In May 1862, Major General Hindman assumed command of the Trans-Mississippi and found that the state had been stripped of organized Confederate forces when Major General Van Dorn moved his Army of the West, east of the Mississippi River. In order to organize a new Confederate Army in Arkansas, Hindman utilized the Confederate Conscription act of April 1862. This act actually specifically forbid the use of conscription to raise to units. It had been intended to create a pool of replacements for the regiments which were already in Confederate service but had been depleted by disease and battle filed losses. With no organized regiments in Arkansas, Hindman was forced to create new units. He designated several of his new units as Trans-Mississippi Rifle Regiments. Col. Asa S. Morgan's 26th Arkansas Regiment was designated as the 3rd Trans-Mississippi Regiment. Immediately the officers and men begin to refer to themselves as the 3rd Arkansas Regiment. This leads to confusion for researchers who find Col. Van H. Manning's 3rd Arkansas Volunteer Infantry serving under General Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia and a group in Arkansas who insist on also calling themselves the 3rd Arkansas. General Hindman's reason for the use of this designation isn't clear. It may have been a way of emphasizing that these units were for use west of the Mississippi River in the new Department of the Trans-Mississippi, or it may be related to his dispute with Governor Rector over Rector's plan to raise new regiments of State Troops instead of enrolling new units in Confederate service. It may also have to do with the fact that several of these new units at least initially contained companies of men from Missouri and Texas who were in Arkansas when the organization began.
