of the train, which consisted of two hundred wagons. At dawn
the command moved towards Camden, and loaded the balance of the wagons
from plantations by the wayside. At a point fourteen miles west of
Camden the advance encountered a small force of the enemy, who, after a
slight skirmishing, retreated down the road in such a manner as to lead
Col. Williams to suspect that this movement was a feint intended to
cover other movements or to draw the command into an ambuscade.

"Just previous to this he had been re-enforced by a detachment of three
hundred men of the 18th Iowa Infantry, and one hundred additional
cavalry, commanded by Capt. Duncan, of the 18th Iowa.

"In order to prevent any surprise, all detached foraging parties were
called in, and the original command placed in the advance, leaving the
rear in charge of Captain Duncan's command, with orders to keep flankers
well out and to guard cautiously against a surprise. Colonel Williams at
the front, with skirmishers and flankers well out, advanced cautiously
to a point about one and a half miles distant, sometimes called Cross
Roads, but more generally known as Poison Springs, where he came upon a
skirmish line of the enemy, which tended to confirm his previous
suspicion of the character and purpose of the enemy. He therefore closed
up the train as well as possible in this thickly timbered region, and
made the necessary preparations for fighting. He directed the cavalry,
under Lieutenant Henderson, of the 6th, and Mitchell, of the 2nd, to
charge and penetrate the rebel line of skirmishers, in order to develop
their strength and intentions. The movement succeeded most admirably in
its purposes, and the development was such that it convinced Colonel
Williams that he had before him a struggle of no ordinary magnitude.

"The cavalry, after penetrating the skirmish line, came upon a strong
force of the enemy, who repulsed and forced them back to their original
line, not, however, without hard fighting and severe loss on our part in
killed and wounded, including in the latter the gallant Lieutenant
Henderson, who afterwards fell into the hands of the enemy.

"The enemy now opened on our lines with ten pieces of artillery--six in
front and four on the right flank. From a prisoner Colonel Williams
learned that the force of the enemy was from eight to ten thousand,
commanded by Generals Price and Maxey. These developments and this
information convinced him that he could not