The eastern counties along the Mississippi River, with their large slave plantations situated on flat fertile land, and the northwest, with its rolling hills taken up by yeomen and small towns.

[5] In December Johnson set up a headquarters at Fayetteville and in January he was aided by an Illinois captain named Elhanan J. Searle, and the two would gradually recruit men from the surrounding counties.

[8][9] Johnson was against slavery and in the 1850s bought an enslaved mother and child and had them officially freed thanks to his friend Judge Elijah D. Ham, who would be appointed as Major of the 1st Arkansas.

[10][4] Elhanan John Searle was born in 1835 and grew up in Illinois where he was educated at River Seminary the Northwestern University where he obtained a bachelor's and master's degree.

[15] In March the regiment received a large number of recruits due to the arrivals of Captains Brown, Vanderpool, and a guerilla fighter named William "Wild Bill" Heffington.

[5] On March 25, 1863, the regiment was officially mustered into service, numbering 36 officers and 810 enlisted, the majority of these being from Washington, Newton, Benton, Searcy, and Crawford counties.

An April 1 report by Colonel Marcus Harrison, commanding officer at Fayetteville, describes the 1st Arkansas Infantry as being "totally without transportation, clothing or tents, or equipments" and the only weapons they could procure came from the guns left on the battlefield of Prairie Grove, of which were "of all patterns and calibers".

Equipment aside much of the regiment would be unavailable for action as many were sick and portions of Companies C and F, numbering over 100 men, were sent on a scouting mission to Newton County on April 15.

[19] On the morning of April 18, 1863, a confederate force under General William Cabell attacked Fayetteville and colonel Harrison quickly organized his Arkansas regiments for battle.

Near the end of the battle Harrison's centerline, of which the three infantry companies made up the right half, faced heavy fighting as the confederates attempted to capture the federal headquarters building.

[28][29] In his after-action report, Colonel Harrison praised Lt. Col. Searle and Major Ham, saying that the two "did good service in keeping their men in position and preventing them from being terrified by the artillery".

Company E reported that its men were sent to guard forage trains and conduct patrols, all the while lacking any shoes, coats or blankets to protect them against the elements.

[37] On July 30 the Colonel received the same types of unionists the confederate captain referred to when Elijah Drake, the sheriff of Madison County, and 32 of his neighbors arrived at Cassville with weapons and enlisted into the union regiments at the post, including the 1st Arkansas Infantry.

Infantry were raw recruits & quite as unsoldierly in appearance as the most ludicrous person could desire for a caricature of Motley Militia on training day in time of peace.

But they are now in admirable trim,--expert in the use of the musket, prompt, vigorous & precise in maneuver; & always ready for duty.In August the regiment was ordered to report to Major General James Blunt, commanding the Army of the Frontier, at Fort Gibson in the Choctaw Nation (Indian Territory) to take part in an offensive against the confederates in the region.

The removal of Union forces in Arkansas, which occurred following his departure from the regiment, made this task more difficult, though his mountain feds were able to successfully fend off multiple confederate attacks.

On September 27 the companies were encountered by elements of confederate cavalry known as "Shelby's Iron Brigade", led by Captain Thorpe, who was heading north to raid Missouri.

[56] Parker and around half of his force managed to escape and on his return informed Col. Johnson of the attack, hoping to disrupt Shelby's future movements.

[56] Following the battle of Haguewood Prairie, the first Arkansas was presented with a flag made by the ladies of Van Buren, a town the regiment would occasionally be posted at.

[58][56] In the months following their capture at Fort Smith, the 1st Arkansas ranks had increased to what would be their highest amount during the war, numbering 979 men in total in November.

[62][17] On November 6, the First Arkansas was ordered by Brigadier General John McNeil to occupy the small town of Waldron, located roughly 45 miles south of Fort Smith.

Despite the capture of Fort Smith in September, Confederate actively in the region was strong and as such Waldron would serve as the jumping off point for various expeditions and scouts to hunt down rebel forces, often at the direction of Col.

On December 5 Johnson returned to Waldron as his cavalry and battery horses were to worn out to push any further south, though some of his scouts did continue on where they engaged in brief skirmishing and took prisoners.

Union forces in the northwest, which had been organized into the "Frontier Division" under Brigadier General John Thayer, were ordered to link up with Steele at Arkadelphia by April 1.

[69] The First Arkansas, commanded by Lt. Col. Searle, departed Fort Smith on March 24, serving as part of the 1st Brigade of the Frontier Division under Colonel John Edwards.

[79] Camden had not been the answer to the army supply issues as General Steele had hoped and decided to abandon the offensive in favor of returning to Little Rock.

[82] As the battle raged the 1st Arkansas mostly maintained a defensive position, re-enforcing the union left against any move on their flank, thus sparing the regiment from any high casualties.

[84] Major Frank Johnson, then the Captain of Company B, would later report that the regiment helped repulse this move on their flank with "considerable loss to the enemy, and losing no men itself".

[89][90] Notably, they skirmished with soldiers belonging to Colonel William Brooks and Major General James Fagan following their raid into Missouri in early November.

[94] Three colonels of Arkansas union regiments, including Col. Johnson, wrote a letter to President Lincoln and, referring to the loyal Arkansas units at Fort Smith, wrote the following about the effects of Fort Smith being abandoned[95] - It is now garrisoned in part by these regiments, and the families of the soldiers are living in the country adjacent, and even were they fortunate enough, in the great scarcity of transportation, to get away with their lives, would have to leave all their possessions behind, come to our military posts as beggars, and be the despised and contemned refugees of this war.