A letter written by Assistant Surgeon L.A. Dickson, dated September 25th may shed some light on what happened to a significant portion of the original 8th Arkansas. It was written by him the day prior to the regiment's departure from Pocahontas for Kentucky and states "The sick are to be left here at Pocahontas and will follow on as soon as their health will permit....We have the measles in the camp. 25 cases in Capt. Floyd's Company. which is suffering most in this respect: but they protest against being left." I suspect the following on never took place. Incidentally, transcripts of 10 letters written by Dickson can be found in the Independence County Chronicle Vol. XLIII. Oct. 2001-Jan 2002 thanks to Nancy Britton.