List of Arkansas Civil War Confederate Units - Militia

Militia

At the beginning of the war, the Arkansas Militia consisted of 71 Regiments, which were organized into two divisions, each division made up of four brigades. Every county had at least one regiment, and several had more than one. The Arkansas Militia Act allowed each regiment to form up to four volunteer companies. While the regular militia regiments were required to drill three times per year and were required to supply their own weapons, the volunteer companies drilled much more often and were supplied with equipment by the state.

Only one Militia Regiment, the 45th Arkansas Militia Regiment of Searcy County, was mobilized for service during the war. In the fall of 1861, Governor Rector called up the 45th Militia Regiment to deal with a potential threat to the Confederate government from the anti-war "peace societies". The militiamen arrested suspects in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, and many of them were forced to enlist in Marmaduke's 18th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.

Governor Rector ordered Colonel Solon F. Borland to form a provisional battalion of militia in Pulaski County in April 1862 for the purpose of seizing seizing the federal installation at Fort Smith, Borland's Arkansas Infantry Battalion consisted of three volunteer infantry companies and a volunteer artillery battery from the 13th Arkansas Militia Regiment. Borland's Battalion marched on Fort Smith, only to discover the military post had been abandoned by Federal Troops the day before. One company remained to guard the post, and the rest returned to Pulaski County, where they became part of volunteer regiments.

A decision was made by the state Arkansas Secession Convention not to activate the militia in mass, but form a series of new State Troop regiments for the new Army of Arkansas. Many of these volunteer militia companies were enrolled in the new volunteer regiments which were formed by the Military Board of Arkansas.