5th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment
| 8th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (Confederate) | |
|---|---|
 Arkansas state flag | |
| Active | 1863 to 1865 |
| Country | Confederate States of America |
| Allegiance | CSA .svg){kind=small} |
| Branch | Infantry |
The 8th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (1863–1865) was a Confederate Army cavalry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment was designated at various times as Newton's Regiment Arkansas Cavalry, Morgan's Regiment Arkansas Cavalry, and 2nd Regiment Arkansas Cavalry; and at the same time it was known as the 5th Regiment Arkansas Cavalry and the 8th Regiment Arkansas Cavalry. [1]
The 8th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment, originally the 5th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment, was organized in the spring of 1863. Attached to J. G. Walker's Division, it skirmished at Helena, Brownsville, Bayou Fourche and Pine Bluff. Later it was reorganized as Morgan's Arkansas Cavalry Regiment. In the spring of 1864, it was assigned to Cabell's brigade and fought at Poison Spring and Marks' Mills where it lost 18 percent of the 130 engaged. It took part in Price's 1864 Missouri expedition and disbanded prior to the June 1865 surrender
Organization
The commanders of the 8th Cavalry include W. A. Bevens, Thomas J. Morgan, and Robert C. Newton. The unit was composed of companies from the following counties:
- Company A – Van Buren County and Jackson County
- Company B – Jefferson County
- Company C – Independence County
- Company D – Sharp County
- Company e - Conway County
- Company F – Independence County
- Company G – Fulton County
- Company H – Independence County and Izard County
- Company I - Mississippi County
- Company K – Van Buren County
- Company L – Van Buren County
Battles
The unit served in General Cabell's Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department, and fought in the following engagements:
- Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas, April 18, 1864. General William Lewis Cabell report of the battle states that this unit killed "at least eighty Negroes". [2]
- Battle of Marks' Mills, Arkansas, April 25, 1864
- Price's Missouri Raid, Arkansas-Missouri-Kansas, September, 1864
- Battle of Westport, Westport, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri, October 23, 1864
- Battle of Marais des Cygnes, Linn County, Kansas , October 25, 1864
Surrender
This regiment surrendered at various places, but primarily at Jacksonport, 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 Militia in the Civil War
References
- ^ [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Civil_War_Service_Record.jpg Civil War Service Records for soldiers from Arkansas 8th Cavalry Regiment, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD
- ^ Battle description in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Volume XXVIII (Winter 1959), p. 338
