(Main articles: American Civil War, Arkansas in the American Civil War, and List of Arkansas Civil War Confederate units) The units of the Arkansas Militia in the Civil War to which the current Arkansas National Guard has a connection include the Arkansas State Militia, Home Guard, and State Troop regiments raised by the State of Arkansas. Like most of the United States, Arkansas had an organized militia system before the American Civil War (1861–65). State law required military service of most male inhabitants of a certain age. Following the War with Mexico (1846–48) the Arkansas militia experienced a decline, but as sectional frictions between the north and south began to build in the late 1850s the militia experienced a revival. By 1860 the state's militia consisted of 62 regiments divi