“Yes,” replied Jack; “and that reminds me of something I heard General Vandever saying this morning. He had a newspaper which somebody brought down on a steamboat from Memphis, and I heard him telling General Washburne that the newspapers were full of articles about us, and there was a great deal of anxiety concerning General Curtis and his army.”
“Then he laughed,” continued Jack, “and said they were speaking of us as 'The Lost Army.' Nothing had been heard from us for such a long time that they were afraid we'd been lost and could n't get back again, or perhaps the rebs had killed or captured us all.”
“Well, we have n't been lost very much,” said Harry, with what may be called an audible smile. “We've always known where we were, and whenever the enemy attacked us he had reason to know that we knew. But, I say, Jack, that gives me an idea.”
“What is that?”
“Why, if we ever write a story of our campaigns that 'll be a good name for it. We 'll call it 'The Lost Army,' and it 'll be a first-rate title.”
“That's so,” Jack answered, “and it will be quite as truthful as many titles of books I've seen. Very often when you read a book there's very little in the pages of the volume that seem to have been suggested by what you find on the title-page.”
“Just so,” said Harry, “and a man will have to read clear through to the last chapter before he finds out what The Lost Army was. And when he does find out he 'll agree with us that we have n't been going round getting lost very much.”
We had the permission of the youths to give the account of their experiences in the southwest, and have taken it, title and all. This is why our story has been called as the reader has seen.
Helena continued to be a permanent military post from that time onward, but the rebels did not attempt to disturb it, for the double reason that their force of troops on the west of the Mississippi was small, and no good could come from a raid on the town when they would not be able to hold it more than a few hours, only until gun-boats could arrive to drive them away. General Curtis was ordered to St. Louis to take command of the Department of the Missouri, and operate against the rebels that were making things somewhat lively in the neighborhood of Springfield and Fayetteville. A portion of the troops that had composed The Lost Army remained at Helena, but the greater part were ordered to join the corps that made the second attack on Vicksburg and ultimately succeeded in reducing that important stronghold of the rebellion.
Two or three weeks after the arrival of General Curtis at Helena word was received of a party of rebels some twelve or fifteen miles away in a northerly direction. Two companies of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry went to look for the enemy, and were accompanied by our young friends. They found the enemy, and very unexpectedly too, for they ran into an ambuscade; but happily the aim of the rebel rifles was so bad that only two or three men were injured. Then the unionists “went in,” and thrashed the rebels, compelling them to retreat after the loss of several of their number. Harry and Jack had each a prisoner to his credit, though it is proper to say that they were not captured in fair fighting. The way of it was this: