ARKANSAS. 



25 



On the subject of the increase of the army, the 

 Governor suggested the following method : 

 u It is probable that the troops now in the field 

 will meet present emergencies, whilst it may 

 he safely calculated that a much larger number 

 will have to go into service before spring. I 

 beg to recommend that the executive authori- 

 ties be authorized to organize two 4 class regi- 

 ments,' one of Germans and their immediate 

 descendants, and another of Irish and their de- 

 scendants. . . . These people, though brave and 

 patriotic, have been deterred from entering the 

 army mainly because for them there was little 



chance for promotion If I should be 



mistaken, however, in the causes that have de- 

 terred them, and it is found to proceed from a 

 lack of inclination, then authority ought to be 

 given to draft a regiment from each class. It 

 is not a wise or just Government -which, in a 

 war like this, taxes native blood and energy 

 alone, leaving the foreign-born at home, reap- 

 ing the fruits of dear-bought victories." 



The forces of the State in the field, at the 

 time when the greatest number were in active 

 service, were as follows : 



In Virginia, (wo regiments of infantry, one thou- 

 sand strong each 2,000 



Under Hardee, in regiments 6,000 



Under McCulloch, in regiments 6,000 



Seren new regiments just organized, and under 



marching orders 6,000 



Independent companies and battalions of artil- 

 lery and cavalry with Hardee and ilcdil- 

 loch, 1,500 



Total Arkansas force 21,500 



The entire vote of the State at the Presiden- 

 tial election in November, was 54,063 ; conse- 

 quently over one-third of the amount of her 

 vote was in the field. The number of twelve- 

 months men that entered the Confederate ser- 

 vice from the State is stated at thirteen regi- 

 ments. As late as October, all the pay which 

 the troops had received was in Arkansas war 

 bonds, and much murmuring existed among 

 the soldiers, owing to the worthlessness of the 

 bonds. Even as far back as June, some of the 

 troops furnished by the State were very poorly 

 equipped. Col. Hindman. writing to the Mili- 

 tary Board about June 10th, saya : " I tele- 

 graphed you that the men of my regiment were 

 without blankets and shoes, and requested you 

 to allow me to apply to their benefit the pro- 

 ceeds of the sugar now in store which I seized 

 from the Cincinnati steamboats, and turned 

 over to the civil authorities before Arkansas 

 seceded." 



The expenditures of the State for military 

 purposes, previous to the 6th of November, 

 amounted to $1,041,603. Thirty-seven thou- 

 sand dollars of this sum were spent in the cap- 

 ture of the arsenal at Little Rock, and the post 

 at Fort Smith, and the stores at Pine Bluff and 

 Napoleon, before the State seceded. Apart 

 from the regiments furnished to the Confeder- 

 ate army by the State,. the stores and men sup- 

 plied, at various times, to Gen. Sterling Price, 



to enable him to maintain a foothold in Mis- 

 souri, and thereby prevent the approach of the 

 Federal forces into Arkansas, were the most 

 important debts of her authorities and citizens. 



The internal condition of the State was very 

 far from being satisfactory to the authorities or 

 to the people. On the 12th of June, several 

 negroes were arrested in Monroe County, thirty 

 miles west of Helena, upon a charge of at- 

 tempted insurrection. Two men and one girl 

 were hung. The plot was to murder the white 

 male inhabitants, and to spare the women and 

 children, if they did not resist. 



The great cause of uneasiness, however, was 

 the Union sentiment which was known to exist 

 in the State. Of the fifty-four thousand votes 

 polled at the Presidential election in November, 

 1860, over twenty thousand were given for the 

 candidate whose platform was " the Constitu- 

 tion and the Union." In the State Convention, 

 previous to April 15th, the secession party were 

 not strong enough to pass an ordinance of sepa- 

 ration, and were forced to compromise with the 

 opposition. Even as late as December, 1861, 

 within one week, a member of the Legislature 

 of Arkansas, and forty other citizens of the 

 State, came to Rolla, in Missouri, where thir- 

 ty-five joined a regiment of Missouri troops. 

 They represented that a surprising degree of 

 loyalty to the Federal Government stiD existed 

 in the northern part of the State. 



The Governor, in his Message to the Legisla- 

 ture, at its session on the first Monday of No- 

 vember, alludes to the existence of " treason in 

 the State," without stating any details. These 

 were well known. On the 29th of October, 

 twenty -seven persons were brought to Little 

 Rock as members of a secret Union organiza- 

 tion in Van Buren County. They were placed 

 in jail to be brought to trial by the civil au- 

 thority. At this time many others were also 

 taken. It was publicly stated that they formed 

 a regular organization, called a "Peace and 

 Constitutional Society ;" that there were TOO 

 members in Searcy, Van Buren, Newton, 

 and Izard Counties, and 1,YOO in the whole 

 State ; that they had a regular system of signs 

 and passwords, and were furnished with sup- 

 plies of money. The Constitution made it ob- 

 ligatory upon every member to hazard his life 

 in aid of another in distress, and the penalty 

 of exposing any of the secrets of the organi- 

 zation was death. Those who were taken, 

 were reported to have been well supplied with 

 arms, and the others were supposed to be equal- 

 ly well equipped. The disaffectie>n of the peo- 

 ple in that section of the State was made known 

 to the authorities by Gen. Burgevin, and the 

 names of citizens given. 



On the 23d of November, it was determined 

 that, after a campaign of sixty days in Kan- 

 sas and Missouri, Gen. McCulloch should fall 

 back into Arkansas. Preparations were there- 

 fore made to accommodate five thousand army 

 horsevS, and a number of mules, near Fort Smith 

 Valley. A hundred thousand bushels of corn, 



