Published in the Capitol Guards Sentinel, June1998

DURING THE SUMMER OF 1836 President Andrew Jackson withdrew all U.S. troops from the Indian Territory to fight the Seminole War in Florida. In their stead, he called on the governors of the frontier states and territories to raise local militia companies to defend against possible Indian depredations along the frontier.

In Little Rock, the capitol city of the newly organizing state of Arkansas, the citizens formed a militia company that autumn for their local defense and named it the First Company of Arkansas Artillery under the command of Captain John T. Fulton. Fulton soon found the requirements of the militia not to his liking and resigned, turning his command over to his first lieutenant, a prominent local attorney named Albert Pike. Pike led the company at its first formal ceremony on July 4, 1837.

Equipped with muskets and two bronze 6-pounder cannon and numbering some eighty men, the First Arkansas Artillery was drilled in infantry tactics as well as artillery. The uniforms, of which there were two styles, were furnished by the members themselves. The winter uniform consisted of a black broadcloth swallowtail coat with red lining and facings, dark trousers with a wide gold band running down the outside seam, and a black shako with a red pompom for headgear. The summer uniform was a gray blouse with red trimming, duck trousers, and a gray forage cap. The uniforms were made and purchased in New York City by a member of the company who went there for that purpose.

The company soon became known as "Pike's Artillery", were drilled hard, and became expert under Captain Pike's leadership in both mounted and dismounted drill. While the intent was to defend against the Indians, the removal of the remaining Quapaw, Osage, and Cherokee to the Indian Territory along the Trail of Tears left them mostly without an enemy, and the company became much in demand for parades and special ceremonies. The dawn of Independence Day (July 4) was always shattered with a salute of "13 guns to the Old States" by Pike's battery; and at the inauguration ceremony of Governor Archibald Yell in 1840 the company fell out for a full dress parade to give a military air to the affair. Another memorable display of the company, now known officially as the "Little Rock Guards", came in June, 1841 when General Zachary Taylor passed through Little Rock on his way to take command of Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory. On that occasion Pike posted his company on the bluff behind the State Capitol (now the Old State House), overlooking the Arkansas River. As General Taylor's steamboat, the Artizan, steamed up the river Pike's battery fired a general's salute, receiving an answer from a battery on board the boat. Music was furnished by a band of the 5th U.S. Infantry, in company with General Taylor on the Artizan.

In spite of the diminishing threat the citizens of Little Rock were particularly Indian-conscious, and the Little Rock Guards gave a rousing reception for John Ross, chief of the Cherokee Nation, his wife and two young and beautiful daughters on their way home from a visit to the East in 1842.

Anxious to impress Ross with the open friendliness of his eastern neighbors, Pike put on a vivid display as the Little Rock Guards marched through the streets of Little Rock to pick up their dates for the ball, with drums rattling. As they reached a girl's house, the company came to attention as one man fell out of the ranks and went up to the door to pick up his date for the evening. As the girl fell in step with her escort, the company rattled on to the next house and to the next until all the boys had their dancing partners for the party. Then they marched to the new Anthony House ballroom (Little Rock's newest and finest hotel) where the girls filed to one side of the room and the men to the other.

Then Captain Pike advanced to the center of the room, flanked on either side by his two lieutenants, to meet Ross and his two daughters. With his jovial face half lighted by the glow from the tiers of sperm oil candles stuck in the muzzles of old flintlock muskets spaced six inches apart around the room, Pike made an eloquent address of welcome. Ross bowed slightly, stiffly. The girls curtsied, took the proffered arms of the two lieutenants, and marched away as the Dutch George band broke into the lively strains of the Virginia Reel.

At midnight the guests filed into the hotel dining room for supper. Because there was a shortage of plates, not everyone could eat at the same time. The ladies ate first with the gentlemen waiting on them; then, after the dishes had been washed, the ladies served the gentlemen.

The dancing lasted until two o'clock. Then, with great ceremony, the soldiers marched the girls back to their homes, and another glittering social event in Little Rock came to a triumphal close.

The Fourth of July was no small day in the lives of Arkansans who lived in the 1830s and 1840s. An account of the typical observance in Independence Day in 1845 by the Little Rock Guards may give an idea of the importance of the holiday to the members of the Guards and their fellow townsmen. As July approached each year numerous committees met to make arrangements for the program to be carried out on the holiday and to send letters of invitation to various dignitaries - the governor, U.S. senators and congressmen, and local civic leaders. On the afternoon of July 3, the Little Rock Guards assembled at the U.S. Arsenal building (in present-day MacArthur Park) to draw their weapons and cannons, and after being fully equipped marched to the country home of Euclid L. Johnson, a prominent state politician who lived approximately two miles outside of town. Encamping beneath the shady grove fronting the Johnson home, the men were placed under strict military discipline. "Officers of the guard were regularly appointed, and sentinels stationed at the main gate, denying admittance to all who could not give the countersign, or who was not passed by the officer." At sunset, a salute of 27 guns - one for each state in the Union - was fired.

Shortly before dawn next day - July 4 - a 13-gun salute in honor of the "Old Thirteen" ushered in the day's celebrations. At approximately 10 o'clock in the morning the ladies of the Guards arrived from Little Rock.

A collation was spread for them underneath fine shade trees, which adorned the yard, and then it was that Mars seemed to be temporarily dethroned by the Graces - mirth, wit, and beauty bringing all present under their potent spell.

The "fair visitors" soon departed, however, leaving the Guards with their invited guests to themselves. Noon brought another national salute of 27 guns, and at two in the afternoon the men "sat down to a sumptuous dinner." Captain Pike presided at the table, with the invited guests, officers, and men seated in order of their rank on either side of him. Speeches, toasts, and a reading of the Declaration of Independence accompanied the food and drink.

Late in the afternoon, the company struck tents and marched back to town, where a final salute to the nation was fired in front of the State House. The Guards then broke ranks and repaired to the Anthony House for a dinner given intheir honor by the proprietor, John Brown. More toasts and speeches followed, and later that night the men "broke up in good condition", thus ending the two-day celebration without a single mishap "to mar the general joy". But almost overnight, the storm clouds gathered…

IN APRIL, 1846, THE UNITED STATES went to war with Mexico over the disputed question of the Rio Grande boundary. To avenge the shedding "of American blood on American soil," Congress on May 13 gave President James K. Polk authority to call into federal service up to 50,000 volunteers. Two days later, Secretary of War W.L. Marcy addressed a letter to Arkansas Governor Thomas C. Drew requesting him to organize immediately one regiment of cavalry, or mounted riflemen, and one battalion of infantry. The cavalry regiment was to assemble at Washington, Arkansas where they would be mustered into federal service and prepare for deployment to Mexico. The infantry battalion was to report to Fort Smith as replacements for the regular Federal troops on the frontier, freeing the Federal troops for Mexican service. Governor Drew's proclamation calling for the troops was published on May 27, 1846.

Captain Pike was out of town attending a court session when he received word of the call for troops. He received the news with little joy, knowing that his troops would want to go to Mexico and that he would be expected to lead them; but it also meant that Pike must leave behind a growing and lucrative legal practice. He therefore sent a letter to the governor offering the Little Rock Guards for service as a company of infantry. But when Pike returned to Little Rock a few days later, he found that his troops were completely unwilling to sit out the war at Fort Smith. At a special company meeting on June 7, the membership of the Little Rock Guards voted to volunteer as a company of "flying artillery" for service in Mexico. Should their offer of service as artillerists not be accepted by the governor, they asked to be sent as a company of cavalry in the Arkansas cavalry regiment.

Notified by the governor that the Guards would be received in federal service only as cavalrymen, Pike hurriedly converted and trained the company as dragoons, or mounted riflemen. By June 15 the Little Rock Guards had their full complement of men and equipment from the Little Rock Arsenal, and held a new election for officers. Albert Pike was re-elected as the company commander, with Hamilton Reynolds and William H. Causins were elected first and second lieutenants respectively.

On June 19, as the Guards completed their final preparations for departure from the Arsenal, Miss Josephine Buckner, on behalf of the ladies of Little Rock, presented Captain Pike and the company with an embroidered battle flag bearing the company's motto, "Up, Guards, and At 'Em!". In response, Pike thanked the women and vowed that his men would ever remember the honor paid them. The account of the flag presentation in the Arkansas Gazette describes the Guards as wearing their militia uniforms, "a blue jacket and grey pantaloons, with red stripes at the side."

So equipped, "Boots and Saddles" was sounded, and the Little Rock Guards, with Captain Pike in the lead, clattered out of the Arsenal grounds and wound through the streets onto the Stagecoach Road, leading to the Southwest Trail and to Old Washington. They were on their way to war.

To be continued…