He was apparently part of General Davidson's ill-starred winter (1862-3) expedition to southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. There is an article in, I think, the State Historical Society Review on the affair. There were plenty of unhappy men along on that trip, which suffered from poor objectives, bad time of year (no forage), and a distinct lack of opponents to be found. There was a camp at Van Buren, Camp Lincoln, which was at the present site of the headquarters of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. You can still see the trench lines along the bluff near the headquarters.

Getting to Patterson was the easy part. Getting from there to Van Buren was more difficult with flooding rivers and streams being the major obstacle.

The book Marching with the 1st Nebraska has the reminisces of the author, August Scherneckau, who was on the expedition: "Christmas Day. The most miserable I have ever spent."