[224] etc.; and the men were so excited with their success that it was impossible to form them into line for exigencies. Van Dorn, indeed, surmised that reinforcements had reached the enemy in great number, and felt himself too weak to accept another engagement on the morrow, should the enemy force one upon him. He therefore ordered the sick far to the rear, and, destroying so much of the booty as could not be transported, began to prepare for a retreat. At an early hour in the morning, he had made every disposition for falling back to a strong position some seven miles to the rear, at which point his supplies of ammunition had halted. Covering this movement with a well-displayed disposition of force, the enemy were received with valor, and their advance checked. Sharp fighting ensued, but the enemy made but feeble efforts to move forward, satisfied to occupy the field after the second day's fight, while the Confederates retreated many miles from it. Gen. Van Dorn officially stated the Confederate loss in killed and wounded to be about six hundred, while that of the enemy was conjectured to be more than seven hundred killed, and at least an equal number wounded. Gen. Curtis, in his official report, gives no statement of his loss, and simply remarks that it was heavy. But the battle of Elk Horn had an importance beyond the measure of its casualties. It may be said to have decided for the present the question of Confederate rule in Missouri. Thereafter, for a considerable time, the Trans-Mississippi was to be a blank in the history of the war; and the forces of Van Dorn and Price were to be summoned from what was supposed to be their special and immediate enterprise to a distant arena of conflict. While this battle was being fought on the distant and obscure theatre of the Trans-Mississippi, a scene was occurring not many miles from the Confederate capital, the most remarkable in the war. On the 8th of March, 1862, the Confederates obtained their first important victory on the water --an element where they had been supposed least able to compete with the enemy.
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[224] etc.; and the men were so excited with their success that it was impossible to form them into line for exigencies. Van Dorn, indeed, surmised that reinforcements had reached the enemy in great number, and felt himself too weak to accept another engagement on the morrow, should the enemy force one upon him. He therefore ordered the sick far to the rear, and, destroying so much of the booty as could not be transported, began to prepare for a retreat. At an early hour in the morning, he had made every disposition for falling back to a strong position some seven miles to the rear, at which point his supplies of ammunition had halted. Covering this movement with a well-displayed disposition of force, the enemy were received with valor, and their advance checked. Sharp fighting ensued, but the enemy made but feeble efforts to move forward, satisfied to occupy the field after the second day's fight, while the Confederates retreated many miles from it. Gen. Van Dorn officially stated the Confederate loss in killed and wounded to be about six hundred, while that of the enemy was conjectured to be more than seven hundred killed, and at least an equal number wounded. Gen. Curtis, in his official report, gives no statement of his loss, and simply remarks that it was heavy. But the battle of Elk Horn had an importance beyond the measure of its casualties. It may be said to have decided for the present the question of Confederate rule in Missouri. Thereafter, for a considerable time, the Trans-Mississippi was to be a blank in the history of the war; and the forces of Van Dorn and Price were to be summoned from what was supposed to be their special and immediate enterprise to a distant arena of conflict. While this battle was being fought on the distant and obscure theatre of the Trans-Mississippi, a scene was occurring not many miles from the Confederate capital, the most remarkable in the war. On the 8th of March, 1862, the Confederates obtained their first important victory on the water --an element where they had been supposed least able to compete with the enemy.
1866.
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