Extracted from The Official Military History of Kansas Regiments During the War for the Suppression of the Great Rebellion by W. S. Burke. REPORT No. 10, OF MARCH TO VAN BUREN, ARK.
On the morning of the twenty-seventh of December, 1862, the Second regiment
marched with the command on the Cove Creek road towards Van Buren, and bivouacked at about eleven o'clock P. M. about three miles from Lee's Creek. In the meantime, General Herron's Division moved down the Wire road, and halted for the night at the junction of the two roads above mentioned. The next morning at early dawn, the regiment moved forward about two miles to Dick Oliver's, where it halted for a few minutes to feed the horses and cook some breakfast, when it resumed the march, and met the enemy's pickets at ten o'clock A.M. sixteen miles from Van Buren. The pickets fled without any resistance - fired into the air to alarm the outposts, which consisted of a regiment of Texas cavalry stationed at Dripping Springs, twelve miles from Van Buren; and although the regiment pushed forward the most of the way at a gallop, the enemy was in line, posted in a strong position, with their baggage sent to the rear, before the regiment encountered them. Just as the line was formed, and companies D and F preparing to go forward as skirmishers, Col. Cloud assumed direction of the advance. Six companies turned off to the right, E company having been ordered to reinforce D and F. Companies H and I were dismounted, and directed to skirmish over the hill to the right of the road and flank. The rebels, having discovered the movement, fled precipitately down the road, and by the time the skirmishers remounted, Brigadier General Herron came up with two or three regiments of cavalry, and stated that his cavalry would follow the main road, and directed the Second to follow a road leading west from that place until it came to another north and south road and follow that to Van Buren. Captain Gardner, with the three companies on the left of the road, kept the advance all the way into Van Buren, pressing the enemy's rear closely, and proceeded most of the way at a fast trot or gallop, and charged through the town on a run; and learning that the enemy's baggage train had passed on down the north side of the river, pursued and captured it. The Texas regiment became considerably scattered; some were captured, some succeeded in crossing the river' either by swimming it, or by a horse ferry boat, and some, who had no time to reach the ferry boat; and no inclination to swim the river, made their escape to the woods, or down the north side of the river in advance of the baggage train. Lieut. Stover kept so close to the advance that he was able to shell the ferry boat with his howitzers before it could reach the opposite bank. As ordered by General Herron, six companies of the regiment proceeded west from Dripping Springs until they reached the road indicated, and then hurried forward on that road and reached Van Buren half an hour after Captain Gardner had passed through and joined the Brigade.
Near two o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy having moved a battery down to
the opposite side of the river, opened fire with solid shot and spherical case. Our force was considerably mixed-up men had left their ranks and were scattered through the town. The six companies of the-Second had just moved into a street running at right angles from the river, and dismounted when the firing commenced. The street upon which it had halted was in range of one piece of the enemy's battery, from which they fired solid shot or case shot that failed to burst. The regiment was ordered to pass tip the street to the foot of the hill, where it turned to the right, crossed the main street upon which it had entered the place, halted, and formed with the right resting on the latter street. Soon afterwards, it moved by the left flank a quarter of a mile further down, and remained in that position until sunset. Early the next morning the regiment received orders to proceed down the river on the north side on a scouting expedition, and accordingly went twenty-five miles and returned to Van Buren at 12 o'clock P. M., where it learned that the main Union force had moved back toward Fayetteville, and at 10 o'clock the next morning marched north with the captured train, which, by order of General Blunt, had been loaded with sugar, and reached Rhea's Mills on the 1st of January, 1863.
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