| Unit Name: | 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment |
| Dates: | 1862–1865 |
| Type: | Infantry |
| Size: | Regiment |
| Colors: | Light blue |
| Colors Label: | Facings |
| Battles: | American Civil War |
| Disbanded: | April 26, 1865 |
The 24th Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The unit began its service in the Department of the Trans-Mississippi, but the bulk of the unit was captured at the Battle of Arkansas Post and shipped to Northern prison camps. The unit was exchanged in Virginia and shipped to Tennessee and joined the Army of Tennessee in time for the Chattanooga Campaign and remained with the army through the Atlanta Campaign, the Franklin-Nashville Campaign and ended the war in North Carolina.
The 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was organized at White Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, on June 6, 1862.[3] The field officers were Colonel E. E. Portlock, Jr.; Lieutenant Colonels W. R. Hardy, E. Warfield, and T. M. Whittington; and Major F. H. Wood. The unit was composed of units from the following area:
A large portion of the 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was captured at Arkansas Post, Arkansas, on January 11, 1863. The portion of the regiment which was captured was paroled on April 10, 1863, at City Point, Virginia and was reassigned to the Army of Tennessee. The 24th Arkansas was involved in the East Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina campaigns. The portion of the 24th Arkansas not captured at Arkansas Post was consolidated with the remainders of Crawford's Infantry Battalion and Dawson's 19th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and became Hardy's 19th and 24th Consolidated Arkansas Infantry Regiment early in 1863.
The men who were captured on January 11, 1863, at Arkansas Post, Arkansas, were sent to Military Prison at Camp Douglas, Illinois, and were then delivered to City Point, Virginia, on April 10, 1863. The records of these prisoners bear the following notation:This Confederate prisoner shown as "Negro Boy," was likely a grown man, the term "boy" being a pejorative term used by his Yankee captor.
Of the 366 exchanged, as many as 58 either died, separated from the 24th Arkansas or left sick; about 308 men returned to service.[4] Some 71 men had been captured but could not be accounted for. A few of these were possibly exchanged later, probably no more than a dozen at best, making the regimental strength about 320 following the exchange. The regiment was at Tullahoma for a month, under the command of Lt. Col. Augustus S. Hutchinson, where they were attached to the brigade of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill, as before. With other Arkansas and Texas troops, they were in the division of Major General Patrick Cleburne in Hardee's Corps, a part of the Army of Tennessee under the command of Lieutenant General Braxton Bragg. The company strengths at this time were:[4]
The portion of the regiment which was reformed in the Army of Tennessee was assigned to Deshler's, Liddell's, and Govan's Brigades, and in September 1863, consolidated with the 19th (Dawson's) Regiment.[5] The 19th/24th lost thirty-eight percent of the 226 engaged at the Battle of Chickamauga.
In December 1863 the 24th Arkansas Infantry was added to the consolidated 2nd/15th Arkansas, under the Command of Lieutenant Colonel E. Warfield and the 2nd/15th/24th totaled 295 men and 202 arms in December 1863. On December 29, 1863, Colonel Daniel Govan of the 2nd Arkansas was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.[6] The consolidated unit participated in all the battles of the Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign including the Siege of Chattanooga September to November 1863; Battle of Chattanooga, the Battle of Ringgold Gap.[7]
When General Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the Army of Tennessee to oppose General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, Govan's Brigade was reorganized and only the 2nd and 24th were united. The 2nd/24th Arkansas participated in the battles of Dalton, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and the Siege of Atlanta. The consolidated 2nd/24th Arkansas reported 130 casualties during the campaign.[8]
The regiment and it colors were captured, along with much of Govan's Brigade at the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, on Sept. 1, 1864. Due to a special cartel between Union General Sherman and Confederate General John B. Hood, the unit was quickly paroled and exchanged for Union prisoner held at Andersonville Prison. The regiment re-entered service approximately a month later.
The regiment and the rest of Govan's Brigade was released in time to participate in General John B. Hood's disastrous Franklin-Nashville Campaign. Due to the appalling losses suffered by Govan's Brigade during the Atlanta Campaign, the 1st/15th, 5th/13th and 2nd/24th Arkansas Regiments were consolidated into one regiment, which was commanded by Colonel Peter Green of the 5th/13th (specifically of the 5th). The other officers of the consolidated regiment were Major Alexander T. Meek, of the 2nd/24th Arkansas, Captain Mordecai P. Garrett and Sergeant Major Thomas Benton Moncrief of the 15th Arkansas. The consolidated regiment fought under the colors of the consolidated 5th/13th Arkansas Regiment, because this was one of the only colors not captured when Govan's Brigade was overrun at the Battle of Jonesboro. The flag of the combined 5th/13th Arkansas was issued in March 1864 and was captured by Benjamin Newman of the 88th Illinois Infantry at the battle of Franklin.[9] The consolidated regiment numbered just 300 rifles and sustained 66% casualties during the Battle of Franklin.[10]
The remnants of Govan's Brigade that survived the Tennessee Campaign remained with the Army of Tennessee through its final engagements in the 1865 Carolinas Campaign.[11] Major Alexander T. Meek was killed in the attack and now buried in the Carnton Confederate Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee.[12]
The 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment participated in the following engagements:
The remnants of ten depleted Arkansas regiments, along with one mostly-Arkansas regiment, in the Army of Tennessee were consolidated into a single regiment at Smithfield, North Carolina, on April 9, 1865. The 1st Arkansas, was lumped together with the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 15th, 19th and 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiments and the 3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment as the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry on April 9, 1865. On April 26, 1865, the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment was present with the Army of Tennessee when it surrendered in Greensboro, North Carolina.