In February 1862 the Union army, under the command Major General Samuel Curtis, entered northwest Arkansas in pursuit of the Confederate forces.

In June the War department would give permission for Pleasant Turney and L. D.Toney, both of independence and Izard county respectively, to recruit from the surrounding areas.

This never came and they were shocked to learn that the army would be leaving Batesville and heading to Helena, as Curtis had since changed his plans and abandoned the Tennessee capital as it had already fallen.

[2] According to a dispatch from the New York Daily Tribute, the 1st Arkansas Infantry Battalion was “nearly full, fitted, and drilled, ready for the field” as of July 31.

They also reported that “Hundreds of citizens are still flying from conscription to the interior of the lines.”[3] While the battalion was quickly supplied they were disappointed that they would simply serve as standard infantry.

Allegedly General Curtis had told them they would eventually become a mounted unit,[4] a statement which quickly proved untrue when the men learned that their horses, which many brought to keep out of the hands of confederates, would not be allowed to eat from the armies Quartermaster department.

[2] The friction between the two sides came to a head when the army paymaster refused to pay the soldiers of the battalion, saying that Curtis lacked the authority to raise such a unit, to begin with.