USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I > Part 16
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This defeat caused a rapid desertion among the Arkansas troops, and the Indian
at the mouth of the Grand river, opposite this post, and capture them, but they had learned of my approach and had fled. I immediately commenced crossing my forces at the mouth of the Grand River in boats and, by 10 p. m. of the 16th, commenced moving south, with less than 3,000 men, mostly Indians and negroes, and twelve pieces of artillery. At daylight I came upon the enemy's advance about 5 miles from Elk Creek, and with my cavalry drove them in rapidly upon their main force, which was formed on the south side of the timber of Elk Creek, their line extending 11 miles, the main road running through their center.
While the column was closing up, I went forward with a small party to examine the enemy's posi- tion, and discovered that they were concealed under cover of the brush awaiting my attack. I could
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troops also failed to render effective assist- ance. The rebel forces were then with- drawn toward Fort Smith and in the direc- tion of the Canadian river, where, in the latter part of August, General Steele had concentrated the troops of Cabell, Cooper and Stand Watie. General Blunt moved in this direction and at Perryville, in the Choc- taw Nation, had a skirmish with some of Cabell's troops. Perryville. was a regular military post and an important depot of the Confederates, being the only point between Boggy Depot and North Fork Town. As nearly every building contained government
not discover the location of their artillery, as it was masked in the brush. While engaged in this reconnaissance, one of my escort was shot.
As my men came up, wearied and exhausted, I directed them halted behind a little ridge, about one-half mile from the enemy's line, to rest and eat a lunch from their haversacks. After two hours' rest, and at about 10 a. m., I formed them in two columns, one on the right of the road, under Colonel (William R.) Judson, the other on the left, under Colonel (William A.) Phillips. The infantry was in column by companies, the cavalry by platoons and artillery by sections, and all closed in mass so as to deceive the enemy in re- gard to the strength of my force. In this order I moved up rapidly to within one-fourth of a mile of their line, when both columns were sud- denly deployed to the right and left, and in less than five minutes my whole force was in line of battle, covering the enemy's entire front. With- out halting, I moved them forward in line of battle, throwing out skirmishers in advance, and soon drew their fire, which revealed the location of their artillery. The cavalry, which was on the two flanks, was dismounted, and fought on foot with their carbines. In a few moments the entire force was engaged. My men steadily advanced into the edge of the timber, and the fighting was unremitting and terrific for two hours, when the center of the rebel lines, where they had massed their heaviest force, became broken, and they com- menced a retreat. In their rout I pushed them vigorously, they making several determined stands, especially at the bridge over Elk Creek, but were each time repulsed. In their retreat they set fire to their commissary buildings, which were 2 miles south of where the battle commenced, destroying all their supplies. I pursued them about 3 miles to the prairie south of Elk Creek, where my
stores (according to the report of the Union general), the entire town was set on fire. The Confederates were now in general re- treat, Cooper and Steele retiring toward Red river, while Cabell made an effort to hold Fort Smith. Col. W. F. Cloud, of the Second Kansas Volunteers, pursued him to Fort Smith, whence Cabell retired before him, and overtook him at Devil's Back Bone, a ridge of the Poteau mountains. After three hours' fighting, the enemy con- tinued their retreat, and Colonel Cloud re- turned to Fort Smith, of which post he then assumed command (in September, 1863).12
artillery horses could draw the guns no farther, and the cavalry horses and infantry were com- pletely exhausted from fatigue. The enemy's cavalry still hovered in my front, and about 4 p. m. General Cabell came in sight with 3,000 re- enforcements. My ammunition was nearly ex- hausted, yet I determined to bivouac on the field and risk a battle in the morning if they desired it, but the morning revealed the fact that during the night they had retreated south on the Canadian River.
The enemy's loss was as follows: Killed upon the field and buried by my men, 150; wounded, 400; and 77 prisoners taken, 1 piece of artillery, 1 stand of colors, 200 stands of arms and 15 wagons, which I burned. My loss is 17 killed, 60 wounded, most of them slightly. My forces engaged were the First, Second and Third Indian; First Kansas (colored), detachments of the Sec- ond Colorado, Sixth Kansas, and Third Wiscon- sin Cavalry, Hopkins' battery of four guns, two sections of Second Kansas Battery, under Capt. E. A. Smith, and four howitzers attached to the cavalry.
" From his camp on Little Boggy in the Choc- taw Nation, on August 28, 1863, the Confederate General Steele made the following report: "I arrived at this place yesterday, having been obliged to fall back before superior numbers. We were closely pursued until we left Perryville, since which time we have not been molested. On the 26th, shots were exchanged frequently between their advance and my rear, and in the evening it was necessary to use my whole force to hold them in check until my train could get away. The ad- vance of General Bankhead's command is now within a few miles, in consequence of orders sent direct to the regimental commanders. I retired on this road to meet the troops that I expected,
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December 11, 1863, General Steele was relieved, at his own request, of the com- mand of Indian Territory, and Brig .- Gen. S. B. Maxey assigned to that command. The position of the Confederate troops in Indian Territory at the close of 1863 was even as discouraging as at the time General Steele took command. General Maxey re- ported (December 26, 1863, "War of Re- bellion," Ser. I, Vol. 22, Part ii) that his men were armed with guns of almost every variety, and that over a thousand were without arms. The only forces that could be counted on for fighting were Cano's brigade, of a little more than a thousand men, and the Indian brigade. Stand Watie, the Cherokee chief and commander of an Indian regiment, in August, 1863, in com- munications to the southern commissioner of Indian affairs and to the governors of the adjoining Indian nations, described the wretched condition of the southern Indians and the deplorable effects of the war. He charged that the Indian troops who had been true to the south from the very first had been treated in many instances as though it were immaterial whether or not they were paid as promptly and equipped as thoroughly as other soldiers. Many of the Indians charged the Confederate govern- ment with neglect, and the official reports show that the southern troops among the Indians were never properly equipped with arms and supplied with clothing and provisions.
and to enable me to concentrate. The Creeks, who were encamped above North Fork Town, were ordered to join at Perryville, which they had ample time to do, but failed to do so. I have not heard from them. A Choctaw regiment joined, but about half of its numbers were unarmed. Col. Stand Watie, who was on a scout to Webber's Falls, where the enemy were reported crossing, has not joined. Many of the Cherokees have left to look after their families. Of the two regiments, there are probably not more than 100
Since the invasion of the Cherokee coun- try by the northern troops in April, 1863, and the seizure of Fort Gibson, Stand Watie claimed that no vigorous efforts had been made on the part of the southern troops to dislodge them. Continuing, he said, in his letter to the Creek Nation: "They have desolated the land and robbed the people, until scarcely a southern family is left east and north of the Arkansas river. The promised protection of the Confederate government, owing, I am compelled to say, to the glaring inefficiency of its subordinate agents, has accomplished nothing; it has been a useless and expensive pageant; an object for the success of our enemies and the shame of our friends. I fear that we can reasonably look for no change for the better, but that the Indians will have at last to rely upon themselves alone in the defense of their country. I believe it is in the power of the Indians unassisted, but united and determined, to hold their country. We cannot expect to do this without serious losses and many trials and privations; but if we possess the spirit of our fathers, and are resolved never to be enslaved by an inferior race, and trodden under the feet of an ignorant and insolent foe, we, the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles and Cherokees, never can be conquered by the Kansas jayhawkers, renegade Indians, and runaway negroes."
In 1863 of the Cherokees remaining about the agency of Tahlequah, nearly all the able- in camp. General Cabell's brigade has been ordered to the vicinity of Fort Smith to resist a threatened movement from Cassville, and in the hope that the movement in that direction would arrest the desertions in the Arkansas troops. My communications by way of Fort Smith have been rendered very uncertain by recent movements. (War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union and Confederates Armies. Series I, Vol. XXII, pp. 599-600.)
Vol. 1-7
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bodied men were in the army, and the labor of planting and cultivating devolved almost entirely on the women and children.13 It had been represented that the country was clear of rebels, and under that assurance a large body of refugees had returned to their country, relying on the protection of the regiment at Fort Gibson under Colonel Phillips. But the rebel forces were still active under the leadership of Stand Watie. The loyal Indians had barely succeeded in getting their crops under way, when, about May 21, Stand Watie and his band entered the Territory and, according to the report of the United States agent, robbed the women and children of everything they could find, and took off horses, cattle, wagons, farming utensils, etc., drove off the inhabitants. Robbing, sometimes mur- dering and burning, continued without abatement until July. Most of the inhabit- ants fled to Fort Gibson, where they had to be subsisted by government supplies sent down from Fort Scott, over a road con- stantly beset by guerilla bands.
Early in 1864 the Union forces, under Col. W. A. Phillips, commanding the In- dian brigade, started on a campaign toward southern Indian Territory with the purpose
" Exec. Doc., 1st Sess., 38th Cong.
" During this campaign Colonel Phillips ad- dressed letters to the governor of the Chickasaws, to the Choctaw council and to the chief of the Seminoles, declaring that the end of the rebellion was near and demanding the return of the southern Indians to their old allegiance. In his letter to the Choctaw council, he said: "I want to say to you who are acting for the Choctaw Nation and people that the president of the United States has issued a proclamation offering peace and mercy. The rebellion is coming to an end, its paper money is worthless, its means destroyed, but little of it left, and that fast going to destruction. I should not write to you, but I know you have been grossly deceived by those rebels, who made this wicked and unnecessary war to overthrow a good govern- ment, a government under which all had their rights, and which you know never wronged you.
of driving the enemy into Texas. From Little Rivertown, near old Fort Arbuckle, Colonel Phillips reported on February 16, 1864, that all the Canadian valley and its tributaries had been swept clear of the rebels, and that it was his intention to leave no subsistence for a rebel army, or forage, so that all the supplies would have to come from Red river in any movement under- taken against Arkansas. Later in the same month (February 24), after returning to Fort Gibson, he reported: "I do not hesi- tate to say that the expedition has been more eminently successful than any ever undertaken in the Indian country. So far as the rebel Creek, Seminole, and Chicka- saw nations are concerned, the war is over. They have been destroyed or driven from their country. Those who are not seeking peace are fleeing to Mexico, and the Choc- taw Nation is in council. The severity of the blow has stricken terror to the enemy. My command reached a point near Red river valley, 165 miles south-southwest of this place. We marched about 400 miles; killed, as nearly as I can get information, in the different fights and skirmishes, 250 men, and have only four wounded, all of whom will recover."14
The president does not wish to destroy you, but everything will be destroyed that stands in the way of peace to the great republic. As your friend and the friend of peace in the Indian Terri- tory, I write to you to think of these things, and to see whether your people want to be destroyed in the vain hope of giving aid to a wicked rebel- lion. There is no possible reason why you should want to rebel against the government that fed and protected you, and under which you had peace. Peace you will never have again until you come back to its shelter. Do not deceive your people. God will curse and they upbraid you if you do. You have to choose between peace and mercy and destruction. Bad men have deceived you and bought you with a little money that never did you any good. It will not be long before destruction comes. I think you understand I am in earnest. Do you want peace? If so, let
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In the fall of 1864 occurred the last im- portant movement-of the Confederates into Missouri and Kansas. The main part of the campaign was Price's expedition into Missouri. With a large force he moved up from Arkansas toward the Missouri river, threatening St. Louis, and then turning westward advanced along the river to the Kansas line. His aggressive movement was checked at Independence, Missouri, and in a series of engagements along the Kansas line he was forced back into Arkansas, without having effected any important ad- vantage by his campaign, nor succeeding in drawing away any portion of the federal armies from their operations east of the Mississippi.
As a co-operating movement with the Price expedition, the Confederate forces in Indian Territory planned and carried out their last effective raid north of the Ar- kansas. It was planned to send Stand Watie up the Neosho valley into Kansas, his forces acting as a flanking movement in conjunction with the Missouri expedition. As the first stage of this scheme, Generals Watie and Gano were ordered, in Sep- tember, north of the Arkansas to raid towards the Kansas line, and perhaps inter- cept the federal train coming south from Fort Scott.
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The outcome of this excursion was the capture, by General Gano, of a big train of supplies at Cabin Creek, which was one of
me know before we come to destroy." ("War of Rebellion," Ser. I, Vol. XXXIV, Pt. I.)
" I left camp on the morning of the 14th with 1,200 men from my brigade and Howell's battery. Was accompanied by General Watie, with a de- tachment of 800 men from his brigade to make an expedition north of the Arkansas River. We proceeded to Prairie Springs and encamped on the night of the 14th.
About noon on the 15th instant we arrived at the Arkansas River and found it swollen so as to make it a difficult passage. It required six
the notable exploits of the southern troops in Indian Territory during the war. The value of the train was estimated at a million dollars, and was specially useful in furnishing the southern Indians supplies of clothing and other equipment of which they had been sorely in need from almost the beginning of the war.
Major Henry Hopkins, of the Second Kansas. Cavalry, who commanded the sup- ply train from Fort Scott to Fort Gibson, had a force of about 600 whites and In- dians. He reached Horse creek on the night of September 17th, and, here learning of the approach of the enemy, hastened on to a position on Cabin creek, where he ar- rived on the .18th. The enemy were strongly posted in a hollow on the prairie, according to his report, and shortly after midnight they attacked, At the beginning of the fight the teamsters stampeded, and taking with them one or two mules from each wagon, it became impossible to move the train. The federal guard succeeded in holding their position till morning, when the Confederates charged and drove them from the train, which thus fell into the pos- session of Gano's men. Major Hopkins, failing to receive. reinforcements, and being unable to regain his position, made good his retreat in the direction of Fort Gibson. General R. M. Gano's interesting report of this raid north of the Arkansas is given below.15
hours to cross the river; hard work. All the artillery ammunition had to be packed over by hand, and many of our brave boys were plunged beneath the waves in consequence of quicksands. We encamped in the river bottom, two miles above Redbank's Ford and thirteen miles northwest from Fort Gibson.
On the 16th we proceeded on our way, cross- ing the Verdigris at Sand Town Ford, about eight miles from the hay camp at Flat Rock. From this point I sent Gurley's regiment, accompanied and piloted by a detachment from General Watie's
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Colonel Phillips, from Fort Gibson, on kee Nation. The Second and Third January 8, 1865, reported the condition of the Indian country at that time. He says: "The rebels have still a military organiza- tion numerically much greater than ours. We have about two-thirds of the peo- ple and fighting men of the Chero-
command, around to the rear of the enemy's camp, while we proceeded slowly toward the camp. Gen- eral Watie and staff, with my staff, accompanied me to the top of a mountain, while the command was halted below, and from our elevated position we could view their camps, and with spy glasses could see them at work making hay, little dream- ing that the rebels were watching them. From thence we moved to within one mile of their camp unperceived, and I sent Lieutenant-Colonel Welch to the right with a column composed of the Twenty-ninth and Thirty-first Texas Cavalry (De Morse's and Hardeman's), while General Watie conducted the Indian column to the left, while I carried forward the center, with Howell's bat- tery supported by Martin's regiment, the Gano Guards, under Captain Welch, and Head's and Glass' detachment of companies. I could dis- tinctly see Captain Strayhorn formed in the ene- my's rear. The clouds looked somber and the V- shaped procession grand as we moved forward in the work of death. Then commenced a run- ning fight with the enemy's cavalry, while with the center I moved down and engaged their in- fantry. I sent Major Stackpole with a captured Federal lieutenant under flag of truce to demand surrender, but they fired upon my flag and then commenced the work of death in earnest. The sun witnessed our complete success, and its last lingering rays rested upon a field of blood. Sev- enty-three Federals, mostly negroes, lay dead upon the field.
We captured 85 prisoners and left 5 badly wounded. We captured and destroyed their camps and stores with large quantities of hay. Our loss was 3 wounded.
We slept upon the battle-ground and found next morning the enemy at sunrise on the 17th ad- vancing from north and south. I sent Harde- man's battalion, under Major Looscan, southward to meet the force from Fort Gibson, while we pro- ceeded northward and drove off the cavalry with- out a fight. Major Looscan engaged the enemy, killing one and losing none. We now proceeded with the whole force northward toward Fort Scott to meet the expected train. We proceeded almost to Rock Creek, and hearing nothing of the train we feared lest they might have taken the road east
Indian Home Guards are Cherokees (full and half-breed). We have about half of the Creeks. The First Indian is Creek, except one company of Seminoles and one of Uchees. The rebels have two Cherokee regiments. They still have an
of Grand River. We encamped on Wolf Creek midway between the roads; scouted both and learned that the train had not passed.
On the morning of the 18th, I proceeded with 400 men and two pieces of artillery toward Cabin Creek, leaving General Watie in command of the camp. I found the enemy at Cabin Creek with a train of 255 wagons and an immense herd of mules grazing on the prairie. We were as yet undis- covered, and I despatched a courier to General Watie to bring up the balance of our force and the other four guns, which he did without delay. The enemy found us before dark, but my force was secreted and their efforts to ascertain our strength were ineffectual.
General Watie. arrived about 12 o'clock, and I immediately moved the whole column forward, Lieutenant-Colonel Welch's command in front with the Gano Guards and Head's company as flankers. When within half a mile of the enemy I formed in line of battle, Colonel Welch on the right, second Major Mayrant, third Howell's battery, supported by the Gano Guards, Head's and Glass' companies; fourth Major Looscan and Captain Strayhorn, commanding Gurley's regiment, on the left. General Watie's command was formed on the left of my brigade. Having ascertained that the enemy were about moving their train, I ad- vanced the entire line to within 500 yards of the enemy's position. An officer came out in the dark. ness to hold converse, and having informed us that they were Federals and learned that we were rebels, he called on God to damn us, and invited us forward.
I asked him if he would receive a flag from us. He said he would answer in five minutes. I waited fifteen, and hearing some wagons moving I ad- vanced my line about 3 a. m., and when within 300 yards or less of their fortifications they open- ed fire. We replied with small arms and artillery. The teamsters, demoralized, fled and left their teams to tangle up in the timber and break off wagon tongues. Some teams ran over the cliffs and the wagons crushed the teams to death. Not being able to see the fortifications and having accomplished my design of stopping the train, I moved my command back under the brow of the hill and awaited daybreak. There was a rest for
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organization of two Creek regiments, a bat- talion of Chickasaws, one of Seminoles, a company of Caddos, and the whole Choc- taw Nation, except about 100 persons, men, women, and children. They have had, and are still reported to have, the organization of three Choctaw regiments. The rebel refugees, or women and children and non-
near one hour, when the wagons began to stir again. I moved forward and gave them several more volleys and retired again.
Soon day broke and the dawn revealed to us what appeared to us to be immense earth-works, but afterward proved to be immense hay ricks, ten in number, and just in the rear of said ricks a strong fortification constructed of logs set up in the earth. To the left the timber along the bluff of Cabin Creek was filled with wagons and mules, and from behind all these the enemy sent missiles of death. I changed the position of the artillery so as to command the hay ricks and wagons, and got General Watie to send Colonel Vann with the two Cherokee regiments across to capture all wagons that might have left before day. I dismounted Colonel Jumper's command to assist in supporting the battery, and after- ward ordered Gurley's regiment to that post and Jumper in the timber to flank the enemy's right. He doubled back their right and drove them full 150 yards, when they came to a stand. Now ap- peared a crisis, and I charged them with Gurley 's regiment, leading them in person, and would have carried the position but for a gully some twenty- five yards in the rear filled with armed men who had not yet participated. They were not visible until within twenty-five or thirty yards of them. We were compelled to fall back, but not one man of the gallant Thirtieth started from that murder- ous fire until I ordered them to do so. I then ordered Captain Strayhorn, Lieutenant-Colonel Welch, and Major Mayrant to take the timber and drive the right, the Creeks and Seminoles having exhausted their ammunition, while Howell, Looscan, and Captain Welch poured their fire into the original front, now the enemy's flank. Crash after crash of shell swept Yankees, negroes, Pins, and mules away from the land of the living, while every regiment and company poured in volley after volley, and the brave Indians, having re- plenished with ammunition, came again to the work, and all with a loud shout rushed on to ·victory, driving the enemy beyond their fortifica- tions, from where they fled in wild confusion to the densely timbered bottoms.
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