History

The 5th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was organized on June 28, 1861, at Gainesville about 7 miles northwest of modern-day Paragould. Men from Greene County served in Companies C, D, E and H. The soldiers trained and camped near the springs at Camp Ground United Methodist Church. Transferred east of the Mississippi River, the 5th Arkansas Regiment fought with the Army of Tennessee in Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, earning the nickname The Fighting Fifth. The casualty-depleted 5th merged with 10 other regiments in 1865.