hope to defeat the enemy;
but as there was no way to escape with the train except through their
lines, and as the train and its contents were indispensable to the very
existence of our forces at Camden, who were then out of provisions, he
deemed it to be his duty to defend the train to the last extremity,
hoping that our forces at Camden, on learning of the engagement, would
attack the enemy in his rear, thus relieving his command and saving the
train.

"With this determination, he fought the enemy's entire force from 10 A.
M. until 2 P. M., repulsing three successive assaults and inflicting
upon the enemy severe loss.

"In his report Colonel Williams says:

'The conflict during these four hours was the most terrific
and deadly in its character of any that has ever fallen
under my observation.'

"At 2 P. M. nearly one-half of our force engaged had been placed _hors
de combat_, and the remainder were out of ammunition. No supplies
arriving, the Colonel was reluctantly compelled to abandon the train to
the enemy and save as much of the command as possible by taking to the
swamps and canebrakes and making for Camden by a circuitous route,
thereby preventing pursuit by cavalry. In this manner most of the
command that was not disabled in the field reached Camden during the
night of the 18th. For a more specific and statistical report of this
action, in which the loss to the 1st Colored alone was 187 men and
officers, the official report of Colonel J. M. Williams is herewith
submitted:

'CAMDEN, ARKANSAS. April 24, 1867.

'CAPTAIN:--I have the honor to submit the following report
of a foraging expedition under my command:

'In obedience to verbal orders received from
Brigadier-General Thayer, I left Camden, Arkansas on the
11th instant with 695 men and two guns, with a forage train
of 198 wagons.

'I proceeded westerly on the Washington road a distance of
eighteen miles, where I halted the train and dispatched part
of it in different directions to load; one hundred wagons
with a large part of the command, under Major Ward, being
sent six miles beyond the camp. These wagons returned to
camp at midnight, nearly all loaded with corn.

'At sunrise on the 18th, the command started on the return,
loading the balance of the train as it proceeded, there
being but a few wagon loads of corn to be found at any