u called Pea Ridge, and was near the Missouri line. For
easier subsistence the divisions were camped separately and some miles
apart. Davis' division was at Sugar Creek, preparing the position for
defence. Sigel, with his own and Ashboth's divisions, was at Cooper's
farm, about fourteen miles west; and Carr's division, with which General
Curtis had his headquarters, was twelve miles south on the main
Fayetteville road, at a place called Cross Hollows. Strong detachments
were sent in various directions, forty miles out, to gather in forage
and subsistence. The strength of the command was somewhat diminished by
the necessity of protecting the long line of communication with the base
of supplies by patrols as well as stationary guards, and the aggregate
present in Arkansas was 10,500 infantry and cavalry, and forty-nine
pieces of artillery.

To settle the continued dissension between Price and McCulloch, General
A.S. Johnston, the Confederate commander in the West, appointed General
Earl Van Dorn to command west of the Mississippi. Van Dorn assumed
command January 29, 1862, in northeastern Arkansas, and hastened on
February 22d to join McCulloch at Fayetteville, to which place Price was
then retreating before Curtis. Van Dorn says that he led 14,000 men into
action. All other accounts put his force at from thirty to forty
thousand. Perhaps he enumerated only the seasoned regiments, and took no
account of unorganized bands, or of the several thousand Indians under
Albert Pike.

At two o'clock P.M., March 5th, General Curtis received intelligence
that Van Dorn had begun his march. Orders were immediately sent to the
divisions and detachments to concentrate on Davis' division. Carr moved
at 6 P.M., and arrived at 2 A.M. Sigel deferred moving till two o'clock
A.M., and at Bentonville halted, himself with a regiment of infantry,
the Twelfth Missouri, Elbert's light battery, and five companies of
cavalry, till ten o'clock, two hours after the rear of his train had
passed through the place. By this time Van Dorn's advance guard had
arrived, and before Sigel could form had passed around to his front, at
the same time enveloping his flanks. By the skilful disposition of his
detachment, and the admirable conduct of the men, Sigel was able to
resume and continue his march, an unbroken skirmish, rising at times
into engagement, from half-past ten o'clock till half-past three, when
he was joined by reinforcements which General Curtis