Round Mountain was a Civil War engagement fought in Oklahoma, 1861. It was a Confederate victory.
Col. Douglas H. Cooper, Confederate commander of the Indian Department, had not been able to reconcile differences with Chief Opothleyahola, who commanded a band of Unionist Creeks and Seminoles. Cooper set out on November 15, 1861, with about 1,400 men to either compel submission . . . or "drive him and his party from the country." His force rode up the Deep Fork of the Canadian River towards Chief Opothleyahola's camp which they found deserted. On the 19th, Cooper learned from captured prisoners that part of Chief Opothleyahola's band was at the Red Fork of the Arkansas River, where they were erecting a fort. Cooper's men arrived there around 4:00 pm and ordered a cavalry charge which discovered that Chief Opothleyahola's band had recently abandoned the camp. The Confederates did find some stragglers beyond the camp and followed them, blundering into Chief Opothleyahola's camp. The Federals fired into the Rebel cavalry and, in large force, came out to attack them. They chased the Confederates back to Cooper's main force. Darkness prevented Cooper from attacking until the main enemy force was within 60 yards. A short fight ensued but Chief Opothleyahola's men broke it off and retreated back to their camp. Cooper set out for Chief Opothleyahola's camp the next morning but found it gone. The Confederates claimed victory because Chief Opothleyahola had left the area. This was the first of three encounters between Chief Opothleyahola's Union bands and Confederate troops. The chief was forced to flee Oklahoma for Kansas at the end of the year.
On November 19, 1861, opposing forces clashed in what became known as the Battle of Round Mountain, marking the opening engagement of the Trail of Blood on Ice campaign, a struggle for dominance over Indian Territory during the American Civil War. The clash aimed chiefly at stopping Creek Nation members loyal to the Union, under the leadership of Opothleyahola, from escaping Indian Territory toward safety with Union troops stationed in Kansas.
Where exactly the fighting took place remains a matter of disagreement among historians. While some place the site close to Keystone, others argue it occurred nearer to Yale, Oklahoma. This engagement also goes by another name, the Battle of Red Fork.
Negotiations broke down between Col. Douglas H. Cooper, who led Confederate forces in the Indian Department, and Opothleyahola, who headed a group of pro-Union Creeks and Seminoles. This band numbered roughly seventeen hundred, with additional Unionist sympathizers drawn from the Comanches, Delawares, Kickapoos, Wichitas, and Shawnees swelling its ranks. On November 15, 1861, Cooper led approximately 1,400 troops out with orders to bring about Opothleyahola's surrender or otherwise expel him and his followers from the territory. His column traveled along the Deep Fork of the Canadian River, only to discover that the camp they sought had already been vacated. Four days later, on November 19, prisoners taken by Cooper's men revealed that a portion of Opothleyahola's people were busy constructing fortifications near the Red Fork of the Arkansas River.
Cooper's troops reached that location by roughly four in the afternoon. When cavalry units charged forward, they found the camp recently emptied. Tracking stragglers led the Confederates into unexpected contact, as the 4th Texas stumbled upon Opothleyahola's warriors positioned among trees at the base of the Round Mountains. A Federal counterattack pushed the Texas cavalry back toward Cooper's larger force. With night falling, Cooper could not launch his own counterattack until the opposing force had closed to within 60 yards (55 m) of his position. Following a brief clash, Opothleyahola's men ignited the surrounding prairie grass and withdrew under its cover.
By the next morning, Cooper pushed forward toward what he believed was Opothleyahola's relocated camp, only to find it too had been abandoned by Federal forces. Confederates declared the engagement a victory simply because their opponent had withdrawn from the region. Among the spoils seized were Opothleyahola's own carriage, roughly a dozen wagons, provisions, livestock, and ponies left behind in the retreat. Casualties on the Confederate side amounted to one captain and five soldiers killed, three wounded severely, one wounded slightly, and a single man unaccounted for. Opothleyahola's losses were considerably heavier, totaling around 110 killed and wounded.
This clash marked the first of three separate confrontations between Confederate troops and Opothleyahola's pro-Union followers. By year's end, after suffering defeat at the Battle of Chustenahlah, these Unionist bands were compelled to seek refuge in Kansas.
For many years historians have argued over exactly where this event took place, and two candidate spots have risen above the rest in that debate. The first sits near what is today the town of Yale, Oklahoma, while the second lies close to the old location of Keystone, a place now underwater beneath Keystone Lake. Angie Debo, a respected historian of Oklahoma, took up the question in an article weighing the case for each possibility. Her conclusion favored Yale as the more likely site, based on the stronger evidence supporting it.
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