Honey Springs

On July 17, 1863, Union troops clashed with Confederate forces at Honey Springs, sometimes called the Affair at Elk Creek, in a fight that proved decisive for federal efforts to seize the Indian Territory. Among all the clashes fought on ground that would later become Oklahoma, this one stood as the largest between the two sides. What set the engagement apart was the composition of the armies involved: white troops were actually outnumbered on both sides. Native Americans filled the ranks of each army in substantial numbers, and African-American units served within the Union force.

The site of the fighting lies roughly 4.5 miles (7.2 km) to the northeast of present-day Checotah, Oklahoma, and about 15 miles (24 km) south of Muskogee. Fort Gibson sat approximately 20 miles (32 km) to the northeast of the location.

Background

When the Civil War began, the United States had left the Five Civilized Tribes to their own devices, and for cultural and economic reasons every one of these tribes in Indian Territory chose to align themselves with the Confederate States of America, which promised them protection, economic support and sovereignty in return. Native troops were raised under General Douglas H. Cooper, and these forces pushed out pro-Union Creek fighters in a brief campaign that ended at the Battle of Chustenahlah. Confederate control of the region did not last, however. By 1863 the tide had turned against them. Major General James G. Blunt launched a Union offensive out of Kansas that pushed Confederate troops out of the northern part of the territory, prompting many Cherokee to abandon the Confederacy for the Union side. In April, Colonel William A. Phillips led Union troops back into Fort Gibson in Indian Territory, putting pressure on Confederate positions at Fort Smith. Yet Phillips faced a vulnerability: his supply route ran 175 miles (282 km) north from Fort Gibson to Fort Scott, Kansas, along the old Texas Road cattle trail. From their base at Honey Springs, Cooper's Confederate cavalry regularly struck at Fort Gibson and raided the wagon trains carrying its supplies.

Several factors make the Battle of Honey Springs significant. In terms of troop numbers, it stands as the largest engagement fought within Indian Territory. On both sides, white soldiers were outnumbered, with Native Americans forming a large share of each army and African Americans serving in the Union ranks. The depot at Honey Springs held supplies whose loss would deal a severe blow to the Confederacy, since its forces, already underfunded and poorly equipped, leaned more and more on captured Union material simply to continue fighting. The location also held strategic value as a key point on the Texas Road, the north-south route connecting north Texas with Baxter Springs, Kansas, and Joplin, Missouri; whoever held Honey Springs could dictate movement along that corridor. Finally, its position posed a direct danger to Fort Gibson, the post that oversaw traffic on the upper Arkansas River.

Preparations for battle

Before the war, travelers along the Texas Road knew Honey Springs simply as a place to water their horses and rest, thanks to the several springs dotting the area. The U.S. Army later transformed it into a functioning post, adding a commissary, a hospital built of logs, and rows of tents to house soldiers. When the Confederates anticipated a coming invasion in 1863, they moved 6,000 troops into the location, drawing supplies from Fort Smith, Boggy Depot, Fort Cobb, Fort Arbuckle, and Fort Washita. Their attempt to intercept a Federal wagon train of 200 vehicles ended in failure at what became known as the Battle of Cabin Creek. That train rolled into Fort Gibson right around the time General Blunt himself showed up with reinforcements and artillery in tow, though the Union garrison there still numbered only some 3,000 men.

Blunt's own account to General Schofield places his arrival on July 11. Finding the Arkansas River running high, he set his men to constructing boats so they could ferry across. Sickness struck him during this period as well; encephalitis seems to have laid him low, forcing him to remain bedridden on July 14 while a severe fever ran its course.

Confident that they outnumbered their opponents, Confederate commanders devised a plan to strike Fort Gibson. The assault would combine Cooper's Indian troops and the Texan units attached to them with Brigadier General William Cabell's brigade of 3,000 men, then stationed at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and expected to arrive at Honey Springs by July 17. Cooper advanced his force to Honey Springs itself, a key Confederate supply base in Indian Territory, intending to rest and resupply there while he waited for Cabell to close the distance and unite their commands. Word of this scheme reached Blunt, however, and rather than wait for the Confederates to combine their forces and gain a decisive numerical edge, he chose to strike Cooper first. His army for this purpose drew on three Union Indian Home Guard regiments assembled from members of all Five Nations, along with the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. Rounding out his command were two white cavalry battalions, the 6th Kansas and 3rd Wisconsin, a white infantry battalion made up of six companies from the 2nd Colorado Infantry Regiment, and a pair of Kansas artillery batteries.

Aftermath

Once the fighting ended, Confederate forces retreated, abandoning their fallen comrades on the field, and joined up with Cabell's relief column of 3,000 men roughly fifty miles distant. Blunt chose not to give chase, since his men and horses were exhausted from the engagement. Instead, he had them make camp at the site overnight so the wounded from both armies could be tended to and the dead buried. Blunt himself remained gripped by a severe fever, a lingering effect of encephalitis, and was ultimately confined to bed for the remainder of that day. The following evening, he directed his troops to march back toward Fort Gibson. Cooper would later send Blunt a letter expressing gratitude for burying the Confederate dead. Following the war's conclusion, the remains of Union soldiers were dug up and moved to Fort Gibson National Cemetery for reburial.

This engagement stands as the largest ever waged within the Indian Territory, and its outcome proved genuinely decisive. So significant was it that the Oklahoma Historical Society likened its importance to Gettysburg. Thanks to this triumph, Blunt's men gained the opportunity to seize Fort Smith and push Union control down the Arkansas River Valley as far as the Mississippi. By August of 1863, the Confederates had pulled out of Fort Smith entirely, leaving it open for Union recovery. Even with skilled commanders such as Stand Watie still in the field, Confederate troops in the area could never again seize the upper hand or meet Union forces in a direct, large-scale confrontation. From that point forward, they leaned almost completely on guerrilla tactics and limited cavalry raids to continue resisting the Federal Army. Compounding their troubles was the loss of supplies stored at the Honey Springs depot, a blow that carried lasting consequences. Already stretched thin financially and hampered by inferior equipment, Confederate forces found themselves depending more and more on Union material seized in battle just to keep fighting.