ortions:--

DOVER, POPE CO., ARKANSAS, _December_ 7, 1861.

MAJOR-GENERAL PRICE:

I wish to obtain a situation as surgeon in your army. * * * Our men
over the Boston Mountains are penning and hanging the mountain
boys who oppose Southern men. They have in camp thirty, and in the
Burrowville jail seventy-two, and have sent twenty-seven to Little
Rock. We will kill all we get, certain: every one is so many less. I
hope you will soon get help enough to clear out the last one in your
State. If you know them, they ought to be killed, as the older they
grow the more stubborn they get.

Your most obedient servant,
JAMES L. ADAMS.

In his departure, General Price had taken most of his personal
property of any value. He left a very good array of desks and other
appurtenances of his adjutant-general's office, which fell into
General Curtis's hands. These articles were at once put into use by
our officers, and remained in Springfield as trophies of our success.
There was some war _materiel_ at the founderies and temporary arsenals
which the Rebels had established. One store full of supplies they left
undisturbed. It was soon appropriated by Captain Sheridan.

The winter-quarters for the soldiers were sufficiently commodious to
contain ten thousand men, and the condition in which we found them
showed how hastily they were evacuated. Very little had been removed
from the buildings, except those articles needed for the march. We
found cooking utensils containing the remains of the last meal, pans
with freshly-mixed dough, on which the impression of the maker's hand
was visible, and sheep and hogs newly killed and half dressed. In the
officers' quarters was a beggarly array of empty bottles, and a few
cases that had contained cigars. One of our soldiers was fortunate in
finding a gold watch in the straw of a bunk. There were cribs of corn,
stacks of forage, and a considerable quantity of army supplies. Every
thing evinced a hasty departure.

CHAPTER XII.

THE FLIGHT AND THE PURSUIT.

From Springfield to Pea Ridge.--Mark Tapley in Missouri.--"The
Arkansas Traveler."--Encountering the Rebel Army.--A "Wonderful
Spring."--The Cantonment at Cross Hollows.--Game Chickens.--Magruder
_vs_. Breckinridge.--Rebel Generals in a Controversy.--Its Result.--An
Expedition to Huntsville.--Curiosities of Rebel Currency.--Important
Information.--A Long and Weary March.--Disposition of Forces before
the Battle.--Changing Front.--Wh