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Albert Rust was born in Virginia in 1818, Making the trek to Arkansas in 1837, he settled in Union County.  While working as a county surveyor, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1840.  He served in the State Militia for numerous years, as well as serving four terms in the State House of Representatives.  During the strife leading to the War Between The States, Rust was a vocal supporter of secession.  When Arkansas seceded on May 6, 1861, Rust was chosen to serve in the provisional Confederate House of Representatives.  Once war erupted, he was one of the first from Arkansas to take up arms, organizing the famed Third Arkansas Infantry. He saw combat in Virginia, receiving favorable mention in General Robert E Lee’s official report on the Battle of Cheat Mountain.  He would later receive praise from Stonewall Jackson, in a report on Confederate advancement into Maryland, stating “Colonel Rust and his command merit special praise for their conduct in this affair.”

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In March of 1862, Rust was appointed Brigadier General, seeing battles in Mississippi and Tennessee, and in April of 1863, he returned to the Trans-Mississippi Department, serving in Louisiana and Arkansas.  Rust served the Confederacy faithfully until the end of the War, returning to practice law in the difficult post-war “Radical Reconstruction” period.