captured.

"Our cavalry, some five thousand strong, and artillery,
about forty pieces, as already stated, were on the North
side of the river, and could not be brought into action, to
advantage, on account of the dense forest and swampy nature
of the ground. We had about fifteen thousand men engaged,
while the enemy had the armies of Price and Kirby Smith,
from which our _gallant_ commander, Steele, had for many
days been fleeing, as from the wrath to come. During the
entire battle Steele remained on the north side of the
river, beyond the reach of the enemy's guns, and at a point
from which he could continue his flight with safety in case
of defeat. But the victory was ours, so the march from
Saline river to Little Rock was made in peace.

"During this battle my regiment lost in killed and wounded
about eighty men, but we were richly rewarded by the
achievements of the day. We, perhaps, had as much to do with
bringing on the battle as any other one regiment. I went
into action in the morning without orders. In fact I
disobeyed an order to cross the river at daylight, and
instead, I formed my regiment and faced the enemy. The
regiment charged the battery by my orders, and against an
order from a superior officer, to hold back and wait for
orders.

"My regiment, though among the first in action, and having
suffered a greater loss than that of any other, was the last
to leave the field.

"From this time forward until the close of the war, in so
far as the Western army was concerned, we heard no more of
the question, 'Will they fight?'

"The reputation of at least one colored regiment was
established, and it stands to-day, in the estimation of men
who served in the Western army, as the equal of any other
volunteer regiment.

"After the Saline river battle the regiment moved back to
Little Rock and thence to Fort Smith, in western Arkansas.

"In July 1864, with the 2nd and other troops, I conducted an
expedition through the Choctaw Nation in the Indian
Territory, against, or rather in pursuit of a brigade of
rebel forces, driving them out of that country. During this
campaign several light engagements were fought, in each of
which the 2nd took a prominent part, and in each of which
the 2nd was invariably s