, 1863-11-23
lF.om our Special Corcspondent1

LuMbtr. At Caps Girardeau he lost lesa
than one hundred outsof eight thousand,
ard then retreated after having 1Asrched two
hundred and fifty miles to mako the attack.
At Helepx he did likewise, his dlyistoA bsing
The first force that retreated in that battle
His best fight was that which he made At Pine
Bluff He felt certain of his prey whea he be-
gan the attack, and was much chagrined to be
compelled to give it up. 4 joke about the
battle II that the rebels reported they had ut%
terly defeated cur forces and captured t~o
hundred mrles. Some thirty or forty mules
stampeded during the fight and went oTer to
have to Ehow fora ra1l their efforts. A dozen
victories like that would 1nish up Marmaduke
General Steele h.s Issued IN order con. .pli.
mentasy Of the defence made BY Colonel Clay
ten:
HEApQUAH73Rs ARMY OF AnKAssAs,}
IIrTlk Rock, ARK Nor I, 1868.
tGenctal OreersNo III
It ia III that the conduct Of troops on the battle
field, especially gallant and heroic shou1d be pub
nc1y appreciated BY the csmmn1dipg officer aud
od1slsy published tos the emulation OF tho whsle
Therefore, the Major General commanding tho
Army ofthe Atlsnsas, publishes to his command
On The a5sh dxy Of oetober 1a,t. the cyslzy
Brigade, consisting Of the eth KAreaa aud fst In
diana cavalry. commanded by Col, PoweA Clay
ton. = snd M M1n9oeting = les than six hundrd men,
Of 1eb.]s. twenty-five hntdted Il xnmber, With
twelve pieces Of artillery.
UraWed BY this Overwhelming froe they
con1ted aud with heavy loas fsana the field. Ra-
tIeat ard surrender were words untnovn to these
brave MeE, and their deterMIred hcro.s,n has In
aietsd blow upoa ths rebel army aos soon to be
The Major General eoa,maodlng, hereby tenders
TO Col Powell Clayton ADD his brave eomms nd, his
eincete and earnest thanks for their gallant con-
duct 10 the defense Of Pine Bnn and theY can rest
well assured that their callaa.ry deserves and viii
receive the applause OF their government and the
loyal people. the highest ambltgn OF the true sol
disr. BY order Of Aaj. Gen. F. STEELE.
Colonel and Chief or staff.
Since the fight at Pine Bluff tha rebe14 have
Been Te1y quiet. Msrnadake fell back from
thGt point TO A1Eadelplia and thence West.
ward toward Texas. The main force cf the
rebel army had gone there In advance Of nlm,
70 that Arkansas ls now practically free from
c'oeeiy followed to Arkadelphta by our troops,
but he had ssme ten hours start when they
arrived there We found hut little In the town
y orfh capturing: AL the machinery from
the Little Rock Arsenal had been moved
to FultoR, sud has probably been taken to
Te1aa Or is lying idle ut tho former point.
The rebels would hardly dare to set It up In
Iure 1t a15 time By our cavalry. Warrington,
III Hemptted conuty, Is one Of their import
att points. as 1t is III tue midst of q fertile
c5rntIy. Camden, on the WashIta, place
Of SeI5 nearly the eize Of Little Rock, also
ccntalns small garrison, more for purposes
Of occupation than with any design Of tight.
Ing. The country where the rebels now are
contains plenty Of corn and bccf, but /. des-
titute Of all other articles Of supply.
The line Of the Red Rircr Gag be considered
tie 1ebtl front for the winter, While the uua
ct the Arkansas is ours. From the east to
The weet borders Of Arkansas We hold Pine
Bluff, Lutte Rock, Le1isourg and Fort
Smith, Ill Of them being on the river. It
~as to break through this line and get to our
communications at Dnyall's Bluff That Mar
msduke made bis attack upon Col. Clayton.
The quantity Of artillery with which he came
mp ehoMs that he had designs upon our
transports and their mosquito convoys upon
White River. Had he beea successful ha
consulting Of cavalry, enabling him to make
rapid movements. At present, 1t is thought
that he has detached email portions Of his
command to annoy our front and keep us
constantly on The alert.
Shelby, with the remnant Of his forces that
made the raid inte Missouri, IL probably By
eE rather with the debris Of It that Is left be-
hind. At last accounts he MAS passing
through Waldron. I small town to the south
and east Of Fort Smith. Gen. Steele has dis
patched etme cavalry to Look him up and
procure fight It possible. Shelby's heroes
are completely worn out, and all hla artillery
our troops unless be shall be forced into 1t.
Shelby's retreat leaves no rebel forco Of any
importance north Of the A,kansas River.
There are few maraudipg guerilla bsnds,
but they are powerless for any extensive evil
doing.
4 small force, supposed to be . detachment
Of Marmaduke's cayalrY, yesterday Captured
train OF ten wagons, on their way to Ben
ton, small post twenty-five miles south of
here. The train Was laden principally with
clothing, and vas guarded by an escort OF If
teen men. About fourteen miles out Of Lit.
tie Rock, es the traln WAS moving carelessly
along, with the escort come twenty rods In
dashed in between the train and escort. The
escort formed IN line Of battle, but concluded
that the disparity Of numbers mas too great
to render 1t worth while to fight. They fed
TO Benton, 1eaTtng the gue1il1as to plumber
the train at their leisure. They took all the
clothing theV could pile en- the backs Of the
mu]es, and then set the wagons On fire.
Only two wagons were consumed the balance
being Eayed In damaged condition. As soon
a. rtws reached this point force Of cavalry
was sent out In pursuit, but ,herobbees were
too Tar away to be oFertaken. This is the
fsst robbers for some tine, and will Ae7ve to
Fut onr officers on their guard. 50 long q
pe11cd had passed since the guerillas made
my tzunble that everybody was becoming
careless II any Of them are captured wear.
ing our clothing they will speedily find them
selves at the end Of their career. II Marina
dixie wishes to dress. his men in Federal uni
fo1ns le must first color the cloth to genu-
Inc butternut.
Gutslh warfare is exceedingly unpopular
With the natives, far more so than With the
people Of Mi.courI II Missouri had suffered
as much from the war rs has been undergone
by Arkansas, her citizens would ba much BET
ter disFosed towards the world in general and
each other In. paIticulxr. Guerillas are nu-
Merous, but they confne their operations
principally to The robbiDg Of men who 20 in
White river no beat t.s been fired into
With the exception of some half dozen
shots At transport near Des Arc . short time
Bgo- In eome Of the larger to 7ns the people
lave banded together to protect themselves
from gue1illaA, and are resolved to maintain
law aud order in their midst. The residents Of
ArkanEas have seen as much Of war as they
desi1e, md # allowed to do so will not ba
long In making peace The stores are 80
completely sold out and deserted that the
guerll1as find nothing to steal, and they dis
coyer themselves in much the came condition
us the thief who broke into an empty ware
house. It VIII not be long before guerilla
doned.
The situation OF the rebels in the southwest
may be briefly summed up: Kirby Smith COM
mands the Trans-MissiesippI Department
with Mag1uder Holmes and Dick TaJloy as his
leutenants. Holmes has been driven pract1-
ca11y flom A1kansas, though . part Of Ills
forces are lurking in the southwestern part Of
the etste. Everything is being withdrawn to
Aa1shAll, Texas, as new point and base of
operations. 4 report has been brought here
that Dick Taylor Is called from Louisiana to
MArahan with tie main portion of his force.
i this be true It frees the Teche country from
biz part the defence Of Tex, and hs finds his
cares growing upon him since the
recent movements from New Orleans In
his di:ection- He will need more men than
tie torce which was originally assigned him.
It is eslimated that the whole force under
khby Smith, west Of The Mississippi River Is
not tar from twenty thousand. N detached
divisions OF corps this army could accomplish
but ittlc. The concentration at Marshall Is a
very sensible movement, as 1t will enable the
offensive to be taken In one, and only one,
direction. They can move up into Kansas
and Missouri rs far as the Missouri River, and
then back again. They can return to Arkau-
sas, and II they do not drive cut Gea. Steele,
which they cannot do with his present force,
they can Gauss ths contraction Of hi lines, and
by threatening OF actually cuttipg his commu-
uicatiens. may compel him to eTacuatesLittle
Rcck. This success would be hut Temporary
as thsy would In turn be obliged to abandon
Little Rock and once more 70 back to Red
River.
The most probable disposition that vii, be
It to the assistance OF Magruder, leaving of
EpC{SE considerable bnfV of cara1rv IN Ar