Would Sunday, November 6, 1864, be the day of salvation for Price’s Army, or his Waterloo? Would Steele’s Army of Arkansas be waiting for Price when he reached the mouth of the Sallisaw on the Arkansas River, only 25 miles above Ft. Smith? MG Price no longer had his carriage to ride in, so the remaining miles would be more painful and difficult. Following an early breakfast of beef, cornbread and coffee, Price headed on southwest down Sallisaw Creek toward the Arkansas at Pheasant Bluff Ford, 20 miles away. Price’s Army broke camp early and soon passed the location of modern Marble City, and then Dwight Mission, the historical mission school to the Cherokees about noon. Salvation was only 11 miles away; so far, so good.

MG Samuel R. Curtis got his 3,500-man federal Army of the Border up and marching early that Sunday morning (Nov. 6, 1864), leaving Prairie Grove battlefield for Cane Hill about sunrise (41-1-529). Curtis found only sick or stragglers remaining around Price’s former camp grounds—and one prize left behind. This was the unit flag carried by MG James Blunt’s 14th Kansas cavalry escort during the Baxter Springs massacre of October 6, 1863. Later that day, Capt. Hunt of Col. Harrison’s 1st Arkansas Cavalry was in the lead as they crossed the Arkansas state line near Dutch Mills around 3 p.m. His squad found Prices former campground of the 4th near Davis Mountain. The Federal advance halted at 4 p.m. and the new camp, also set on the headwaters of Sallisaw Creek, was named Camp Hunt (41-1, p.516, 523, 529). MG Curtis did not arrive with his escort until an hour later. (Federal dates cited after leaving Arkansas are confused and were never resolved.)

Good fortune was in Sterling Price’s favor for once. Federal BG John Milton Thayer, commanding at Ft. Smith, was in no mood to risk tangling with Sterling Price’s Army of Missouri on the north side of the Arkansas River 25 miles from his fortified base of operations. Thayer was still worried that Fayetteville might fall and Price’s Army would join up with Maxey’s Indian Territory command (recall Massard Prairie the previous July, or Cabin Creek II in September) and attack Ft. Smith (where federal reinforcements from Little Rock were headed). At the time Ft. Smith’s telegraph service was down. That Sunday afternoon (Nov. 6, 1864) when the lead elements of Price’s Army reached the Arkansas River, they found nothing but a few of Stand Watie’s confederate Indians awaiting them. The River Arkansas was clear to cross into the Choctaw Nation held by MG Maxey and BG Cooper. It now was only 155 miles to Texas! Price soon arrived and began building rafts and crude ferries for crossing the next day. Since Price had few wagons left and perhaps no artillery, crossing would not be too difficult, as the river was reportedly low in Arkansas. Price camped that night undisturbed along the northern bank of the Arkansas at Pheasant Ford, about six miles west of Sallisaw, OK and a couple of miles above the mouth of Sallisaw Creek.

MG S. B. Maxey had just given a three-hour speech on Saturday (Nov. 5, 1864) to the Grand Council of the Confederate Indian Nations at Armstrong Academy. BG Cooper remained in command of Stand Watie’s camp near Stringtown (now under Lake Atoka) while Watie was gone to the week-long Grand Council. Both locations lay along good water (Blue and Little Boggy Rivers) near the old Texas Road. Surely Maxey and Cooper would provide support for Price’s army in need. As bad luck would have it, neither Maxey or Cooper knew on November 6, 1864 what Price needed, nor his plans or current location. In fact, Maxey would not know for another week, and then Maxey would be back at his headquarters in Fort Towson, 70 miles east of the Texas Road.

While Price slept well that night (Nov. 6, 1864) at Pheasant Ford of the Arkansas, MG Curtis spent a restless night near Davis Mountain wondering where Price was. Was he waiting in the mountain valley just ahead, waiting to set a trap for him, or had Price escaped again. Curtis hoped that his scouts would tell him in the morning. None of these alternatives would please Grant. The facts are that Price was still 38 miles ahead of Curtis and by Monday morning (Nov. 7, 1864) Price probably knew that no Federals were near but Curtis didn’t, as his morning order of march down the Sallisaw following Price would show. Curtis was tiring of war and this chase, and he began to confuse dates (41-1-516). The next morning, November 7, forgetfully, became November 6 again.