Gone, but not forgotten: The Arkansas Peace Society

The Arkansas Peace Society was formed after Arkansas seceded from the Union. It was made up of people who were not in favor of the Confederacy and wanted to simply be left alone in peace.
The society was a mutual protection organization, designed to help members from being harassed by bushwhackers and ardent Confederates. There were societies in several counties in northwest Arkansas. They were independent of one another, and the membership was secret.
They had their own secret signs that would signal if a member was in distress. Members of the society were said to have hung a strip of yellow cloth near their door, which led to their detractors calling them "Yeller Rag Boys."
The county militia kept tabs on the group, and when the Confederate Conscription Act went into effect in April 1862, those in the Society who didn't enlist were taken by the militia to a training camp in Washington County where they were to be trained and equipped and assigned to Confederate regiments. It is believed they numbered around sixty men, so the Peace Society of Newton County was rather small.

After being in camp about six weeks, the men escaped and made their way back home, where they hid out in the woods or caves during the day. At night, they visited their homes and looked after their farms as best they could, ready to defend their families if anyone came to threaten them. The Peace Society was effectively destroyed, but the mutual aid that neighbors pledged each other lived on.
In early 1863, Union forces were in Fayetteville, and John McCoy and James Vanderpool, Newton County Unionists, recruited many men from the Peace Society to enlist in the First Arkansas Infantry. They spent a large portion of the war on scout in Newton County, defending their families.

Barbara LeRoy is the author of “Which Side Were They On?,” a 302 page book listing biographical sketches of the Newton Countians who were involved in the Civil War, available for sale either in the Bradley House Museum or by purchasing online at www.newtoncountyar.com. The book sells for $33.