Before that, he was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War.

[2] At the start of the American Civil War, Churchill joined the Confederate States Army cavalry as a colonel of the 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles.

On February 17, 1864, Churchill was cited as one of three officers to receive special recognition in a Thanks of Confederate States Congress resolution for his actions at Richmond.

After his exchange, Churchill served for a brief time in the Army of Tennessee before once again being sent west of the Mississippi, where he continued his service in the Trans-Mississippi Department, commanding a division during the Red River Campaign.

[6] The scandal drew widespread opprobrium, even from the partisan press, and tarnished the image of the Redeemers in Arkansas, who ostensibly were elected to clean up the scandal-ridden Radical Republican state government that had been installed during Reconstruction.