These old soldiers are veterans of the Jackson Guards, a Confederate company raised in Jacksonport in May 1861 that served in the Virginia theater as Company G of the 1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment, CSA. The date they left was the day before the state of Arkansas seceded from the Union. Two of the leaders of the group are Robert Shaver (front center) and William Bevens (front right).
From the Jacksonport State Park Collection.
Watson, Tim, and Elizabeth Jacoway. Newport and Jackson County. Arcadia Publishing, 2016.