Honey Springs
Elk Creek, Shaw's Inn
Civil War Oklahoma

American Civil War
July 17, 1863

Union and Confederate troops had frequently skirmished in the vicinity of Honey Springs Depot. The Union commander in the area, Major General James G. Blunt, correctly surmised that Confederate forces, mostly Native American troops under the command of Brigadier General Douglas H. Cooper, were about to concentrate and would then attack his force at Fort Gibson.

He decided to defeat the Confederates at Honey Springs Depot before they were joined by Brigadier General William Cabell's brigade, advancing from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Blunt began crossing the swollen Arkansas River on July 15, 1863, and, by midnight on July 16-17, he had a force of 3,000 men, composed of whites, Native Americans, and African Americans, marching toward Honey Springs.

Blunt skirmished with Rebel troops early on the morning of the 17th, and by midafternoon, full-scale fighting ensued. The Confederates had wet powder, causing misfires, and the problem intensified when rain began.  After repulsing one attack, Cooper pulled his forces back to obtain new ammunition.

In the meantime, Cooper began to experience command problems, and he learned that Blunt was about to turn his left flank. The Confederate retreat began, and although Cooper fought a rearguard action, many of those troops counterattacked, failed, and fled. Any possibility of the Confederates taking Fort Gibson was gone.

Following this battle, Union forces controlled Indian Territory, north of the Arkansas River.

The 1st Kansas Colored fought with courage again. Union troops under General James Blunt ran into a strong Confederate force under General Douglas Cooper. After a two-hour bloody engagement, Cooper's soldiers retreated.

The 1st Kansas, which had held the center of the Union line, advanced to within fifty paces of the Confederate line and exchanged fire for some twenty minutes until the Confederates broke and ran. General Blunt wrote after the battle, "I never saw such fighting as was done by the Negro regiment....The question that negroes will fight is settled; besides they make better solders in every respect than any troops I have ever had under my command."

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Muskogee County and McIntosh County

Campaign: Operations to Control Indian Territory (1863)

Date(s): July 17, 1863

Principal Commanders: Major General James G. Blunt [US]; Brigadier General Douglas H. Cooper [CS]

Forces Engaged: District of the Frontier [US]; 1st Brigade, Native American troops [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 716 total (US 79; CS 637)


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American Indian Civil War History Reading Book Titles


The American Civil War in Indian Territory
In 1861, Oklahoma was the recent home of the transported Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole). When the Civil War broke outboth Union and Confederate state forces moved in and began fighting, both in the Indian Territory and across the borders of neighbouring states (mainly Kansas, but also Texas and Arkansas). Indians were recruited by both sides, and took the opportunity to pursue traditional hostilities which were supported by a variety of regular troops, guerrilla bands and outlaws. this book examines the warring sides in this fascinating and complex conflict.
Lincoln and the Indians: Civil War Policy and Politics
The book discusses the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma (then Indian territory) and their relationship to both the Union and the Confederacy. The story picks up focus, though, in the discussion of the Minnesota Sioux rebellion, the summary trials and capital sentences of over 300 Sioux Indians, and Lincoln's remission of the death sentence in all but 39 cases. Nichols tells this story well, perhaps giving Lincoln's actions less credit and less courage than they may deserve.
Sam Bell Maxey and the Confederate Indians (Civil War Campaigns and Commanders)
General Maxey, arrives in Indian Territory in 1863 to assume command of a diverse and motley army of Indians. The troops are in disarray; they are suspicious of tribal alliances, weakened from malnutrition, their crops have been pillaged, and they are discouraged by a series of battlefield setbacks at the hands of the Union Army invading from Kansas. Maxey calls upon all of his leadership and administrative skills and his insight into Indian culture to win the confidence and loyalty of these soldiers. Desperately he fights to secure badly needed munitions and provisions from the Confederate bureaucracy, which is focused on the plight of its eastern armies. All the while he struggles with his own field commander, the able and ambitious Douglas Cooper, friend of Jefferson Davis, who is eager to supplant him. Yet, Maxey perseveres and succeeds in molding this "army without infantry" into an effective fighting force that plays an important role in the Red River and Arkansas Campaigns and ultimately helps prevent a Union invasion of north Texas.