Surely had the federals found them in May of 1863 they would have destroyed them. The phrase "back to Alabama" may have indicated that the machines were moved to Alabama to avoid Grant's advance in May, 1863. But why would the Confederates be so eager to reoccupy Jackson and move the machines back there from Alabama in July, or whereever they were, when the threat of the Federals returning to Jackson at any moment was so eminant? It doesn't make any sence to keep moving these machines around so much. Surely they weren't that easy to move.

Governor Henry Rector of Arkansas in May of 1862 had written to Jefferson Davis about Van Dorn taking everything that wasn't nailed down and a lot of that that was to Mississippi even including even the cartridge papers and percussion caps. In June Gen hindman complained taht there was 10,000 rounds of amunition in the whole state of Arkansas to oppose Curtis army from taking Little Rock. Rector wrote Davis threatening to seceed from the Confederacy over Van Dorn and the abandoning of Arkansas and in fact moved the State Government to Hot Springs in May of 1862 when it was believed that Curtis was marching on Little Rock then.