The Pursuit of Price.

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Headquarters Dist. Of Southwest Missouri,

Springfield, Mo., Nov. 13, 1864.


To Major General Pleasanton:

I have just returned from Cassville, and will forward my official report of the campaign in a few days. No one has fired a shot at the enemy since the battle of Newtonia, where the enemy gained great advantage over Blunt at first, but my command got up in time to turn the enemy’s right, and the tide of things.

The enemy lost very largely in men and horses in Northern Arkansas and the border.

My idea was and is now that when we got him below Newtonia and the region of grain mills and cattle, we should not crowd him any more, but rather make an effort to hold him in this land of starvation, as we would a garrison out of supplies, until his army broke up and divided. Deserters were very numerous while Price was in this section, but I have seen none that have left him since he was pushed off towards his supplies.

My own view is that all the efforts of General Curtis to drive the enemy, and they have been great and entitle him to credit, have been to our detriment and the enemy’s advantage, for I believe one-half of his army would have deserted north of the Arkansas, had it not been for the fear of the pursuing foe, and the pursuit has been expensive; but the enemy has suffered badly, and all should be satisfied, I suppose. My dispatches from General Thayer, indicate that the troops on the Arkansas will not attack Price.

John B. Sanborn,

Brigadier-General Commanding.