The 1864 Hardee pattern of the 6th & 7th Arkansas Infantry (consolidated) in Govan's Arkansas Brigade, Cleburne's Division, Hardee's Corps, Army of Tennessee. This flag was carried throughout the Atlanta Campaign until captured in the battle of Jonesboro, Ga, Sept. 1, 1864.
6th Arkansas Infantry
Company A - "Capital Guards" of Little Rock, in Pulaski County, Capt. Gordon N. Peay. One of the oldest militia organizations in the state. Its officers were first elected in 1858. They played a prominent role in the seizure of the Little Rock Arsenal.
Major Calvin L. Collier's history of the Company A, First In--Last Out, can be read online here: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89077210516;view=2up;seq=8
Company B - "Yellow Jackets", Calhoun County, Capt. P.H. Echols.
Company C - "Dallas Rifles", Dallas County, Capt. F.J. Cameron.
Company D - "Ouachita Voyageurs", or "Ouachita Voltiquers", Ouachita County, Capt. J.W. Kingswell.
Company E - "Dixie Grays", Arkansas County, Capt. Sam G. Smith.
Company F - "Lafayette Guards", Lafayette County, Capt. Sam H. Dill.
Company G - "Columbia Guards" of Magnolia, in Columbia County, Captain J.W. Austin.
Company H - "City Guards" of Camden, in Ouachita County, Capt. S. H. Southerland.
Company I - "Lisbon Invincibles", Union County, Capt. Sam Turner.
Company K - "Ouachita Grays", Ouachita County, Capt. Hope T. Hodnett.
6th Arkansas rosters can be viewed here: http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/6thinff&s.html
7th Arkansas Infantry
Company A - Randolph County, Capt. Joseph C. Martin.
Company B - "Glaize Rifles", Jackson County, Capt. George E. Orme.
Company C - Marion County, Capt. James Archer.
Company D - "Dick Johnson Guards", Lawrence County, Capt. Carney C. Straughan.
Company E - "Pike Guards", Independence County, Capt. John H. Dye
Company F - Randolph county, Capt. Thomas J. Mellon
Company G - Independence County, Capt. Ganum Brightwell
Company H - Izard County, Capt. D. G. Deason
Company I - Fulton County, Capt. Michael V. Shaver
Company K - "Arkansas Guards", White County, Capt. John C. McCauley.
7th Arkansas rosters here: http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/shaverdx.htm
Both the 6th and 7th Arkansas Infantry regiments followed an almost identical timeline throughout the war, having been organized around the same time and serving in the same brigade, being consolidated after suffering heavy losses at Shiloh and Perryville. The Sixth was mainly recruited from southern Arkansas and the Seventh from northern Arkansas.
The 6th and 7th Arkansas mustered into state service in June of 1861 and were armed with M1816/M1822 .69 caliber flintlock muskets confiscated from the Little Rock Arsenal. They were transferred to Confederate service soon after, in July 1861, and placed in William J. Hardee's brigade. After having been drilled by Gen. Hardee himself at Pittman's Ferry, Ark., they were moved to Columbus, Ky., in fall of 1861, where they joined the Army of Central Kentucky which later merged into Gen. A. S. Johnson's Army of the Mississippi.
In early 1862, Col. Robert G. Shaver of the 7th Arkansas commanded a brigade (Hindman's) consisting of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Arkansas, and 3rd Confederate Infantry in Hindman's Division, Hardee's Corps. Shaver's brigade formed the nucleus of what later became Liddell's/Govan's Arkansas Brigade in Patrick Cleburne's Division.
They were heavily engaged at Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, fighting mainly on the Confederate left. Marching into battle to the tune "Granny, Does Your Dog Bite?", Shaver's men charged into Col. Everett Peabody's camp on the morning of the 6th and routed his brigade. The Arkansans were able to rearm themselves with a captured supply of rifles to replace their old smoothbore flintlock muskets. Shaver's brigade would turn back another Federal line at the Review Field and attack the Hornet's Nest. In the latter, Lt. Col. John M. Dean of the 7th Arkansas was shot through the neck and mortally wounded; Capt. Warren C. Jones of the 14th Iowa ran out between the lines to comfort Dean, crossing his arms and placing a handkerchief over his face after he died. Both the 6th and 7th Arkansas had suffered severe losses in the first day's fighting (it was said that during the battle Gen. Hardee gave the 7th the nickname "the Bloody Seventh"); however, with the Federal counter-attack the following day, they were forced to give up all the ground they had fought so hard over. The worn-out survivors marched back to Corinth.
After the passage of the Conscription Act both regiments reenlisted for two more years or the duration of the war. They also underwent a reorganization, with a reelection of regimental and company commanders. With a reorganization of the army prior to the Kentucky Campaign, Brig. Gen. St. John R. Liddell took command of what was formerly Col. Shaver's brigade (Daniel C. Govan later assumed command of the brigade in 1863 and replaced Liddell after he was transferred).
Seeing action at Perryville, October 8, 1862, and sustaining additional losses, the two under-strength regiments were later consolidated on December 22, 1862, while at Triune, Tenn.
The 6-7th Arkansas was in Maj. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne's Division, Hardee's Corps, Army of Tennessee, by December of 1862. As part of that famous organization, they would go on to play a significant role in the following battles and campaigns: Murfreesboro/Stones River; the Tullahoma Campaign; Chickamauga and Chattanooga; Ringgold Gap; the Atlanta Campaign, particularly at Pickett's Mill, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and Jonesboro; Franklin and Nashville; the Carolinas Campaign, including Bentonville; finally surrendering with the remnants of the Army of Tennessee at Bennett Place, NC.
At the battle of Murfreesboro the 6th-7th Arkansas again suffered heavy losses with 29 killed, 150 wounded and 8 missing. At Chickamauga the regiment had 388 men present for duty and lost 165, or 43%. In December 1863 it numbered 314 men and 265 arms. After passing through the Atlanta Campaign (losing 66 men in the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864) only a fraction of those men remained. Govan's Arkansas Brigade was all but decimated in the charge at Franklin; what few troops in the 6-7th Arkansas made the charge, only a handful came out unscathed.
The 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry was formed in April 1865 from the remnants of the regiments in Govan's Brigade. To maintain unit cohesion, each of the regiments was to form one company of the new consolidated regiment, the 6th-7th Arkansas forming Company D. In the surrender at Bennett Place the consolidated regiment contained 635 officers and men.