defeated by the Confederates at the battle of Sabine Cross-Roads, in
Louisiana, on April 8th, and was forced to retreat. The enemy then was
at liberty to concentrate on General Steele, and so he likewise was
under the necessity of retreating, and scuttling back to Little Rock
just as rapidly as possible. But on this retreat he and his men did
some good, hard fighting, and stood off the Confederates effectively.
About the first intimation we in Little Rock had that our fellows were
coming back was when nearly every soldier in the city that was able to
wield a mattock or a spade was detailed for fatigue duty and set to
work throwing up breastworks, and kept at it, both day and night. I
happened to see Gen. Steele when he rode into town on May 2nd, at the
head of his troops, and he looked tough. He had on a battered felt hat,
with a drooping brim, an oil-cloth "slicker," much the worse for wear,
the ends of his pantaloons were stuck in his boots, and he was just
splashed and splattered with mud from head to foot. But he sat firm and
erect in his saddle, (he was a magnificent horseman,) and his eyes were
flashing as if he had plenty of fight left in him yet. And the rank and
file of our retreating army was just the hardest looking outfit of
Federal soldiers that I saw during the war, at any time. The most of
them looked as if they had been rolled in the mud, numbers of them were
barefoot, and I also saw several with the legs of their trousers all
gone, high up, socking through the mud like big blue cranes.

In view of the feverish haste with which Little Rock had been put in a
state for defensive operations, and considering also all the reports in
circulation, we fully expected that Price's whole army would make an
attack on us almost any day. But the Confederates had been so roughly
handled in the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, April 30th, on the Saline
river, that none of their infantry came east of that river, nor any of
their cavalry except a small body, which soon retired. The whole
Confederate army, about May 1st, fell back to Camden, and soon all was
again quiet along the Arkansas.

I will now go back about two weeks in order to give an account of a
little expedition our regiment took part in when Gen. Steele's army was
at Camden.

Late on the evening of April 19th, we fell in, marched to the railroad
depot, climbed on the cars, and were taken that night to Devall's
Bluff. Next morning we embarked on the steamboat "Ja