Preventing A Raid Into Kansas

The Battle of Old Fort Wayne [Battle of Maysville] was fought in Delaware County, Oklahoma; then part of the Indian Territory, on October 22^nd 1862.

The Confederates started building a force for a raid into Kansas in July 1862.  Colonel Douglas Hancock Cooper built a force made up of Chickasaws, Choctaws and Creeks, which he led through the Indian Territory to Old Fort Wayne.  Old Fort Wayne was an abandoned Union garrison on the edge of the Betties Prairie.  Cooper was within supporting distance of Confederate General John Sappington Marmaduke’s Texans near Lowell, Arkansas.   He placed pickets in Maysville a small town on the Arkansas and Indian Territory border.

Union Brigadier General James G Blunt had a Division of about 3,500 men.  He received information about the Confederates located at Maysville, and was told the force there would be around 7,000 men, including General Stand Watie’s Cherokees.  Blunt’s men made a night march leaving on October 20^th 1862 southward, arriving in Bentonville, Arkansas shortly after sunrise.  They made a second forced; 25 mile march, moving west on October 21^st 1862.

At 5 am on October 22^nd 1862 the Union 2^nd Kansas Cavalry drove in the Confederate pickets at Maysville.  After following them over three miles the Cavalry ran into Cooper’s battle line with a heavy wood to their back.  Although the Union thought they were going to be facing about 7,000, in reality there was only about 1,500 men in Cooper’s line.  Both sides entered into an artillery duel.  Once Blunt had all his men up, they attacked Cooper’s thin line, opening a whole in the Confederate center.  Within a half hour Cooper’s men were in retreat with Blunt pursuing them for seven miles.  The Union had about 14 casualties.  The Confederates reported 150 losses including 50 dead.

Fighting In Arkansas

General Richard Gano

The Battle of Fort Smith was fought in western Arkansas on July 31^st 1864.

Following the failure of the Camden Expedition by the Union troops, most of Arkansas was left open to Confederate raids.  One of these many raids took place at a Union camp located near Massard Prairie on July 27^th 1864.  The ease with which Confederate General Richard Gano won this short battle emboldened him to continue raiding in the area.

On July 31^st 1864 Confederate General Douglas Hancock Cooper led his division which included Gano’s brigade and the brigade of Confederate General Stand Watie, just north of Fort Smith.  Watie moved his men against the Fort from the south, while Gano’s men held the west side of the Poteau River.

Union General John M Thayer had three brigades defending Fort Smith.  As Watie’s men moved they came up against the Union 6^th Kansas Cavalry under the command of Colonel William R Judson.  The 6^th fell back up the Texas Road letting the Union troops at the garrison know about the arrival of the Confederates.  The battle soon became an artillery duel.  Thayer’s guns were stronger and drove off the Confederate artillery in short order.  The Confederates made an orderly withdrawal, leaving a small force to cover their retreat.

If you are interested in reading more, Cooper's Attack on Fort Smith  is a very good web site.

In The Indian Territories

The Battle of Old Fort Wayne was fought October 22^nd 1862 in eastern Oklahoma.

Confederates started concentrating forces in July 1862 at Fayetteville, Arkansas for a raid into Missouri.  After weeks spent recruiting, Colonel Douglas Hancock Cooper took his men through Indian Territory to Old Fort Wayne, located on the edge of Beatties Prairie.  He placed pickets in Maysville about four mile north, near the Arkansas and Indian Territory boarder.  This put Coopers troops in support of Confederate John Sappington Marmaduke’s Texans located at Cross Hollows, near Lowell, Arkansas.

The closest Union troops were at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.  The Union soldiers were part of John Schofield’s Army of the Frontier.  Schofield received information that there was a Confederate force under Cooper at Maysville.  The scouts told Schofield that it included two of Stand Watie’s Cherokee Regiment and numbered about 7,000 men.

About 5am on October 22^nd 1862 Union Brigadier General James G Blunt sent the 2^nd Kansas Cavalry to attack the Confederates at Maysville.  The 2^nd drove in the pickets and followed them three miles into Indian Territory.  At this point they came up against Cooper’s battle line.  Even though the Union report had Cooper’s force at 7,000 in truth they had only about 1,500 men and four guns of Howell’s Texas Battery, in a line about a mile long.  As the rest of the Union force came up they hit the center of the Confederate line hard, opening a wide hole in the line.  Cooper’s men put up a hard fight for about a half hour, before they were overwhelmed and went into retreat, with Union troops pursuing them for seven miles.

The Union lost about 14 men.  The Confederate’s saw about 150 wounded or dead, including 50 who reported to have been buried on the field.  The Confederates pulled back to Fort Gibson on the Arkansas River, leaving the Indian Territory north of the river in Union control.

The Last One Was Stand

Brigadier General Stand Watie surrendered on June 23rd 1865, the last Confederate General to do so.

Upon learning that the Confederate government in Richmond had fallen, and that the other Eastern armies had surrendered, the leaders of the Confederate Indians began making plans to lay down their arms. There was a council called on June 15th 1865 and a resolution made to send emissaries to the Union authorities for terms of peace.

The largest of the Indian forces was led by Confederate General Stand Watie, who was a chief with the Cherokee Nation. Watie was committed to the Rebel cause, and being un-willing to admit defeat waited almost a full month after Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith’s surrender to give up. On June 23rd 1865 Watie with the Creek, Seminole, Osage and Cherokee who rode with him, went into Doaksville, near Fort Towson in the Indian Territory and surrendered to Lieutenant Asa C Matthews.