Date Original
1912
Description
This collection includes the Civil War reminiscences of Robert G. Shaver, written for Mrs. C.A. Forney-Smith, the first President of the Grand Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Biographical/Historical Note
Robert Glenn Shaver was born April 18, 1831, in Sullivan County, Tennessee, to David and Martha(May) Shaver. In 1850, he and his parents moved east of Batesville into what was then Lawrence County, Arkansas. On June 10, 1856, he married Adelaide Louise Ringgold, and they had eight children. Shaver practiced law until 1861 when the Civil War broke out. He received an order to organize a regiment of ten companies, which he did on June 10, 1861, at Smithville, Lawrence County. He was elected colonel, and the regiment came to be known as "Shaver's Regiment." In April 1862, he was severely injured in the Battle of Shiloh and transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department. In September1862, he organized the 38th Arkansas Infantry and was elected colonel. He served until the end of the war and was among the last organized Confederate forces to surrender. After the war, he became involved in the Arkansas Ku Klux Klan and was charged with murder, arson, treason, and robbery. In 1868, he fled to New Orleans, where he boarded the British ship Mexico and sailed to the British Honduras. He returned to Arkansas in 1872, after his good friend Elisha Baxter was elected governor of Arkansas. The charges were dropped, and he was appointed sheriff for the newly-created Howard County. He and his family moved to Mena, Polk County, in 1899, to live with his son. In 1911, he was appointed commander-in-charge for the annual reunion of Confederate veterans held in Little Rock. The camp was known as "Camp Shaver." He died January 13, 1915, in Foreman.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Arkansas; Louisiana; Tennessee
Language
English
Identifier
SMC.006.022
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Robert G. Shaver papers, SMC.006.022
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Robert G. Shaver papers, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
