HISTORICAL NOTES:
The Arkansas 5th Cavalry Regiment was designated at various times as Newton's Regiment Arkansas Cavalry, Morgan's Regiment Arkansas Cavalry, 2nd Regiment Arkansas Cavalry, and the 8th Regiment Arkansas Cavalry. When Colonel Robert Crittenden Newton was in command, it went by its official title of 5th Arkansas Cavalry. Colonel Newton was succeeded in December 1863 by Col. Thomas J. Morgan, formerly captain of Company C. Under Colonel Morgan's command, the regiment went by the designation 8th Arkansas Cavalry; but it was also known on occasion as the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry. There was another unit known as the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry Regiment. The Compiled Service Records for this regiment are filed under the designation 8th Arkansas Cavalry, although there are a few names filed unde the 5th Cavalry which belong with this unit.
The unit had several members captured in the Battle of Bayou Fourche (Little Rock) in September 1863. These prisoners were sent to Camp Morton, near Indianapolis, Indiana. A few died in prison, a few joined the U.S. Army frontier service, but most were exchanged in March 1864. Many of these men were back in Arkansas in time to be paroled at Jacksonport, Arkansas, on June 5, 1865, at the end of the war.
OFFICERS:
The commanders of the 5th/2nd/8th Cavalry include Colonels Robert C. Newton, Thomas J. Morgan, and W. A. Bevens.
ASSIGNMENTS:
General J. G. Walker's (later Dobbins') Division, Trans-Mississippi Department,
The unit designation changed to the 2nd (Morgan's) Cavalry Regiment effective December 24, 1863. As the 8th/2nd Arkansas under Colonel Morgan, the unit served in General Cabell's Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department.
BATTLES:
As the 5th Arkansas under Colonel Newton, the unit served in General J. G. Walker's (later Dobbins') Division, Trans-Mississippi Department, and fought in the following engagements:[3]
Battle of Helena, Arkansas, July 4, 1863.
Battle of Brownsville, Arkansas, August 25, 1863
Battle of Reed's Bridge, Arkansas, August 27, 1863
Battle of Bayou Fourche, Arkansas, September 10, 1863.
Battle of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, October 25, 1863.
The unit designation changed to the 2nd (Morgan's) Cavalry Regiment effective December 24, 1863. As the 8th/2nd Arkansas under Colonel Morgan, the unit served in General Cabell's Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department, and fought in the following engagements:
Battle of Poison Spring, Arkansas, April 18, 1864.[4]
Battle of Marks' Mills, Arkansas, April 25, 1864. The regiment lost 18 percent of the 130 engaged.
HISTORICAL NOTES: