My forces consisted of the First Brigade, Missouri Volunteers, Col. Henry Little commanding; the Second Brigade, Brg.-Gen. Slack commanding; a battalion of cavalry, under command of Lieut.-Col. Cearnal, and the State troops, under the command of Brig.-Gens. Rains, Green, and Frost, Cols. John B. Clark, Jr., and James P. Saunders, and Maj. Lindsay; numbering in all 6,818 men, with eight batteries of light artillery. Price, most probably, did not differ from other beaten commanders in minimizing his force to the utmost, so that it is entirely reasonable to assume that he had 2,000 or 3,000 more than he reported. Probably he and Van Dorn excluded from their fighting strength thousands, like Pike's In-lians, who proved themselves worthless in the actual shock of battle. Therefore we have the following aggregate of minimum strength: McCulloch...................................... 10,000 Pike........................................... 6,000 Price.......................................... 9,000 26,000 It seems, therefore, entirely fair to say that Van Dorn had at least double Curtis's 10,000 when he left Cove Greek on the morning of March 4, with three days' cooked rations in his men's haversacks, and the intention of destroying the invaders and recovering the State of Missouri. 319 Both sides were keenly eager for battle. The Confederates had been harangued with stories of great victories in the East, which they were to emulate; the Indians were fierce for scalps and plunder; the Missourians burning to march back to their homes m triumph. On the other hand, Curtis's men, weary of interminable marching and skirmishing, longed to deliver a decisive blow which would end all. Van Dorn's plan of battle was well-conceived, and if his immense preponderance of force had been adequately handled it would have won a crushing victory. McCulloch, during his long stay at Cross Hollow, had familiarized himself with the ground, and Price was also well acquainted with it. In the conference held in Gen. Van Dorn's tent it was decided not to attack in front, where Gen. Curtis had prepared, and where he had in addition to his obstructions the advantage of the steep side of the ridge. Instead, a movement would be made on Bentonville, to the southwest of Curtis, where it was hoped to catch Sigel and destroy him before he could receive assistance, then destroy Curtis before Vandever's Brigade could reach him from Huntsville. Pike's Indians were to follow McCulloch's Division, and when Curtis was beaten the wild Indian riders would be let loose to exterminate the fugitives. 320