THE PEA RIDGE CAMPAIGN.

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and General Asboth’s (the Fourth, afterward the Second), and to preparethem for active service in the field. I arrived at Rolla on the 23d of December,and on the 27th, when the organization was completed, I was superseded byGeneral Samuel R. Curtis , who had been appointed by Halleck to the com-mand of the District of South-west Missouri, including the troops at Rolla .The campaign was opened by the advance of a brigade of cavalry underColonel E. A. Carr on the 29th of December from Rolla to Lebanon , for thepurpose of initiating a concentration of forces, and to secure a point of sup-port for the scouting parties to be pushed forward in the direction of Spring-field, the supposed headquarters of the enemy. (See map, p. 263.)

On January 9th, after toilsome marching, all the disposable forces wereassembled at Lebanon. Here, by order of General Curtis , the army wasorganized into 4 divisions of 2 brigades each, besides a special reserve. |

Before we reached Lebanon I was doubtful about my personal relations toGeneral Curtis , which had been somewhat troubled by his sudden appearanceat Rolla and the differences in regard to our relative rank and position, butthe fairness he showed in the assignment of the commands before we leftLebanon , and his frankness and courtesy toward me, dispelled all appre-hensions on my part, and with a light heart and full confidence in the newcommander, I entered into the earnest business now before us.

The army left Lebanon on the 10th of February, arrived at Marshfield 011the lltli, at McPherson’s Creek, about 12 miles from Springfield, on the12 th, where a light engagement with the rear-guard of the enemy’s troopsoccurred, and took possession of Springfield on the 13th. Price ’s army ofMissourians, about 8000 strong, had retired and was on its way to Cassville.On entering Springfield we found it pitifully changed,—the beautiful “Gar-den City ” of the South-west looked desolate and bleak; most of the houseswere empty, as the Union families had followed us to Rolla after the retreatof General Hunter in November, 1861, and the secessionists had mostly fol-lowed Price . The streets, formerly lined with the finest shade trees, werebereft of their ornament, and only the stumps were left. General Price hadapplied his vacation-time well in organizing two brigades under Colonel Littleand General Slack for the Southern Confederacy, had spread out his com-mand as far as, and even beyond, the Osage River, and would have beenreenforced by several thousand recruits from middle Missouri , if they hadnot been intercepted on their way South by Northern troops. As it was, hetook whatever he found to his purpose, destroyed what he could not use, andfeeling himself not strong enough to venture battle, withdrew to Arkansas toseek assistance from McCulloch. We followed him in two columns, the leftwing (Third and Fourth Divisions) by the direct road to Cassville, the rightwing (First and Second Divisions), under my command, by the road to LittleYork, Marionsville, and Verona, both columns to unite at McDowell’s, northof Cassville.

I advanced with the Benton Hussars during the night of the 13th to Lit-tle York, and as it was a very cold night, the road being covered with a

t For details of the composition and losses of both armies, see page 337.— Editors.