cers did gallant service in conveying orders and aiding in their prompt execution. Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Missouri very proudly share the honor of victory which their gallant heroes won over the combined forces of Van Dorn, Price, and McCulloch at Pea Ridge, in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. I have the honor to be, captain, your obedient servant, Capt. J. C. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Brigadier-General CURTIS, Commanding in Arkansas: Saint Louis, March 10, 1862. I congratulate you and your command on the glorious victory just gained. You have proved yourselves as brave in battle as enduring of fatigue and hardship. A grateful country will honor you for both. H. W. HALLECK, Major-General. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE SOUTHWEST, Pea Ridge, March 10, 1862. CAPTAIN: The main force of the rebel Army, under Generals Van Dorn, Price, and Pike retreated by a short turn and by-road from Cross Timber Hollow toward Huntsville, camping the first night at Van Winkle's Mill, on War Eagle, south of White River. Green, with some 8,000 or 10,000, moved through Bentonville, my cavalry driving his rear guard out of that place, with the loss of one man. movements probably contemplate a junction in Boston Mountains. I move two divisions a few miles forward to-day. A detachment of 100 men, under Captain Schaumberg, with a white flag, from General Van Dorn, comes to assist in collecting and burying the dead. These two The enemy has lost very heavily. Among their officers are Generals McCulloch, McIntosh, and Slack, killed; also Colonel McCulloch, a nephew of the general; Captain Clark, son of Maj. Meriwether Clark, is killed, besides many more whose names may be furnished. I send copy of correspondence with General Van Dorn. Capt. N. H. MOLEAN, SAML. R. CURTIS, Brigadier-General, Commanding. Assistant Adjutant-General, Saint Louis, Mo. [Inclosure No. 1.] HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT, To the COMMANDING OFFICER Of the U. S. Troops on Sugar Creek, Arkansas: March 9, 1862. SIR: In accordance with the usages of war I have the honor to request that you will permit the burial party whom I send from this army 13 R R-VOL VIII with a flag of truce to attend to the duty of collecting and interring the bodies of the officers and men who fell during the engagements of the 7th and 8th instant. Very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, EARL VAN DORN, Major-General, Confederate Army. [Inclosure No. 2.] HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE SOUTHWEST, EARL VAN DORN, Commanding Confederate Forces : SIR: The general commanding is in receipt of yours of the 9th, saying that in accordance with the usages of war you send a party to collect and bury the dead. I am directed to say all possible facilities will be given for burying the dead, many of which have already been interred. Quite a number of your surgeons have fallen into our hands and are permitted to act under parole, and under a general order from Major-General Halleck further liberty will be allowed them if such accommodations be reciprocated by you. The general regrets that we find on the battle-field, contrary to civilized warfare, many of the Federal dead who were tomahawked, scalped, and their bodies shamefully mangled, and expresses a hope that this important struggle may not degenerate to a savage warfare. By order of Brig. Gen. S. R. Curtis: T. I. MCKENNY, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE SOUTHWEST, SIR: I have finished burying the dead and made the best provisions I can for the wounded. Two divisions have advanced 6 miles, and my cavalry has scoured the country this side Fayetteville. The enemy has retreated, as before, beyond the Boston Mountains. I send forward prisoners, some 500. In reference to a verbal communication from General Van Dorn, I have expressed a willingness to exchange prisoners of equivalent rank, and hope in this way to obtain some officers that I very much desire.. It is warm, delightful weather, and roads are excellent. I move my headquarters near to Bentonville, to get away from the stench and desolation of the battle ground, and the better to overlook the approaches to the Boston Mountains. A scout informs me that forces were to advance from Fort Scott five or six days ago, but that Hunter and Lane were both absent. What is the matter out there? Respectfully, SAML. R. CURTIS, Brigadier-General, Commanding. Capt. J. C. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE SOUTHWEST, Near Bentonville, Ark., March 13, 1862. CAPTAIN: I visited Bentonville yesterday. Everything is quiet in the vicinity. During the battle we lost six guns, but we recovered all back and took five from the enemy. I have also taken a large number of small-arms which the rebels threw away. My loss of killed and wounded will exceed my estimate of 1,000. General Pike commanded the Indian forces. They shot arrows as well as rifles, and tomahawked and scalped prisoners. I am credibly informed that Colonel Rector, of Arkansas, has disbanded his regiment. Was my dispatch of the 5th instant, telling you of the approach of the enemy and my arrangements to receive him, taken by the enemy or received at headquarters? Much mail matter was taken by him. SAML. R. CURTIS, Brigadier-General, Commanding. Capt. J. C. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT, General SAMUEL R. CURTIS: Van Buren, Ark., March 14, 1862. GENERAL: I am instructed by Major-General Van Dorn, commanding this district, to express to you his thanks and gratification on account of the courtesy extended by yourself and the officers under your command to the burial party sent by him to your camp on the 9th instant. He is pained to learn by your letter brought to him by the commanding officer of the party that the remains of some of your soldiers have been reported to you to have been scalped, tomahawked, and otherwise mutilated. He hopes you have been misinformed with regard to this matter, the Indians who formed part of his forces having for many years been regarded as civilized people. He will, however, most cordially unite with you in repressing the horrors of this unnatural war, and that you may co-operate with him to this end more effectually he desires me to inform you that many of our men who surrendered themselves prisoners of war were reported to him as having been murdered in cold blood by their captors, who were alleged to be Germans. The general commanding feels sure that you will do your part, as he will, in preventing such atrocities in future, and that the perpetrators of them will be brought to justice, whether German or Choctaw. The privileges which you extend to our medical officers will be reciprocated, and as soon as possible means will be taken for an exchange of prisoners. I am sir, very respectfully, yours, DABNEY H. MAURY, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE SOUTHWEST, CAPTAIN: The brief telegraphic report which I gave on the 9th ultimo is not sufficient to present even the general outline of the battle of Pea Ridge, and with the report of my commanders of divisions I now submit a more general detail. My pursuit of General Price brought me to Fayetteville, Ark. The entire winter campaign from the 26th January to this time, including the march from Rolla to the Boston Mountains, 240 miles, was attended with continual exhibitions of toil, privations, conflict, and gallantry, some of which I have telegraphed to headquarters, and may hereafter deserve more full development. After reaching Arkansas the forces of General Price were rapidly re-enforced by regiments which had been stationed in Arkansas and the Indian Territory. I therefore expected these combined forces would return upon us to give us battle, and in conformity with the orders of the general of the 22d of February I selected Sugar Creek as the strongest of several strong places taken from the enemy to make a stand against any and all odds. I reported my force to you on the 12th February, after Colonel Davis' division had joined me, at 12,095 men and fifty pieces of artillery, including four mountain howitzers. My long line of communications required garrisons at Marshfield, Springfield, Cassville, and Keetsville, besides a constant moving force to guard my train. My force in Arkansas on the 7th ultimo was therefore not more than 10,500 cavalry and infantry, with forty-nine pieces of artillery, including the mountain howitzers, one piece having been sent out into Missouri and thus prevented from joining us in the battle. The scarcity of forage and other supplies made it necessary for me to spread out my troops over considerable country, always trying to keep it within supporting distance, convenient to rally on the positions selected for battle. On the 4th of March this force was located as follows: The First and Second Divisions, under Generals Sigel and Asboth, were 4 miles southwest of Bentonville, at Cooper's farm, under general orders to move around to Sugar Creek, about 14 miles east. The Third Division, under Col. Jefferson C. Davis, acting brigadiergeneral, had moved and taken position at Sugar Creek, under orders to make some preparatory arrangements and examinations for a stand against the enemy. The Fourth Division was at Cross Hollow, under command of Col. E. A. Carr, acting brigadier-general. My own headquarters were also at this place, within about 12 miles from Sugar Creek, on the main telegraph road from Springfield to Fayetteville. Large detachments had been sent out from these several camps for forage and information. One from Cross Hollow to Huntsville, under command of Colonel Vandever, and three from Cooper's farm to Maysville and Pineville. One of these, under Major Conrad, with a piece of artillery and about 250 men, did not reach us till after the battle. All the others came in safe and joined in the engagement. The enemy had taken position in the Boston Mountains, a high range that divides the waters of the White River and Arkansas. General Price had rallied the forces that had fought at Carthage, Wilson's Creek, and Lexington, augmented by his exertions to recruit in Missouri during the winter. On his arrival from Springfield, in Arkansas, he reported to Governor Rector that between 4,000 and 5,000 of these had joined the Confederate service previous to his leaving Springfield. The circulation of all manner of extravagant falsehoods on his way induced the whole country to leave their homes, and for fear we would kill them thousands joined his ranks. General McCulloch brought at least eleven regiments to the field and General Pike five. Besides these regularly-organized Confederate troops which General Price met in Arkansas, there were many companies and regiments of Arkansas volunteers, most of the country people being required to take up arms. From this data and the general opinion of the country I estimated the force of the enemy to have been at least 30,000 or 40,000. This was the force in and near Boston Mountains, rallying to drive us from Arkansas and Missouri. * The two armies thus constituted and located were within hearing of each other's cannon, about 30 miles apart. I submit an accompanying map, showing some of the topographic features of the country on the roads which we traversed. Our troops were weary and somewhat exhausted in their long forced marches and frequent conflicts. Our cavalry had especially suffered in the breaking down and loss of horses. But our troops were generally well armed, drilled, and anxious to encounter the enemy at any reasonable hazard. They were all intelligent, ardent, flushed with our repeated success in many encounters on our way, and all conscious of the righteousness of their country's cause. The arrival of Major-General Van Dorn on the 2d of March in the camp of the enemy was the occasion of great rejoicing and the firing of forty guns. The rebel force was harangued by their chiefs with boastful and passionate appeals, assuring them of their superior numbers and the certainty of an easy victory. Dispatches were published falsely announcing a great battle at Columbus, Ky., in which we had lost three gunboats and 20,000 men; and thus the rebel hordes were assembled. The occasion was now opened to drive the invaders from the soil of Arkansas and give a final and successful blow to a Southern Confederacy. The 5th of March was cold and blustering. The snow fell so as to cover the ground. No immediate attack was apprehended, and I was engaged writing. About 2 o'clock p. m. scouts and fugitive citizens came in, informing me of the rapid approach of the enemy to give me battle. His cavalry would be at Elm Springs, some 12 miles distant, that night, and his artillery had already passed Fayetteville. Satisfied of the truth of this report, I immediately sent couriers to General Sigel and Colonel Vandever, and ordered them to move immediately to Sugar Creek, where I also ordered Colonel Carr to move with his division. I also sent you a dispatch, which may have been lost with other mailmatter which I have since learned was captured by the enemy. I told you I would give them the best reception possible. All my messengers were successful in delivering their orders. Colonel Carr's division moved about 6 p. m. Colonel Vandever had intelligence of the movement of the enemy before my messenger reached him, and made immediate change in his march, so that with great exertion he arrived on the 6th. General Sigel deferred his march from Cooper's farm till 2 o'clock in the morning of the 6th, and at Bentonville tarried himself with a regiment and battery till he was attacked about 9 a. m. I arrived at Sugar Creek at 2 o'clock a. m. on the 6th, and immediately detailed parties for early morning work in felling timber, to obstruct certain roads to prevent the enemy having too many approaches and to erect field works to increase the strength of my forces. Colonel Davis and Colonel Carr early in the day took their positions on the high projecting hills commanding the valley of the creek, leaving the right of the line to be occupied by the First and Second Divisions, which were anxiously expected. The valley of the creek is low, and from a * To appear in Atlas. |