146 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



killed and "wounded, and more than one thou- 

 sand one hundred prisoners, the Confederates 

 fell back, and though remaining for a day or 

 two in the vicinity, in hope of an opportunity 

 to renew the attack, finding the Federal garri- 

 son reenforced, retreated to the interior of Ar- 

 kansas. 



After the surrender of Vicksburg, the Fed- 

 eral Gen. Steele was sent to Helena, with a 

 considerable force, and instructed to form a 

 junction with Gen. Davidson, who was moving 

 south from Missouri, by way of Crowley's 

 Ridge, west of the St. Francis, and with the 

 combined force drive the Confederates south 

 of the Arkansas river. Having effected this 

 junction and established "his depot and hospi- 

 tals at Duvall's Bluff, on the White river, Gen. 

 Steele, on the 1st of August, advanced against 

 the Confederate army, which fell back toward 

 Little Rock. After several successful skir- 

 mishes, he reached the Arkansas river, and 

 threw part of his force upon the south side, to 

 threaten the Confederate communications with 

 Arkadelphia, their depot of supplies, and flank 

 their position at Little Rock. Gen. Marmaduke 

 was sent out with a cavalry force to beat the 

 Federals back, but was completely routed. See- 

 ing what must be the inevitable result of this 

 movement of Gen. Steele, the Confederate Gen. 

 Holmes destroyed what property he could, and 

 after a slight resistance retreated with his 

 army in great disorder, pursued by the Federal 

 cavalry, and on the 10th of September Gen. 

 Steele, with the Federal army, entered the cap- 

 ital of Arkansas. His entire losses in killed, 

 wounded, and missing, in this whole move- 

 ment, did not exceed 100. He captured 1,000 

 prisoners, and such public property as the Con- 

 federates had not time to destroy. The Fed- 

 eral cavalry continued to press the retreating 

 Confederates southward ; but a small force, 

 which had eluded pursuit, and moved east- 

 ward, attacked the Federal garrison at Pine 

 Bluff, on the Arkansas, south of Little Rock, 

 hoping to recapture it and thus cripple the 

 Federals, and break their communications. 

 The attempt, which was made on the 28th of 

 October, was repulsed with decided loss on the 

 part of the Confederates, and the same day the 

 Federal cavalry occupied Arkadelphia, and the 

 Confederates retreated toward the Red river. 

 This completely restored Arkansas to the Fed- 

 eral authority, except a small district in the ex- 

 treme southwest, and the region of Northwest 

 Arkansas, over which the guerilla and other 

 irregular troops of the Confederates continued 

 to roam, in their plundering excursions into 

 Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory. 

 Some of these were conducted on a large scale, 

 and were accompanied by acts of most atro- 

 cious inhumanity. On the 20th of August, 

 one of the guerilla leaders, who had assumed 

 the name of Quantrell, or Quantrile, with a 

 force of 800, entered the city of Lawrence, 

 Kansas; murdered in cold blood 125 of its 

 citizens, and burned the greater part of the 



city, destroying property to the value of. over 

 $2,000,000. He was pursued as soon as troops 

 could be raised, and forty or fifty of his men 

 killed. The Confederate Gen. Cabell, collect- 

 ing together as many of the guerillas and 

 Indians as possible, and some of the routed 

 troops, driven from Little Rock and its vi- 

 cinity, started with a force variously estima- 

 ted at from 4,000 to 10,000, in the latter part 

 of September, from the Choctaw settlements 

 of the Indian Territory, crossed the Arkansas 

 river east of Fort Smith, and on the 1st of Octo- 

 ber, a detachment of his troops, under Gen. 

 Shelby, joined Coffey at Crooked Prairie, Mo., 

 intending to make a raid into South-western 

 Missouri. This combined force, numbering 2,- 

 000 or 2,500 men, penetrated as far as the Mis- 

 souri river, at Booneville, but were pursued by 

 the Missouri militia, and finally brought to a 

 stand, about eight miles southwest of Arrow 

 Rock, on the evening of the 12th of October. 

 Gen. E. B. Brown, who commanded the Fed- 

 eral troops, fought them till dark that evening, 

 and, during the night, having detached a small 

 force to attack them in rear, renewed the battle 

 the next morning at eight A. M. After a sharp 

 contest they fled, completely routed and broken 

 up, with a loss of several hundred in killed, 

 wounded, and prisoners. They were pursued 

 to the Arkansas line, and prisoners gleaned all 

 the way. Gen. Marmaduke, who seems to have 

 been with Gen. Cabell, attempted to advance 

 from Fayetteville, Ark., to reenforce them, but 

 found them so thoroughly disorganized that the 

 case was hopeless. 



Early in October, a desperate effort was made 

 to capture and murder Gen. Blunt and his staff, 

 who was at this time marching toward Fort 

 Scott, Kansas. Three hundred Confederate 

 soldiers in Union uniform, approached him as 

 he with his escort was in advance of his wag- 

 ons. The escort, consisting of a hundred men, 

 broke when the Confederates commenced fir- 

 ing on them, and seventy-eight of the hundred, 

 including Major Curtis, a son of Gen. Curtis, 

 were captured, and murdered after their cap- 

 ture. Gen. Blunt succeeded in rallying fifteen 

 of the escort, and with these he advanced on 

 his assailants, who retreated, till he found an 

 opportunity of moving south, and joining the 

 remainder of his command. These men, who 

 thus murdered their prisoners, were under the 

 command of Quantrell. The Confederates sup- 

 posed that Gen. Blunt had been killed, and 

 greatly rejoiced over his death. On the 20th of 

 October, Gen. Blunt was relieved from the 

 command of the Army of the Frontier, and 

 Gen. McNeil appointed his successor. 



With these last convulsive throes, the active 

 existence of the Confederate authority in Ar- 

 kansas died out. On the 12th <jf November, a 

 meeting was held at Little Rock, to consult on 

 measures for the restoration of the State to 

 the Union, and was* succeeded by others in 

 different parts of the State. 



The Department of the Northwest was not 



