Gen. Twiggs had made a capitulation with Gen. McCulloch, of Texas, as if treating with another Nation. The terms were that the troops should be conveyed to the nearest seaport, and thence sent home. The steamer "Star of the West," which had come into notoriety as being the object at which the first gun of the rebellion was aimed, had been sent to Indianola, Tex., to receive Twiggs's troops. Van Dorn, enraged by his failure to accomplish his purpose, violated the terms of the capitulation. He marched his forces upon the unarmed troops gathered near Indianola, compelled them to surrender, and captured the "Star of the West." The officers and men were kept prisoners in Texas for months afterwards, and subjected to much hardship.
Halleck wrote to Curtis: "Beware of Van Dorn. He is an energetic officer."
Van Dorn was not to justify the high expectations entertained of him, and after several failures to improve great opportunities he finally fell, in 1863, at the age of 42, before the pistol of an injured husband.
Van Dorn promptly repaired to his command, and seems to have been welcomed with entirely loyal subordination by both Price and McCulloch, though both were much older than he, and had held higher commands, Gen. Price having been a Brigadier-General at a time when Van Dorn was only a First Lieutenant.
At first Van Dorn meditated moving into Missouri by the Pocahontas route, intermediate between the Mississippi route and that by the way of Springfield. He began assembling troops at Jacksonport, Ark., to move directly up through the Ozark Mountains. Then the isolated situation of Gen. Curtis's little army, with scattered detachments thrown out in every direction, tempted him to concentrate suddenly his forces and make the effort to cut off the outlying Union detachments and finally crush the main body. Therefore, he hastened to the Boston Mountains, sending messages to the scattered Confederates to meet him there, and was welcomed on a chilly, snowy March 3 with the Major-General's salute of 40 guns, which were heard by Gen. Curtis at Cross Hollow.
After driving Gen. Price off into the Boston Mountains and successfully flanking Gen. McCulloch out of his "Gibraltar" at Cross Hollow, Gen. Curtis prudently halted his army there to consider his next move. The line of Sugar Creek offered fine opportunities for defense, and from there he could hope to maintain his communications along the great road leading to Springfield and Holla. Not having been able to force either McCulloch or Price to a decisive battle in which he might destroy or at least cripple them, it did not seem discreet to venture further forward where every step made them stronger and him weaker.