""They'll Do to Tie To!": The Story of Hood’s ... " Topic

…Arkansas Toothpicks.

"The 3rd Arkansas was one of the most distinguished and well-respected Confederate regiments of the Civil War. It was the only Arkansas regiment to serve the entire war in the east, where most of the major battles were fought. The men of the 3rd Arkansas acquired a reputation as tenacious fighters and were known for the long knives—"Arkansas toothpicks"—they carried. As part of Gen. John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade, they found themselves in some of the fiercest fighting in the war in places such as the famous "sunken road" at Antietam and the Battle of Gettysburg. "They'll Do to Tie To!" was originally published in 1959."

From here
link

Please, can you recomended more books about the 3rd Arkansas?

And you agree this was one of "distinguished and well-respected Confederate regiments"?.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Amicalement
Armand

I believe this same regiment was also referred to as "the Rackansackers" (wreck and sackers) as a play on the name Arkansas.

There is at least one book on the Texas Brigade that is very highly regarded, "Hood's Texas Brigade,Lee's Grenadier Guard"

It is by the late Col. Harold Simpson, (USAF) who, when he was alive , was widely considered as the leading expert on the Brigade. He wrote his thesis on Hood's Brigade while at TCU and then worked on a multi-volume study of it according to one website. I had the pleasure of meeting the Col. once and he proved to be a very fine gentleman.

He established the Hill College Civil War (Confederate?) Research Center, which is the largest repository of books on the war west of the Mississippi River. Hill College is located in the very heart of the area the Brigade was recruited from.

Incidentally, I very much enjoy your various posts on TMP. Thank You very much for your input.

Thanks for your support my friend and also for the good info. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

They certainly fought at Antietam, but not in the Sunken Road sector of the battle. They were in Walker's division, Manning's brigade, and fought in the West Woods.

The 3rd Arkansas was attached to Hood's Brigade in the reorganization after Antietam. The 18th Georgia and the infantry companies of the Hampton Legion had been with the brigade up until then, but were reassigned. To take their place, the 3rd Arkansas came in, and the brigade kept this organization through the end of the war. 1st, 4th & 5th Texas and 3rd Arkansas.

As noted above, Colonel Simpson's books are, IMHO, the best works available from among those written by non-contemporaries of the brigade. I have all of his works, and although they are a bit pricey by today's standards, they are worth every penny to anyone with an interest in the brigade.

Other good sources, from those who served in the brigade would be "Hood's Texas Brigade" by JB Polley, and his other book "A Soldiers Letters to Charming Nellie. "A Texan In Search Of A Fight, Rags & Hope (Val Giles),

I'll add some more later.

I agree TK, Simpson's works are the best available on the Texas brigade. And I'm looking forward to the long-awaited arrival of Susannah Ural's social history of the brigade, "Hood's Boy: The Soldiers and Families of Hood's Texas Brigade", which I think will be out pretty soon (although I think I've been saying that for the past three years).

Colquitt's Alabama and Wright's North Carolina brigades were the units in the Sunken road.