The Southern army was really composed of three small armies, as follows: The Missouri State Guard, under Gen. Price; a division of Arkansas State troops, under Gen. N. Bart. Pearce, and a division of Confederate troops under Gen. McCulloch. Pearce’s division was composed of the 1st Arkansas cavalry, Col. De Rosey Carroll; Capt. Chas. A. Carroll’s independent company of cavalry; the 3d Arkansas infantry, Col. John R. Gratiot; the 4th Arkansas infantry, Col. J. D. Walker; the 5th Arkansas infantry, Col. Tom P. Dockery, and Capt. Woodruff’s battery, the “Pulaski Artillery.” All of the infantry regiments had enlisted only for three months, and their time expired about Sept. 1. They were _State_ troops, or militia. Another Arkansas battery, Capt. J. G. Reid’s, of Ft. Smith, was also with Gen. Pearce, but assigned to McCulloch afterwards. THE FIGHT AT DUG SPRINGS. Gen. Lyon was duly informed of the concentration of the Southern troops at Cassville, of the junction of Price and McCulloch, and of their intention of marching upon his own camp. His scouts and spies were numerous, sharp and faithful. They marched in the ranks with the secession troops at times, hung about officers’ quarters, picked up all the information they could and then made their way inside the Federal lines in a very short time. For the most part Lyon’s scouts were residents of this part of the State and knew all the country very thoroughly. Gen. Price, too, had scouts and spies, who kept _him_ posted—who, by various ruses and stratagems visited the Federal camps, and obtained valuable information and conveyed it to “Old Pap” in short order. And Price’s scouts, too, were chiefly residents of Southwest Missouri. A number of Greene county men did scouting for both Price and Lyon. Learning of the movements of Price and McCulloch, Gen. Lyon determined to go out and meet them. He first sent more messengers to Gen. Fremont, at St. Louis, begging for reinforcements, and late in the afternoon of Thursday, the 1st of August, his entire army, which, by the addition of Sigel’s and Sturgis’ forces, had been increased to 5,868 men of all arms, infantry, cavalry and eighteen pieces of artillery, led by himself, moved toward Cassville, leaving behind a force of volunteers and Home Guards to guard Springfield. That night the army bivouacked about ten miles southwest of Springfield, on a branch of the James. Gen. Lyon’s subordinate commanders were Brig. Gen. T. W. Sweeney, Col. Sigel and Maj. Sturgis. The next morning, early, the command moved forward. It was a hot day and the men suffered severely from dust, heat and excessive thirst, most of the wells and the streams being dry. Towards evening five dollars was offered for a canteen of warm ditch water.