Col. John C. Moore, Confederate Military History, a library of Confederate States Military History: Volume 9.2, Missouri
Clement Anselm Evans, Ed.

[139] brigade, and sent in haste for Shelby's brigade, which was stationed at the extreme left of the line on the north side, to cross at the upper pontoon and join him. As the brigade passed through the city, Shelby, who had risen from his sick bed and mounted his horse, notwithstanding the protests of his surgeons, put himself at its head, amid the shouts of welcome of his soldiers, and went at a gallop to the assistance of Marmaduke. In the meantime Marmaduke, as soon as he arrived on the field with his brigade, formed it and Dobbins' brigade for a charge. But when ordered to charge Dobbins refused to do so, on the ground that the men would not serve under Marmaduke. Marmaduke promptly put Dobbins in arrest, and taking the battleflag of the brigade in his hand called on the men to follow. They answered with a cheer, and both brigades swept forward and drove the enemy back, capturing a section of artillery and several standards.

At this juncture Shelby's brigade arrived, and the division was never in better condition for a fight. Marmaduke had just made the boast that the Federals would not sleep in Little Rock that night, when an order reached him from General Price not to engage the enemy below the town, nor in the town, but to check them after they had passed through the town. During this time the earthworks on the north side had been abandoned, and the infantry marched across the river on pontoons and started southward in retreat, thus giving up the capital of the State, the pleasant city of Little Rock, and the productive valley of the Arkansas, without striking a blow in their defense. As General Price was doing exactly what General Steele wanted him to do, the latter did not interfere with him, but allowed him full time to abandon the works and evacuate the city. Marmaduke had no alternative but to obey the order he received. He fell back by successive regimental formations, retiring slowly and checking the enemy whenever they attempted to crowd him.