the decreasing availability of fodder for horses in 1864 led the confederate trans-mississippi department to issue an order proscribing the raising of additional mounted regiments in arkansas. however, when general sterling price received authorization to conduct a campaign in missouri that fall, several of the new regiments were mounted in order to accompany him. as a result, the 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th were officially mounted infantry regiments instead of cavalry regiments. they were rarely referred to in contemporary reports and orders by numerical designation. price referred to them as mcgehee's cavalry, crabtree's cavalry, etc., which eventually resulted in their later being referred to as 44th cavalry, 46th cavalry, etc. the 40-series regiments consisted mostly of conscripts, and absentees from existing units, organized around a small cadre of veterans detailed from infantry regiments, which were expected to be idle during the fall and winter of 1864. officer appointments in the 40-series regiments date from the june to august 1864 time frame, so it is assumed that the regiments were mustered into service about the same time at various points in northeast arkansas.