Born in South Carolina, James Cade Monroe received his education at Arsenal Academy in Columbia, South Carolina and attended a college in Baltimore, Maryland. After college, Monroe relocated to Arkadelphia, Arkansas. When the Civil War started, Monroe raised a company called Clark County Volun-teers and was elected its captain. Monroe took the company to Little Rock and joined the 1st Arkansas Infantry. Monroe was elected lieutenant colonel of the regiment, which was commanded by Col. James F. Fagan. In September 1862, the 1st Arkansas Cavalry (officially known as the 6th Arkansas Cavalry) was organized with Fagan as its colonel and Monroe as its lieutenant colonel. When Fagan was promoted to brigadier general in June 1862, Monroe was promoted to colonel and the regiment was informally referred to as Monroe’s Arkansas Cavalry. During Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri, Monroe assumed command of Cabell's Brigade after Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell was captured during the Battle of Mine Creek.
At the end of the war, the regiment did not surrender, and Monroe led his men toward Mexico and exile. But reaching the Rio Grande River, his men voted to disband the regiment and return to their homes. Monroe continued and entered into Mexico where he remained in exile until his death in 1865 during a street fight in San Luis Potosi.
Wikipedia. “1st Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (Monroe’s),” February 11, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Arkansas_Cavalry_Regiment_(Monroe%27s).
Moore, “Col James Cade Monroe.” Find A Grave, March 2, 2012. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86128083/james-cade-monroe.