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SAMUEL WRIGHT, Editor and Proprietor.
VOLUME XXXIII, NUMBER 35.1
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For the Columba,. Spy
Grieve Not for the Dead.
BY PROF. T. R. VICKROY, A. B
Grieve not for the dead! whom ye ardently cheris:mil,
Though silent his voice in the circle at home;
Though with him earth's hoe and fond longings have
.perished,
Ile's gone with tht blood-washed in Heaven to roam.
Grieve not for the dead: Ile is sleeping, serenely,
Where friendship has woven an evergreen wreath,
Where flowers and herbage are apring'ng so greenly
O'er the ncble young form wbo is slumbering beneath,
Grieve not for the dead: Though he died not in battle,
Where the proud Stars and Stripen no triumphantly
wave;
'Mid the cannon's dread roar and the ma- fret ry's rattle,
To roirgle his blood with the blood of the brave.
Grieve not for the dead! Though be died among
strangers,
But strangers whose love his ingenuousness woni—
He's escaped from life's woes—froth its sorrows 1/./11.1
dangers;
His course, lie hes finished; his race, he has run.
Grieve not for the lend. For with zeal unaboting
lie was pressing to sieze the bright gent he'd descried;
But Death poised his shaft while h s lips were trans.
luting:
the reign of Ti eri u the Lord Jesus died.. "
Grieve not for the dead: !leaven's court's he's now
trending;
Ills mind is unclogged by its shackles of clay:
hasks where Vlrtne her ractiance me sltedling--
Where the presence of God make.s perpetual day.
Grieve not 101 the dead: Per ye, too, sorra shall
meet him,
\Were sorrow ar.. sighing shall be at an er.d.
'Mid choirs of angels and saints may ye greet him—
Farewell for awhile, my dear comrade and friend.
hhttcu 20th 1062.
•Tlte young men referred to in this poem erns sud
denly taken ill While translating the words: •"'Piberlo
repianle, Quixote Inortuus est." lie died UM3ng straw
gem utter 7J hours 11111054, Feb. lilt
Exodus
Mar ye not how, from all high palate of Time,
peak to peak 'Blown the mighty chain
That link the ages,—echoing sublime
A Voice Almighty,—leaps one grand refrain,
'Wakening the generations with a shout,
And trumpet call of thunder,—Come ye out!
Out hem old forms end deed idolatries;
from fading myths and superstitious dream•;
Mom Chart/sate titimls :121li lies
And all the limliage of the life thrt*.aeemst
031,—0n the pilgrim path, of heroes trot,
Ursr earth's wastes, to reach forth after God!
The Lord im:h bowed his Heaven, and come down:
,tipor, in 11114 latter century of lime,
.Once more Ws tent is patched on Sinai's crown:
Once more it rico& must Faith to meet Iliac climb:
Puce more Ills thunder crashes on our doubt
Anal fear and sin,—•'4lyiteople come ye outs
nPront false ambitions and base luxuries;
From puny aims and indoletst self-ends;
From cant of faith, and shams of li be rties,
And mist of ill that Truth'• pureidaY-beam bends
Out, from all darkness of the Egypt-land,
Joao my sun-blaze on the desert sand:
`Leave ye your Besh•pots; tarn from .filthy greed
Of gain doth the thirst mg spirit mock;
And Heaven shall drop sweet manna for your need s
And rein clear rivers from the unhewn rock!
Thus sank the Lord!" And Moses—meek, unshod—
Within the cloud stands hearkening to his God!
Show us our Aaron, with his rod in flower!
Oarllliriam, with her timbrel-soul in tune!
And call some Joshua, in the Spirit's power,
To poise our Mill of strength at point o f noon:
God of our father,! over sand and sea,
Still keep our struggling footsteps close to Thee!
[At/antic Stfontlay
TIIE BATTLE AT PEA RIDGE
HOW THE VICTORY WAS GAINED.
BRILLIANT BIPLOITS OP GENERAL SIGEL.
BAYONETS VERSUS CAVALRY
1 14m,-moo-sarix) comrxisim.
Heroic Action of an Artilleryman.
ATROCITIES OF TELE INDIANS.
(Special Correvpondenee of :be New York World.]
BATTLE FIELD ON SUGAR. CREEE,
BENTON COUNTY, Ark., March 9.
Since the. date of my last letter we have
experienced one of the most desperate con
flict* ever witnessed on 4mericart soil. I
cannot attempt to do justice to the great vic
tory which otrr little band of heroes has so
gallantly won over the combined legions-of
the enemy. Even now while I attempt to
collect my blurred and disconnected thoughts
the sound of booming cannon and crack of
the rifle rings in my ease, while yisiops of
carnage and the flames of battle hover before
ray eight. Three days of constant watching,
without food or sleep, and the excitements
of the struggle have quite unstrung my
nerves.
The Batik-Field.
To enable you to understand better the
situation of the battle-ground I append a
brief'description of its location and vicinity.
Fayetteville; thimost southerly point reached
by Our advance, is twentylVe miles distant
from Trott's store, or, as I have uniformly
called it, Sugar creek. At a point one mile
below Sugar creek the Rebels had a large
camp during the spring, two regiments of
Arkansians occupying it. At Cress Hollows,
twelve miles further down, the Rebels had
constructed about five hundred barracks of
rough plank, furnished by a mill not far
distant, and brick chimneys had been built
from a brick-kiln about two miles below the
creek. When our cavalry, under Col. Carr,
approached Cross [follows they discovered
the huts in flames and much of their sup
plies deserted. Had it not been for this
capture of forage and provisions from the
enemy we should have suffered greatly.—
At Bentonville, ten iuiles west of our main
camp, there had been a camp of three thous
and Louisiana troops for several weeks.
Gen. Sigel, who commanded the right, had
penetrated as far as Bentonville, and thence
to Occage Spring , . On the order of Gen.
Curtis be returned to Bentonville, and it
was there on Sunday last that he heard of
the advance of McCulloch in his direction.
Gen. Curtis sent t.) Col. Carr to fall back to
the main body from Cross Hollows, and also
to Gen. Sigel to fall back from Bentonville.
On Wednesday, the scouts of Gen. Sigel
brought in the reports that large forces of
the enemy's cavalry were on the Pineville
road at Osage Springs, and on Thursday be
commenced moving back, his pickets being
driven in before he could get his wagon train
in tnoti.m. Ills route lay a few miles to the
north when he struck the bed of Sugar creek,
along which he traveled for six miles. It
was here that the attack was commenced,
and on the hills skirting this road the enemy
incessantly harrassod him until within three
miles of the Fayetteville road..
The Enemy Commences the Attack—E.: Is
Repulsed by Sigel.
There can be no doubt that the retiring
movement of our troops on both roads, was
construed by the Rebel officers into en in
tention to retreat, and in order to take ad
vantage of our disposition they resolutely
pushed on to attack. In plain fact it should
ho said that there were some of ostr officers
who could not but look upon our shtittered
little army and the swelling columns of the
enemy with some misgivings that we were
about to renew an unequal struggle, not un
like Springfield. The enemy's force as is
nearly always the case, was vastly magnified
and it was acceded on all hands that we
should accept battle at the first offer.
The cutting off of a detachment from the
main body presented a favorable opportunity
for them to inaugurate the victory they con
fidently expected to gain. To their grief
they discovered they had the very worst man
to deal with they could have selected. Gen.
Sigel with two hattallions of Missouri infan
try and a squadron of cavalry, formed the
rear guard of his division, and were delayed
by the train, which moved slowly along the
rough roads. lie was determined not to de
eert a single wagon to the enemy, although
by so doing he could have easily reached
the main body. The enemy made his ap
pearance with about four thousand cavalry,
at about ton in the morning, a few miles out
of Bentonville, and immediately commenced
the attack by a desperate charge.
Sigel had with him near a thousand men.
Two hundred infantry he sent forward to
prevent being cut off, and with the remainder
he received the whole of tho vast army.—
Sigel's experience at Carthage had taught
him how to bear himself under such desper
ate circumstances, and he ordered his men
to stand firm and take good aim. The teams
were put upon good pace, and the enemy
came bounding along in several lines. •The
horsemen on the flanks, and the infantry in
thd rear, awaited their approach until within
about two hundred yards, when they de- ,
livered a terrible volley of Minnie balls into
their ranks, which had the effect of throwing
them into temporary confusion.
In a few minutes the loaders, by dint of
much shouting and gesticulation, succeeded
in getting them into something like order.—
, This time they came up to close quarters.—
The same volley, succeeded by a second and
a third, greeted them. The enemy came on
in crowds, hooting and cheering, as if in
glee at what they accounted an easy capture.
The enemy's cavalry closed all round the
little band, notwithstanding that horses and
riders were falling thick and fa , mbefowlsr
steady are. General Sigel rode undisizt4d
along the whole line, inspiriting his men.—
Some of the cavalry on the flank had suc
ceeded in getting across the road so as to
cut the train in two, and it was hare that
the enemy set up a shout of triumph.
It was short-lived. In a minute more the
bayonets of our men had done their work,
leaving the enemy hundreds of dead and
wounded. The enemy was driven off, broken
and dismayed. It is lamentable that at this
point one of our teams, containing three of
the wounded men who had been placed in it,
was left behind. The mules had been shot,
and nothing could be done in f i le emergency
to regain it.
Galled end maddened at the repulse. the
enemy could be seen re-forming to renew the
attack. The column was yet seven miles
from the encampment. A despatch had been
sent forward to Gen. Curtis explaining the
position and asking for oxsistanee. It was
hardly posilible that the messenger Could
have been captured. The enemy was ad
vancing along the road and along the ridges
enclosing the stream; At about 2 o'clock
the second attack yes made and despqrately
carried forward. The Rebel horsemen
spurred their horses right on to lbs ineViSV
"NO ENTERTAININIENTIS SO CHEAP AS READING, NOR ANY PLEASURE SO LASTING."
COLUMBIA, PENNSYLVANIA, SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 29, 1862.
able bayonets, delivering their load of buck
shot from the miscellaneous guns, and then
brandishing their huge knives which every
one of them carried in place of sabres.
They surrounded the rear guard a second
time, and for a few minutes friend could
hardly be distinguished from foe. The dense
smoke enveloped the whole of the combat
ants so that for some time it was doubtful - '
whether any of our little band survived.—
The Rebels made the air ring with lusty
cheers and oaths. The faithful Germans,
like a league of brethren, never faltered for
a moment. Their gallant leader struck
down a dozen of the savages who clamored
for his life, and hewed his way through a
line of them to rejoin his command. The
bayonets proved the invincibility of our
troops against horsemen. The foe retired a
second time, and fur an hour they could not
be induced to return by the most frantic ef
forts of their leaders. By this time the ad
vance, which had been constantly skirmish
ing with the Rebel cavalry, announced that
reinforcements were ;n sight, and the little
cheer went up, which was re-echoed by the
troops from the camp. A third and last at
tempt was made to capture the train. It
also failed, and the enemy withdrew about
half-past three.
General Sigel reached camp at half-past
four to receive the congratulations of the I
entire camp. His loss, in the entire march, I
it was estimated, would reach sixty killed
and two hundred wounded. Many of the
wounded fell into the hands of the enemy, it
being impossible to bring them off. We lost
three wagons. Numerous stories of heroism
on the part of both men and officers were
related by the eye-witnesses of the fight, and
almost every survivor had a soar or mark
of a bullet through his clothing. Some of
them had the narrowest escapes. One man
had the bridge of his nose carried off, anoth
er was shot through the ear, a third with a
ball still lodged in his breast pocket. Most
of ,the wounds were-slight, and our force of
surgeons immediately proceeded to dress the
heroic sufferers. All speak in the highest
terms of the bearing of Gen. Sigel, Col. Ilas
sendenbel, and the other officers in command
who were perfectly self-possessed in the
midst of the greatest danger. No one was
snore hearty in his admiration than Gen.
Curtis himself.
Pea Ridge
Thursday night passed in a state of sus
pense. The houses in the valley had been
appropriated as hospitals, and a strong force
posted on the hill on the south bank of the
creek under Colonel Carr, with General Sigel
occupying the ridge on the north side, while
Colonel Davis occupied the centre near the
crossing. The enemy, it was supposed,
would naturally make the attack from the
' Fayetteville road, and the bitggage trains
and hospitals had been placed to the rear of
the lines. During the night the manifesta
tions showed conclusively that ho was ap
proaching in great strength by the road
leading from Bentonville to Keetsville, thus
getting to our flank and rear. This road
lies after crossing Sugar creek, over a high
table land called Pea Ridge by the inhabit
ants, from an early tradition, now exploded,
that nothing but peas could be grown on it.
It extends from the stage road westwardly
some eight miles along the right bank of
Sugar creek.
The ridge is covered with a growth of
stunted oaks, with a sprinkling of larger
growth, called here post oaks. Three or
four farms aro located upon the ridge, two
miles west of the road, to which the name
of Leestown, has been given. It was near
these farms that the principle part of the
fighting took place.
The enemy having had a heavy experience
of the disadvantage of a hostile force in his
rear at Wilson's creek, it would .seem bad
determined to move nearly his entire force
to the northward of our camp. Thursday
night was clear and cold; the reflection of
the enemy's camp fires could be seen stretch
ing along for miles to the right. On the
Fayetteville road our pickets reported noth
ing unusual. Several of our field pieces
had been placed in position sweeping that
road. Our mon slept on their arms, that is,
each man laid on tbo ground in line of battle
with his musket by him, ready for action at
a moment's warning. A strong picket guard
was extended for a quarter of a mile beyond
the lines, and our soldiers awaited the
breaking of day with premonitions that to
morrow's sun would be the last which
should rise to many of them. _
An Adventurous Scout
A very interesting story is told of a well
known Missouri scout who was employed to
discover the whereabouts of the enemy dur
ing the night. Be was furnished with a
horse, citizen's saddle, a complete suit of
butternut clothing. taken from some of their
prisoners, and a despatch purporting to be
written by Gen. Van Dorn to Gen. McCul
loch, and was started out on the Fayetteville
road and made a circuit round to the Ben
tonville road. Ile relates that when near
Bentonville he descried a courier dashing
along on horseback, when he reined up on
the side of the road and cried out, "Halt!
who comes there?" The usual reply of "a
friend" was given when the courier ad
vanced and whispered the countersign, "Lex
ington." "All right," said the scout, and
was soon on his way with the magical word
which was to pais him through the camp of
McCulloch. lie rode along the entire line,
being asked several questions, all of which
he answered ache bust could, and lathe
gray of the zooming ho returned to oar
camp with accurate information of the po
sition and strength of the enemy. McCul
loch, Mclntosh and Pike, it appears, were
along the Keetsville road, with Price on the
left resting on Sugar creek. Van Dorn was
at Price's headquarters.
Friday—Change of Position.
The evidences were very clear in the
morning that a strong force had been posted
on the Fayetteville road, thus standing di
rectly between us and our next lino at Cass
ville, completely cutting off our communica
tion with the outer world. The line of bat
tle was changed. Col. Carr was sent back
along the Fayetteville road two miles, with
his right resting on Cross Timber Hollows,
at the head of Beaver creek, a tributary of
big Sugar creek, immediately facing the
rebel batteries situated on this side of Elk
horn tavern. Gen. Davis with the central
division was posted on the top of Pea Ridge,
leaving Sigel to cover the camp with his
left wing resting on Sugar creek. In this
position things stood when the rebels open
ed the fight with artillery on the extreme
right from a very advantageous position at
the distance of a mile.
Our batteries soon replied; the rebels tire , l
a few solid shot, then a shell, and then solid
shot again. The fikht raged quite lively in
front of Colonel Carr's position from ten
until eleven o'clock, when another battery
was ordered up to the support of Colonel
Carr, who seemed to ho hotly pressed, from
the amount of firing which took place in his
direction. The left as yet had not been
menaced. General Sigel felt confident that
the enemy might be expected to make a de
scent upon us from the south side, and it
was deemed indispensable to keep the re
servoiready for action in that direction.
Sortie on the Left.
Colonel Oiterhaus was sent with his
brigade in the morning along the high land,
in the direction of Leestown, for the pur
pose of intercepting the reinforcements of
the enemy, and to discover his strength
along the lino of Sugar creek. This was
one of the most spirited and successful at
tacks of the battle, and resulted in a com
plete diversion of the enemy from tho over
powered forces of Colonel Carr, on the Fay
etteville road.
Our cavalry penetrated along the main
ridge beyond the road by which the enemy
had come, and wore on the point of seizing
some of the enemy's wagons when a brigade
of rebel cavalry and infantry attacked them.
Then followed one of the most sanguinary
contests that has ever been scan between
cavalry. Most of the fighting was done at
close quarters. Pistols and carbines having
been exhausted, our sabres were brought
into requisition. The rattle of steel against
steel, our sabres against their muskets and
cutlasses was terrific. Nothing like it has
boon heard before. The rebels were Texan
Rangers and fought like demons. The
slaughter was awful, our Missouri cavalry
cleaving right and. left, leaving in front of
their horses winnows of dead and wounded.
The enemy fell back in dismay, and our
forces pursued them along the road for
about a mile, when they opened a battery
upon the mass of friend and foe, plowing
through them with solid shot and shell.—
Colonel Osterhaus had succeeded in his at
tempt, and retired, bringing off his dead
and wounded in safety.
lowa Battery Captured and Retaken.
Meantime the fight was raging furiously
in the extreme right on both sides of the
Fayetteville road. The First and Second
lowa Batteries, planted on an eminence
overlooking the declivity in the road, were
kept busy plying shrapnel and canister into
the ranks of the enemy, who appeared in
immense numbers on all sides, as if to sur
round the right of our line, and thus com
pletely environ us. In order to defeat this
object a severe struggle took place for the
occupancy of a rising knoll on the east side
of the road. The enemy gained upon us,
and it was not until our men were half
stricken down that they yielded the point.
Word had been passed back to Gen. Curtis
that the enemy was pressing hardly on the
right flank, and that our forces were sent
back. A section of one of our batteries had
been left on the hill, and the enemy were
now turning it upon us. Colonel Carr, fear
ing that no reinforcements would arrive,
collected his strength and mustered his en
tire force for a last desperate charge, re
solved to retake the position or perish in the
attempt. A heavy firing on our centre and
a cheer from the advancing division of Gen
eral Davis favored the effort, and our troops
marched up to the battery amid a storm of
shot from their own guns, and, after a des
perate hand-to-band struggle, finally drove
the enemy down the ravine, in hopeless
confusion. Colonel Carr received a wound
in the arm, but remained on the field.
The great leader of the rebels—the übi
quioua Ben McCulloch—was among the
slain. lie who had contemptuously spoken
of the Southerners as the "natural masters"
of Northern men, lay a victim to his pre
sumption, his life fast ebbing by the hands
of those whom he styled "a nation of cra
ven-hearted cowards." The loss on both
sides of this conflict was severe. Oar lose
in killed and wounded could not have been
less than three hundred; that of the enemy
must have been double. Lieut. David, who
commanded the battery, was the last to leave
his pieces and among the first to regain
them. Ile bears a woad in the arm, and
several marks of the hostile ballets. Many
of our officers were wounded, hut, fortu
nately, nee seriously. Lieut. Cu!.. Merron,
of the Ninth lowa, was wounded in the foot,
and while in the hands of the surgeon was
taken prisoner by the advancing enemy.—
Col. Herron fought with great spirit, and
was the most conspicuous figure in the re
pulse. The command then devolved ou Ma
jor Coyle, who gallantly led the regiment
on the advance, receiving a severe wound in
the shotildcr.
Devotion of an Artilleryman
Ono of the must signal instances of super
human bravery is connected with the less
of these guns. One of the cannoneers, who
has been long noted for his wonderful pluck,
remained at his post to the last. Placing
himself in front of the piece, ho disdained
to save himself, but with navy revolver,
stood calmly awaiting- the howling crowds
of rebels. He emptied every barrel of his
pistol, and then, with his short sword, de
fended his place until be was struck down
by the rebels. Ibis body was afterwards
found near the piece, pierced with seven
teen balls and his head cloven open with a
tomahawk.
Friday Night—Xi) Ground Lost or Gained.
A sharp fire of artillery from Kauffman's
battery had been kept up on the left, and
from two Missouri batteries on the centre.
under Cols Patterson and vials. The ene
my bud made frequent attempts to gain n
position nearer our lines, and frequently
succeeded in getting up so near that the
balls from their guns would strike in the
vicinity of our tents and baggage wagons.
Toward night the enemy made an effort to
break our centre, but the timely support of
a brigade of General Sigel and a section of
artillery promptly repulsed it.
The night closed with skirmishing and
sharpshooting. Our men, weary and, fam
ished, were glad when the fire of the enemy
ceased. The fire had been heavy, and the
loss great on both sides. Search was made
with lamps. as far out as was safe, for the
wounded, and all that could be found brought
in, whether friend or foe. Our surgeons met
in the night parties sent out by the rebels,
and on being informed that we had several
of their wounded which they would be at
liberty to attend, two of them remained
with us. From them we learned that the
enemy's losses had been very severe, both
on that and the previous day. Not less
than five hundred had been killed and
wounded in the encounter with Sigel on
Thursday, and their loss oa Friday would
probably reach fifteen hundred. There was
a temporary lack of surgical implements
and medicines. Our men bnffered greatly
fur want of necessary stimulants.
The night passed off without attack.—
I Occasionally the report of a musket could
be heard, then a second, and an interval of
silence. No one seemed to apprehend any
fear, generally attributing it to the shooting
of pickets, or nceidental discharges. Men
looked into each other's oyes wistfully, but
with the stamp of determination settled on
each brow. The feelings with which we
looked forward to the coming morrow may
be better imagined than described. We
had suffered desperately. Wo bad gained
no advantage over him, but had simply sue
ceeded in repelling his attacks. Our com
munication with Springfield was cut off and
our messengers falling into his hands. The
country to the right of us was wild and
broken; that on the south was even worse.
The left and front were held by the enemy.
We could not retreat. We could only fight,
and nothing but hard fighting would relieve
us.
The enemy was confident. rash, and im
petuous, and every opposition was to be ex
pected in the morning. Ono hope there
was—the enemy had been firing excessively;
his ammunition must be getting low. Many
of our men had fired away their last car
tridge, but we had a reserve which was dis
tributed through the regiments which had
been most engaged, and we awaited the
dawn of day, conscious that our fate was to
be sealed ere its close. The enemy must be
crushed or we must perish. Hasty saluta
tions were exchanged, and not a few eyes
were moistened at last solemn injunctions
given by some of the men and officers to
their comrades. Several times I heard such
remarks as these: "Wilson, if I should fall
take care of my wife;" or, "George, if you
should ever return to tell my loved one
that with my latest gasp I thought of her."
Saturday—Figking Resumed.
Before 6 o'clock yesterday morning the
fight commenced by a salute from our bat
teries on the extreme right. Gen. Asboth,
with a regiment of infantry and battalion of
cavalry, had been sent to the support of
Col. Carr, while Gen. Sigel was moving up
to a fresh position on the ridge near Lees
town. The enemy was unprepared for so
sudden and vigorous an assault, and fled
after a short and spiritless resistance.—
Price, it appears, commanded, and was un
able to make his troaps stand the fire of the
valorous Sigel. They ran, leaving four
pieces of artillery behind them, a fifth was
afterwards taken in the pursuit. The enemy
was therefore being turned by the left flank,
Gem Sigel pushing boldly after him. An
hour or more was spent in contesting the
possession of a spot on Mr. Cox's farm, when
the enemy fell back to the hollow. A pause
ensued, when the right, under Gen. Davis,
moved along, and after a sharp fight of half
an hour, in which the Rebel General Mcln
tosh was tilled, the enemy, beat a retreat to
Cross Timber follow. The whole line was
then ordered forward. The Rebels attempt
ed to make a stand on the next hill. but our
artillery played open them with disastrous
$1,50 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE; $2,00 IP NOT IN ADVANCE
effect. The enemy on the road near the
tavern refused to be moved.
General Asbotb, with a large column of
cavalry, was sent round to outflank them,
when another desperate conflict ensued be
tween our cavalry end the Texas and Lou
isiana troops. The Indians also took part
in it, but beyond their shrieks snd yells
their influence was not felt. General Asboth
received a wound in the arm while at the
head of his moo. The batteries of the enemy
fired chains, spikes, pieces of bar iron and
solid shot. It was evident that his canister
and shell were exhausted. And now our
batteries on the right were ordered to the
front. Taking a position within five hun
dred yards, they poured in nn incessant
shower of grape, canister and shell for twenty
minutes. A general bayonet charge was
then ordered, and our whole line rushed
down the valley and ascended the opposite
hill. A cheer went up from our men as they
delivered volley after volley into the enemy's
ranks. Tho Rebels cheered also, and it
was evident that they were twice our DlM
her from the noise they made.
The Enemy's right Centre Broken—The
PPM
General Sigel was carrying everything
before him on the extreme left. It was
clear that the foe was running, and our men
catching the inspiration of the moment,
rushed on in pursuit, and before one o'clock
the rout was complete. To the westward of
Pea Ridge there was a wide strip of timber
which had been blown down by a tremen
dous hurricane the previous summer.—
Across this swarth of uprooted trees, which
were larger and denser in the low lands, the
enemy's cavalry and artillery attempted to
retreat, and were mercilessly peltel with
shell. Their panic was overwhelming, and
their defeat decided. They had r risked
everything in the attempt to destroy us, and
lost everything in the failure. Muskets,
clothing and shot-guns were strewn along
the woods. Horses roamed about in droves.
The cries of the cavalry men and the yells
of the Indians, with the groans of wounded,
surpassed all description. C 111980328 over
turned, wagons broken down, and horses
dying and dead, strewed the whole road.—
Thirteen cannon, six and twelve-pounders,
were taken in all, besides thousands of shot
guns and loads of provisions.
The Defeat Total—Captures
Gen. Price, with a detachment of his army,
had, in his attempt to make a stand on the
Keetsvillo road, caught the contagion of his
fleeing comrades and betook himself to the
northward. Cul. Carr and General Asboth
keeping closely after him. Gen. Price was
wounded in the band, but escaped, and when
last heard from had taken an easterly di.
reccion from Keetaville. This will lead bim
to the White river, and it is expected he
will make for the.wild country intervening
between that stream and Clarksville.
'Major-General Van Dorn, with a largo
portion of Prico's army and the Louisiana
troops, succeeded in gaining the Pineville
road and are understood to be making their
way to the mountains south of here. A
large force of cavalry has been sent after
him.
Killed and I-rounded
We have taken nearly 1,500 prisoners,
among the rest Acting Brigadier Col. Ileb
ern, of Louisiana Volunteers; Col. Mitchell,
of Arkansas; Major Townsend, Arkansas;
Adjutant General Stone, Col. Wm. D. Rice,
Missouri, sometimes called "Wild Bill
Rice," besides- about fifty Captains and
Lieutenants. The Rebel Generals McCul
loch and Mclntosh are known to be killed
and their bodies carried ofl. Colonel Reeves,
Missouri Rebels, is also killed.
Brigadier General Frost, of Camp Jack
son notoriety, is also reported dead. Acting
Brigadier Marshall and Col. Rector, of
Arkansas forces, are said to be mortally
wounded.
From several sources I gather that the
enemy's loss in killed and wounded cannot
fall far short of twenty-five hundred, and
may rise as high as three thousand. Their
wounds are serious, many of them fatal.—
Our surgeons have, so far as they could,
paid the Rebel wounded every attention.—
Full lists of the wounded will be given in a
few days.
Our officers and men have carried them
selves most nobly throughout the entire bat
tle, with scarcely an exception. Thu priva
tions they have endured are borne cheerfully,
and forgotten in the victory which they have
just gained. It is not known here whether
we shall remain at this post or keep on to
Fort Smith. Large reinforcements are un
derstood to be on the way; when they arrive
it is probable that wo shall push on to the
Arkansas river.
The prisoners we have taken ate mostly
Missourians and .etrkansians. They are the
roughest of the rough, ill-clad and ill-armed.
They express a desire to take the oath and
return home. Many of them say they were
arced into the Southern army, and were un
willing to fight against the old flag. Gan.
Price, they say, has recently shown symp
toms or insanity.
Indian Atrocities.
You will of course have heard of the fact
that the Rebels had some three 'thousand
Indians under command of Albert Pike.—
Also, that some twenty of our men who fell
in the engagement under Colonel Osterhaus
on Friday and under Geo. Davie on Satur
day, and bad the misfortune to be left on
the field, were fouly and fiendishly scalped,
murdered, and robbed by these red-skinned
wretches. So far as the fighting was con-
[WHOLE NUMBER 1,649.
cerned the Indians were not to be taken into
account. Notwithstanding the frantic ex
citement of Pike and others they could not
be made to stanchhe fire of oar men fur
more than a single round. Our artillery
sent them howling back as quickly as they
made their appearance in a body.
It is related, and with some groundo, tha t
these savages seized upon• a quantity of
whiskey belonging to the Confederates on
Friday, and becoming furiously drunk be
gan to fight among themselves. The Ar
kansans were called upon to quell the riot,
when a promiscuous and bloody battle en
sued among the Indians and ArkanEnns, in
which several hundred must have been killed
and wounded. The Indians, who have thus
been so wickedly pressed in the service of
insurrection, became a scourge to their
masters and a punishment to themselves.
Nature of the Conflict.
It only remains for me to notice the char
acter of the struggle out of which we have
just come with victory. Probably there '
never was such a motley assemblage of
warrior's collected together under one head
as met under this traitor Van DJrn. 'l7leys
represented the scum of the whole South=
west, from the filibusters of Now Orleans to '
the rude savages of the Indian nation.-
i
Texan Rangers, whose boast it has be n
that they would rather fight than eat, d
whose life has been one long predatory r
fare of plunder and cruelty. Uncouth and
brutal Arkansans, who have grown up amid
murders and homicides. Ignorant and in
fatuated Missourians, led on by designing
and intriguing politicians. These were the
the men which formed the staple of the '
Southern army, and these are the men who
prate of high-toned chivalry, who talk con
temptuously of the Northern madsills.—
Men who are crying like blind maniacs for
"their rights." Take the whole Rebel army
as we saw it, and it was one vast congrega
tion of reckless, vicious, ignorant and ow
bruted devils.
Opposed to them are the gallant sons of
lowa, descended mainly from the Puritan
fathers. Immortal Iowa! what a page in
the volume of American history is reserved
for thee! Long, long will a nation remem
ber how her champions of freedom, Tike
their sires of the Revolution, ragged and
barefooted, remained after the expiration of
their term of service to lay their lives a sac
rifice upon the altar of their country at
Wilson's creek; and how they left their
mark upon the foe at Belmont, how they
sealed the heights of Donelson, and last, but
not least, how they crushed, with the might
of Spartans, the advancing hordes at Sugar
creek in the wilds of Arkansas.
There, too, stood the patient, courageons
sons of Germany, face to face with an insolent
and unprincipled foe, contending for those
Principles of liberty and justice for which
they have until now striven in vain.
llonor to these men and their great leader
for the part they have sustained in this mo
mentous day. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio
were represented there, and nobly will they
bear the wreaths of triumph. For the first
time the loyal Missourians have given as
unequivocal and decided test of their ability
to cope with the braggart traitors under the
banner of General Price. They have deserv
ed well of their country.
The Rebels Slaughtered by their Savage Allies.
It is said that the Indians in the engage
ment on Friday became so excited by the
alcohol they had drank and the scenes that
they had witnessed, that they tamed their
weapons upon their own allies, and butcher
ed and scalpel the Rebels and Federalists
with the most charming indifference. An,
instance of this is given by one of the prison
ers, a member of one of the companies that
suffered from what the Southerners believed
to be the treachery.of the savages.
Four companies of the Arkansas troops
belonging to Ben. McCulloch's division
were marching up one of the ridges north of
Sugar creek on Saturday morning to
strengthen the enemy, who were hardly
pressed by Gen. Sigel. They soon came in
sight of about three hundred Creeks and
Choctaws who stood on the brow of an adja
cent bill. When within about a hundred
and fifty yards of the savages, the latter
opened fire on them. The Rebel Major,
who commanded the battalion, cried out to
them that they were killing their Mends,
but the Indians did not heed what they
said, and again discharged their pieces.
"The d—c) rascals have turned traitors."
cried the Major. "Upon them, Arkansans,
and give them no quarters."
The Southerners needed no second order.
They attacked them with great energy, nod
for nearly an hour a desperate battle was
waged on the Ridge; the Indians fighting
with blind fury. and scalping all who fell
into their hands, whether living, wounded
or dead. This is described as one of the
severest actions of the entire battle, and the
Indians, who were finally routed, are said
to have lost a hundred and twenty-five killed
and wounded.
Dial Miss 'Betsy Pearl is "fair, fat and
forty," and unmarried. She manages to
obtain an honest and comfortable living by
keeping a small shop of "notions" in the
lowor part of the city. She is a spruce old
dame, and among other articles vends spruce
beer, One evening a 3ustomer called kir a
glass of the beverage, inquiring at the same
if it was new-made beer. "No," exelaiese&
a waggish bystanderjust as the worthy
dame was about to reply in the affirmative.
"I can assure you it is old maid bele" The
wag was seen soddenly to loaves the lady's
premises, with a glass eying 'Ow ban.