THE PEA RIDGE CAMPAIGN.

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crust of ice, we had to move slowly. On this night march about eighteenhorsemen, including myself, had their feet frozen. In the neighborhood ofMarionsville we captured a wagon train and 150 stragglers of the enemy, andarrived at McDowell’s just at the moment when, after a short engagement,the left wing had driven Price ’s rear-guard out of the place. From thistime our army moved, united, to Cassville and Keetsville, forced withoutgreat trouble Cross Timber Hollows, a defile of about ten miles in lengthacross the Missouri -Arkansas State line, leading to Elkhorn Tavern, andarrived at Sugar Creek on the 18th of February. We were now over 320 milesfrom St. Louis, and 210 miles from our base at Rolla . The Third and FourthDivisions advanced from this position 12 miles farther south to Cross Hol-lows, where also the headquarters of General Curtis were established, andthe First and Second to Bentonville , 12 miles to the south-west, while astrong cavalry force under General Asboth went to Osage Springs. On the23d General Asboth made a dash into Fayetteville , twenty miles in advance,found the city evacuated, and planted the Union flag on the court-house.To balance things somewhat, a raiding party of the enemy surprised ourforagers near Huntsville , and another party ventured as far as Keetsville,in our rear, playing havoc with the drowsy garrison of the place.

On March 1st Colonel Jeff. C. Davis’s division withdrew from Cross Hollowsand took position immediately behind Little Sugar Creek, covering the roadwhich leads from Fayetteville, Arkansas , by Elkhorn Tavern to Springfield,and as an approach of the enemy was expected to take place on that road fromthe south, Colonel Davis made his position as strong as possible by crowningthe hills north of the creek with abatis and parapets of felled trees; he alsoprotected one of his batteries in the rear of the bridge with intrenchments.As we shall see, these works never became of any practical value.

On the 2d of March the First and Second Divisions moved 4i miles southof Bentonville to McKissick’s farm. Colonel Schaefer, with the 2d MissouriInfantry and a detachment of cavalry, was sent to Smith’s Mills (OsageMills), 7 miles east of McKissick’s farm, as a post of observation toward ElmSprings, and for the purpose of protecting and working the mill — at thattime and under our circumstances a very important “ strategic object.”

Another detachment of cavalry was stationed at Osage Springs to holdconnection with the division at Cross Hollows (south of Elkhorn Tavern),and to scour the country toward Fayetteville and Elm Springs. On the 5th,a detachment under Major Conrad was on its way from McKissick’s farm toMaysville, 30 miles west of McKissick’s farm; by order of General Curtis,another detachment under Major Meszaros went to Pineville, 25 miles north-west, while from Carr’s division a detachment under Colonel Vandever hadbeen sent as far east as Huntsville , 40 miles from Cross Hollows, making theline of our front about seventy miles from Maysville in the west to Hunts-ville in the east. Since the 18th of February, when we took our first positionat Sugar Creek, Price had made his way to the Boston Mountains (CoveCreek), between Fayetteville and the Arkansas River , where he unitedwith McCulloch.