cended near the extreme left of the works, the slope in front of them. Our advance entered the entrenchments; the enemy was gone. It transpired that, judging from the route our army had marched, General Price had been entirely deceived as to the intention of our commander. The southwestern direction in which our army up to that time had been conducted almost convinced the rebel general that General Steele intended to approach the crossing of the Red River at Fulton by way of Washington. Some cavalry sent to harass his rear added to confirm Price in this belief; so for Washington, then, the rebels made in all haste, while we changed the direction of our march to the left, passing long the southern border. We left Prairie D'Ane on the road to Camden. Of three roads leading from Washington to Camden the one who took is the most northerly, via Moscow.

On the evening of the 12th, we camped near Terre Rouge Creek. Terre Rouge Creek bottom, which extends where we had to pass it about 7 miles, was considered almost impracticable for wagons. On the 13th, we entered this bottom. Our regiment had to escort the train. With no other but sometimes a very involuntary halt, when a team broke down and obstructed the narrow passage, or while part of the men build a corduroy road, which usually disappeared in the bottomless swamp before fifty wagons has passed over, we toiled and struggled on until noon the 14th, when we had behind us the last of these 7 miles of mire and swamp. Now the enemy had found out our changed route of march, and while he sent a part of his force to annoy our rear he hurried his main force on the road running south of our road and almost parallel with it in the same direction to reach the fortifications of Camden. Near the junction, about 12 miles west of Camden, the enemy appeared in force, stubbornly contesting the onward march of our advance, under General Rice, attempting to keep us at bay till the main apart of his army, now moving on the road that leads via wood lawn to Camden, would have reached that latter place. The nature of the ground did not admit the deployment of a large force, but General rive succeeded finally to overthrow all obstacles, to force the enemy to retreat in confusion, and on the evening of the same day we reached the temporary place of our destination.

Camden, high on the banks of the Ouachita, is a strongly fortified town. It had been, up to our occupation, the headquarters of General Price. What has been said of Arkadelphia might be repeated here. It is, next to Little Rock, the largest and most prosperous town in the State. But our occupation of this beautiful place proved of short duration. Already ont eh 16th, or rations gave almost entirely out; the men had received but half rations of crackers ever since we left Little Rock; forage for the horses was all along very scarce, and on the 17th [18th] a large forage train of 180 wagons, which had been sent out some 12 miles west from Camden, was captured by the enemy near Junction. First Kansas, African Descent, who were acting as escort tot he train, fought bravely and heroically.

On the 19th, the Forty-third Illinois, the Fiftieth and Twenty-ninth Iowa, all under command of Colonel Thomas H. Benton, jr., were sent out to meet a provision train, which had been sent from Pine bluff for the army at Camden. That same evening, having marched about 17 miles, we met the train, with which we reached Camden on the 20th.

On the 23rd, an empty train of 200 wagons, escorted by the Forty-