On April 23, 1861, Charles Arthur Carroll issued the following appeal at Van Buren, Crawford county, Arkansas:  “Fellow Citizens of Crawford County—On Saturday next, the 27th inst., I desire to address you at Frazur’s Gin, in Lafayette Township.  I desire to speak to the Young Men of the County—to the Old Men of the County.  I desire to speak to all who have a heart that pulsates to the welfare of their Country, and who have an arm for its defense.  Turn out—let the fire of seventy-six be rekindled—let us baptise the graves of our fathers in blood, or win again our independence.  Is there a cowardly miscreant disgracing by his footprint our State or the South—is there one who is not willing to throw himself into the breach.  ‘To thy tents, oh Israel’.”

About 80 young men from Crawford and Franklin counties, including a number of students from the Wallace Institute, responded to Carroll’s appeal.  In his address, he urged the creation of a volunteer mounted company for the defense of the State of Arkansas.  Thus was born the “Pope Walker Guards.”  The company was organized at Van Buren, Arkansas, May 7, 1861, with the election of Charles A. Carroll as captain; Matthew O. Davidson, first lieutenant; Luther N. Hollis, second lieutenant; and P. H. Hoyle, third lieutenant.  The Guards immediately offered their services to the Governor.  The young ladies of Van Buren made uniforms for the men, and presented a flag to the company.  The Van Buren Press described the company thus:  “Capt. C. A. Carroll’s Company of mounted riflemen, the ‘Pope Walker Guards’, numbering eighty-four, rank and file, well mounted, armed with Sharps’ rifles and sword bayonets—a most effective weapon.  This Company is made up of the best young men from the County, who have been on horseback from their youth up, and well trained in the use of arms.”

On Saturday, May 25, 1861, the Guards prepared to leave Van Buren for the war.  The Van Buren Press reported the departure of the Pope Walker Guards in the May 29, 1861, issue:

“FAREWELL OF THE VOLUNTEERS—On Saturday morning last, Capt. C. A. Carroll’s Company of Cavalry took up its line of march for the expected seat of war.  Previously to leaving, it paraded in front of the Court House and stood under arms, whilst the Captain tendered thanks for the favors that had been received from the Ladies of the City.  It might have been Capt. Carroll’s intention to have delivered an extended address; but the scene that presented itself to him, forbade anything more than the short but hearty expression of gratitude he pronounced.  The mothers, wife, and sisters of many of the volunteers in the ranks at the Court House Square, were bowed down in tears, and it was impossible for any one capable of experiencing human feeling, to utter a word that would heighten the grief they felt.  Nearly every one wept—and we are assured that soldiers who leave for the battlefield with such blessings as the Cavalry Company received on Saturday, will make the bloodiest ranks in the conflict with the enemy... The prayers of the mother, wife, and sister, and the smiles of the fair are with them.”

Carroll’s company traveled to Camp Walker, near Harmony Springs, Benton county, Arkansas, where they were sworn into State service for three months.  They were assigned to the cavalry regiment of Colonel DeRosey Carroll.  According to the regimental numbering plan of the State Military Board,  his regiment was officially designated as the Third Regiment (Cavalry), Arkansas State Troops.  However, Brigadier-General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, commanding State troops in northwest Arkansas, generally did things his own way, and assigned his regiments sequential numbers based upon their date of enlistment.  Thus, Carroll’s regiment is referred to in most contemporary records as the First Regiment (Cavalry), Arkansas State Troops.  The Pope Walker Guards became Company A of Carroll’s regiment.

Carroll’s regiment, along with the infantry regiments of Pearce’s Arkansas State Brigade, and Brigadier-General Ben McCulloch’s Confederate brigade, marched north into Missouri, where they linked up with Major-General Sterling Price’s Missouri State Guard (roughly equivalent to the Arkansas State Troops).  On August 10, 1861, while encamped on Wilson’s Creek, south of Springfield, Missouri, the Southern army was attacked by a Union force under Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon.  Carroll’s regiment was heavily engaged in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek (or Oak Hills, as it is known in the South), but the Pope Walker Guards never got actively involved.  Over the protests of Captain Carroll, the Guards were ordered to the rear to cover the southern portion of the Confederate position with pickets, and also to provide support, if needed, for the Fort Smith Artillery.  The Guards reported only one casualty in this hotly-contested battle, one of the largest engagements in the western theater of the war: a man who had left without permission to go to a spring for water, was captured.

Shortly after this battle, with their three-month State enlistments expiring, all the Arkansas State Troops returned to northwest Arkansas and were mustered out, September 19, 1861.  The Pope Walker Guards returned to Van Buren, where most of them soon enlisted in regular Confederate regiments.  Captain Carroll formed a company for the 4th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment, CSA, and was soon appointed colonel of the regiment.  Other members of the Guards enlisted in the 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion, 35th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and other Confederate units.  It is believed that some of the Guards eventually ended up in mounted regiments in the Indian Territory.

Aldridge, F H—Private.

Aldridge, H T—Private.

Baker, John R—Private.

Baker, Thomas—Private.

Bandy, W—Private.

Bantley, F S—Private.

Barker, George W—Private.

Barkley, Benjamin F—Private; later in Co. A, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Barton, John C—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Beall, Benjamin B—Private.

Beneux, Horace—Private; later in Co. I, 34th Arkansas Infantry; murdered at home by bushwhackers in 1863.

Beneux, Virgil—Private; later in Co. I, 34th Arkansas Infantry; murdered at home by bushwhackers in 1863.

Brigance, Jasper Newton—Private; later in Co. K, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Brodie, John S—Private; later in Co. D, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Brownfield, Hays—Fifth Sergeant.

Bryant, James D—Private; later in Co. D, 15th Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Buford, William H—Ensign; later in Co. G, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Carlisle, J C—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Carroll, Charles Arthur—Captain; later colonel, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Carter, Otho W—First Corporal; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Chambers, H L—Private; later in Co. G, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Clegg, Austin—Private; later in Co. C, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Cordell, A H—First Sergeant.

Cormack, W C—Private.

Cottrell, Jack F—Private; later in Co. D, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Dailey, Rufus—Private; later in Co. A, 17th Arkansas Infantry.

Davidson, Matthew O—First Lieutenant; later in Co. E, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Ely, B—Private.

England, William T—Bugler; later in Co. B, 6th Arkansas Cavalry.

English, Benjamin—Private; later in Co. E, 7th Arkansas Cavalry.

Estelle, W W—Private; later in Co. I, 34th Arkansas Infantry.

Esterly, James—Private.

Gilbreath, Joseph V—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Hamilton, A J—Private.

Hamilton, W F—Private.

Hawkins, James D—Private; later in Co. G, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Hays, A J—Second Sergeant; later in Co. G, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Heard, James M—Private; later in Co. G, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Hess, Henry A—Private; later in Co. K, 15th Northwest Arkansas Infantry.

Higgs, James E—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Hilliard, George—Private.

Hite, Clark—Third Sergeant; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Hollis, Luther N—Second Lieutenant.

Houston, D C—Private.

Howell, Jesse L—Private.

Hoyle, P H—Third Lieutenant; later in Co. K, 5th Arkansas Militia.

Johnson, A J—Private.

Johnson, Stephen—Private.

Lane, George W—Private; later in Co. K, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Lane, Hugh Collins—Private; later in Co. K, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Markley, Benjamin—Private.

Marrs, John M—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Miles, Robert W—Second Corporal; later in Co. G, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Moore, J B—Private.

Moore, Theophilus Jr—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Nixon, Andrew Jackson—Fourth Corporal; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Nixon, George Washington—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Nixon, Marcus Lafayette—Private; later in Co. I, 34th Arkansas Infantry.

Noah, E N—Private.

Peevy, William M—Private; later in Co. B, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Purl, Gideon—Private; later in 1st Arkansas Light Artillery.

Redmon, A J—Private.

Redmon, Benjamin—Private.

Rice, Patrick—Private.

Robinson, James W—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Rozell, J B—Private.

Ruckner, Newman—Private.

Scapp, J M—Private.

Shields, John C—Fourth Sergeant; later in Co. C, 4th Arkansas Cavalry.

Shores, Richard Q—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Skinner, A J—Private.

Spain, Henderson S—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Taylor, M W—Private; later in Co. G, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Wagner, Mark H—Third Corporal; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Wagner, Robert Q—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Wagner, Solomon—Private; later in Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Warden, Marion W—Private; later in Co. G, 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Wilkinson, J B—Private.

Winn, William—Private; later in Co. I, 15th Arkansas Cavalry Battalion.

Winslow, C A—Private.

If you have any questions or comments or if you would like to have more information about the Civil War and
Pension Records of the men who served in these Companies, contact me Jeri Helms Fultz