection includes thirteen letters from Private Thomas A. Cardwell, Company E, First Battalion Arkansas Cavalry, to his father, William, his brother, Addison F. Cardwell, and other members of his family. Thomas's letters, dated from 1862 to 1863, were written from various points in Arkansas and Mississippi and describe some military operations prior to the siege of Vicksburg. Cardwell was captured with the rest of General John C. Pemberton's army on July 4, 1863, at Vicksburg and was released on parole. In addition to the letters, the Cardwell collection includes a parole oath signed by Thomas on July 7, 1863, an amnesty oath signed by Addison in 1866, and several examples of Arkansas Confederate currency and postage stamps.
28. Milton P. Chambers.
Papers, 1863-1864; 15 items.
Personal correspondence from Private Milton P. Chambers, Company I, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry, to his brother Armory K. Chambers in Glenwood, Iowa. The first three letters were written from Helena (Phillips County), and the balance from Little Rock (Pulaski County). Chambers describes the routine of camp life at the two cities, the morale of the troops, and the activities of the enemy. One letter, dated May 7, 1864, vividly describes Milton's experiences during the Camden Expedition and includes mention of battles at Elkin's Ford (Nevada County), Prairie D'Ane (Nevada County), and Jenkins' Ferry (Grant County), and the participation of black Union troops. Finding aid available online.
29. Chicago Historical Society.
Selected Arkansas manuscripts, 1724-1883; 1 roll.
Among the Civil War documents in this collection are letters, reports, and diaries created by Dr. Robert Mitchell, assistant surgeon, Tenth Wisconsin Infantry. Mitchell kept a diary intermittently from 1861 through 1864, containing observations on his daily activities and financial memoranda. These diaries contain mention of the battle of Stone's River, Tennessee, December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, and the Camden Expedition of March and April 1864. Letters from Private E. C. Hubbard, Thirteenth Illinois Infantry, from 1861 to 1864, describe his participation in General Nathaniel Lyon's southwest Missouri campaign and later operations in the Vicksburg, Mississippi area. Places mentioned include: Rolla and Keitsville, Missouri; Batesville (Independence County), Helena (Phillips County), Arkansas Post (Arkansas County); and Vicksburg, Corinth, and Iuka, Mississippi. This selection also includes letters from Captain James Lawrence, Company I, Sixty-first Illinois Infantry, dated 1863, Helena and Little Rock (Pulaski County), and letters written from Helena in 1862 and 1863 by Private Delazon Ketchum, Company E, Twenty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry. Microfilm copy of original manuscripts from the Chicago Historical Society.
30. Chicot County History.
Manuscript, 1915; 1 item.
Handwritten manuscript history entitled "Chicot County, Arkansas--Pioneer and Present Times," written by Leona Sumner Brasher, the widow of Dr. A. D. Brasher, assistant surgeon, Third Louisiana Infantry. Brasher's story, based on personal and family recollections, includes capsule biographical sketches of many Chicot County Confederate soldiers.
31. Ira A. Church.
Papers, 1891; 2 items.
Copy of a letter dated April 1, 1891, Headquarters, Grand Army of the Republic, Decatur, Illinois, from T. S. Hays to Colonel Ira A. Church, Texarkana (Miller County), regarding the charter of the first GAR post in Arkansas, and a photograph of Church (circa 1890s).
32. George W. Clarke.
Statement and settlement of accounts, 1861-1862; 1 roll.
Statement analysis of the account of Major George W. Clarke, quartermaster at Fort Smith (Sebastian County), pointing out and explaining errors and discrepancies. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
33. Patrick Ronayne Cleburne.
Papers, 1823-1901; 22 items.
Personal correspondence between Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne and family members and military officers. Post-war documents are primarily letters from family members and pages from the Cleburne family Bible. Cleburne, an Irish immigrant who settled in Helena (Phillips County), rose from the ranks during the course of the Civil War and was killed in the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, 1864. Five of the letters in this collection were published by Richard Howell Purdue and Elizabeth Purdue in Pat Cleburne: Confederate General: A Definitive Biography (Hillsboro, Texas: Hill Junior College Press, 1973).
34. Danford D. Cole.
Letters, 1865-1866, and legal file, 1892-1909; 37 items.
Twenty-two letters from Private Danford D. Cole, Company H, Twelfth Michigan Infantry, to his wife, Eunice, in Andover, New York. Four letters, March 2-24, 1865, are from Camp Blair, Jackson, Michigan. Four letters, dated May 15-June 1, 1865, are from DuVall's Bluff (Prairie County). The balance, dated July 4, 1865, to January 4, 1866, are from Washington (Hempstead County) and Camden (Ouachita County). The letters comment on the feelings of the civilian population of Arkansas and their reactions to the end of the war, including a few interesting incidents of continued resistance after the closing of hostilities. The legal documents pertain to Eunice Cole's efforts in securing a widow's pension from the Federal government after Danford's death.
35. Confederate States of America.
Indian treaties, 1861-1864; 1 roll.
Printed copies with marginalia of treaties made between the Confederate States government and various Indian tribes. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
36. Confederate States of America. Secretary of War.
Letters and telegrams, 1861-1865; 3 rolls.
Selections dealing with Arkansas include letters sent, telegrams sent, and letters and telegrams received. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
37. Confederate States Army. District of the Indian Territory.
Miscellaneous papers, 1863-1865; 1 roll.
Inside circulars, letters transmitting muster rolls, correspondence relating to prisoners, dispatches concerning Federal raids, and copies of papers relating to the truce between the United States and the Confederate Indian tribes. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
38. Confederate States Army. District of the Indian Territory.
Letters sent, 1863-1865; 1 roll.
Chronologically-arranged copies of outgoing communications. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
39. Confederate States Army. Staff Officers.
Selected compiled records, 1861-1865; 2 rolls.
Selected files of citizens and Confederate military officers, mostly pertaining to Arkansas. The following are represented in these records: F. C. Armstrong, S. M. Barton, W. N. R. Beall, N. B. Burrow, D. W. Carroll, W. L. Cabell, Thomas J. Churchill, P. R. Cleburne, Wm. A. Crawford, S. W. Davis, T. P. Dockery, James P. Eagle, James F. Fagan, Harris Flanagin, Pleasant Fowler, E. W. Gantt, D. C. Govan, Thomas M. Gunter, Alex T. Hawthorn, Thomas C. Hindman, John H. Kelly, James McIntosh, Evander McNair, Dandridge McRae, Van H. Manning, William C. Mitchell, James C. Monroe, T. J. Morgan, M. Monroe Parsons, N. B. Pearce, Charles W. Phifer, Albert Pike, Lucius Polk, Lee M. Ramsaur, Frank A. Rector, Daniel H. Reynolds, John Selden Roane, A. Rust, S. S. Scott, John C. Tappan, L. M. Walker, Memphis and Little Rock Railroad. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
40. Confederate States Army. Trans-Mississippi Department.
General and special orders, 1862-1865; 6 rolls.
The Trans-Mississippi Department was established in May 1862 and included territories which were formerly designated as the Trans-Mississippi District. Some of the records of both the District and Department are intermingled as a result. Included with the selections are the following: general and special orders issued by commands within the Trans-Mississippi Department, 1862-1863; letters sent to General Thomas J. Churchill's Division, January-May, 1865; special orders and letters sent by Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby's command, 1864; letters sent, District of Arkansas, 1864-1865; confidential letters and telegrams sent, Trans-Mississippi Department, 1865; general orders, Trans-Mississippi Department, 1863-1865; special orders, Trans-Mississippi Department, 1862-1865; orders and circulars, Trans-Mississippi Department, 1861-1865; letters sent, Trans-Mississippi Department, 1863-1865. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
41. Confederate States Army. Trans-Mississippi Department.
Military orders, 1862; 4 items.
Four military orders issued from the Arkansas headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department in December 1862. Special Order 60, Headquarters, First Corps, Camp near Fort Smith (Sebastian County), December 3, 1862, by command of Major General Thomas C. Hindman, signed by R. C. Newton, assistant adjutant general, authorizing Major Thomas Lanigan, chief commissary, to send sufficient provisions to Randolph's battalion for it to reach Fort Smith from Fort Arbuckle, traveling twenty miles per day; Special Order 117, Headquarters, Little Rock, December 20, 1862, by command of Major General Theophilus Holmes, signed by S. S. Anderson, assistant adjutant general, ordering Mr. Burney, appointed purchasing agent by Brigadier General Albert Pike, to turn over to Captain Jonathan Frailey all contracts for and purchases of, subsistence stores made under his appointment from General Pike; Special Order 71, Headquarters, First Corps, Camp near Van Buren (Crawford County) December 21, 1862, by command of Major General Thomas Hindman, signed by R. C. Newton, chief of staff, relieving Captain Meyers as quartermaster and commissary at Fort Washita and assigning Captain Welch in replacement; Special Order 74, Headquarters, First Corps, Camp near Van Buren, December 24, 1862, by command of Major General Thomas Hindman, signed by R. C. Newton, chief of staff, ordering Mr. C. B. Johnson subsistence and quartermaster agent to take charge of all transport at Fort Washita.
42. Confederate Veterans Camp List.
Roster, 1936; 1 item.
Printed list with marginal corrections giving the number, name, and location of Confederate veteran headquarters (camps) in 1936. Finding aid available online.
43. Gertrude Fallin Cook.
Family papers, 1830-1878; 24 items.
Letters, receipts, deeds, and miscellaneous documents pertaining to the Bloyd-Combs-Corum-Fallin-McMurtry-Tigard families of Washington County. This collection includes a December 16, 1862, oath of allegiance signed by Fayetteville resident Joel A. Combs and a discharge certificate for Private Robert R. Fallin, Company F, First Arkansas Cavalry (Union), dated August 23, 1865.
44. Micah S. Crosswell.
Letters, 1865-1866; 9 items.
Letters written from Fort Smith (Sebastian County) by Rev. Micah S. Crosswell, an employee of the Freedmen's Bureau, his wife, Mary, and a cattle dealer named M. Ferguson, to Crosswell family members in Farmington Falls, Maine. The letters pertain to the disposition of cattle overseen by Crosswell and Ferguson, the issuance of rations to black refugees, and living conditions in post-war Fort Smith. Persons to whom the letters refer include General John B. Sandborn and Colonel Marshal LaRue Harrison, First Arkansas Cavalry (Union).
45. W. A. Crouch.
Letters, 1862; 2 items.
Letters, dated October 13 and 26, 1862, from Private W. A. Crouch, Chrisman's Arkansas Cavalry Battalion, stationed in Cotton Plant (Woodruff County), to his wife at Batesville. Crouch describes in considerable detail his part in a raid on a Union army forage expedition near Helena (Phillips County) on October 25, 1862.
46. M. S. Crowell.
Letters, 1864-1865; 2 items.
Crowell, a Federal quartermaster officer, wrote to William H. Houlton, Company E, Eighth Minnesota Infantry, from Fayetteville (Washington County), August 19, 1864, and Fort Smith (Sebastian County), December 26, 1865. Crowell's Fayetteville letter describes local conditions, clashes with bushwhackers, and reactions to gossip from Houlton's regiment. Crowell's Fort Smith letter mentions the garrison troops at that location and at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, and his efforts in securing a furlough. Typewritten transcriptions of original letters held by the Minnesota Historical Society.
47. Josephene B. Crump.
Papers and journal, 1894-1920; 26 items.
Literary manuscripts, reminiscences, and a journal created by Josephene B. Crump, a Civil War resident of Harrison (Boone County) and Little Rock (Pulaski County). Born in 1840, Josephene married a Boone County man named T. J. Greenlee who enlisted in Company D, Twenty-seventh Arkansas Infantry. Greenlee returned to Boone County in the summer of 1863 to escort Josephene and his daughter to Little Rock, where he worked as an attendant at the military hospital at St. John's College. Josephene assisted him in this work until the capture of the city by Union troops and Greenlee's subsequent imprisonment at the Little Rock penitentiary. Greenlee was later transferred to a prison at Johnson's Island, Ohio, where he remained until the end of the war. The journal in this collection was kept intermittently from 1894 to 1920, but in the 1890s, Josephene wrote about her Civil War experiences which include impressions of her life in Little Rock, an account of the battle of Jenkins' Ferry (Grant County) which she attributes to Dr. H. L. Routh, and an incomplete description of the battle of Pea Ridge (Benton County) credited to Joe Wright Crump, likely a relative of her second husband, George Crump. Finding aid available online.
48. James B. Currie.
Ledger, 1851-1869; 1 volume.
Ledger kept by James B. Currie of Woodruff County recording merchandise transactions, a tally of cotton picked by slaves, and sales receipts. Most of the entries are dated 1851-1852, with additions made in the 1860s. One laid-in contract fragment is a share-cropper agreement dated 1867. Some of the entries made in the Civil War years appear to be sales to Confederate officers. See relate Currie Family Papers.
49. Rebecca Stirman Davidson.
Letters and papers, 1860-1958; 130 items.
Correspondence, printed materials, and a photograph pertaining to the Rebecca Stirman Davidson and John Turner Stinson families of Fayetteville (Washington County). Rebecca Stirman Davidson (1843-1912) was a lifetime resident of Fayetteville. She, along with her brothers, William and Erasmus (Ras), were orphaned at an early age and raised by their aunt, Mary Stirman Pollard. Rebecca attended Sophia Sawyer's school in the decade preceding the Civil War, while her older brother, Ras, attended Arkansas College and clerked in a dry goods store. In 1861 Ras enlisted as a private in the Pike Guards, a local militia unit, and marched north with other Southern troops to engage in the Wilson's Creek campaign of southwest Missouri. Rebecca remained at Fayetteville for most of the war years, leaving once in early 1862 after the town was burned by Confederate forces and finally banished by the Union occupation forces in 1864 for aiding the enemy. Ras stayed with the army until 1865, eventually becoming captain of Company E, First Battalion of Arkansas Cavalry, and colonel of his own regiment of sharpshooters. Of particular interest in this collection are forty letters written by Ras Stirman to his sister from 1860 to 1863 describing his pre-war travels to Texas and Missouri, his combat experiences at Wilson's Creek and Corinth, Mississippi, and his camp life at locations in Mississippi and Arkansas. Most of these letters have been published by Pat Carr in In Fine Spirits (Fayetteville: Washington County Historical Society, 1986). Two other Confederate soldiers wrote to Rebecca during the war: Lieutenant George Taylor, Company H, Seventeenth Arkansas Infantry, and W. A. Forbes, a soldier from an unidentified regiment. Taylor wrote in January and February 1862 while serving with the combined forces of generals Price and McCulloch in the Boston Mountains prior to the battle of Pea Ridge (Benton County). Forbes wrote in January 1864 while being held prisoner by the Union army at Bowling Green, Kentucky. Finding aid available online.
50. Samuel Wilson Davies.
Biographical material, 1884-1921; 4 items.
Typewritten copies of a sermon, letter, biographical sketch, and church history pertaining to Rev. Samuel Wilson Davies, a Fayetteville (Washington County) Presbyterian clergyman. During the Civil War, Davies lived in Cotton Plant (Woodruff County), and aside from a brief stint in the Confederate army in 1865, he spent the entire war working as a minister. The documents include a copy of a 1921 letter written by Lou Wilson Goodwin describing her childhood in antebellum North Carolina, and an undated autobiographical sketch by Rev. Davies which mentions his Civil War activities in Arkansas.
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