December, on Christmas Day in fact, Curtis had been given "command of
the Southwestern District of Missouri, including the

[Footnote 50: (cont.) text of continuation: needed at home, not only
for the defence of Arkansas, but for that of the adjoining territory
[_Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 781-782]. There were,
in fact, only two Arkansas regiments absent and they were guarding the
Mississippi River [Ibid., 786]. By the middle of February, or
thereabouts, Price and McCulloch were in desperate straits and
were steadily "falling back before a superior force to the Boston
Mountains" [Ibid., 787].]

country south of the Osage and west of the Meramec River."[51] Under
orders of November 9, the old Department of the West, of which Frémont
had had charge and subsequently Hunter, but for only a brief period,
had been reorganized and divided into two distinct departments, the
Department of Missouri with Halleck in command and the Department of
Kansas with Hunter. Curtis, at the time when he made his memorable
advance movement from Rolla was, therefore, serving under Halleck.

In furtherance of Van Dorn's original plan, General Pike had been
ordered to march with all speed and join forces with the main army.
At the time of the issuance of the order, he seems to have offered no
objections to taking his Indians out of their own territory. Disaster
had not yet overtaken them or him and he had not yet met with the
injustice that was afterwards his regular lot. If his were regarded
as more or less of a puppet command, he was not yet aware of it and,
oblivious of all scorn felt for Indian soldiers, kept his eye single
on the assistance he was to render in the accomplishment of Van Dorn's
object. It was anything but easy, however, for him to move with