The Battle of Honey Springs (July 17, 1863)

Honey Springs is the third significant battle of the 1^st Kansas Colored Regiment. It was a direct and much larger follow-up to the Battle at Cabin Creek. In fact it has gone down in history as the largest battle in Indian Territory with at least 6,000 participants. Some have also called it the “Gettysburg of Indian Territory.” Not only did it take place shortly after that famed battle, it effectively ended any Confederate dominance in the region, save for a few major raids in the future. Finally the battle has been noted for its ethnic diversity. In addition to the black troops in the 1^st Kansas both sides sported various Indian units. It was truly a polyglot fight in which whites fought for the future of the American vision, blacks fought for freedom and equality, and Indians fought for self-determination.

Quick Action Required

The 1^st Kansas’ entry into Indian Territory at the Battle of Cabin Creek gave them ample opportunities to prove themselves in further battle. However, Indian Territory was rarely covered in the wider national press, so their contributions would go unnoticed by most Northerners. Also, despite having fought in two sizeable engagements since their inception, they still drew the racial prejudice of their fellow white soldiers. Captain Nicholas Earle of Company F remembered that the 2^nd Colorado Infantry, made up of rough-hewn white westerners, “treated us with contempt.”[1]

James G. Blunt

Major General James Blunt, recently arrived in Indian Territory, began his campaign with a halved department. Major General John M. Schofield, his superior, placed his eastern half along the Missouri border under General Thomas Ewing. Blunt and his Kansan political ally James Lane were angry and saw the need to boost the former’s standing with a quick victory. As luck would have it, military events necessitated speedy action. William Phillips’ scouts (from his Union Indian Brigade) saw that Confederate General William Cabell, having missed his rendezvous with Brigadier General Douglas Cooper for the Battle of Cabin Creek, was still approaching with 3,000 troops from Arkansas. Cherokee women came to Fort Gibson on ponies and passed on further observations about the movements and size of the Arkansan force.[2]

On the Confederate side of things, General William Steele had brought in supplies from various forts and depots in Arkansas and Indian Territory and consolidated them at Honey Springs Depot. This depot was newly built, and the location as chosen because of Honey Springs itself. This water source was named by earlier Creek settlers. They had discovered a colony of wild honey bees in a large post oak tree. Honey Springs formed a brook which connected to Elk Creek. Thanks to Steele, many food items as well as camp equipment and gunpowder were now stored in recently constructed buildings and erected tents. Steele intended to use these in a counter-offensive. The objective was to recapture Fort Gibson and eject, if not destroy, Blunt’s growing force.[3]

Blunt had about 3,000 men under his command, though some were spread out. He estimated that General Cooper had 6,000 men (a doubled overestimate), spread out among the crossings of the various waterways. Blunt organized his force into two brigades with the 2^nd Indian Home Guard, 1^st Kansas Colored, and 2rd Wisconsin Cavalry under Colonel William R. Judson and the 2^nd Colorado Infantry, 1^st Indian Home Guard, and 6^th Kansas Cavalry under Colonel William A. Phillips.  Arkansas River, and that Cabell had 3,000. Despite currently suffering from a fever, he resolved to strike as quickly as possible before the Confederates could affect a junction. On the 15^th he advanced 250 cavalry and four pieces of light artillery to establish a crossing point. He hoped to surprise and capture the Rebel pickets and thus gain complete surprise over Cooper.

Cooper’s pickets saw the Federal scouts studying the fords. Hearing from them, Cooper correctly speculated that Blunt aimed to strike him before Cabell could arrive. He withdrew his pickets from the crossing near the Creek agency, still not sure if the several hundred Federal cavalry was a large reconnaissance force or the vanguard of an invasion. The Federals arrived at the Grand River to find that all Confederates in the area had fled, likely with information of their arrival. Though the element of total surprise was lost, Blunt still needed to hit the enemy before he could unit his two forces. Blunt proceeded to the mouth of the Grand River and got the rest of his army on the way. The 2^nd Indian Home Guards had a notably rough time crossing the Arkansas River. Its Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Schaurte reported that three of his men drowned, having either fallen into the river or having tried to swim it. By the night of the 16^th his army was across and advancing towards Elk Creek.[4]

 

Morning Weather

Cooper pulled up his force, with Elk Creek at its southern back. He reorganized it into four sections. Colonel Stand Watie and his two Cherokee regiments formed the right wing. Colonel Daniel N. McIntosh formed the left wing with his two Creek regiments (the 2^nd under his half-brother Chilly McIntosh). Colonel Thomas C. Bass led the center, made up of various Texan units. These included the 20^th and 29^th Texas Cavalry, the 5^th Texas Partisan Rangers, and a light battery of howitzers under Captain Roswell Lee. The fourth section was attached to headquarters and intended as a reserve. These included two squadrons of Texans under Captain John Scanland and L.E. Gillett and the 1^st Choctaw and Chickasaw Regiment under Colonel Tandy Walker. Scanland’s squadron in particular was to serve as Cooper’s headquarters guard.[5]

The sections camped near various suspected crossings. Cooper hoped that when the Federals chose their crossing, his three wings could quickly assemble at that point. To better ensure this he had some of his men clear away any obstructions that would slow their ability to reinforce each other. Officers were to scout out smaller creeks and see how they might be used to flank the Federals, and they were also to ensure that the enemy could not use any of the timber fringing Elk Creek as cover.[6]

The 6^th Kansas Cavalry, armed with revolvers and Sharps carbines, formed the advance of Blunt’s force and came upon the Confederates. They entered into a brief skirmish with the Choctaws and Gillett’s squadron. As water drizzled from the sky, the Confederates withdrew. This little fight showed that Blunt’s hope for a surprise attack was in vain. He now had to face an enemy he believed twice his number, with 3,000 more soldiers on the way. Though the enemy was in striking distance, Blunt opted to give his exhausted men a rest and time for lunch.[7]

As the Federals rested, more rain came over the battlefield. Following the morning skirmish and wet conditions, Lieutenant Thornton B. Heiston, the acting adjutant-general, came to Cooper with bad news. Thanks to shortages, the Confederates in the Far West imported much of their powder from Mexico. These were of inferior quality and their cartridges were already threatened by “exposure to damp atmosphere.” Heiston reported that in the skirmish many of the men found that their guns would not fire because the rain had spoiled their powder, turning much of it to paste. “The Choctaws, who had skirmished with the enemy on the morning of the 17^th, returned wet and disheartened by finding their guns almost useless…” Though they outnumbered the Federals 2 to 1, they were actually outgunned 3 to 1. The Federals, unaware of this stroke of luck, were nevertheless more cheerful. The weather was very hot and the extra water from the sky enabled them to fill their canteens.[8]

Local citizens got word of the impending battle. One Creek horseman rode from home to home, screaming out a war whoop that (at the time) enslaved girl Lucinda Davis recalled as going “Eya-a-a-a-he-ah!” Once he got to a house, he warned the residents to get out of the way because there was going “to be a big fight.” Davis’ master gathered his family and slaves into a cave from where they would listen to the battle.[9]

 

The Main Show Begins

Blunt formed his army into two columns, one on each side of the road. William R. Judson went on the west side with, from west to east, the 3^rd Wisconsin Cavalry, 2^nd Indian Home Guard, and 1^st Kansas. Captain Edward Smith’s battery was split into three sections. 2 mountain howitzers oversaw the right flank while Smith’s personally oversaw a 4 gun position behind the Indians and black troops. Captain Henry Hopkins’ 4 howitzers took up the center. Colonel William Phillips went on the east side with the 2^nd Colorado, 1^st Indian Home Guard, and 6^th Kansas Cavalry. The two remaining howitzers from Smith’s battery supported them. The 3^rd Indian Home Guard stayed in reserve. The Unionists advanced in columns and fanned out into battle line. The temperatures were now higher and after the rain probably humid. One reporter at the battle recalled that the soldiers “had stripped themselves of everything in the way of clothing and equipment that could be dispensed with.” Many went into battle with no shirt on, the same reporter noting of the 1^st Kansans that “their black skins glistened in the sun.”[10]

On the Confederate side Captain Lee’s light howitzer battery took a position in the center on the road. The 1^st and 2^nd Creek made up the left flank. The 20^th and 29^th Texas Cavalry formed the center at the road. The 5^th Texas Cavalry was to the right of them, and Watie’s two Indian regiments formed the right flank. Cooper rode up with the 1^st Choctaw & Chickasaw Regiment as well as more Texan horsemen under Gillett and Scanland. Cooper’s strategy was to look for ways to flank the enemy or stall him until Cabell, with his extra men and presumably better ammunition, arrived.[11] Blunt went with a reconnaissance team to find the enemy. They found them hiding in the brush. They could not make out their full numbers or the location of their artillery. The Confederates opened fire and Blunt rode hastily back to his line, losing one man in his escort.[12]

The men in the 1^st Kansas sensed that they were about to participated in their biggest fight yet. Colonel Williams addressed his men with an epic speech, recounted in part in the official records and more fully (and perhaps partly fictionalized) in Wiley Britton’s history of the Union Indian Brigade:

This is the day we have been patently waiting for; the enemy at Cabin Creek did not wait to give you an opportunity of showing them what men can do fighting for their natural rights and for their recently acquired freedom and the freedom of their children and their children’s children. I am proud of your soldierly appearance; and it is especially gratifying to know that it has been by my strenuous efforts in drilling you, in handling you, and providing for you the past months, that I find you in such splendid conditions, physically and in morale. We are going to engage the enemy in a few moments and I am going to lead you. We are engaged in a holy way; in the history the world, soldiers never fought for a holier cause than the cause for which the Union soldiers are fighting, the preservation of the Union and the equal rights and freedom of all men. You know what the soldiers of the Southern armies are fighting for; extension of slavery on this continent, and if they are successful, to take you and your wives and children back into slavery. You know it is common report that the Confederate troops boast that they will not give quarters to colored troops and their officers, and you know that they did not give any quarters to your comrades in the fight with the forage detachment near Sherwood last May. Show the enemy this day that you are not asking for quarter, and that you know how and are eager to fight four your freedom and finally, keep cool and do not fire until you receive the order, and then aim deliberately below the waist belt. The people of the whole country will read the reports of your conduct in this engagement; let it be that of brave, disciplined men.[13]

 

An officer in one of the Confederate Indian regiments also delivered a dramatic speech. From their perspective they were defending their homelands in hopes of a more independent future:

When you first saw the light, it was said of you “a man child is born.” You must prove today whether or not this saying of you was true. The sun that hangs over our heads has no death, no end of days. It will continue indefinitely to rise and to set; but with you it is different. Man must die sometime, and since he must die, he can find no nobler death than that which overtakes him while fighting for his home, his fires and his country.[14]

 

At 10:20 AM the Confederate artillery opened up. Smith’s four guns deployed and returned fire with spherical shells and solid shot. The Federal gunners at first had difficulty providing counter-fire. The Confederate artillery was only visible from the smoke emerging from their barrels. One officer reported: “Immediately after our fire opened, the enemy’s battery was discovered occupying a position to our right and front, which opened fire upon us with shot, shell, and canister, wounding 1 sergeant, mortally (left leg shot off above the knee), killing 1 private, killing 4 horses, and wounding 4 others, totally unfitting them for service.”[15]

In the end the Federal artillery held too much of an advantage with 12 guns against 4 howitzers. Hopkins’ gunners spotted one Rebel gun and its crew in the open. A well-aimed shell exploded the piece, killing or wounding all the artillerists and horses around it. Smith’s artillerists noted “a Rebel officer mounted on a very large and elegant horse who was very conspicuously urging on his men.” One of the gunners begged his commander to let him take a shot at the man. He got permission a projectile flew towards the mounted officer. “...The ball entered the horse’s breast, went the entire length of his body, [and] passed out directly under his tail.”[16]

As the cannons boomed and the infantry and cavalrymen skirmished, Cooper sent half of his Choctaws to his right. According to his report they went too far and were unable to help out in the main fight. The 6^th Kansas Cavalry, on the eastern end of the Union line, did not see the Choctaws overshooting their target, but noticed Watie's Cherokees attempting to flank them through some woods. Its commander, Colonel William Campbell, sent Companies C, F, and H into the woods as skirmishers to block them. This was the extent to which the infantry and cavalry participated in the first phase of the battle.[17]

 

The 1^st Kansas Gets the Victory

Blunt wanted to break the stand-off. He ordered Smith’s battery to move to the left near the road, closer to the enemy, and use canister shot. Blunt then ordered Judson’s brigade to move forward and tasked 1^st Kansas to support Smith’s artillery. He directed their attention to the enemy’s cannons. “I wish you to keep an eye to those guns of the enemy, and take them at the point of the bayonet, if an opportunity offers.” Phillips took the order literally, ordering his men to fix bayonets. They advanced to the right of the guns with the 2^nd Colorado providing supporting fire. The 2^nd Indian Home Guards, which had been supporting Smith’s battery, now took a role as skirmishers.[18]

The two battle lines had difficulty seeing each other. Otis Welch, an officer in the 29^th Texas, recalled that “the whole space in front of us was covered with small bushes which concealed our position, and almost masked the approach of the enemy.” Neither side fired, the 1^st Kansas wanting to get closer with their smoothbore muskets and the Texans ordered to not fire until their foe “came in forty yards.”[19]

Judson’s infantry advanced to “within 40 paces of the concealed foe.” Williams ordered his colored troops to fire. Both they and the enemy infantry fired at the same instant, so much so that the 1^st Kansas report wondered if the Confederates mistook Williams’ command as their own. The opposing volleys hit Williams “in the right breast, face, and hands.” The colonel fell into the brush, concealing his predicament. Unaware of his superior’s injury, Lieutenant-Colonel John Bowles failed to advance his men further. The two sides were very close and casualties would have been tremendous if they had not chosen to lay prone and take advantage of the brush.[20]

During the advance the 2^nd Colorado Infantry, thanks to the heavy vegetation, had gone out of alignment. Their right flank came up far ahead of the others. The Confederates suddenly fired on them and threatened to cut them off. The left flank of the 1^st Kansas saw the peril of the Coloradans and turned accordingly. They now threatened the Texans’ flank and delivered several volleys into it. The Rebels ran, the Coloradans adding their fire. It should be noted that the Coloradans had been the most vocal in their racial prejudice.[21]

Lieutenant-Colonel Bowles of the 1^st Kansas discovered men from the 2nd Indian Home Guard in the way. He ordered them to fall back out of the way of friendly fire. Colonel De Morse of the 29^th Texas mistook this shifting of the Federal lines for a retreat and ordered his men to press their supposed advantage. They came out from cover, cheering in misplaced exultation, and ran smack dab into an unexpected volley. This “sent them back in great confusion and disorder.” The 1^st Kansans shot down their color-bearer. A Texan quickly put up the colors, only to be shot himself. A third man raised the flag and Bowles ordered another volley to settle the matter. The “well-directed musketry” did the trick and the 29^th Texas fled, their colors on the ground.[22] This one costly mistake had unhinged the Confederate line and opened the way for another Federal advance.

The 1st Kansas fires at the charging Texas Cavalrymen.

With the infantry and cavalry advancing, Smith halted his guns to avoid friendly fire. He advanced his artillery, but was halted by the thick hail of bullets. His battery was forced to sit out the rest of the fight as “a silent spectator.” The 1^st Kansas pursued the Texans through a cornfield. The terrain soon grew difficult and Bowles ordered his right to return to their starting line. The 2^nd Indian Home Guards took up the pursuit and, to the blacks’ chagrin, seized the enemy’s colors for themselves. They begged to go out and seize their rightful trophy, but Bowles told them to stay still, assuring that “the matter could be righted hereafter.” Schaurte reported the colors as taken by his men during the pursuit. There is no word on how the matter was resolved. The 3^rd Wisconsin Cavalry, having spent the battle in skirmish formation on the far right, attempted to flank the enemy. Though this never came to be, they did join in the pursuit and scoop up 8 prisoners.[23]

On the Federal left Wattles’ 1^st Indian Home Guards charged into the timber and drove the Confederate Indians out. Not wanting to miss out on this moment of victory, Campbell quickly procured more ammunition for his Kansas cavalrymen and mounted a pursuit. They ran into the Confederates at another patch of woods. The Kansas and Indian riders worked with Hopkins’ guns and the howitzers to drive the enemy across Elk Creek.[24]

Cooper sent Walker and his Choctaws on a counter-attack to slow the Federals. “With their usual intrepidity the Choctaws went at them, giving the war-whoop, and succeeded in checking the advance of the enemy…” This enabled more of the Confederates to escape along with some of their supplies. The Indians were not able to do much more, however, as their ammunition was worthless. The 29^th Texas, which had more slowly withdrawn thanks to an organized fighting retreat, raced for their mounts so they could also get away. To their chagrin they learned that their horses had been pulled back with the rest of the army. Fearing entrapment and surrender, they found the energy to foot it across Elk Creek.[25]

Lucinda Davis, hiding with her master’s family and the slave women in a cave, got a view of the disintegration of the Confederate force. “Dey come riding and running by whar we is, and it don’t make no difference how much de head men hollers at ‘em dey can’t made day bunch slow up and stop.” Another ex-slave recounted, “The Rebels was chased all over the country and couldn’t find each other for a long time.” At 4 PM the exhausted Federals came upon Cabell advancing with his reinforcements. Blunt ordered a halt and was determined to resume the battle the following day, even with low ammunition. But Cabell had arrived too late. Cooper’s force was torn apart from the pell-mell retreat.[26]

 

Gettysburg of the West

The 1^st Kansas had endured the hardest part of the battle and contributed heavily to the victory.  Blunt singled them out for praise. “The First Kansas (colored) particularly distinguished itself; they fought like veterans, and preserved their line unbroken throughout the engagement. Their coolness and bravery I have never seen surpassed.”. The white troops of the 2^nd Colorado now said “if we are going into a fight give us the niggers.” Some of their opponents also recognized their key participation and bravery, though in a more reserved manner. Private Edward Folsom, a Choctaw soldier, wrote, “It was a stand up fight I never did see so many wounded Negro troops in a small fight.[27]

The 1^st Kansas had the highest casualties among the Federals. They suffered 2 killed and 30 wounded. The 2^nd Colorado had 5 killed, 14 wounded. The 1^st Indian Home Guards suffered 2 killed and 6 wounded, the 2^nd 3 killed and 3 wounded, and the 3^rd 2 wounded. The 6^th Kansas Cavalry lost 5 wounded. The 2^nd Kansas Battery suffered only 1 wounded, and Hopkins’ gunners 1 killed and 1 wounded. The 3^rd Wisconsin Cavalry suffered no casualties. Totals amounted to 13 killed and 52 wounded, 75 in all. The 1^st Kansas thus suffered 42 percent of the entire force’s casualties.[28]

Blunt’s casualties were slight for the number involved. The Confederates could not say the same. Cooper placed his losses at 134 killed and wounded with 47 missing and presumed to be prisoners. Colonel De Morse of the 29^th Texas suffered a “severe wound.” Captain F.M. Hanks was hit while carrying orders. Cooper ordered the supplies at Honey Springs burned before they could fall into Blunt’s hands. Salt, sugar, and flour went up in flames. The pursuing Federals rushed to put out the fires and saved for themselves “plenty of bread, hams and bacon and excellent flour.” Also among the loot were 500 pairs of shackles. It was not hard to figure out that these had been meant for the black troops of the 1^st Kansas.. The black soldiers grinned at the sight of the chains, which served as evidence that they were triumphing over slavery. The intention behind the shackles was confirmed that September by David Griffith, a new recruit. Griffith was at the battle, but as the personal slave of Major J.A. Carroll, a Texan officer. He overheard the Southern officers boasting that they would capture the 1^st Kansas and send them back into slavery. Griffith also overheard the Confederate troops predict that all they “would have to do would be to march up to the colored men and take them in, as they would a herd of stock in a pasture.” Quite the opposite had happened.[29]

Honey Springs was a decisive battle. It threw the balance of power in Indian Territory far into the Union’s favor. Victorious, Blunt did not believe he could lead his army much further without further men and supplies. He returned to Fort Gibson where 1,500 Kansas cavalrymen under Colonel William F. Cloud arrived. With a much larger force, Blunt restarted his southward drive. Confederate resistance was half-hearted, with only a few small skirmishes ensuing. Steele and Cooper retreated south while Cabell marched his men back towards Arkansas. Blunt targeted the various supply depots throughout the territory. By capturing or destroying them he would destroy the enemy’s ability to regain their strength and launch a counter-offensive. As he did this he chased Cooper south. Outside Perryville, the last major target on Blunt’s list, the Confederates finally turned and fought on August 26. They had some artillery to help them. Their defenses proved weak and their muzzle-loading rifles no match for the Sharps carbines of the 6^th Kansas Cavalry. The Federals brushed them aside and Blunt seized the supply depot at Perryville, grabbing what he could and destroying the rest. He then turned east and chased Cabell into Arkansas. His army made an admirable march towards Fort Smith, Arkansas. Cabell, now outnumbered, offered token resistance and then abandoned his piece of Arkansas.[30]

The Confederate Indians in particular were greatly discouraged by their defeat at Honey Springs and the subsequent Federal movements. Throughout the first half of 1863 they had successfully raided Union positions in Indian Territory but now they were at a disadvantage. Cooper’s withdrawal further south exposed the Creek Nation to Federal invasion. Creek families who supported the Confederacy grabbed whatever they could and fled, fearing that they would be forced into internment at Fort Gibson. They also grew angry with the Confederate government, wondering how a much smaller Federal force could wreck such havoc with so little resistance. Many left the army and took up raiding for a bit, grabbing whatever food they could find and killing any who stood in their way.[31]

The Choctaws' battle flag shows two arrows crisscross along a bow
and tomahawk. One of the cooler Civil War flags if you ask me.

The Choctaws, considered the staunchest pro-Confederate Indians, saw their resolve greatly shaken. The defeat at Honey Springs enabled the Federals to strike into their territory. Coupled with war fatigue, this brought recruitment in Tandy Walker’s regiment to a halt and also saw further desertions. Many pointed fingers at white Confederates for this reversal in fortunes. A Creek soldier George Washington Grayson opined, “By what I have always confidently believed to be bad management, we lost the day here when the enemy came up and engaged us, for our Gen. Cooper did not even get all his men out on the firing line, or into any engagement with his adversary before he ordered his forces to retire.” The Cherokee General Stand Watie, who actually missed out on the fight as he was leading a small cavalry unit to cover another river crossing, was the only Confederate Indian leader to vigorously resume the fight for the rest of 1863.[32]

The 1^st Kansas Colored participated in the remainder of Blunt’s campaign. They and their white comrades freed many slaves and collected runaways. Many of those who fled their masters in Arkansas and Indian Territory joined their ranks. They had gained much respect in the Trans-Mississippi and among more knowledgeable news-followers to the east. They would be called upon again in 1864, when they would also learn the taste of defeat.

 

Sources

Baker, Lindsay T. and Julie P. Baker (ed.). The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.

“The Battle of Honey Springs – July 17, 1863.” https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/battle-honey-springs-july-17-1863. accessed January 8, 2022.

Britton, Wiley. The Union Indian Brigade in the Civil War. Kansas City: F. Hudson Publishing Co., 1922.

Cottrell, Steve. Civil War in the Indian Territory. Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 1995.

Cunningham, Frank. General Stand Watie’s Confederate Indians, revised edition. University of Oklahoma Press, September 15, 1998, Kindle Edition.

Epple, Jess C. Honey Springs Depot: Elk Creek, Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Muskogee: Oklahoma, Thomason Print Co. 2002.

Grayson, G.W. A Creek Warrior for the Confederacy: the Autobiography of Chief G.W. Grayson. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.

Josephy, Alvin M. The Civil War in the American West. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.

“The Battle of Honey Springs.” https://www.okhistory.org/sites/hsbattle.php. accessed January 15, 2022.

Spurgeon, Ian Michael. Soldiers in the Army of Freedom: The 1st Kansas Colored, the Civil War's First African American Combat Unit. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.

Trudeau, Noah Andre. Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865. Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1998.

United States. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Vol. XXII Parts 1 & 2. Washington D.C. 1898.

Yarbrough, Fay A. Choctaw Confederates: The American Civil War in Indian Country. University of North Carolina Press, 2021. Hoopa Edition.

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[1] Ian Michael Spurgeon, Soldiers in the Army of Freedom: The 1st Kansas Colored, the Civil War's First African American                 Combat Unit, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014), 158, 176.

[2] Spurgeon, 158; Wiley Britton, The Union Indian Brigade in the Civil War, (Kansas City: F. Hudson Publishing Co.,         1922), 267.

[3] Jess C. Epple, Honey Springs Depot: Elk Creek, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, (Muskogee: Oklahoma, Thomason Print Co., 2002), 35, 55.

[4] OR XXII part 1, 447, 449, 451-452, 457-458; Britton, 274.

[5] OR XXII part 1, 461-462.

[6] OR XXII part 1, 462.

[7] Spurgeon, 162; Steve Cottrell, Civil War in the Indian Territory, (Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 1995), 78; OR XXII                part 1, 447.

[8] OR XXII part 1, 458, 460; Alvin M. Josephy, The Civil War in the American West, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991), 371;             Noah Andre Trudeau, Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865, (Boston: Little, Brown, & Company,             1998), 106; Fay A. Yarbrough,  Choctaw Confederates: The American Civil War in Indian Country, (University of North             Carolina Press, 2021. Hoopa Edition), 86.

[9] Lindsay T. Baker and Julie P. Baker (ed.), The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,                    1996), 112-113.

[10] OR XXII part 1, 447-448; “The Battle of Honey Springs.” https://www.okhistory.org/sites/hsbattle.phphttps://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/battle-honey-springs-july-17-1863; Trudeau, 107.

[11] OR XXII part 1, 458-459; https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/battle-honey-springs-july-17-1863

[12] OX XXII part 1, 447.

[13] OR XXII part 1, 449; Spurgeon, 165.

[14] G.W. Grayson, A Creek Warrior for the Confederacy: the Autobiography of Chief G.W. Grayson, (Norman: University of                 Oklahoma Press, 1988), 63.

[15] OR XXII part 1, 449, 451, 454, 456,.

[16] OR XXII part 1, 456; Josephy, 371; Spurgeon, 168.

[17] OR XXII part 1, 452-453, 458.

[18] OR XXII part 1, 449, 451, 454.

[19] Spurgeon, 169-170.

[20] OR XXII part 1, 449-450; Spurgeon, 171.

[21] Britton, 280-281.

[22] OR XXII part 1, 450.

[23] OR XXII part 1, 450-451, 453-454.

[24] OR XXII part 1, 453, 455.

[25] OR XXII part 1, 460; Yarbrough, 86; Spurgeon, 172.

[26] Baker, 32, 113; OR XXII part 1, 448; The slave narratives literally wrote down the dialect of those interviewed. Some say             this retained the flavor of the black experience while others thought it strange and perhaps racist that only blacks were                written differently in an academic interview.

[27] OR XXII part 1, 448; Britton, 283; Yarbrough, 85.

[28] OR XXII part 1, 449.

[29] OR XXII part 1, 460; Spurgeon, 173, 176; Britton, 282-283.

[30] Josephy, 372; Cottrell, 83-84; Spurgeon, 178.

[31] Frank Cunningham, General Stand Watie’s Confederate Indians, revised edition, (University of Oklahoma Press,                           September 15, 1998, Kindle Edition), 116; Grayson, 63-64; Baker, 115.

[32] Yarbrough, 87-88; Grayson, 61; “The Battle of Honey Springs.” https://www.okhistory.org/sites/hsbattle.php.