Gantt had been a close political ally of Congressman Thomas Hindman and s staunch supporter of secession before the war.

The regiment had the unfortunate distinction of being captured in two engagements: Battle of Island Number Ten, and the Siege of Port Hudson.

Union forces began a siege in March 1862, shortly after the Confederate Army abandoned their position at Columbus, Kentucky.

Gen. John P. McCown, decided to evacuate the town after only one day of heavy bombardment, moving most of his troops to Island No.

Two days after the fall of New Madrid, Union gunboats and mortar rafts sailed downstream to attack Island Number Ten.

Over the next three weeks, the island's defenders and forces in the nearby supporting batteries were subjected to a steady bombardment by the flotilla, mostly carried out by the mortars.

At the same time, the Union forces at New Madrid were digging a canal across the neck of land east of the town to bypass Island No.

With the support of these two gunboats, Pope was able to move his army across the river and trap the Confederates opposite the island, who by now were trying to retreat.

As was the case with other regiments, there were escapees from the surrender of Island Number Ten, including those in hospital or on detached duty, etc.

[11] Because Col. Gantt was confined as a prisoner at Fort Warren, when the 12th Arkansas was exchanged and reorganized at Jackson, T. J. Reid Jr, was elect to the Colonelcy.

After waiting for more than a year for the offer of a new commission in the Confederate Army, Gantt, surrendered himself to General Grant at Vicksburg and quickly became a force in the move to organize a new loyal, pro Union Government in Arkansas.

[13] The reorganized regiment underwent several field consolidations during the months following its exchanged and was eventually incorporated the garrison of Port Hudson, on the Mississippi river.

They served as mounted infantry as a part of Colonel Thomas Pleasant Dockery's Brigade during the Camden Expedition in the Spring of 1864.

[15] As part of Dockery's Brigade, remnants of the regiment saw action at the Battles of Prairie D'Ane,[16] Marks' Mills,[17] and Jenkins Ferry.

[20][21][22] On 22 January 1865, Major General Churchill was ordered to move his division to Minden, Louisiana, and occupy winter quarters.

[23] Union commanders in the Department of the Gulf reported on March 20, 1865, that General McNair's brigade was located at Minden, Louisiana, with the rest of Churchill's Division.