Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

The losses of the Federal army were nearly equal, amounting to two hundred and three killed, nine hundred and seventy-two wounded, and one hundred and seventy-six prisoners. These numbers included no less than sixty-nine officers disabled; but it had achieved a victory. The enemy, who, a few hours before, appeared ready to capture that entire army, was in full retreat and fast disappearing among those vast spaces whence he had suddenly emerged for the purpose of attacking it. It was not destined to meet him again for a long time to come. Indeed, so far from intending to go in pursuit of that enemy, it was also about to fall back. The battle of Pea Ridge had greatly weakened the small army of Curtis; and having no expectation of receiving the necessary reinforcements to maintain himself so far within an enemy's country, that general withdrew into the southern counties of Missouri; he established himself there without having to fight any more battles but a trifling engagement at Salem, on the Arkansas frontier, where, on the 18th of March, his cavalry obtained some advantage over a party of Confederates. This new campaign, although more bloody, terminated like those which had preceded it, and could exercise no decisive influence over the ensemble of military operations collectively. It may be said that there is just as much difference between the modes of waging war in countries already civilized, and these campaigns of which the far West was the theatre, as there is between a duel with swords and with pistols. In the first the two adversaries follow each other, watch each other, close upon one another by crossing sword with sword, and the conqueror is the one who knows how to profit by the errors of his antagonist. On the contrary, when they have pistols in their hands, the combatants, being placed at a certain distance from each other, fire successively balls which either hit or miss, while the skill of the individual who serves as target has nothing to do in the matter; thus in that war across the prairies it frequently happened that two hostile armies would lose sight of each other, each marching on its own side, and only meeting again suddenly on the day of battle, to part as quickly after a passage-at-arms, and each resuming its march without taking thought of the other.

Van Dorn, however, had profited by this kind of warfare to