Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/510

 with these hostile companies during the winter. In August he encountered a large force of the enemy at Kirksville and after a severe battle defeated and dispersed them, killing one hundred and twenty-eight and wounding about two hundred. In this engagement Captain Mayne was killed and Captain Hughes, Lieutenant Burch and ten men of the battalion were wounded. The southern sympathizers in that part of the State having been dispersed, Major Caldwell reported with his command at Lebanon. He was soon after promoted to lieutenant-colonel in place of Trimble who had been dangerously wounded at the Battle of Pea Ridge and had resigned. For several months the command was employed in suppressing outbreaks in southern Missouri and keeping open lines of communication. In the summer of 1863 it joined the cavalry division under General Davidson and took part in the Little Rock campaign. Colonel Bussey, with two battalions of the regiment, remained at Saint Louis until the 4th of February, 1862, when he was ordered to Rolla, from which place he soon marched to join the army of General Curtis, who was pursuing Price. After a rapid march of two hundred miles in four days, the command reached Sugar Creek where General Curtis’ army was found. Learning that the Confederates had been largely reënforced and were now greatly superior in numbers, General Curtis had concentrated his army in a strong position on Sugar Creek. It was William Miller, a private of the Third Iowa Cavalry acting as a spy, who discovered the approach of the Confederates in overwhelming numbers and at the risk of his life, gave the information to General Curtis. The Third Cavalry bore a conspicuous part in the Battle of Pea Ridge which now opened. It had a desperate fight near the front where Lieutenant-Colonel Trimble was wounded and lost twenty-two killed, sixteen wounded and nine captured. Colonel Bussey’s regiment was one of those which joined in the pursuit, capturing many prisoners. Major Drake, who had been left at