26th Arkansas Infantry Regiment

26th Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)
Arkansas state flag
Active	1862–May 26, 1865
Country	Confederate States of America
Allegiance	CSA
Branch	Infantry
Size	Regiment
Engagements	American Civil War Battle of Prairie Grove Battle of Devil's Backbone Red River Campaign Battle of Pleasant Hill Battle of Jenkins' Ferry
Disbanded	May 26, 1865

American Civil War

The 26th Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment was also known as Morgan's Battalion and the 3rd Trans-Mississippi Rifle Regiment. The unit served entirely in the Department of the Trans-Mississippi and eventually surrendered at Marshall Texas at the end of the war.

The 26th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was among the first regiments organized in wake of the defeat of Confederate forces at the Battle of Pea Ridge in February 1862. General Earl Van Dorn had received orders to move his army from Arkansas to Corinth, Mississippi, to support Confederate operations in that area. General Van Dorn took with him virtually every organized Confederate force and stripped the state of supplies. General Van Dorn left Brigadier General John S. Roane, in command in Arkansas. In a report in late May 1862, a month after General Van Dorn had left, General Roane stated that he had only eight companies of infantry and one regiment of cavalry available for the defense of Little Rock. Many of the infantry companies mentioned in General Roan's report were those companies that would eventually become the 26th Arkansas Infantry which was being organized in Pine Bluff, in Jefferson County, Arkansas.

General Roane moved his headquarters to Pine Bluff and enlisted the help of Major General James Yell, commander of the Arkansas State Militia and began recruiting for a new Army of the Southwest in the Department of Arkansas. General Yell was a "States Defense first" advocate and lent his power to aiding Roane along with Arkansas Confederate State Senator Colonel Robert Johnson, also of Pine Bluff. These three men were the backbone of the newly reconstituted Army of the Trans Mississippi Department. The companies which eventually became the 26th Arkansas Infantry Regiment had started the recruiting process before General Van Dorn left the state and had just been organized when General Roane moved his headquarters to Pine Bluff from Little Rock. It appears that at least three companies of what would become the 26th Arkansas had been loosely organized as a battalion under the command of a Captain Tom McSwine. General Hindman sent a telegram to McSwine at Pine Bluff on June 1, 1862, directing him and Captains Fountain P. Yell, and Samuel Gibson to immediately move their companies to Little Rock. Upon reaching Little Rock, the new battalion was temporarily placed under the command of a Major O. Platosz, but on June 14, 1862, Asa Stokely Morgan, formerly a First Lieutenant in the 1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment, was assigned as Lieutenant Colonel of the battalion. At the same time, Captain F. P. Yell was appointed Major of the regiment.