lcome. I found him a modest and agreeable gentleman, whose private
excellence was only equaled by his energy in the performance of his
official duties.

This quartermaster was Captain Philip H. Sheridan. The double bars
that marked his rank at that time, have since been exchanged for other
insignia. The reader is doubtless familiar with the important
part taken by this gallant officer, in the suppression of the late
Rebellion.

General Curtis had attempted to surround and capture Price and his
army, before they could escape from Springfield. Captain Sheridan told
me that General Curtis surrounded the town on one side, leaving two
good roads at the other, by which the Rebels marched out. Our advance
from Lebanon was as rapid as the circumstances would permit, but it
was impossible to keep the Rebels in ignorance of it, or detain
them against their will. One of the many efforts to "bag" Price had
resulted like all the others. We closed with the utmost care every
part of the bag except the mouth; out of this he walked by the
simple use of his pedals. Operations like those of Island Number Ten,
Vicksburg, and Port Hudson, were not then in vogue.

Price was in full retreat toward Arkansas, and our army in hot
pursuit. General Sigel, with two full divisions, marched by a road
parallel to the line of Price's retreat, and attempted to get in his
front at a point forty miles from Springfield. His line of march was
ten miles longer than the route followed by the Rebels, and he did not
succeed in striking the main road until Price had passed.

I had the pleasure of going through General Price's head-quarters only
two days after that officer abandoned them. There was every evidence
of a hasty departure. I found, among other documents, the following
order for the evacuation of Springfield:--

HEAD-QUARTERS MISSOURI STATE GUARD,
SPRINGFIELD, _February_ 13, 1862.

The commanders of divisions will instanter, and without
the least delay, see that their entire commands are
ready for movement at a moment's notice.

By order of Major-General S. Price.
H.H. Brand, A.A.G.

There was much of General Price's private correspondence, together
with many official documents. Some of these I secured, but destroyed
them three weeks later, at a moment when I expected to fall into the
hands of the enemy. One letter, which revealed the treatment Union men
were receiving in Arkansas, I forwarded to _The Herald_. I reproduce
its material p