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The 4th Infantry, Arkansas State Troops (1861) was a Arkansas State infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment was assigned to the command of Brigadier General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, Commander, 1st Division, Provisional Army of Arkansas. The regiment is referred to as the "4th Regiment Arkansas Volunteers", or "Walker's Regiment" in contemporary accounts.
Organization
At the beginning of the war, the Arkansas Succession Convention created the Provisional Army of Arkansas. The Provisional Army was to consist of two divisions, the 1st Division in the western part of the state was to be commanded by Brigadier General Pearce, and the 2nd Division in the eastern half of the state, commanded by Major General James Yell. The intent of the Secession Convention was to transfer these state troop regiments into Confederate service as quickly as possible, to avoid the cost of paying for a large state army. The troops of the eastern division were transferred to the command of Brigadier General Hardee in July 1861, but the troops of the western division under Brigadier General Pearce were not transferred to Confederate service before they became engaged in the Battle of Wilson's Creek. The unit was composed of the following volunteer companies:
- Company A, Unknown,
- Company B, Unknown,
- Company C, Unknown,
- Company D, Fort Smith Grays, Capt. Cabell;
- Company E, Unknown,
- Company F, Unknown,
- Company G, Unknown,
- Company H, Jo. Wright Guards, Capt. Hampton B. Fancher;
- Company I, Unknown,
Battles
Under the command of Colonel J. D. Walker, the 4th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops was present at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri on August 10, 1861,[4] but was not engaged. Following the battle, the regiment, with the rest of the Arkansas troops, was marched back to Arkansas and given the opportunity to vote on the issue of being transferred into Confederate service. The regiment, along with the rest of the 1st Division voted to disband rather than be transferred to Confederate service. Many veterans of the regiments joined other Confederate units later in the war.