3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment

Third Arkansas Infantry Regiment
3rd Arkansas Battle Flag, St Andrews Cross
Active	May 1861 – April 12, 1865
Country	Confederate States of America
Allegiance	Arkansas
Branch	Confederate States Army
Type	Regiment
Role	Infantry
Engagements	American Civil War Battle of Cheat Mountain Battle of Seven Pines Seven Days Battle Battle of Harpers Ferry Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Gettysburg Battle of the Wilderness Battle of Chickamauga Knoxville Campaign Battle of Spotsylvania Battle of Cold Harbor Siege of Petersburg Appomattox Campaign
Disbanded	April 12, 1865

American Civil War

3rd Arkansas, or 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment (May, 1861 – April 12, 1865) was a Confederate Army regiment during the American Civil War, and the most celebrated unit from that state. Formed and initially commanded by Colonel Albert Rust, and later falling under the command of Colonel Van H. Manning, the regiment was part of the Army of Northern Virginia serving under General Robert E. Lee. The regiment served for the duration of the war, from the late months of 1861 through to the Surrender at Appomattox Court House in 1865. They were the only Arkansas regiment to serve the entire war in the east, where most of the major battles were fought. They were also the only Arkansas regiment to initially sign up for the duration of the war, with all other regiments from that state signing on for a one-year enlistment.

The regiment was formed in May and June 1861, initially by Dr. W. H. Tebbs, who would be appointed a captain, and Van H. Manning who would later command the regiment. Early in May, 1861, Dr. W. H. Tebbs, Captain of a volunteer company raised on Bayou Bartholomew, in Ashley county, and Captain Van H. Manning, the captain of a company organized at Hamburg, in Ashley County, went to Vicksburg, Mississippi in order to tender the services of their two companies, for service in the Confederate Army. They contacted Leroy P. Walker, Confederate Secretary of War, at Montgomery, by telegraph and received his reply declining the offer of the two companies, separate from a regiment. They then went to Montgomery, and Manning enlisted the help of Arkansas Confederate Senator Albert Rust. Rust help gain the acceptance as a part of the Confederate Army, conditioned on his raising the remaining companies needed to form a regiment. Rust, returned to Arkansas, and organized nine additional companies, and joined Captain Tebbs and Capt Manning in Virginia, where the regiment was mustered into service for the period of the war. The addition of nine companies made eleven when the regiment was organized. Tebbs' Company and Captain Mannings' were perhaps the first and only companies denied admission into the Confederate service, even for a day, and were the first companies enlisted for the war. When organized, the regiment was composed of 11 companies: