Much of the following is taken from certain long ago posts on another message board.
history-sites.com - The Civil War Message Board Portal
That poster was Bryan Howerton; a preeminent expert on Confederate Arkansas, and a great cyber friend of mine. His passing is marked by the interspersing of his research into my own personal notes. He generously shared a remarkable wealth of knowledge.
My research notes on Confederate Arkansas also relies heavily upon the
Peter Wellington Alexander Papers. After the Civil War Alexander began collecting official Confederate documents, at took a particular interest in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. Alexander acquired a significant collection of Major General Thomas C. Hindman's papers.
See
https://ozarkscivilwar.org/archives/4746
11/2/62 Hindman accepts resignations of Col A W Johnson & Lt Col D W Ringo submitted at camp on Mulberry. Not in good standing w/the other officers
11/3/62 Camp on Mulberry, S O #30
Upon the recommendation of the Co officers of Johnson's Regt of Ark Infy, the following persons are assigned to duty as the Field Officers of that Regt, subject to confirmation by the War Dept:
A. T. Hawthorne, to be
Col, in the place of Col Johnson, resigned.
Maj C. Polk to be Lt Col in the place of Lt Col Ringo, resigned.
Lt J. B. Clarke to be Major in the place of Maj C. Polk, promoted to Lt Col
All to take rank from this date. The Regt will hereafter be known as "Hawthorne's Regt of Ark Infy"
VI. Col A. T. Hawthorne is relieved of the command of "Hawthorne's Bn," Col Brooks Bgde, & will report here for duty &
[command of] his Regt.
Although John B. Cocke commanded "Cocke's Regt" for only three months, & the historically accurate designation should be "39th (Johnson's, Polk's, Hawthorn's, Cocke's) Infy Regt or the 6th Trans-Ms Rifle Regt, & Hailey's, Perkins' & Tumlinson's independent Cav Co's, historians have adopted "Cocke's Ark Regt." This is because the U.S. used the name to catalog the service records of the men who served in the Regt.
The State Military Board designated the Regt as "Cocke's Regt" as 39th in its ledger book. Gen Hindman originally decided to designate all of the Ark Infy Regts raised in the District of Ark during the summer of 1862 as "Trans-Ms Rifle Regts." Cocke's Regt was designated as the 6th Trans-Ms Rifle Regt; &, the officers & men of Cocke's Regt quickly began referring to the Regt as the 6th Ark. This re-designation causes more confusion because this designation had already been given to Lyon's-Hawthorn's-Smith's elite
6th Ark Infy Regt in the Army of Tenn, on the east side of the Ms River.
This incorrect association with the other 6th Ark Infy is further reinforced by the fact that Alexander T. Hawthorn commanded the original "6th Ark Infy Regt" for a time, & later commanded the "other" 6th Ark, the 6th Trans-Ms, (39th Ark Infy Regt).
12/16/62 Hawthorne's Regt was reorganized by consol of original Co's & addition of dismtd Co's of Hailey's, Perkins, Tomlinson
Six of the Co's were consolidated, others were redesignated, & new Co's were added from Gipson's Bn, which had been dismtd & disbanded. The original Co E was from Monroe County. It was consolidated with original Co L (from Greene County) & reorganized as (new) Co E.
Co's I & K were still part of Gipson's Bn Ark Mtd Rifles (Dismtd) in the battle- They joined the Regt at the reorganization
Gipson's Bn was disbanded, & at least three Co's were assigned to the reorganized Regt -- Hailey's & Perkins' Co's were consolidated to form (new) Co H & Tumlinson's as (new) Co K.
1/7/63 Hawthorne to Hardee from Little Rock-since last
Aug when I was relieved of duty in Chattanooga, here is a summary of my activities-I went thence to Richmond where the representatives of the state petitioned for my promotion to Brig Gen
Not wishing to remain idle waiting, I came at once across the river, reporting to Hindman, was apptd Major of a Bn of unarmed troops-2 weeks after was elected Col of a Regt whose Col had resigned-& 1 month from the date of my election took part in the hard-fought fight at Prairie Grove
Bringing the