met with long and steep hills of a sticky red clay, which clung to the wheels with great tenacity, and to overcome it the animals had to exert their utmost strength. So exhausted were the mules that they were unable to make but a short march. The whole command encamped in and around the town of Rockport on the 26th. This town lies on the east side of the Washita (Ouachita) River, on quite high but gently rolling ground. It was almost entirely deserted. The river here was a beautiful and clear stream, flowing over a fine gravelly bed. It was fordable opposite the town for single horsemen, and was fordable 1 1\2 miles below the town for the whole army. I examined this ford very minutely and found its greatest depth, for a distance of 150 feet it width, to be not more than 30 inches at that time. This rive rising very quickly, and affected by showers even, it was decided to lay the bridge across the stream above the ford, so as to certain and at the same time to pass the infantry over. At daylight the bridge was in position and its construction commenced. The cavalry and train forded the river and took up the march for Arkadelphia. The mountain howitzers and infantry crossed on the bridge. It was thrown to an island, making its length 217 feet. From the island to the west bank it was bridged by a temporary one made by the pioneer company of the Third Division. The bridge was dismantled, loaded on the wagons, and continued the day's march in the rear of the train. Our march proceeded without delay to Arkadelphia. We found Bayou Roche well named, for the ford was quite deep and filled with boulders of considerable size. Caddo Creek was a beautiful, flowing stream of about 150, where we forded it. The pioneer company, by taking an old ferry-boat and anchoring it below the ford where it was more narrow, extemporized a brigade of about 75 feet in length, over which the infantry passed. The whole command encamped in and around Arkadelphia on the 29th of March, where the general expected to make a junction with General Thayer by the 1st of April.

Excepting continual skirmishing with the enemy by our advance from the time we reached Benton until we arrived at Arkadelphia, we had nothing to disturb us or our progress, save the natural obstacles incident to bad roads and crossing of streams. Scouts and spies had been sent in the direction that General Thayer was expected, but we could hear nothing from him. This was explained afterward by the fact thatg want of forage and bad roads had caused him to follow another line of march, and in consequence a much longer one.

General Steele proposed to move his command on the 1st, on the road to Washington as far as Spoonville, a distance of 12 miles. His instructions were to go by the way of Camden and Arkadelphia. From Arkadelphia to go to Camden were three traveled routes by citizens-one to cross Washita at that point and follow down the east bank of the river and recross it in the vicinity of Camden; another down the west bank of the river and cross the Little Missouri near its mount; and another, well known and most traveled, which crossed the Little Missouri River at Tate's Ferry. Upon a careful examination all were rejected-the first from plain military motives; the second because the first 30 miles lay entirely in the alluvial bottom of the river, and its utter impracticability for a wagon train like ours; and the third because of the crossing of the Terre Noir Creek, the long bottom on the north side of the river at the ferry with the high bluff on the south side, and the enemy expected

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