"Only infantry was engaged on either side except the rebel battery, which my regiment captured.
"Our cavalry, some five thousand strong, and artillery, about forty pieces, as already stated, were on the North side of the river, and could not be brought into action, to advantage, on account of the dense forest and swampy nature of the ground. We had about fifteen thousand men engaged, while the enemy had the armies of Price and Kirby Smith, from which our gallant commander, Steele, had for many days been fleeing, as from the wrath to come. During the entire battle Steele remained on the north side of the river, beyond the reach of the enemy's guns, and at a point from which he could continue his flight with safety in case of defeat. But the victory was ours, so the march from Saline river to Little Rock was made in peace.
"During this battle my regiment lost in killed and wounded about eighty men, but we were richly rewarded by the achievements of the day. We, perhaps, had as much to do with bringing on the battle as any other one regiment. I went into action in the morning without orders. In fact I disobeyed an order to cross the river at daylight, and instead, I formed my regiment and faced the enemy. The regiment charged the battery by my orders, and against an order from a superior officer, to hold back and wait for orders.
"My regiment, though among the first in action, and having suffered a greater loss than that of any other, was the last to leave the field.
"From this time forward until the close of the war, in so far as the Western army was concerned, we heard no more of the question, 'Will they fight?'
"The reputation of at least one colored regiment was established, and it stands to-day, in the estimation of men who served in the Western army, as the equal of any other volunteer regiment.
"After the Saline river battle the regiment moved back to Little Rock and thence to Fort Smith, in western Arkansas.
"In July 1864, with the 2nd and other troops, I conducted an expedition through the Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory, against, or rather in pursuit of a brigade of rebel forces, driving them out of that country. During this campaign several light engagements were fought, in each of which the 2nd took a prominent part, and in each of which the 2nd was invariably successful.
"In the fall of 1864[26], I resigned my position as Colonel to assume other duties.
"What took place from then until the regiment was mustered out of service, I only know from heresay, but it is safe to say that the regiment maintained its reputation as one of the best infantry regiments in the 7th Army Corps.