Thursday night, March 6th, was clear and cold; the reflection of the enemy’s camp-fires could be seen stretching along for miles to the right. On the Fayetteville road the Union pickets reported nothing unusual. Several Union field pieces had been placed in position, sweeping that road. The men slept on their arms, that is each man lay on the ground in fine of battle with his musket by him, ready for action at a moment’s notice. A strong picket guard was extended for a quarter of a mile beyond the lines, and the Federal soldiers awaited the break of day with premonitions that the morrow’s sun would be the last which would rise for many of them. [Illustration: ATTACK OF COLONEL OSTERHAUS’ MISSOURI CAVALRY ON THE TEXAS RANGERS. ] The evidences were very clear on the morning, that a strong force had been posted on the Fayetteville road, thus standing directly between the Union forces and their next line at Cassville, completely cutting off communication with the outer world. The line of battle was changed. Colonel Carr was sent back along the Fayetteville road, two miles, with his right resting on Cross Timber Hollows at the head of Beaver Creek, a tributary of Big Sugar Creek, immediately facing the rebel batteries on the side of Elkhorn tavern. General Davis, with the central division, was posted on the top of Pea Ridge, leaving Sigel to cover the camp with his left wing resting on Sugar Creek. In this position things stood when the rebels opened the fight with artillery on the extreme right, from a very advantageous position at the distance of a mile. The Federal batteries soon replied. The fight raged in front of Colonel Carr’s division from 10 to 11 o’clock, when another battery was ordered up to his support, for he was hotly pressed. The left, as yet, had not been menaced. General Sigel felt confident that the enemy might be expected to make a descent from the south side, and it was deemed indispensable to keep the men ready for action in that direction. Colonel Osterhaus was sent with his brigade in the morning along the high land in the direction of Leestown, where he intercepted the reinforcements of the enemy. This was one of the most spirited and successful attacks of the battle, and resulted in a complete diversion of the enemy from the overpowered forces of Colonel Carr, on the Fayetteville road.