The 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion (1861–1862) was a Confederate Army infantry battalion during the American Civil War. The battalion was formed from four companies of McCarver's 14th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and served under the command of Major John H. Kelly. After the Battle of Shiloh, the battalion was consolidated with the 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.
Organization
McCarver's 14th Arkansas Regiment was organized on October 22, 1861, at Pocahontas, Arkansas, with nine companies (a tenth was added in December) drawn from Izard, Lawrence, and Randolph counties. In January 1862, Brigadier General William J. Hardee detached four of the regiment's best armed and equipped companies—Companies A (the "Izard Volunteers"), B, E, and H—and designated them as the 9th Battalion Arkansas Infantry, placing them under Major John H. Kelly. These companies were armed with weapons confiscated from the Federal Arsenal at Little Rock when it was seized by Arkansas State Militia troops in February 1861, including flintlock Hall's Rifles.
Service History
General Hardee took the 9th Arkansas Battalion with him when he transferred his command to Kentucky and organized the Confederate Army of Central Kentucky. Following the losses of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February 1862, Confederate forces withdrew into western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and Alabama to reorganize. On March 29, 1862, the Army of Central Kentucky was merged into the Army of the Mississippi. The 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion, under Major Kelly, was assigned to Brigadier General S. A. M. Wood's brigade of Hardee's Corps and participated in the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, on April 6–7, 1862.
Consolidation
In May 1862, following the passage of the Conscription Act by the Confederate Congress, the Confederate Army underwent a reorganization. On May 7, 1862, the original members of the 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiment were consolidated into five companies and united with the 7th and 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalions. The companies of the 9th Battalion became Companies F and G of the reorganized 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. Major John H. Kelly was elected colonel of the reorganized regiment and later became the youngest general officer in the Confederate Army.
The consolidated 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiment served in the Army of the Tennessee throughout the war, seeing action in the Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia campaigns. Due to heavy casualties, the regiment was eventually consolidated with the 19th Arkansas and finally merged into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment just before the surrender in April 1865.
