I can only suggest that the Confederate government and Army abandoned Little Rock quite hurriedly. How much of their records were destroyed by them, or captured by the federals when they occupied Little Rock during this hasty retreat is unknown.

From Little Rock the Confederate Government of Arkansas established itself at Washington, Arkansas, in southwestern Arkansas, and later moved to Rondo, Arkansas, near Texarkana Texas, then to Marshall and Waco, Texas. By the end of the war most of the Military ( at least Army) was at Marshall, Texas and surrendered at Shreveport, La. Shrevesport was one of the major Trans-Mississippi department surrender sites. This did not mean that every man marched down there and took the oath, but Unit commanders did surrender unit records and muster rolls records to the federal authorities there. This may account for the large number of CSN personal records in the Louisiana Archives.

Where the naval military records were surrendered I would have no idea. I do not know where Lt. Dunnington surrendered or if he even did surrender. He may have retained the Ponchartrains records himself. Dunnington as I have pointed out before held dual commissions as both a Naval Officer and as an Army Officer and was assigned duties as the Confederate General Staff Ordance Officer under both Generals Hindman and Holmes at the very least. And commanded a Brigade of Army Infantry as well as Fort Hindman itself, at Arkansas Post during that Battle Jan. 11, 1863.

Another sidelight to this, is that some of the naval gunners under Dunnington's Command at Arkansas Post were members of Grays 28th Louisiana Infantry. Not that this means anything, but is interesting given other information.