The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-03-08

JuE Is treat AZ PURSUIT.
OF eAlcE.
L.s-TEREs1IN q DET.aXLs.
ssseial oosrsspondeassse H. Missouri Deneeras.)
.sCIoss HoILows,. AaxJ
Feb. 95th, 1869.
I left Springfield at o'clock, D. M, Friday
last and reached here Sunday at .. M, having
Travelled 90 miles in chat time. Everywhere on
Cur rosie was seen TIE devastation caused b. the
march Of armies. Fiom the battle field of Will
sons Greek 70 Cassyille, shoald judge that ono
half Of Tie dwellings and bArus we're burned By
Price and Mccullough when Fremont was sup
posed to be in pursuit The remaining half Of
the tensnents were deserted BY q ion men last
season, Who have since been fugitives in ROlla,
81. Losis, and throughout Illinois. These dwell
iings were frequently occupied by struggling col.
diers, Who we're very bospitable in offering the
traveller the best bed in the house. to-wit: she
foor. This side Of Csssyille, among the Sugar
Greek delles, We saw where Mccullough, in his
flight last fall, had detail Of 500 men to fell
trees for distance Of several miles across the
road 70 prevent pursuit This barricade was
eventually removed BY the rebels themselves for
their own convenience, The few country peo-
pls met With on the way gave full particulars OF
the picket fighting between Curtis advance and
the rebel rear, q over
1.-THE rugged road the ragged rascals ram"
Many gallant exploits occurred, andI find our
troops, oficers and men, exultiDg over the
achievements Of the famous retreat and pursuit.
have obtained from our officers the following
brief account Of events up to the Sugar Greek
affair:
TEE REfREAr AND PURSUIT..
- To-. AmpsnwEn1I Enuoeal D.SNA 4,
eddy supposed be could make good bis retreat
without molestation, thinking, most likely. that
General Curtis would be 90 nuch pleased with
the reeepturs Of the town, that be would remain
several days and glofify. In fact, many Of our
own oAlcefS and men expected IS matter of
course the army would halt some time. But
Price had s'reckoned without bic host, and our
officers did not yet understand their leader. The
same night OF our arrival came orders to march
ct daybreak the following morning, the divisions
Of Generals Sigel and Asboth taking the Nj. Yer
non road, while those Of Generals JEFF. @. Da-
Wis and Carr took the direct route to Cassyille.
Pushing rapidly forward, twelve o'clock Of that
day found the latter divisions passing the ia
moss battlefield of ssWilson's Greek, where the
enemy had bivouacked the night previous, leav-
ing only that morning. Here their camp fires
were still burning, much Of the meat that had
been killed for the troops lying about uncooked
with every evidence of having left "in something
Of hurry"
The enthusiasm Of our troops ~ they passed
this famous place. cannot be described. All
around u we're the graves Of our own friends,
who had sacrificed themselves for the cause; in
advance the same identical enemy that murder
ed Lyon. All felt that it would have been q
pleasure to fight the rebels on the same spot
Marching on, six O'Clock brought US to Dug
Springs, were We were preparing to biyouac,
when messenger announced that our cavalry
had overtaken the enemy, and urging the intan-
try forward. Hunger, fatigue and all was for
gotten. Onward We pushed, never hating un-
til twelve o'clock that night The division of
Gen. Davis was in the advance, with the cavalry
of Col Ellis and Major Mcconnell. The enemy
it seems, had halted on Crane Greek. and here
were captured quite number of prisoners
First was the rebel Col. Freeman, SO we'll known
a. the marauderer ct Salem, below Rolla. Our
pickets were close upon the enemy's camp, and
Freemans horse escaping from him, ran up the
road followed by the Colonel. In q very few
moments he was on his way to headquarters.--
Soon after came dapper little Major, walking
right up to our pickets and asking il they could
show him Gen. Prices headquarters. Certain
ly" vas the reply, and in trice he was before
Gen. Curtis Afterwards our men captured an
engineer and several other commissioned off
cera
Had not the night been SO terribly dark, it il
more than likely Gen. Curtis would have attack
ed the enemy, but he determined not to be drawn
into an ambuscade. The troops lay on theil
arms awaiting the break Of day. At On early
hour, February 18th, the column moved forward
ing large proportion of his camp equipage, anl
number Of wagons. During that day the chas,
was very exciting, there being constant skirmish
ing between our advance and his rear guard
The road was strewn with broken wagons, deat
and dying mules and horses, and every conceiva
bic kind Of goods. At four o'clock in the after
noon, the booming of cannon notified US tina
Price had made stand. The Dubuque batter,
was pushed forward, and for an hour we had !.
fine artillery fight. By the time our infantry 20
up, the enemy had precipitstely fed. On thu
18th inst We pushed on, finding many evi
dences of tho hasty fight in that days march
During the afternoon our cavalry again over
took the rebels at Cross Timbers, and here wa
made gallant charge by Col Harry Pease ant
forty men. Coming on the enemys picket the!
drove it in, dashing at once into the very mids
Of his camp. One of our men, lieutenant O
Cavalry, was wounded, and five or six horse,
killed. The ensmy's loss was much g,eater.-
THIS charge was really one Of the most brllian
things that occurred on the route. On the It'll
inst. We had several skirmishes and at last dis
covered the enemy in position on the south sid,
Of Sagar Creek. Taking it altogether, th,
fight of Price, and our pursuit, will form on,
of the most interesting passages in the histO
tory of the war. Missouri has been freed from
the rebels, and the war transferred to Dixie.
THE CAVALRY CHARGE AT SUGAR CREEK.
At Sugar Greek we visited the gallant suffer
ers wounded near that point in the affair of tn,
18th, when the cavalry charge was made, which
in some respects was as brilliant as any mad.
during the war; The accounts of the skirnisl
received at Springfield we're in some particular.
erroneous. The valley through which Sugar
Greek pursues its meandering course is nearl,
half mile in width at Trott's Store. From the
brow Of the opposite ridges the distance i:
somewhat more. as the road winds. Skrmish
ing between the pickets OF the two armies oc
Cured during the morning when Price moved
out Of sight beyond the brow Of the southwest
ern hills. His army, as was since ascertained
then formed in two lines on both sides of the
road, and two Louisiana regiments under com
Mand of COL Louis Herbert, which had arrived
from Cross Hollows to reinforce Price, mar ched
vita their batteries, determined to give US q
warm reception. Two of the enemy's cannon
were planted ON the brow OF the hill overlook.
ing Sugar Greek, and their pieces were also
ranged along the road, about two hundred
yards apart, for half mile or more. These
pieces bad prolongs attached, indicating that q
running fight was intended in case of pursuit
In the meantime our cavalry formed on the
opposite side Of the valley and marched across
the creek to poist near Trott's store and halt
ed. The enemy then opened Ere from their bat.
teries One shot fell short, and shell exploded
over the heads Of our men stationed on the OF
posite hill, doing no damage. Capt. Haydn,
ofthe Ninth Iowa battery, answered the enemy's
ere from the opposite bluff, throwing three shells
from howitzer with such good effect that the
enemy we're forced to fall back with their bat.
terry. Gen. Curtis then ordered the cavalry to
move up the hill and charge on the retreating
foe. The order WAS CALAMITY obeyed by Col.
Ellis, in command of the First Missouri Cav.
airy, followed by Major Wright, leading his
battalion, asd Major Mcconnell, with the third
battalion Of the Third Illinois Cavalry. The
whole force of our cavalry making the cttack
numbered some 500. Gaining the brow of the
bill it was ascertained that they had fallen back
over mile to an open field, where their battery
was again stationed and the enemy in force
EnsvnaN In linz