3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Confederate States)  The 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment (also known as "Third Arkansas"; July 5, 1861 – April 12, 1865) was a regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and the most celebrated unit from the state. Formed and initially commanded by Colonel Albert Rust, and later falling under the command of Colonel Van. H. Manning, the regiment was part of the Army of Northern Virginia, serving under General Robert E. Lee. The 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment served for the duration of the war, from the late months of 1861, through to its surrender at Appomattox Court House in 1865. It was the only regiment from the state of Arkansas to serve the entire war in the Eastern Theater, where most of the major Civil War battles were fought. It was also the only Arkansas regiment to initially sign up for the duration of the Civil War, with all other regiments from the state signing on for a one-year enlistment. The regiment was formed in May and June 1861, initially by Dr. W. H. Tebbs, who would be appointed a captain, and Van. H. Manning who would later command the regiment. Early in May, 1861, Dr. W. H. Tebbs, Captain of a volunteer company raised on Bayou Bartholomew, in Ashley county, and Captain Van. H. Manning, the captain of a company organized at Hamburg, in Ashley County, went to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in order to tender the services of their two companies, for service in the Confederate Army. They contacted Leroy P. Walker, Confederate Secretary of War, at Montgomery, by telegraph and received his reply declining the offer of the two companies, separate from a regiment. They then went to Montgomery, and Manning enlisted the help of Arkansas Confederate Senator Albert Rust. Rust help gain the acceptance as a part of the Confederate Army, conditioned on his raising the remaining companies needed to form a regiment. Rust, returned to Arkansas, and organized nine additional companies, and joined Captain Tebbs and Capt Manning in Virginia, where the regiment was mustered into service for the period of the war. The addition of nine companies made eleven when the regiment was organized. Tebbs' Company and Captain Mannings' were perhaps the first and only companies denied admission into the Confederate service, even for a day, and were the first companies enlisted for the war. When organized, the regiment was composed of 11 companies:   Albert Rust was appointed Colonel, and the regiment was sent to Lynchburg, Virginia, for military training.