Dobbins's First Arkansas Cavalry (CS)

Dobbins’s (or Dobbin’s) First Arkansas Cavalry was a regiment in the Confederate army that saw action in Arkansas during the Civil War. Known as both the First Arkansas Cavalry and for the unit’s first commander, Colonel Archibald Dobbins, the regiment should not be confused with another regiment known as Crawford’s First Arkansas Cavalry or the First Arkansas Mounted Rifles. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Helena, in the Little Rock Campaign, and in Price’s Missouri Expedition. (Spelling and punctuation norms at the time resulted in this regiment often being referred to as “Dobbin’s” cavalry instead of “Dobbins’s” despite its first commander being named Dobbins.)

Archibald Dobbins, a resident of Helena (Phillips County), served as an aide to Major General Thomas C. Hindman in Mississippi and Arkansas early in the war, with the rank of colonel. After Hindman took command of the Confederate Department of the Trans-Mississippi, Dobbins raised a new regiment of cavalry to fill the void left in the state after Major General Earl Van Dorn moved the bulk of Confederate troops from Arkansas to Mississippi.

The regiment consisted of ten companies from Phillips, St. Francis, Independence, Jackson, Crittenden, and Woodruff counties. Dobbins served as colonel, while Samuel Corley served as the major of the regiment. The companies organized over a period of months, with the known enlistment dates of the men in the regiment spanning from late 1861 through early 1863.

On May 1, 1863, the regiment saw action at La Grange, attacking a force of Union cavalry from Helena. The unit participated in the Action at Taylor’s Creek and Mount Vernon in May 1863 but never actively engaged the enemy, allowing the Federals to escape the field. This created animosity between several commanders, including Dobbins and Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke, who blamed the fiasco directly on Dobbins.

At the Battle of Helena, the regiment served in a brigade commanded by Brigadier General Lucius Walker, along with the Fifth Arkansas Cavalry. During the engagement, the regiment, which included four small artillery pieces, saw action on the far northern edge of the city. Ultimately, the brigade did not make a large impact on the battle, and the regiment suffered four killed and eight wounded, with losses from the First Arkansas not reported. The division next to the brigade asked repeatedly for assistance during the engagement, which was not forthcoming; fourteen were killed and forty-three wounded, with one missing.

The regiment participated in the defense of Little Rock (Pulaski County) in September 1863. With Dobbins commanding the brigade in which the regiment served, Samuel Corley commanded the regiment. Corley was killed on September 10 at the Engagement at Bayou Fouche. The regiment lost a total of two killed, six wounded, and four missing during the campaign. Dobbins was court-martialed after the campaign due to refusing to follow the orders of his commander, Brigadier General Marmaduke, after Marmaduke engaged in a duel that led to the death of Brigadier General Walker. Dobbins eventually returned to duty.

Following the capture of Little Rock, the regiment operated in southern Arkansas while the Confederate state government eventually retreated to Washington (Hempstead County). The regiment was encamped at Tulip (Dallas County) on the night of October 10–11, 1863, when a Union column under the command of Colonel Powell Clayton launched an attack. In the confusion, Dobbins and about 200 of his men escaped, but at least seventy of the Confederate troops, along with all of the baggage and camp equipment for the regiment, were captured. The Federals did not suffer any serious casualties, although Clayton was hit by a spent ball during the Skirmish at Tulip.

On October 25, 1863, the regiment participated in the Action at Pine Bluff. Although under fire from Federal troops for quite some time, the unit did not suffer any casualties in the engagement.

The regiment did not actively participate in opposing the Camden Expedition but did see action in eastern Arkansas during the summer of 1864. On July 26, the regiment fought Federal troops near Helena at the Action at Wallace’s Ferry. Following this engagement, the regiment raided Federal plantations near Helena, including during the Skirmish at Lamb’s Plantation, killing and capturing both Union soldiers and freedmen. They subsequently engaged Union forces on the White River near Peach Orchard Bluff (Woodruff County) on September 4.

Serving under Major General Sterling Price during his expedition into Missouri and Kansas in the autumn of 1864, the regiment saw action in numerous battles. As part of an Arkansas brigade commanded by Dobbins, the regiment served alongside two other cavalry regiments and an artillery battery. During the campaign, the brigade failed to stop a Federal force from escaping in the night from a fort at Pilot Knob, Missouri, echoing the earlier failure to stop the enemy at Taylor’s Creek and Mount Vernon.

At the end of the campaign, the Confederate forces dispersed, with Dobbins’s brigade sent south of the Arkansas River on November 4 with orders to report on Christmas Day. This was necessary due to the poor condition of the countryside and the lack of available food and forage. Two men from the regiment were captured near present-day Biscoe (Prairie County) on December 13.

The regiment suffered heavy casualties during the war, with many men captured in small skirmishes or when surprised by Union forces. Others were captured during the retreat across Missouri and Kansas following Price’s defeat. Many of these men spent time in northern prison camps, including Camp Douglas, Illinois, and were transferred to various locations to be exchanged, including New Orleans and Virginia. At least 115 men from the unit were captured during the war, and at least sixty-four died while in Federal custody. At the conclusion of the war, active members of the regiment were paroled at Wittsburg (Cross County).

For additional information:
Bearss, Edwin C. “The Battle of Helena, July 4, 1863.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 20 (Autumn 1961): 256–297.

Christ, Mark K. Civil War Arkansas, 1863: The Battle for a State. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.

———. “‘We Were Badly Whiped’: A Confederate Account of the Battle of Helena, July 4, 1863.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 69 (Spring 2010): 44–53.

Dalehite, Bob. “Arch S. Dobbins.” Phillips County Historical Quarterly 4 (September 1965): 15–31.

———. “Colonel Archibald S. Dobbins.” Independence County Chronicle 5 (January 1964): 39–51.

Robertson, Brian K. “‘Will They Fight? Ask the Enemy’: United States Colored Troops at Big Creek, Arkansas, July 26, 1864.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 66 (Autumn 2007): 320–332.

Williams, Charles G. “The Action at Wallace’s Ferry.” Phillips County Historical Quarterly 25 (December 1986 and March 1987): 46–55.

David Sesser
Southeastern Louisiana University