WITH PRICE EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

733

General Price returned sorrowfully to town, for he had lost his mosttrusted lieutenant,—the very best division commander I have ever known,—Henry Little. He, nevertheless, resolved to renew the battle at daylight, andwas confident of victory. Maury was ordered to move his division to thefront of Rosecrans, and Armstrong and Wirt Adams were directed to occupywith the cavalry the positions in front of Ord, so as to cover the movementof our troops from that front to the front of Rosecrans, and also to hinderthe advance of the Federals upon our right. General Price then went to thehouse of a friend, instead of to his own quarters, and told me not to let himbe disturbed till an hour before day.

After burying Little by torchlight, I returned to headquarters, determinedto remain awake all night. Some time after midnight Hebert, who had suc-ceeded to the command of Little’s division, came in and said that his brigadewas so badly cut up and was so much disheartened by the death of Littlethat he was apprehensive of the morrow. While he was still there, Maurycame in aud said that he was convinced that Grant would attack us in over-whelming force in the morning, brush our cavalry out of his way, destroyour trains, and assail us in rear. Wirt Adams, who came in next, sustainedMaury’s views, and all of them insisted upon seeing General Price . I wasstill hesitating what to do when one of Van Dorn’s staff arrived with impor-tant dispatches from Van Dorn, and asked to see the general . I hesitated nolonger, but took them to his lodgings. It was nearly dawn, and he thoughtI had come to call him to battle. Great was his disappointment when heascertained the true cause of our coming. He tried to convince his generalsthat their apprehensions were groundless, and that a victory was in theirgrasp, but they would not be convinced. Unwilling to give battle when allof his chief officers were so averse to it, he reluctantly directed them to carryout the orders which had been issued the preceding morning for the with-drawal of the army to Baldwyn. The trains had already been loaded andwere ready to leave. They were put in motion instantly, and toward sunrisethe troops followed. Every wagon, all the valuable captured stores, and allthe sick and wounded that were fit to be moved, were brought away safely.Maury’s division left the town about 8 a. m., and Armstrong brought up therear with the cavalry.

Between Burnsville, where Grant was on the 19th, and the battle-field ofthat day, there lay a densely wooded country, much of it an impassable swamp,and it -was only by making a long circuit that Rosecrans could communicatewith him. The wind, too, happened during the battle to be blowing awayfrom Burnsville. It was, therefore, not till half-past 8 o’clock the next morn-ing that Grant knew that a battle had been fought. | Hastening to the front,he directed Ord to push forward. Rosecrans had meanwhile entered thetown. Grant sent Hamilton’s and Stanley’s divisions with some cavalry inpursuit. The cavalry came up with Price ’s rear-guard in the afternoon, but

4 - In his “Memoirs” (Vol. I., p. 412), Grant either Ord or me. Neither he nor I nor any one insays : “ The wind was still blowing hard and in either command heard a gun that was fired on thethe -wrong direction to transmit sound toward battle-field.”— Editors.