...t they might meet the enemy. The enemy occupied three separate camps, the main body under Curtis being at Elkhorn Tavern. Van Dorn's design was to throw his force, by a rapid movement, between Sigel , who was at Fayetteville, and Curtis. To do this he had to reach Bentonville before Sigel did. But Sigel was too fast for him. When Van Dorn's column debouched from the mountains, three miles from ...