Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 9.djvu/371



HEN Generals Van Dorn and Price, under orders from Richmond, moved their troops east of the river to reinforce General Beauregard at Corinth, they left the Trans- Mississippi department stripped of soldiers and at the mercy of the Federals. Not only were the organized Confederate troops taken, but most of the State troops. West of the river there was but little of the feeling that existed east of it in regard to State troops serving only in the States to which they belonged. The States, as well as the troops, took a broader view of the situation. The men were willing to serve where their services were most needed, and the State authorities and the people endorsed them in so doing. Consequently, after Van Dorn and Price left with their commands, there was for some months a steady stream of organized and unorganized regiments and companies moving across the river and falling into line wherever ordered.

Nothing but imbecility prevented the Federals, after the battle of Pea Ridge, from moving southward and taking possession of the country to the Arkansas river or to the Red river, or, for that matter, to the Gulf of Mexico. But Curtis was in command, and he was an exceedingly conservative soldier. After Pea Ridge he acted