On Friday, November 4, 1864, CSA's MG Sterling Price resumed the retreat of his battered Missouri and Arkansas Cavalry raiders toward Texas, following a three-day rest around Cane Hill, Arkansas. By evening, Price had made 14 miles west (crossing the Arkansas state line) and camped on the prairie in Indian Territory (IT) near Davis Mountain (just east of Stilwell, OK). Price had decided to bypass Ft. Smith and head southwest for Texas, and cross the Arkansas River about midway between Ft. Smith and Ft. Gibson (near Webber Falls according to Gen. Fagan on Nov. 3). (Price sends three regiments of cavalry out during his stay at Cane Hill out along the White River into northeastern Arkansas to capture deserters, hold absentees, and acquire recruits.
On this Friday as Price was leaving Cane Hill, MG S. B. Maxey, CSA commander of IT, was attending a Grand Council of the Six Indian Tribes at Armstrong Academy, while BG D. H. Cooper (Com of IT's Indian Division) provided strong command and leadership of Stand Watie's Indian Brigade camped on Little Boggy (Sulphur Springs, IT now near Stringtown, OK). Thus, neither Maxey nor Cooper knew that Price was coming nor were they at their headquarters. MG Price's current CSA commander in Arkansas, MG J. B. Magruder was not feeling well and was currently headquartered a hundred miles away in Camden, Arkansas. Thus, on Nov. 4, 1864, none of the southern CSA commanders noted above had any idea where Price was or what his current plans were, nor even if he was retreating from Missouri or planning on staying in Missouri to continue his recruiting and raiding.
However, the Federal commanders of garrisons at Ft. Gibson, Ft. Smith and Little Rock located along the Arkansas Red River knew that Price was headed south, because of telegraph, victory and better news coverage of events. Moreover, the victorious Federal commander of the Army of the Border (of Kansas), S. R. Curtis (of Pea Ridge fame) was still pursuing Price with a well-armed army of about 3,000 tired Federal cavalry, who had just arrived in Fayetteville, AR from Missouri during the day of 11-4-64 only to hear that Price had just left Cane Hill (25 miles away) that morning, leaving behind a small rear-guard of perhaps 600 men to slow Curtis' pursuit. Tonight, Curtis and his men would sleep in camps around Fayetteville, with little forage for their horses.
Tomorrow, the chase into Indian Territory would begin! If Federal troops can find Price and slam the door shut along the Arkansas River on his underfed and mostly unarmed troops (he has nearly 3,000 brave but unarmed recruits) with him, the surely Curtis' well-armed cavalry will catch up and crush Price. On the other hand, if Maxey's forces have been forewarned, then with good luck maybe Curtis can be whipped (like happened recently at Cabin Creek II), Ft. Smith taken, and huzzah! Federal Major Generals commanding Kansas (Curtis) and Missouri (Rosecrans) now had one big problem. Lt. Gen. U. S. Grant believed that both men had screwed-up in letting Price escape south out of Missouri while President Lincoln's re-election was in doubt, and now Grant was ticked-off at both.
The outcome did matter!