File:28. Col. Virden to Supt. Emery, June 15, 1966 Page 3 (35b1bc3f-9e7a-4d44-bd09-ee5dade2d63a).jpg

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Dedication of the Arkansas Monument at Gettysburg More than a century after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, a belated tribute to the elite regiment of his Army of Northern Virginia will be paid this Saturday when a $50,000 monument will be dedicated in the Gettysburg Battlefield Park. The Third Arkansas Infantry Regiment were the shock troops of Lee’s Gray Army. This regiment of volunteers fought in every Civil War battle from First Manassas to Appomattox. In special recognition of the regiments fighting record it was permitted to retain its colors at the final surrender of Lee’s Army. The second day of the Battle of Gettysburg is generally conceded by historians to have been the high-water mark of the Third Arkansas Infantry. For on July 2, 1863 this regiment spearheaded Gen. John Hood’s bloody assault on the extreme left of the Union battle line, which was stopped at the very crest of Little Round Top, before being driven back into the area known as The Devil’s Den. The distinguished Civil War Historian Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman called the Third Arkansas “The finest regiment of Infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia.” This was also the only regiment the then new state of Arkansas provided to Lee’s Army. All other troops were in the Army of Tennessee.

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