Thank you Jan. That was very interesting. ----- Original Message ----- From: "bjw" <jann_woodard@yahoo.com> To: <ARBRADLE@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 2:19 PM Subject: [ARBRADLE] Old Fifth Arkansas > WAR VETERAN TELLS OF CALL TO ARMS > > Jim E. Stanley Relates How the "Old Fifth Arkansas" was Organized > > On or about the first day of January, 1859, I landed at Des Arc, Ark., > from the good steamboat, "Return." Charles Jackson, who now lives at or > near Lonoke, Ark., was with me on the trip from Memphis, Tenn. We were > schoolmates in my early school days in "Old Tennessee." Des Arc was a > nice town and was a great trading and shipping point many years before I > came to the state. White river was navigable for steamers all the year, > many miles above Des Arc. There was a regular line of Memphis and White > river boats. The Arkansas and Memphis steamers made regular trips. The > Red, Black and St. Francis rivers were traversed by nice steamboats a > great part of each year. We had no railroads in Arkansas at that time. > > Our mail overland was carried on stages and on the backs of "mustang > ponies." Hanger & Gaines and Chidester & Reside owned and operated two > stage lines - the Little Rock and Batesville and Des Arc and Fort Smith. > There were other lines south of Little Rock, but I did not get so far > south until after the war. I used a short "haul" of six miles once on a > stage and they relieved me of 60 cents; that was my first and last stage > coach ride. The agent of the routes north was Uncle Charley Mills of > Little Rock. I knew him well. He was jolly, fat, and a good fellow. In > the fall of 1859 I made a few trips from Old Austin to Pine Bluff, four > days for the round trip of 75 miles. My first intermediate office was Old > Brownsville, next was Gumwood on Wabbaseka bayou. Mr. Hudgin was > postmaster. The next office was Pastoria, and thence five miles to Pine > Bluff. I could have carried on any trip all the mail in my coat pocket. > I used to go by old Dr. Cantrell's and leave the > "Brownsville Echo." He lived in the Rich Woods. There were only two > newspapers in Prairie county before the war. The "Des Arc Citizen," a > weekly, which was published at Des Arc by John C. Morrill. I suppose it > contained about as much as one page of our Gazette, nevertheless it was > good and up to date, and we were all glad to get it once a week. > > In the month of May, 1861, when war clouds hung heavy over our Southland, > a call for volunteers was made on the little village of Austin and > vicinity, and by June 10, we had responded with 87 men and boys, enrolled > by Capt. James Blakney of Austin. For some cause, Captain Blakney could > not go to the front with us, so the good old people advised us to take A. > J. Gingles as our captain. We accepted him and chose Howard M. Gist as > first lieutenant, B. F. Murrell, second lieutenant, and Hugh Ross, as > third. > > Hugh Robinson, a private in the company was a natural soldier. It did > not take him long to teach us the manual of arms from Hardee's tactics. > Armed with sticks for guns, "The Austin Rifles" drilled two or three days > each week on the old square at Austin, until we were ordered away. Hugh > Robison was finally elected our captain at Corinth, Miss., in 1862, and > was killed in battle at Perryville, Ky., in 1862. On the 14th of June, > 1861, we received orders to go to Brownsville. Capt. R. S. Gant had made > up a company at Brownsville and on the night of the 14th of June, our two > companies were lined up in the courthouse and were sworn in as State > soldiers for one year only. > > On the 15th of June, 186l, we hiked to Des Arc, and into camp a short > distance below town, near the bank of the limpid White river. A bayou ran > between our camps and the town, and a long bridge spanned the bayou. On > the bridge stood a new soldier with a counter sign in his head and a club > in his hand. > > Tarkington, Jackson and Oldham sold good "booze" in the town at 10 cents > a quart and five cents a drink, and private soldiers were not allowed to > smell of it. But the White river was not under blockade then and canoes > came around the bend and there was whiskey in Camp Brown. It was > necessary to keep the guards around the camp at night. We had no guns, so > we used clubs and sticks instead. > > I don't forget a little joke on the boys that came on us at Camp Brown. > I was not on guard that night. All seemed to be quiet on the banks of the > beautiful White river until 9 or 10 o'clock. I think it was Capta'n > Sweats artillery company on a steamer, seeing our camps, they gave us a > one-gun salute and at that time we had no guards around Camp Brown! Poor > old Captain Gingles and Captain Gant came to our rescue and said: "Why > boys, that was Captain Sweats' battery giving us a salute." > > The village blacksmith made many Arkansas toothpicks for the bays and Mr. > Vaum, the tinner, made our canteens. > > In a few days we had orders to leave our first camps. We marched to the > landing and were met by many ladies who gave to each one of us a New > Testament. Amid many cheers and the waving of flags, we boarded the > steamer "New Moon" and left Des Arc. Many never returned. The "New Moon" > was too large for Black river. We went up to Pocahontas on the "I. J. > Cadott"; from Pocahontas we made our way on the Webfoot line to > Gainesville, and five miles south to a fine spring. It was not long > before we had ten companies there, and the Old Original Fifth Arkansas > Regiment was organized. > > David C. Cross was colonel: Captain Sweeney [Bradley Co] was lieutenant > colonel, and Pope was major. > > Company "A," Will H. Frader, captain (Rector Grays), St. Francis county. > Company "B" L. R. Fiske, captain (Walker Grays), Taylor Creek, St. > Francis county. > Company "C" P. V. Green, captain (Sweeney Rifles), Warren, Bradley > County. > Company "D" W. G. Bohanan, captain (Gainesville Rifles), Greene county > Company "E" Captain White (Gainesville Guards), Greene county > Company "F" Hank Smith, captain (Harrisburg Rifles), Poinsett county. > Company "G", R. S. Gant, captain (Brownsville Rifles), Prairie county > Company "H" Poindexter Dunn, captain (Linden Dead Shots), St. Francis > county > Company "I" A. J. Gingles, captain (Austin Rifles), Prairie county > Company "K" Lou Featherston, captain (Arkansas Toothpicks, Clarendon, > Monroe county. > > In a short time after the Old Fifth Arkansas was organized, we marched to > Pocahontas and stayed a few days in camp. While there we were informed > that we might have to leave the state. As we were state troops, it was > not proposed to take us out of the state against our wishes. We were > ordered into line and the proposition was given to us as follows: "Those > who do not want to go out of the state will step a few paces to the front > and stand for enrollment and will be allowed to return home." I don't > remember how many left us, nearly half of the Brownsville Rifles stepped > out, but that company was recruited almost to its former number of men, > but the Linden Dead Shots walked out enmass. We were then "A Bob Tail > Regiment," but old Greene county came forward with another company, "H" > from Scatterville, Capt. G. P. Kirkendall. > > We spent the remainder of the summer at Pitman's Ferry on the Current > river, 20 miles north of Pocahontas. At Pocahontas that old Arkansas > brigade was formed and commanded awhile by Gen. W. J. Hardee, then Tom C. > Hindman, Shaver, Marmaduke, Pat Cleburne and Gen. J. R. Lidell and I don't > remember how many others. We were spliced together so much that by the > time we fought the Chickamaugua battle we were almost strangers under > General Walthal of Mississippi. > > The regiments composing the old original brigade as well as I can > remember now, were as follows: Tom. C. Hindman, legion, twelve or > fourteen hundred men. It became the Second. Regiment: the Fifth > Regiment, D. C. Cross; the Sixth Regiment, Ben Lyon; the Seventh Regiment, > R. G. Shaver; the Eighth Regiment, Colonel Patterson. > > Old comrades and fragments of a once grand army, a few of you may read > this little history I have written from memories of 48 to 52 years ago; > what I have told you about I was there. Many of them, yes, three-fourths > of those boys who formed those companies, regiments and brigades, have > passed away; they have answered the last roll called here. > > I will not take you out on our trip from the state, this time, as I have > written enough for the present. Should any old cramrades see these lines > and remember me, I will be glad to hear from them. If I feel well enough > sometime, I will write again. It might be interesting to old comrades, > but to no one else, I suppose. Respectfully, > > Jim E. Stanley private Co. I Fifth Arkansas Confederate Volunteers, Levy, > Ark. > > > --------------------------------- > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! > Search. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ARBRADLE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message