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diff --git a/12541-0.txt b/12541-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f7d89cb --- /dev/null +++ b/12541-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17304 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12541 *** + +[Illustration: Facsimile of Negro Bill of Sale] + +THE AMERICAN INDIAN AS PARTICIPANT IN THE CIVIL WAR + +BY +ANNIE HELOISE ABEL, Ph.D. +_Professor of History, Smith College_ + +1919 + +To +My former colleagues and students at Goucher +College and in the College Courses for +Teachers, Johns Hopkins University +this book is affectionately dedicated + + + + +CONTENTS + +I THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE, OR ELKHORN AND ITS + MORE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS 13 +II LANE'S BRIGADE AND THE INCEPTION OF THE INDIAN 37 +III THE INDIAN REFUGEES IN SOUTHERN KANSAS 79 +IV THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST INDIAN EXPEDITION 91 +V THE MARCH TO TAHLEQUAH AND THE RETROGRADE + MOVEMENT OF THE "WHITE AUXILIARY" 125 +VI GENERAL PIKE IN CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL HINDMAN 147 +VII ORGANIZATION OF THE ARKANSAS AND RED RIVER + SUPERINTENDENCY 171 +VIII THE RETIREMENT OF GENERAL PIKE 185 +IX THE REMOVAL OF THE REFUGEES TO THE SAC AND FOX + AGENCY 203 +X NEGOTIATIONS WITH UNION INDIANS 221 +XI INDIAN TERRITORY IN 1863, JANUARY TO JUNE + INCLUSIVE 243 +XII INDIAN TERRITORY IN 1863, JULY TO DECEMBER + INCLUSIVE 283 +XIII ASPECTS, CHIEFLY MILITARY, 1864-1865 313 +APPENDIX 337 +SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 353 +INDEX 369 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +FACSIMILE OF NEGRO BILL OF SALE 4 +SKETCH MAP SHOWING THE MAIN THEATRE OF BORDER WARFARE + AND THE LOCATION OF TRIBES WITHIN THE INDIAN COUNTRY 39 +PORTRAIT OF COLONEL W.A. PHILLIPS 93 +FACSIMILE OF MONTHLY INSPECTION REPORT OF THE SECOND + CREEK REGIMENT OF MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS 245 +FACSIMILE OF MONTHLY INSPECTION REPORT OF THE FIRST + CREEK REGIMENT OF MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS 315 + + + + +I. THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE, OR ELKHORN, AND ITS MORE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS + + +The Indian alliance, so assiduously sought by the Southern Confederacy +and so laboriously built up, soon revealed itself to be most unstable. +Direct and unmistakable signs of its instability appeared in +connection with the first real military test to which it was +subjected, the Battle of Pea Ridge or Elkhorn, as it is better known +in the South, the battle that stands out in the history of the War +of Secession as being the most decisive victory to date of the Union +forces in the West and as marking the turning point in the political +relationship of the State of Missouri with the Confederate government. + +In the short time during which, following the removal of General +Frémont, General David Hunter was in full command of the Department of +the West--and it was practically not more than one week--he completely +reversed the policy of vigorous offensive that had obtained under men, +subordinate to his predecessor.[1] In southwest Missouri, he abandoned +the advanced position of the Federals and fell back upon Sedalia +and Rolla, railway termini. That he did this at the suggestion +of President Lincoln[2] and with the tacit approval of General +McClellan[3] makes no + +[Footnote 1: _The Century Company's War Book_, vol. i, 314-315.] + +[Footnote 2: _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 553-554. +Hereafter, except where otherwise designated, the _first series_ +will always be understood.] + +[Footnote 3:--Ibid., 568.] + +difference now, as it made no difference then, in the consideration +of the consequences; yet the consequences were, none the less, rather +serious. They were such, in fact, as to increase very greatly the +confusion on the border and to give the Confederates that chance of +recovery which soon made it necessary for their foes to do the work of +Nathaniel Lyon all over again. + +It has been most truthfully said[4] that never, throughout the period +of the entire war, did the southern government fully realize the +surpassingly great importance of its Trans-Mississippi District; +notwithstanding that when that district was originally organized,[5] +in January, 1862, some faint idea of what it might, peradventure, +accomplish did seem to penetrate,[6] although ever so vaguely, the +minds of those then in authority. It was organized under pressure from +the West as was natural, and under circumstances to which meagre and +tentative reference has already been made in the first volume of this +work.[7] In the main, the circumstances were such as developed out of +the persistent refusal of General McCulloch to coöperate with General +Price. + +There was much to be said in justification of McCulloch's obstinacy. +To understand this it is well to recall that, under the plan, lying +back of this first + +[Footnote 4: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 781-782; +Edwards, _Shelby and His Men_, 105.] + +[Footnote 5:--Ibid., vol. viii, 734.] + +[Footnote 6: It is doubtful if even this ought to be conceded in view +of the fact that President Davis later admitted that Van Dorn entered +upon the Pea Ridge campaign for the sole purpose of effecting "a +diversion in behalf of General Johnston" [_Rise and Fall of the +Confederate Government_, vol. ii, 51]. Moreover, Van Dorn had +scarcely been assigned to the command of the Trans-Mississippi +District before Beauregard was devising plans for bringing him +east again [Greene, _The Mississippi_, II; Roman, _Military +Operations of General Beauregard_, vol. i, 240-244].] + +[Footnote 7: Abel, _American Indian as Slaveholder and +Secessionist_, 225-226 and _footnote_ 522.] + +appointment to the Confederate command, was the expectation that he +would secure the Indian Territory. Obviously, the best way to do that +was to occupy it, provided the tribes, whose domicile it was, were +willing. But, if the Cherokees can be taken to have voiced the opinion +of all, they were not willing, notwithstanding that a sensationally +reported[8] Federal activity under Colonel James Montgomery,[9] in the +neighborhood of the frontier posts, Cobb, Arbuckle, and Washita, was +designed to alarm them and had notably influenced, if it had not +actually inspired, the selection and appointment of the Texan +ranger.[10] + +Unable, by reason of the Cherokee objection thereto, to enter the +Indian country; because entrance in the face of that objection would +inevitably force the Ross faction of the Cherokees and, possibly +also, Indians of other tribes into the arms of the Union, McCulloch +intrenched himself on its northeast border, in Arkansas, and there +awaited a more favorable opportunity for accomplishing his main +purpose. He seems to have desired the Confederate government to add +the contiguous portion of Arkansas to his command, but in that he +was disappointed.[11] Nevertheless, Arkansas early interpreted his +presence in the state to imply that he was there primarily for her +defence and, by the middle of June, that idea had so far gained +general acceptance that C.C. Danley, speaking for the Arkansas +Military Board, urged President Davis "to meet + +[Footnote 8: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 679.] + +[Footnote 9: The name of Montgomery was not one for even Indians to +conjure with. James Montgomery was the most notorious of bushwhackers. +For an account of some of his earlier adventures, see Spring, +_Kansas_, 241, 247-250, and for a characterization of the man +himself, Robinson, _Kansas Conflict_, 435.] + +[Footnote 10: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 682.] + +[Footnote 11: Snead, _Fight for Missouri_, 229-230.] + +the exigent necessities of the State" by sending a second general +officer there, who should command in the northeastern part.[12] + +McCulloch's relations with leading Confederates in Arkansas seem +to have been, from the first, in the highest degree friendly, even +cordial, and it is more than likely that, aside from his unwillingness +to offend the neutrality-loving Cherokees, the best explanation for +his eventual readiness to make the defence of Arkansas his chief +concern, instead of merely a means to the accomplishment of his +original task, may be found in that fact. On the twenty-second of May, +the Arkansas State Convention instructed Brigadier-general N. Bart +Pearce, then in command of the state troops, to coöperate with the +Confederate commander "to the full extent of his ability"[13] and, +on the twenty-eighth of the same month, the Arkansas Military Board +invited that same person, who, of course, was Ben McCulloch, to +assume command himself of the Arkansas local forces.[14] Sympathetic +understanding of this variety, so early established, was bound to +produce good results and McCulloch henceforth identified himself most +thoroughly with Confederate interests in the state in which he was, by +dint of untoward circumstances, obliged to bide his time. + +It was far otherwise as respected relations between McCulloch and +the Missouri leaders. McCulloch had little or no tolerance for the +rough-and-ready methods of men like Claiborne Jackson and Sterling +Price. He regarded their plans as impractical, chimerical, and their +warfare as after the guerrilla order, too much like + +[Footnote 12: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, +698-699.] + +[Footnote 13:--Ibid., 687.] + +[Footnote 14:--Ibid., 691.] + +that to which Missourians and Kansans had accustomed themselves +during the period of border conflict, following the passage of the +Kansas-Nebraska Bill. McCulloch himself was a man of system. He +believed in organization that made for efficiency. Just prior to the +Battle of Wilson's Creek, he put himself on record as strongly opposed +to allowing unarmed men and camp followers to infest his ranks, +demoralizing them.[15] It was not to be expected, therefore, that +there could ever be much in common between him and Sterling Price. For +a brief period, it is true, the two men did apparently act in fullest +harmony; but it was when the safety of Price's own state, Missouri, +was the thing directly in hand. That was in early August of 1861. +Price put himself and his command subject to McCulloch's orders.[16] +The result was the successful engagement, August 10 at Wilson's Creek, +on Missouri soil. On the fourteenth of the same month, Price reassumed +control of the Missouri State Guard[17] and, from that time on, he and +McCulloch drifted farther and farther apart; but, as their aims were +so entirely different, it was not to be wondered at. + +Undoubtedly, all would have been well had McCulloch been disposed to +make the defence of Missouri his only aim. Magnanimity was asked of +him such as the Missouri leaders never so much as contemplated showing +in return. It seems never to have occurred to either Jackson or +Price that coöperation might, perchance, involve such an exchange of +courtesies as would require Price to lend a hand in some project that +McCulloch might devise for the well-being of his own particular + +[Footnote 15: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 721.] + +[Footnote 16:--Ibid., 720.] + +[Footnote 17:--Ibid., 727.] + +charge. The assistance was eventually asked for and refused, refused +upon the ground, familiar in United States history, that it would be +impossible to get the Missouri troops to cross the state line. Of +course, Price's conduct was not without extenuation. His position +was not identical with McCulloch's. His force was a state force, +McCulloch's a Confederate, or a national. Besides, Missouri had yet +to be gained, officially, for the Confederacy. She expected secession +states and the Confederacy itself to force the situation for her. +And, furthermore, she was in far greater danger of invasion than +was Arkansas. The Kansans were her implacable and dreaded foes and +Arkansas had none like them to fear. + +In reality, the seat of all the trouble between McCulloch and Price +lay in particularism, a phase of state rights, and, in its last +analysis, provincialism. Now particularism was especially pronounced +and especially pernicious in the middle southwest. Missouri had always +more than her share of it. Her politicians were impregnated by it. +They were interested in their own locality exclusively and seemed +quite incapable of taking any broad survey of events that did not +immediately affect themselves or their own limited concerns. In the +issue between McCulloch and Price, this was all too apparent. The +politicians complained unceasingly of McCulloch's neglect of Missouri +and, finally, taking their case to headquarters, represented to +President Davis that the best interests of the Confederate cause in +their state were being glaringly sacrificed by McCulloch's too literal +interpretation of his official instructions, in the strict observance +of which he was keeping close to the Indian boundary. + +President Davis had personally no great liking for + +Price and certainly none for his peculiar method of fighting. Some +people thought him greatly prejudiced[18] against Price and, in the +first instance, perhaps, on nothing more substantial than the fact +that Price was not a Westpointer.[19] It would be nearer the truth to +say that Davis gauged the western situation pretty accurately and knew +where the source of trouble lay. That he did gauge the situation and +that accurately is indicated by a suggestion of his, made in early +December, for sending out Colonel Henry Heth of Virginia to command +the Arkansas and Missouri divisions in combination.[20] Heth had no +local attachments in the region and "had not been connected with any +of the troops on that line of operations."[21] Unfortunately, for +subsequent events his nomination[22] was not confirmed. + +Two days later, December 5, 1861, General McCulloch was granted[23] +permission to proceed to Richmond, there to explain in person, as he +had long wanted to do, all matters in controversy between him and +Price. On the third of January, 1862, the Confederate Congress +called[24] for information on the subject, doubtless under pressure of +political importunity. The upshot of it all was, the organization of +the Trans-Mississippi District of Department No. 2 and the appointment +of Earl Van Dorn as major-general to command it. Whether or no, he was +the choice[25] of General A.S. Johnston, department commander, his +appointment bid fair, at the + +[Footnote 18: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, +816-817.] + +[Footnote 19: Ibid., 762.] + +[Footnote 20:--Ibid., vol. viii, 725.] + +[Footnote 21:--Ibid., 701.] + +[Footnote 22: Wright, _General Officers of the Confederate Army_, +33, 67.] + +[Footnote 23: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 702.] + +[Footnote 24: _Journal of the Congress of the Confederate +States_, vol. i, 637.] + +[Footnote 25: Formby, _American Civil War_, 129.] + +time it was made, to put an end to all local disputes and to give +Missouri the attention she craved. The ordnance department of the +Confederacy had awakened to a sense of the value of the lead mines[26] +at Granby and Van Dorn was instructed especially to protect them.[27] +His appointment, moreover, anticipated an early encounter with the +Federals in Missouri. In preparation for the struggle that all knew +was impending, it was of transcendent importance that one mind and one +interest should control, absolutely. + +The Trans-Mississippi District would appear to have been constituted +and its limits to have been defined without adequate reference to +existing arrangements. The limits were, "That part of the State of +Louisiana north of Red River, the Indian Territory west of Arkansas, +and the States of Arkansas and Missouri, excepting therefrom the tract +of country east of the Saint Francis, bordering on the Mississippi +River, from the mouth of the Saint Francis to Scott County, +Missouri...."[28] Van Dorn, in assuming command of the district, +January 29, 1862, issued orders in such form that Indian Territory was +listed last among the limits[29] and it was a previous arrangement +affecting Indian Territory that was most ignored in the whole scheme +of organization. + +It will be remembered that, in November of the preceding year, the +Department of Indian Territory had been created and Brigadier-general +Albert Pike assigned to the same.[30] His authority was not explicitly + +[Footnote 26: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 767, +774.] + +[Footnote 27: Van Dora's protection, if given, was given to little +purpose; for the mines were soon abandoned [Britton, _Memoirs of the +Rebellion on the Border, 1863_, 120].] + +[Footnote 28: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 734.] + +[Footnote 29:--Ibid., 745.] + +[Footnote 30:--Ibid., 690.] + +superseded by that which later clothed Van Dorn and yet his department +was now to be absorbed by a military district, which was itself merely +a section of another department. The name and organization of the +Department of Indian Territory remained to breed confusion, disorder, +and serious discontent at a slightly subsequent time. Of course, since +the ratification of the treaties of alliance with the tribes, there +was no question to be raised concerning the status of Indian Territory +as definitely a possession of the Southern Confederacy. Indeed, it +had, in a way, been counted as such, actual and prospective, ever +since the enactment of the marque and reprisal law of May 6, 1861.[31] + +Albert Pike, having accepted the appointment of department +commander in Indian Territory under somewhat the same kind of a +protest--professed consciousness of unfitness for the post--as he had +accepted the earlier one of commissioner, diplomatic, to the tribes, +lost no time in getting into touch with his new duties. There was much +to be attended to before he could proceed west. His appointment had +come and had been accepted in November. Christmas was now near at hand +and he had yet to render an account of his mission of treaty-making. +In late December, he sent in his official report[32] to President +Davis and, that done, held himself in readiness to respond to any +interpellating call that the Provincial Congress might see fit to +make. The intervals of time, free from devotion to the completion +of the older task, were spent by him in close attention to the +preliminary details of the newer, in securing funds and in purchasing +supplies and equipment + +[Footnote 31: Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the +Confederacy_, vol. i, 105.] + +[Footnote 32: The official report of Commissioner Pike, in manuscript, +and bearing his signature, is to be found in the Adjutant-general's +office of the U.S. War Department.] + +generally, also in selecting a site for his headquarters. By command +of Secretary of War, Judah P. Benjamin, Major N.B. Pearce[33] was +made chief commissary of subsistence for Indian Territory and Western +Arkansas and Major G.W. Clarke,[34] depot quartermaster. In the sequel +of events, both appointments came to be of a significance rather +unusual. + +The site chosen for department headquarters was a place situated near +the junction of the Verdigris and Arkansas Rivers and not far from +Fort Gibson.[35] The fortifications erected there received the name of +Cantonment Davis and upon them, in spite of Pike's decidedly moderate +estimate in the beginning, the Confederacy was said by a contemporary +to have spent "upwards of a million dollars."[36] In view of the +ostensible object of the very formation of the department and of +Pike's appointment to its command, the defence of Indian Territory, +and, in view of the existing location of enemy troops, challenging +that defence, the selection of the site was a reasonably wise one; +but, as subsequent pages will reveal, the commander did not retain it +long as his headquarters. Troubles came thick and fast upon him and he +had barely reached Cantonment Davis before they began. His delay in +reaching that place, which he did do, February 25,[37] was caused +by various occurrences that made it difficult for him to get his +materials together, his funds and the like. The very difficulties +presaged disaster. + +Pike's great purpose--and, perhaps, it would be no exaggeration to +say, his only purpose--throughout the + +[Footnote 33: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 764.] + +[Footnote 34:--Ibid, 770.] + +[Footnote 35:--Ibid, 764.] + +[Footnote 36: Britton, _Memoirs of the Rebellion on the Border_, +72.] + +[Footnote 37: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 286.] + +full extent of his active connection with the Confederacy was to save +to that Confederacy the Indian Territory. The Indian occupants in and +for themselves, unflattering as it may seem to them for historical +investigators to have to admit it, were not objects of his solicitude +except in so far as they contributed to his real and ultimate +endeavor. He never at any time or under any circumstances advocated +their use generally as soldiers outside of Indian Territory in regular +campaign work and offensively.[38] As guerrillas he would have used +them.[39] He would have sent them on predatory expeditions into Kansas +or any other near-by state where pillaging would have been profitable +or retaliatory; but never as an organized force, subject to the rules +of civilized warfare because fully cognizant of them.[40] It is +doubtful if he would ever have allowed them, had he consulted only his +own inclination, to so much as cross the line except under stress of +an attack from without. He would never have sanctioned their joining +an unprovoked invading force. In the treaties + +[Footnote 38: The provision in the treaties to the effect that +the alliance consummated between the Indians and the Confederate +government was to be both offensive and defensive must not be taken +too literally or be construed so broadly as to militate against this +fact: for to its truth Pike, when in distress later on and accused of +leading a horde of tomahawking villains, repeatedly bore witness. The +keeping back of a foe, bent upon regaining Indian Territory or of +marauding, might well be said to partake of the character of offensive +warfare and yet not be that in intent or in the ordinary acceptation +of the term. Everything would have to depend upon the point of view.] + +[Footnote 39: A restricted use of the Indians in offensive guerrilla +action Pike would doubtless have permitted and justified. Indeed, he +seems even to have recommended it in the first days of his interest in +the subject of securing Indian Territory. No other interpretation can +possibly be given to his suggestion that a battalion be raised +from Indians that more strictly belonged to Kansas [_Official +Records_, vol. iii, 581]. It is also conceivable that the force +he had reference to in his letter to Benjamin, November 27, 1861 +[Ibid., vol. viii, 698] was to be, in part, Indian.] + +[Footnote 40: Harrell, _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, +121-122.] + +which he negotiated he pledged distinctly and explicitly the opposite +course of action, unless, indeed, the Indian consent were first +obtained.[41] The Indian troops, however and wherever raised under the +provisions of those treaties, were expected by Pike to constitute, +primarily, a home guard and nothing more. If by chance it should +happen that, in performing their function as a home guard, they should +have to cross their own boundary in order to expel or to punish an +intruder, well and good; but their intrinsic character as something +resembling a police patrol could not be deemed thereby affected. +Moreover, Pike did not believe that acting alone they could even be a +thoroughly adequate home force. He, therefore, urged again and again +that their contingent should be supplemented by a white force and by +one sufficiently large to give dignity and poise and self-restraint +to the whole, when both forces were combined, as they always ought to +be.[42] + +At the time of Pike's assumption of his ill-defined command, or +within a short period thereafter, the Indian force in the pay of the +Confederacy and subject to his orders may be roughly placed at four +full regiments and some miscellaneous troops.[43] The dispersion[44] +of Colonel John Drew's Cherokees, when about to attack +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la, forced a slight reörganization and that, taken +in connection with the accretions to the command that came in the +interval before the Pea Ridge campaign brought the force approximately +to four full + +[Footnote 41: In illustration of this, take the statement of the Creek +Treaty, article xxxvi.] + +[Footnote 42: Aside from the early requests for white troops, which +were antecedent to his own appointment as brigadier-general, Pike's +insistence upon the need for the same can be vouched for by reference +to his letter to R.W. Johnson, January 5, 1862 [_Official +Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 795-796].] + +[Footnote 43: Pike to Benjamin, November 27, 1861, Ibid, vol. +viii, 697.] + +[Footnote 44: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 8, 17-18.] + +regiments, two battalions, and some detached companies. The four +regiments were, the First Regiment Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted +Rifles under Colonel Douglas H. Cooper, the First Creek Regiment under +Colonel D.N. McIntosh, the First Regiment Cherokee Mounted Rifles +under Colonel John Drew, and the Second Regiment Cherokee Mounted +Rifles under Colonel Stand Watie. The battalions were, the Choctaw +and Chickasaw and the Creek and Seminole, the latter under +Lieutenant-colonel Chilly McIntosh and Major John Jumper. + +Major-general Earl Van Dorn formally assumed command of the newly +created Trans-Mississippi District of Department No. 2, January 29, +1862.[45] He was then at Little Rock, Arkansas. By February 6, he had +moved up to Jacksonport and, a week or so later, to Pocahontas, where +his slowly-assembling army was to rendezvous. His call for troops had +already gone forth and was being promptly answered,[46] requisition +having been made upon all the state units within the district, +Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, also Texas. Indian Territory, through +Pike[47] and his subordinates,[48] was yet to be communicated with; +but Van Dorn had, at the moment, no other plan in view for Indian +troops than to use them to advantage as a means of defence and as a +corps of observation.[49] His immediate object, according to his own +showing and according to the circumstances that had brought about the +formation of the district, was to protect Arkansas[50] against + +[Footnote 45: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 745-746.] + +[Footnote 46:--Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 776-779, 783-785, +790, 793-794.] + +[Footnote 47:--Ibid., vol. viii, 749, 763-764.] + +[Footnote 48:--Ibid., 764-765.] + +[Footnote 49: Van Dorn to Price, February 14, 1862, Ibid., +750.] + +[Footnote 50: Arkansas seemed, at the time, to be but feebly +protected. R.W. Johnson deprecated the calling of Arkansas troops +eastward. They were (cont.)] + +invasion and to relieve Missouri; his plan of operations was to +conduct a spring campaign in the latter state, "to attempt St. Louis," +as he himself put it, and to drive the Federals out; his ulterior +motive may have been and, in the light of subsequent events, probably +was, to effect a diversion for General A.S. Johnston; but, if that +were really so, it was not, at the time, divulged or so much as hinted +at. + +Ostensibly, the great object that Van Dorn had in mind was the relief +of Missouri. And he may have dreamed, that feat accomplished, that it +would be possible to carry the war into the enemy's country beyond the +Ohio; but, alas, it was his misfortune at this juncture to be called +upon to realise, to his great discomfiture, the truth of Robert Burns' +homely philosophy, + + The best-laid schemes o' mice and men + Gang aft a-gley. + +His own schemes and plans were all rendered utterly futile by the +unexpected movement of the Federal forces from Rolla, to which safe +place, it will be remembered, they had been drawn back by order +of General Hunter. They were now advancing by forced marches via +Springfield into northwestern Arkansas and were driving before them +the Confederates under McCulloch and Price. + +The Federal forces comprised four huge divisions and were led by +Brigadier-general Samuel R. Curtis. Towards the end of the previous +December, on Christmas Day in fact, Curtis had been given "command of +the Southwestern District of Missouri, including the + +[Footnote 50: (cont.) text of continuation: needed at home, not only +for the defence of Arkansas, but for that of the adjoining territory +[_Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 781-782]. There were, +in fact, only two Arkansas regiments absent and they were guarding the +Mississippi River [Ibid., 786]. By the middle of February, or +thereabouts, Price and McCulloch were in desperate straits and +were steadily "falling back before a superior force to the Boston +Mountains" [Ibid., 787].] + +country south of the Osage and west of the Meramec River."[51] Under +orders of November 9, the old Department of the West, of which Frémont +had had charge and subsequently Hunter, but for only a brief period, +had been reorganized and divided into two distinct departments, the +Department of Missouri with Halleck in command and the Department of +Kansas with Hunter. Curtis, at the time when he made his memorable +advance movement from Rolla was, therefore, serving under Halleck. + +In furtherance of Van Dorn's original plan, General Pike had been +ordered to march with all speed and join forces with the main army. +At the time of the issuance of the order, he seems to have offered no +objections to taking his Indians out of their own territory. Disaster +had not yet overtaken them or him and he had not yet met with the +injustice that was afterwards his regular lot. If his were regarded +as more or less of a puppet command, he was not yet aware of it and, +oblivious of all scorn felt for Indian soldiers, kept his eye single +on the assistance he was to render in the accomplishment of Van Dorn's +object. It was anything but easy, however, for him to move with +dispatch. He had difficulty in getting such of his brigade as was +Indian and as had collected at Cantonment Davis, a Choctaw and +Chickasaw battalion and the First Creek Regiment, to stir. They had +not been paid their money and had not been furnished with arms and +clothing as promised. Pike had the necessary funds with him, but time +would be needed in which to distribute them, and the order had been +for him to move promptly. It was something much more easily said than +done. Nevertheless, he did what he could, paid outright the Choctaws +and Chickasaws, a performance that occupied + +[Footnote 51: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, vol. +viii, 462.] + +three precious days, and agreed to pay McIntosh's Creek regiment at +the Illinois River. To keep that promise he tarried at Park Hill +one day, expecting there to be overtaken by additional Choctaws and +Chickasaws who had been left behind at Fort Gibson. When they did not +appear, he went forward towards Evansville and upward to Cincinnati, a +small town on the Arkansas side of the Cherokee line. There his Indian +force was augmented by Stand Watie's regiment[52] of Cherokees and at +Smith's Mill by John + +[Footnote 52: Watie's regiment of Cherokees was scarcely in either +marching or fighting trim. The following letter from John Ross to +Pike, which is number nine in the John Ross _Papers_ in the +Indian Office, is elucidative. It is a copy used in the action against +John Ross at the close of the war. The italics indicate underscorings +that were probably not in the original. + +EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, PARK HILL, Feb'y 25th, 1862. + +To BRIG. GEN'L.A. PIKE, Com'dy Indian Department. + +Sir: I have deemed it my duty to address you on the present +occasion--You have doubtless ere this received my communication +enclosing the action of the National Council with regard to the final +ratification of our Treaty--Col. Drew's Regiment promptly took up the +line of march on the receipt of your order from Fort Smith towards +Fayetteville. _I accompanied the Troops some 12 miles East of this +and I am happy to assure you in the most confident manner that in my +opinion this Regiment will not fail to do their whole duty, whenever +the Conflict with the common Enemy shall take place_. There are so +many conflicting reports as to your whereabouts and consequently much +interest is felt by the People to know where the Head Qrs. of +your military operations will be established during the present +emergencies--_I had intended going up to see the Troops of our +Regiment; also to visit the Head Qrs of the Army at Cane Hill in view +of affording every aid in any manner within the reach of my power to +repel the Enemy_. But I am sorry to say I have been dissuaded from +going at present in consequence of some unwarrantable conduct on the +part of many _base, reckless and unprincipled persons belonging to +Watie's Regiment who are under no subordination or restraint of their +leaders in domineering over and trampling upon the rights of peaceable +and unoffending citizens_. I have at all times in the most +unequivocal manner assured the People that you will not only promptly +discountenance, but will take steps to put a stop to such proceedings +for the protection of their persons and property and to _redress +their wrongs_--This is not the time for _crimination_ and +_recrimination_; at a proper time _I have certain specific +complaints to report for your investigation_. Pardon me for again +reiterating that (cont.)] + +Drew's.[53] The Cherokees had been in much confusion all winter. Civil +war within their nation impended.[54] None the less, Pike, assuming +that all would be well when the call for action came, had ordered +all the Cherokee and Creek regiments to hurry to the help of +McCulloch.[55] He had done this upon the first intimation of the +Federal advance. The Cherokees had proceeded only so far, the Creeks +not at all, and the main body of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, into +whose minds some unscrupulous merchants had instilled mercenary +motives and the elements of discord generally, were lingering far in +the background. Pike's white force was, moreover, ridiculously small, +some Texas cavalry, dignified by him as collectively a squadron, +Captain O.G. Welch in command. There had as yet not been even a +pretense of giving him the three regiments of white men earlier asked +for. Toward the close of the afternoon of March 6, Pike "came up with +the rear of McCulloch's division,"[56] which proved to be the very +division he was to follow, but he was one day late for the fray. + +The Battle of Pea Ridge, in its preliminary stages, was already being +fought. It was a three day fight, counting the skirmish at Bentonville +on the sixth between General Franz Sigel's detachment and General +Sterling Price's advance guard as the work of the first day.[57] The +real battle comprised the engagement at + +[Footnote 52: (cont.) the mass of the People _are all right +in Sentiment for the support of the Treaty of Alliance with the +Confederate States_. I shall be happy to hear from you--I have the +honor to be your ob't Serv't + +John Ross, Prin'l Chief, Cherokee Nation.] + +[Footnote 53: Pike's Report, March 14, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. viii, 286-292.] + +[Footnote 54: James McIntosh to S. Cooper, January 4, 1862, +Ibid., 732; D.H. Cooper to Pike, February 10, 1862, +Ibid., vol. xiii, 896.] + +[Footnote 55:--Ibid., 819.] + +[Footnote 56:--Ibid., vol. viii, 287.] + +[Footnote 57:--Ibid., 208-215, 304-306.] + +Leetown on the seventh and that at Elkhorn Tavern[58] on the eighth. +At Leetown, Pike's Cherokee contingent[59] played what he, in somewhat +quixotic fashion, perhaps, chose to regard as a very important part. +The Indians, then as always, were chiefly pony-mounted, "entirely +undisciplined," as the term discipline is usually understood, +and "armed very indifferently with common rifles and ordinary +shot-guns."[60] The ponies, in the end, proved fleet of foot, as +was to have been expected, and, at one stage of the game, had to +be tethered in the rear while their masters fought from the +vantage-ground of trees.[61] The Indian's most effective work was +done, throughout, under cover of the woods. Indians, as Pike well +knew, could never be induced to face shells in the open. It was he who +advised their climbing the trees and he did it without discounting, in +the slightest, their innate bravery.[62] There came a time, too, when +he gave countenance to another of their + +[Footnote 58: The Elkhorn Tavern engagement is sometimes referred to, +and most appropriately, as the Sugar Creek [Phisterer, _Statistical +Record_, 95]. Colonel Eugene A. Carr of the Third Illinois Cavalry, +commanding the Fourth Division of Curtis's army, described the +tavern itself as "situated on the west side of the Springfield and +Fayetteville road, at the head of a gorge known as Cross Timber Hollow +(the head of Sugar Creek) ..." [_Official Records_, vol. viii, +258]. "Sugar Creek Hollow," wrote Curtis, "extends for miles, a gorge, +with rough precipitate sides ..." [Ibid., 589]. It was there +the closing scenes of the great battle were enacted.] + +[Footnote 59: The practice, indulged in by both the Federals and the +Confederates, of greatly overestimating the size of the enemy force +was resorted to even in connection with the Indians. Pike gave the +number of his whole command as about a thousand men, Indians and +whites together [_Official Records_, vol. viii, 288; xiii, 820] +notwithstanding that he had led Van Dorn to expect that he would have +a force of "about 8,000 or 9,000 men and three batteries of artillery" +[Ibid., vol. viii, 749]. General Curtis surmised that Pike +contributed five regiments [Ibid., 196] and Wiley Britton, who +had excellent opportunity of knowing better because he had access to +the records of both sides, put the figures at "three regiments of +Indians and two regiments of Texas cavalry" [_Civil War on the +Border_, vol. i, 245].] + +[Footnote 60: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 819.] + +[Footnote 61:--Ibid., vol. viii, 288.] + +[Footnote 62:--Ibid.] + +peculiarities. He allowed Colonel Drew's men to fight in a way that +was "their own fashion,"[63] with bow and arrow and with tomahawk.[64] +This, as was only meet it should, called down upon him and them the +opprobrium of friends and foes alike.[65] The Indian war-whoop was +indulged in, of itself enough to terrify. It was hideous. + +The service that the Cherokees rendered at different times during the +two days action was not, however, to be despised, even though not +sufficiently conspicuous to be deemed worthy of comment by Van +Dorn.[66] At Leetown, with the aid of a few Texans, they managed to +get possession of a battery and to hold it against repeated endeavors +of the Federals to regain. The death of McCulloch and of McIntosh made +Pike the ranking officer in his part of the field. It fell to him to +rally + +[Footnote 63: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 289.] + +[Footnote 64:--Ibid., 195.] + +[Footnote 65: The northern press took up the matter and the New York +_Tribune_ was particularly virulent against Pike. In its issue of +March 27, 1862, it published the following in bitter sarcasm: + +"The Albert Pike who led the Aboriginal Corps of Tomahawkers and +Scalpers at the battle of Pea Ridge, formerly kept school in +Fairhaven, Mass., where he was indicted for playing the part of +Squeers, and cruelly beating and starving a boy in his family. He +escaped by some hocus-pocus law, and emigrated to the West, where +the violence of his nature has been admirably enhanced. As his name +indicates, he is a ferocious fish, and has fought duels enough to +qualify himself to be a leader of savages. We suppose that upon +the recent occasion, he got himself up in good style, war-paint, +nose-ring, and all. This new Pontiac is also a poet, and wrote 'Hymns +to the Gods' in _Blackwood_; but he has left Jupiter, Juno, and +the rest, and betaken himself to the culture of the Great Spirit, or +rather of two great spirits, whisky being the second."] + +[Footnote 66: Van Dorn did not make his detailed official report of +this battle until the news had leaked out that the Indians had mangled +the bodies of the dead and committed other atrocities. He was probably +then desirous of being as silent as he dared be concerning Indian +participation, since he, in virtue of his being chief in command, was +the person mainly responsible for it. In October of the preceding +year, McCulloch had favored using the Indians against Kansas +[_Official Records_, vol. iii, 719, 721]. Cooper objected +strongly to their being kept "at home" [Ibid., 614] and one +of the leading chiefs insisted that they did not intend to use the +scalping knife [Ibid., 625].] + +McCulloch's broken army and with it to join Van Dorn. On the eighth, +Colonel Watie's men under orders from Van Dorn took position on the +high ridges where they could watch the movements of the enemy and +give timely notice of any attempt to turn the Confederate left flank. +Colonel Drew's regiment, meanwhile, not having received the word +passed along the line to move forward, remained in the woods near +Leetown, the last in the field. Subsequently, finding themselves +deserted, they drew back towards Camp Stephens, where they were soon +joined by "General Cooper, with his regiment and battalion of Choctaws +and Chickasaws, and" by "Colonel McIntosh with 200 men of his regiment +of Creeks."[67] The delinquent wayfarers were both fortunate and +unfortunate in thus tardily arriving upon the scene. They had missed +the fight but they had also missed the temptation to revert to the +savagery that was soon to bring fearful ignominy upon their neighbors. +To the very last of the Pea Ridge engagement, Stand Watie's men were +active. They covered the retreat of the main army, to a certain +extent. They were mostly half-breeds and, so far as can be definitely +ascertained, were entirely guiltless of the atrocities charged against +the others. + +General Pike gave the permission to fight "in their own fashion" +specifically to the First Cherokee Mounted Rifles, who were, for the +most part, full-blooded Indians; but he later confessed that, in his +treaty negotiations with the tribes, they had generally stipulated +that they should, if they fought at all, be allowed to fight as they +knew how.[68] Yet they probably did not mean, thereby, to commit +atrocities and the Cherokee National Council lost no time, after the +Indian shortcomings + +[Footnote 67: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 292.] + +[Footnote 68:--Ibid., vol. xiii, 819.] + +at the Battle of Pea Ridge had become known, in putting itself on +record as standing opposed to the sort of thing that had occurred, + + _Resolved_, That in the opinion of the National Council, + the war now existing between the said United States and the + Confederate States and their Indian allies should be conducted on + the most humane principles which govern the usages of war among + civilized nations, and that it be and is earnestly recommended to + the troops of this nation in the service of the Confederate States + to avoid any acts toward captured or fallen foes that would be + incompatible with such usages.[69] + +The atrocities committed by the Indians became almost immediately +a matter for correspondence between the opposing commanders. The +Federals charged mutilation of dead bodies on the battle-field and the +tomahawking and scalping of prisoners. The Confederates recriminated +as against persons "alleged to be Germans." The case involving the +Indians was reported to the joint committee of Congress on the +_Conduct of the Present War_;[70] but at least one piece of +evidence was not, at that time, forthcoming, a piece that, in a +certain sense, might be taken to exonerate the whites. It came to the +knowledge of General Blunt during the summer and was the Indians' own +confession. It bore only indirectly upon the actual atrocities but +showed that the red men were quite equal to making their own plans in +fighting and were not to be relied upon to do things decently and +in order. Drew's men, when they deserted the Confederates after the +skirmish of July third at Locust Grove, confided to the Federals the +intelligence "that the killing of the white rebels by the Indians in" +the Pea Ridge "fight was determined + +[Footnote 69: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 826.] + +[Footnote 70: By vote of the committee, General Curtis had been +instructed to furnish information on the subject of the employment of +Indians by the Confederates [_Journal_, 92].] + +upon before they went into battle."[71] Presumptively, if the +Cherokees could plot to kill their own allies, they could be found +despicable enough and cruel enough to mutilate the dead,[72] were the +chance given them and that without any direction, instruction, or +encouragement from white men being needed. + +The Confederate defeat at Pea Ridge was decisive and, as far as Van +Dorn's idea of relieving Missouri was concerned, fatally conclusive. +As early as the twenty-first of February, Beauregard had expressed a +wish to have him east of the Mississippi[73] and March had not yet +expired before Van Dorn was writing in such a way as to elicit the +consummation of the wish. The Federals were in occupation of the +northern part of Arkansas; but Van Dorn was very confident they would +not be able to subsist there long or "do much harm in the west." +In his opinion, therefore, it was incumbent upon the Confederates, +instead of dividing their strength between the east and the west, to +concentrate on the saving of the Mississippi.[74] To all appearances, +it was there that the situation was most critical. In due time, came +the order for Van Dorn to repair eastward and to take with him all the +troops that might be found available. + +The completeness of Curtis's victory, the loss to the Southerners, by +death or capture, of some of their best-loved and ablest commanders, +McCulloch, McIntosh, Hébert, and the nature of the country through +which the Federals pursued their fleeing forces, to say nothing of the +miscellaneous and badly-trained character of + +[Footnote 71: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 486.] + +[Footnote 72: The same charge was made against the Indians who fought +at Wilson's Creek [Leavenworth _Daily Conservative_, August 24, +1861].] + +[Footnote 73: Roman, _Military Operations of General Beauregard_, +vol. i, 240.] + +[Footnote 74: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 796.] + +those forces, to which, by the way, Van Dorn ascribed[75] much of +his recent ill-success, all helped to make the retirement of the +Confederates from the Pea Ridge battle-ground pretty much of a +helter-skelter affair. From all accounts, the Indians conducted +themselves as well as the best. The desire of everybody was to get +to a place of safety and that right speedily. Colonel Watie and his +regiment made their way to Camp Stephens,[76] near which place the +baggage train had been left[77] and where Cooper and Drew with their +men had found refuge already. Some two hundred of Watie's Indians +were detailed to help take ammunition back to the main army.[78] The +baggage train moved on to Elm Springs, the remainder of the Indians, +under Cooper, assisting in protecting it as far as that place.[79] +At Walnut Grove, the Watie detail, having failed to deliver the +ammunition because of the departure of the army prior to their +arrival, rejoined their comrades and all moved on to Cincinnati, where +Pike, who with a few companions had wandered several days among the +mountains, came up with them.[80] + +In Van Dorn's calculations for troops that should accompany him east +or follow in his wake, the Indians had no place. Before his own plans +took final shape and while he was still arranging for an Army of the +West, his orders for the Indians were, that they should make their way +back as best they could to their own country and there operate "to cut +off trains, annoy the enemy in his marches, and to prevent him as far +as possible from supplying his troops from Missouri and + +[Footnote 75: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 282.] + +[Footnote 76:--Ibid.. 291.] + +[Footnote 77:--Ibid., 317.] + +[Footnote 78:--Ibid., 318.] + +[Footnote 79:--Ibid.; Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, +vol. i, 273.] + +[Footnote 80: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 292.] + +Kansas."[81] A little later, but still anterior to Van Dorn's summons +east, more minute particulars of the programme were addressed to Pike. +Maury wrote, + + The general commanding has decided to march with his army against + the enemy now invading the northeastern part of the State. Upon + you, therefore, will devolve the necessity of impeding his advance + into this region. It is not expected that you will give battle to + a large force, but by felling trees, burning bridges, removing + supplies of forage and subsistence, attacking his trains, + stampeding his animals, cutting off his detachments, and other + similar means, you will be able materially to harass his army and + protect this region of country. You must endeavor by every means + to maintain yourself in the Territory independent of this army. + In case only of absolute necessity you may move southward. If the + enemy threatens to march through the Indian Territory or descend + the Arkansas River you may call on troops from Southwestern + Arkansas and Texas to rally to your aid. You may reward your + Indian troops by giving them such stores as you may think proper + when they make captures from the enemy, but you will please + endeavor to restrain them from committing any barbarities upon the + wounded, prisoners, or dead who may fall into their hands. You may + purchase your supplies of subsistence from wherever you can most + advantageously do so. You will draw your ammunition from Little + Rock or from New Orleans via Red River. Please communicate with + the general commanding when practicable.[82] + +It was an elaborate programme but scarcely a noble one. Its note of +selfishness sounded high. The Indians were simply to be made to serve +the ends of the white men. Their methods of warfare were regarded as +distinctly inferior. Pea Ridge was, in fact, the first and last time +that they were allowed to participate in the war on a big scale. +Henceforth, they were rarely ever anything more than scouts and +skirmishers and that was all they were really fitted to be. + +[Footnote 81: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 282, 790; vol. liii, +supplement, 796.] + +[Footnote 82:--Ibid., vol. viii, 795-796.] + + + + +II. LANE'S BRIGADE AND THE INCEPTION OF THE INDIAN + + +The Indian Expedition had its beginnings, fatefully or otherwise, +in "Lane's Kansas Brigade." On January 29, 1861, President Buchanan +signed the bill for the admission of Kansas into the Union and the +matter about which there had been so much of bitter controversy was at +last professedly settled; but, alas, for the peace of the border, the +radicals, the extremists, the fanatics, call them what one may, who +had been responsible for the controversy and for its bitterness, were +still unsettled. James Lane was chief among them. His was a turbulent +spirit and it permitted its owner no cessation from strife. With +President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, April 15, 1861, Lane's +martial activities began. Within three days, he had gathered together +a company of warriors,[83] the nucleus, psychologically speaking, +of what was to be his notorious, jayhawking, marauding brigade. His +enthusiasm was infectious. It communicated itself to reflective men +like Carl Schurz[84] and was probably the secret of Lane's + +[Footnote 83: John Hay records in his _Diary_, "The White House +is turned into barracks. Jim Lane marshaled his Kansas warriors to-day +at Willard's and placed them at the disposal of Major Hunter, +who turned them to-night into the East Room. It is a splendid +company--worthy such an armory. Besides the Western Jayhawkers it +comprises some of the best _material_ in the East. Senator +Pomeroy and old Anthony Bleecker stood shoulder to shoulder in the +ranks. Jim Lane walked proudly up and down the ranks with a new sword +that the Major had given him. The Major has made me his aid, and +I labored under some uncertainty, as to whether I should speak to +privates or not."--THAYER, _Life and Letters of John Hay_, vol. +i, 92.] + +[Footnote 84: It would seem to have communicated itself to Carl +Schurz, although Schurz, in his _Reminiscences_, makes no +definite admission of the fact. Hay (cont.)] + +mysterious influence with the temperate, humane, just, and so very +much more magnanimous Lincoln, who, in the first days of the war, as +in the later and the last, had his hours of discouragement and deep +depression. For dejection of any sort, the wild excitement and +boundless confidence of a zealot like Lane must have been somewhat of +an antidote, also a stimulant. + +The first Kansas state legislature convened March 26, 1861, and set +itself at once to work to put the new machinery of government into +operation. After much political wire-pulling that involved the promise +of spoils to come,[85] James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy[86] were +declared to be elected United States senators, the term of office of +each to begin with the first session of the thirty-seventh congress. +That session was + +[Footnote 84: (cont.) says, "Going into Nicolay's room this morning, +C. Schurz, and J. Lane were sitting. Jim was at the window, filling +his soul with gall by steady telescopic contemplation of a Secession +flag impudently flaunting over a roof in Alexandria. 'Let me tell +you,' said he to the elegant Teuton, 'we have got to whip these +scoundrels like hell, C. Schurz. They did a good thing stoning our +men at Baltimore and shooting away the flag at Sumter. It has set the +great North a-howling for blood, and they'll have it.' + +"'I heard,' said Schurz, 'you preached a sermon to your men +yesterday.' + +"'No, sir! this is not time for preaching. When I went to Mexico there +were four preachers in my regiment. In less than a week I issued +orders for them all to stop preaching and go to playing cards. In a +month or so, they were the biggest devils and best fighters I had.' + +"An hour afterwards, C. Schurz told me he was going home to arm his +clansmen for the wars. He has obtained three months' leave of absence +from his diplomatic duties, and permission to raise a cavalry +regiment. He will make a wonderful land pirate; bold, quick, +brilliant, and reckless. He will be hard to control and difficult to +direct. Still, we shall see. He is a wonderful man."--THAYER, _Life +and Letters of John Hay_, vol. i, 102-103.] + +[Footnote 85: In Connelley's _James Henry Lane, the "Grim Chieftain" +of Kansas_, the following is quoted as coming from Lane himself: + +"Of the fifty-six men in the Legislature who voted for Jim Lane, +five-and-forty now wear shoulder-straps. Doesn't Jim Lane look out for +his friends?"] + +[Footnote 86: John Brown's rating of Pomeroy, as given by Stearns in +his _Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns_, 133-134, +would show him to have been a considerably less pugnacious individual +than was Lane.] + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP SHOWING THE MAIN THEATRE OF BORDER WARFARE +AND THE LOCATION OF TRIBES WITHIN THE INDIAN COUNTRY] + +the extra one, called for July, 1861. Immediately, a difficulty arose +due to the fact that, subsequent to his election to the senatorship +and in addition thereto, Lane had accepted a colonelcy tendered by +Oliver P. Morton[87] of Indiana, his own native state.[88] Lane's +friends very plausibly contended that a military commission from one +state could not invalidate the title to represent another state in the +Federal senate. The actual fight over the contested seat came in the +next session and, quite regardless of consequences likely to prejudice +his case, Lane went on recruiting for his brigade. Indeed, he +commended himself to Frémont, who, in his capacity as major-general of +volunteers and in charge of the Western Military District, assigned +him to duty in Kansas, thus greatly complicating an already delicate +situation and immeasurably heaping up difficulties, embarrassments, +and disasters for the frontier. + +The same indifference towards the West that characterized the +governing authorities in the South was exhibited by eastern men in the +North and, correspondingly, the West, Federal and Confederate, +was unduly sensitive to the indifference, perhaps, also, a trifle +unnecessarily alarmed by symptoms of its own danger. Nevertheless, its +danger was real. Each state gave in its adherence to the Confederacy +separately and, therefore, every single state in the slavery belt had +a problem to solve. The fight for Missouri was fought + +[Footnote 87: Morton, war governor of Indiana, who had taken +tremendous interest in the struggle for Kansas and in the events +leading up to the organization of the Republican party, was one of the +most energetic of men in raising troops for the defence of the Union, +especially in the earliest stages of the war. See Foulke's _Life of +Oliver P. Morton_, vol. i.] + +[Footnote 88: Some doubt on this point exists. John Speer, Lane's +intimate friend and, in a sense, his biographer, says Lane claimed +Lawrenceburg, Indiana, as his birthplace. By some people he is thought +to have been born in Kentucky.] + +on the border and nowhere else. The great evil of squatter sovereignty +days was now epidemic in its most malignant form. Those days had bred +intense hatred between Missourian and Kansan and had developed a +disregard of the value of human life and a ruthlessness and brutality +in fighting, concomitant with it, that the East, in its most primitive +times, had never been called upon to experience. Granted that the +spirit of the crusader had inspired many a free-soiler to venture into +the trans-Missouri region after the Kansas-Nebraska bill had become +law and that real exaltation of soul had transformed some very +mercenary and altogether mundane characters unexpectedly into martyrs; +granted, also, that the pro-slavery man honestly felt that his +cause was just and that his sacred rights of property, under the +constitution, were being violated, his preserves encroached upon, it +yet remains true that great crimes were committed in the name of great +causes and that villains stalked where only saints should have trod. +The irregular warfare of the border, from fifty-four on, while it may, +to military history as a whole, be as unimportant as the quarrels of +kites and crows, was yet a big part of the life of the frontiersman +and frightful in its possibilities. Sherman's march to the sea or +through the Carolinas, disgraceful to modern civilization as each +undeniably was, lacked the sickening phase, guerrilla atrocities, that +made the Civil War in the West, to those at least who were in line +to experience it at close range, an awful nightmare. Union and +Confederate soldiers might well fraternize in eastern camps because +there they so rarely had any cause for personal hostility towards each +other, but not in western. The fight on the border was constant and to +the death. + +The leaders in the West or many of them, on both sides, were men of +ungovernable tempers, of violent and unrestrained passions, sometimes +of distressingly base proclivities, although, in the matter of both +vices and virtues, there was considerable difference of degree among +them. Lane and Shelby and Montgomery and Quantrill were hardly types, +rather should it be said they were extreme cases. They seem never to +have taken chances on each other's inactivity. Their motto invariably +was, to be prepared for the worst, and their practice, retaliation. + +It was scarcely to be supposed that a man like Lane, who had never +known moderation in the course of the long struggle for Kansas or been +over scrupulous about anything would, in the event of his adopted +state's being exposed anew to her old enemy, the Missourian, be able +to pose contentedly as a legislator or stay quietly in Washington, +his role of guardian of the White House being finished.[89] The +anticipated danger to Kansas visibly threatened in the summer of 1861 +and the critical moment saw Lane again in the West, energetic beyond +precedent. He took up his position at Fort Scott, it being his +conviction that, from that point and from the line of the Little +Osage, the entire eastern section of the state, inclusive of Fort +Leavenworth, could best be protected.[90] + +[Footnote 89: As Villard tells us [_Memoirs_, vol. i, 169], +Lane was in command of the "Frontier Guards," one of the two special +patrols that protected the White House in the early days of the war. +There were those, however, who resented his presence there. For +example, note the diary entry of Hay, "Going to my room, I met the +Captain. He was a little boozy and very eloquent. He dilated on the +troubles of the time and bewailed the existence of a garrison in the +White House 'to give _éclat_ to Jim Lane.'"--Thayer, op. cit., +vol. i, 94. The White House guard was in reality under General Hunter +[_Report of the Military Services of General David Hunter_, 8].] + +[Footnote 90: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 453, 455.] + +Fort Scott was the ranking town among the few Federal strongholds in +the middle Southwest. It was within convenient, if not easy, distance +of Crawford Seminary which, situated to the southward in the Quapaw +Nation, was the headquarters of the Neosho Agency; but no more +perturbed place could be imagined than was that same Neosho Agency at +the opening of the Civil War. Bad white men, always in evidence at +moments of crisis, were known to be interfering with the Osages, +exciting them by their own marauding to deviltry and mischief of the +worst description.[91] As a + +[Footnote 91: A letter from Superintendent W.G. Coffin of date, July, +30, 1861 [Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Schools_, C. +1275 of 1861] bears evidence of this as bear also the following +letters, the one, private in character, from Augustus Wattles, the +other, without specific date, from William Brooks: + +PRIVATE + +MONEKA, KANSAS, May 20, 1861. +MR. DOLE + +Dear Sir, A messenger has this moment left me, who came up from the +Osages yesterday--a distance of about forty miles. The gentleman lives +on the line joining the Osage Indians, and has, since my acquaintance +with him about three years. + +A short time ago, perhaps three weeks, a number of lawless white men +went into the Nation and stole a number of ponies. The Indians made +chase, had a fight and killed several, reported from three to five, +and retook their ponies. + +A company of men is now getting up here and in other counties, to go +and fight the Indians. I am appealed to by the Indians to act as their +friend. + +They represent that they are loyal to the U.S. Government and will +fight for their Great Father, at Washington, but must be protected +from bad white men at home. The Government must not think them enemies +when they only fight thieves and robbers. + +Rob't B. Mitchell, who was recently appointed Maj. General of this +State by Gov. Robinson, has resigned, and is now raising volunteers to +fight the Indians. He has always been a Democrat in sympathy with the +pro-slavery party, and his enlisting men now to take them away from +the Missouri frontier, when we are daily threatened with an attack +from that State, and union men are fleeing to us for protection from +there, is certainly a very questionable policy. It could operate no +worse against us, if it were gotten up by a traitor to draw our +men off on purpose to give the Missourians a chance when we are +unprepared. (cont.)] + +tribe, the Osages were not very dependable at the best of times and +now that they saw confusion all around + +[Footnote 91: (cont.) I presume you have it in your power to prevent +any attack on the Indians in Kansas till such time as they can be +treated with. And such order to the Commander of the Western Division +of the U.S. Army would stop further proceedings. + +I shall start to-morrow for Council Grove and meet the Kansas Indians +before General Mitchell's force can get there. As the point of attack +is secret, I fear it may be the Osages, for the purpose of creating +a necessity for a treaty with himself by which he can secure a large +quantity of land for himself and followers. He is acquainted with all +the old Democratic schemes of swindling Indians. + +The necessity for prompt action on the part of the Indian Department +increases every day. The element of discord in the community here +now, was once, the pro-slavery party. I see their intention to breed +disturbances with the Indians is malicious and selfish. They are +active and unscrupulous, and must be met promptly and decisively. + +I hope you will excuse this, as it appears necessary for me to step +a little out of my orders to notify you of current events. I am very +respectfully Your Ob't Ser'vt AUGUSTUS WATTLES, _Special Agent_ + +[Indian Office Special Files, no. 201.] + +GRAND FALLS, NEWTON CO., MO. +COM. INDIAN AFFAIRS +Washington, D.C. + +Hon. Sir: Permit me to inform you, by this means, of the efforts that +have been and are now being made in Southern Kansas to arouse both the +"Osages" and "Cherokees" _to rebel_, and bear arms against the +U.S. Government--At a public meeting near the South E. corner of the +"Osage Nation" called by the settlements for the devising of some +means by which to protect themselves from "unlawful characters," Mr. +John Mathis, who resides in the Osage Nation and has an Osage family, +also Mr. "Robert Foster" who lives in the Cherokee Nation and has a +Cherokee family endeavered by public speeches and otherwise to induce +"Osages", "Cherokees", as well as Americans who live on the "Neutral +Lands" to bear arms against the U.S. Government--_aledging that +there was no U.S. Government_. There was 25 men who joined them and +they proceeded to organise a "_Secession Company_" electing as +Capt R.D. Foster and 1st Lieutenant James Patton--This meeting was +held June 4th 1861--at "McGhees Residence"--The peace of this section +of country requires the removal of these men from the Indian country, +or some measures that will restrain them from exciting the Indians in +Southern Kansas. + +Yours Respectfully WM BROOKS. + +You will understand why you are addressed by a private individual on +this subject instead of the Agent, since A.J. Dorn, the present Indian +Agent, is an avowed "Secessionist" and consequently would favor, +rather than suppress the move. WM BROOKS. + +[Ibid., _Southern Superintendency_, B567 of 1861]] + +them their most natural inclination was to pay back old scores and +to make an alliance where such alliance could be most profitable to +themselves. The "remnants" of tribes, Senecas, Shawnees, and Quapaws, +associated with them in the agency, Neosho, that is, although not of +evil disposition, were similarly agitated and with good reason. +Rumors of dissensions among the Cherokees, not so very far away, were +naturally having a disquieting effect upon the neighboring but less +highly organized tribes as was also the unrest in Missouri, in the +southwestern counties of which, however, Union sentiment thus far +dominated.[92] Its continuance would undoubtedly turn upon military +success or failure and that, men like Lyon and Lane knew only too +well. + +As the days passed, the Cherokee troubles gained in intensity, so +much so that the agent, John Crawford, even then a secessionist +sympathiser, reported that internecine strife might at any hour be +provoked.[93] So confused was everything that in July the people of +southeastern Kansas were generally apprehensive of an attack from the +direction of either Indian Territory or Arkansas.[94] Kansas troops +had been called to Missouri; but, at the same time, Lyon was +complaining that men from the West, where they were greatly needed, +were being called by Scott to Virginia.[95] On August 6 two emergency +calls went forth, one from Frémont for a brigade from California that +could be stationed at El Paso and moved as occasion might require, +either upon San Antonio or into the Indian Territory,[96] + +[Footnote 92: Branch to Mix, June 22, 1861, enclosing letter from +Agent Elder, June 15, 1861 [Indian Office Files, _Neosho_, B 547 +of 1861].] + +[Footnote 93:--Ibid., _Cherokee_, C 1200 of 1861]. + +[Footnote 94: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 405.] + +[Footnote 95:--Ibid., 397, 408.] + +[Footnote 96:--Ibid., 428.] + +the other from Congressmen John S. Phelps and Francis P. Blair junior, +who addressed Lincoln upon the subject of enlisting Missouri troops +for an invasion of Arkansas in order to ward off any contemplated +attack upon southwestern Missouri and to keep the Indians west of +Arkansas in subjection.[97] On August 10 came the disastrous Federal +defeat at Wilson's Creek. It was immediately subsequent to that event +and in anticipation of a Kansas invasion by Price and McCulloch that +Lane resolved to take position at Fort Scott.[98] + +The Battle of Wilson's Creek, lost to the Federals largely because of +Frémont's failure to support Lyon, was an unmitigated disaster in more +than one sense. The death of Lyon, which the battle caused, was of +itself a severe blow to the Union side as represented in Missouri; but +the moral effect of the Federal defeat upon the Indians was equally +worthy of note. It was instantaneous and striking. It rallied the +wavering Cherokees for the Confederacy[99] and their defection was +something that could not be easily counterbalanced and was certainly +not counterbalanced by the almost coincident, cheap, disreputable, and +very general Osage offer, made towards the end of August, of services +to the United States in exchange for flour and whiskey.[100] + +The disaster in its effect upon Lane was, however, little short of +exhilarating. It brought him sympathy, understanding, and a fair +measure of support from people who, not until the eleventh hour, had +really comprehended their own danger and it inspired him to redouble +his efforts to organize a brigade that should + +[Footnote 97: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 430.] + +[Footnote 98:--Ibid., 446.] + +[Footnote 99: The Daily Conservative (Leavenworth), October 5, 1861.] + +[Footnote 100:--Ibid., August 30, 1861, quoting from the Fort +Scott _Democrat_.] + +adequately protect Kansas and recover ground lost. Prior to the +battle, "scarcely a battalion had been recruited for each" of the five +regiments, the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Kansas, which +he had been empowered by the War Department to raise.[101] It was in +the days of gathering reinforcements, for which he made an earnest +plea on August 29,[102] that he developed a disposition to utilize the +loyal Indians in his undertaking. The Indians, in their turn, were +looking to him for much needed assistance. About a month previous to +the disaster of August 10, Agent Elder had been obliged to make Fort +Scott, for the time being, the Neosho Agency headquarters, everything +being desperately insecure at Crawford's Seminary.[103] + +[Footnote 101: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, 122.] + +[Footnote 102: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 465.] + +[Footnote 103: The following letter, an enclosure of a report from +Branch to Dole, August 14, 1861, gives some slight indication of its +insecurity: + +OFFICE OF NEOSHO AGENCY +Fort Scott, July 27, 1861. + +Sir--I deem it important to inform the Department of the situation +of this Agency at this time. After entering upon the duties of this +office as per instructions--and attending to all the business that +seemed to require my immediate attention--I repaired to Franklin Co. +Kan. to remove my family to the Agency. + +Leaving the Agency in care of James Killebrew Esq the Gov't Farmer for +the Quapaw Nation. Soon after I left I was informed by him that the +Agency had been surrounded by a band of armed men, and instituted an +inquiry for "_that Abolition Superintendent and Agent_." After +various interrogatories and answers they returned in the direction of +Missouri and Arkansas lines from whence they were supposed to +have come. He has since written me and Special Agent Whitney and +Superintendent Coffin told me that it would be very unsafe for me to +stay at that place under the present excited state of public feeling +in that vicinity. I however started with my family on the 6th July and +arrived at Fort Scott on the 9th intending to go direct to the Agency. +Here I learned from Capt Jennison commanding a detachment of Kansas +Militia, who had been scouting in that vicinity, that the country +was full of marauding parties from Gov. Jackson's Camp in S.W. Mo. +I therefore concluded to remain here and watch the course of events +believing as I did the Federal troops (cont.)] + +Lane, conjecturing rightly that Price, moving northwestward from +Springfield, which place he had left on the twenty-sixth of August, +would threaten, if he did not actually attempt, an invasion of Kansas +at the point of its greatest vulnerability, the extreme southeast, +hastened his preparations for the defence and at the very end of the +month appeared in person at Fort Scott, where all the forces he could +muster, many of them refugee Missourians, had been rendezvousing. On +the second of September, the two armies, if such be not too dignified +a name for them, came into initiatory action at Dry Wood Creek,[104] +Missouri, a reconnoitering party of the Federals, in a venture across +the line, having + +[Footnote 103: (cont.) would soon repair thither and so quell the +rebellion as to render my stay here no longer necessary. But as yet +the Union forces have not penetrated that far south, and Jackson with +a large force is quartered within 20 or 25 miles of the Agency--I was +informed by Mr. Killebrew on the 23d inst. that everything at the +Agency was safe--but the house and roads were guarded--Hence I have +assumed the responsibility of establishing my office here temporarily +until I can hear from the department. + +And I most sincerely hope the course I have thus been compelled to +pursue will receive the approval of the department. + +I desire instructions relative to the papers and a valuable safe +(being the only moveables there of value) which can only be moved +_at present_ under the protection of a guard. And also +instructions as to the course I am to pursue relative to the locality +of the Agency. + +I feel confident that the difficulty now attending the locality at +Crawford Seminary will not continue long--if not then I shall move +directly there unless instructions arrive of a different character. + +All mail matter should be directed to Fort Scott for the Mail Carrier +has been repeatedly arrested and the mails may be robbed--Very +respectfully your Obedient Servant + +PETER P. ELDER, _U.S. Neosho Agent_. + +H.B. BRANCH Esq, Superintendent of Ind. Affairs C.S. + St. Joseph, Mo. +[Indian Office Files, _Neosho_, B 719 of 1861].] + +[Footnote 104: For additional information about the Dry Wood Creek +affair and about the events leading up to and succeeding it, see +_Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 436; Britton, _Civil +War on the Border_, vol. i, chapter x; Connelley, _Quantrill and +the Border Wars_, 199.] + +fallen in with the advance of the Confederates and, being numerically +outmatched, having been compelled to beat a retreat. In its later +stages, Lane personally conducted that retreat, which, taken as a +whole, did not end even with the recrossing of the state boundary, +although the pursuit did not continue beyond it. Confident that Price +would follow up his victory and attack Fort Scott, Lane resolved to +abandon the place, leaving a detachment to collect the stores and +ammunition and to follow him later. He then hurried on himself to +Fort Lincoln on the north bank of the Little Osage, fourteen miles +northwest. There he halted and hastily erected breastworks of a +certain sort[105]. Meanwhile, the citizens of Fort Scott, finding +themselves left in the lurch, vacated their homes and followed in the +wake of the army[106]. Then came a period, luckily short, of direful +confusion. Home guards were drafted in and other preparations made to +meet the emergency of Price's coming. Humboldt was now suggested as +suitable and safe headquarters for the Neosho Agency[107]; but, most +opportunely, as the narrative will soon show, the change had to wait +upon the approval of the Indian Office, which could not be had for +some days and, in the meantime, events proved that Price was not the +menace and Fort Scott not the target. + +It soon transpired that Price had no immediate intention of invading +Kansas[108]. For the present, it was + +[Footnote 105: In ridicule of Lane's fortifications, see Spring, +_Kansas_, 275.] + +[Footnote 106: As soon as the citizens, panic-stricken, were gone, the +detachment which Lane had left in charge, under Colonel C.R. Jennison, +commenced pillaging their homes [Britton, _Civil War on the +Border_, vol. i, 130.]] + +[Footnote 107: H.C. Whitney to Mix, September 6, 1861, Indian Office +Consolidated Files, _Neosho_, W 455 of 1861.] + +[Footnote 108: By the fifth of September, Lane had credible +information that Price had broken camp at Dry Wood and was moving +towards Lexington [Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, +144].] + +enough for his purpose to have struck terror into the hearts of the +people of Union sentiments inhabiting the Cherokee Neutral Lands, +where, indeed, intense excitement continued to prevail until there was +no longer any room to doubt that Price was really gone from the near +vicinity and was heading for the Missouri River. Yet his departure was +far from meaning the complete removal of all cause for anxiety, since +marauding bands infested the country roundabout and were constantly +setting forth, from some well concealed lair, on expeditions of +robbery, devastation, and murder. It was one of those marauding bands +that in this same month of September, 1861, sacked and in part burnt +Humboldt, for which dastardly and quite unwarrantable deed, James G. +Blunt, acting under orders from Lane, took speedy vengeance; and the +world was soon well rid of the instigator and leader of the outrage, +the desperado, John Matthews.[109] + +[Footnote 109: (a) + +FT. LINCOLN, SOUTHERN KANSAS. +Sept. 25, 1861. + +HON. WM.P. DOLE, Com. of Ind. Af'rs + +Dear Sir, We have just returned from a successful expedition into the +Indian Country, And I thought you would be glad to hear the news. + +Probably you know that Mathews, formerly an Indian Trader amongst the +Osages has been committing depredations at the head of a band of half +breed Cherokees, all summer. + +He has killed a number of settlers and taken their property; but as +most of them were on the Cherokee neuteral lands I could not tell +whether to blame him much or not, as I did not understand the +condition of those lands. + +A few days ago he came up to Humbolt and pillaged the town. Gen. Lane +ordered the home guards, composed mostly of old men, too old for +regular service, to go down and take or disperse this company under +Mathews. + +He detailed Lieut. Col. Blunt of Montgomery's regiment to the command, +and we started about 200 strong. We went to Humbolt and followed down +through the Osage as far as the Quapaw Agency where we came up with +them, about 60 strong. + +Mathews and 10 men were killed at the first fire, the others (cont.)] + +As soon as Lane had definite knowledge that Price had turned away from +the border and was moving northward, he determined to follow after and +attack + +[Footnote 109: (cont.) retreated. We found on Mathews a Commission +from Ben. McCulloch, authorizing him to enlist the Quapaw and other +Indians and operate on the Kansas frontier. + +The Osage Indians are loyal, and I think most of the others would be +if your Agents were always ready to speak a word of confidence for our +Government, and on hand to counteract the influence of the Secession +Agents. + +There is no more danger in doing this than in any of the Army service. +If an Agent is killed in the discharge of his duty, another can be +appointed the same as in any other service. A few prompt Agents, might +save a vast amount of plundering which it is now contemplated to do in +Kansas. + +Ben. McCulloch promises his rangers, and the Indians that he will +winter them in Kansas and expel the settlers. + +I can see the Indians gain confidence in him precisely as they loose +it in us. It need somebody amongst them to represent our power and +strength and purposes, and to give them courage and confidence in the +U.S. Government. + +There is another view which some take and you may take the same, i.e. +let them go--fight and conquer them--take their lands and stop their +annuities. + +I can only say that whatever the Government determines on the people +here will sustain. The President was never more popular. He is the +President of the Constitution and the laws. And notwithstanding what +the papers say about his difference with Frémont, every heart reposes +confidence in the President. + +So far as I can learn from personal inquiry, the Indians are not yet +committed to active efforts against the Gov. AUG. WATTLES. + +[Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Central Superintendency_, +W 474 of 1861.] + +(b) + +SACK AND FOX AGENCY, Dec. 17th 1861. + +HON.W.P. DOLE, Commissioner of Indian Affairs + +Dear Sir: After receiving the cattle and making arrangements for their +keeping at Leroy I went and paid a visit to the Ruins of Humboldt +which certainly present a gloomy appearance. All the best part of the +town was burnt. Thurstons House that I had rented for an office tho +near half a mile from town was burnt tho his dwelling and mill near +by were spared. All my books and papers that were there were lost. My +trunk and what little me and my son had left after the sacking were +all burnt including to Land Warrents one 160 acres and one 120. Our +Minne Rifle and ammunition Saddle bridle, etc.... About 4 or 5 Hundred +Sacks of Whitney's Corn were burnt. As soon as I can I will try to +make out a list of the Papers from the (cont.)] + +him, if possible, in the rear. Governor Robinson was much opposed[110] +to any such provocative and apparently purposeless action, no one +knowing better than he Lane's vindictive mercilessness. Lane persisted +notwithstanding Robinson's objections and, for the time being, found +his policies actually endorsed by Prince at Fort Leavenworth.[111] The +attack upon Humboldt, having revealed the exposed condition of the +settlements north of the Osage lands, necessitated his leaving a much +larger force in his own rear than he had intended.[112] It also +made it seem advisable for him to order the building of a series of +stockades, the one of most immediate interest being at Leroy.[113] By +the fourteenth of September, Lane found himself within twenty-four +miles of Harrisonville but Price still far ahead. On the +twenty-second, having made a detour for the purpose of destroying some +of his opponent's stores, he performed the atrocious and downright +inexcusable exploit of burning Osceola.[114] Lexington, besieged, +had fallen into Price's hands two days before. Thus had the foolish +Federal practice of acting in + +[Footnote 109: (cont.) Department [that] were burnt. As I had some at +Leavenworth I cannot do so til I see what is there. As Mr. Hutchinson +is not here I leave this morning for the Kaw Agency to endeavour to +carry out your Instructions there and will return here as soon as I +get through there. They are building some stone houses here and I am +much pleased with the result. The difference in cost is not near +so much as we expected but I will write you fully on a careful +examination as you requested. Very respectfully your obedient Servant + +W.G. COFFIN, _Superintendent of Indian Affairs_ +Southern Superintendency + +[Indian Office Files, _Southern Superintendency_, C 1432 of +1861]] + +[Footnote 110: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 468-469.] + +[Footnote 111:--Ibid., 483.] + +[Footnote 112:--Ibid., 490.] + +[Footnote 113:--Ibid.] + +[Footnote 114:--Ibid., 196; vol. liii, supplement, 743; +Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, 147-148; Connelley, +_Quantrill and the Border Wars_, 208-209, 295.] + +detachments instead of in force produced its own calamitous result. +There had never been any appreciable coördination among the parts +of Frémont's army. Each worked upon a campaign of its own. To some +extent, the same criticism might be held applicable to the opposing +Confederate force also, especially when the friction between Price and +McCulloch be taken fully into account; but Price's energy was far in +excess of Frémont's and he, having once made a plan, invariably saw +to its accomplishment. Lincoln viewed Frémont's supineness with +increasing apprehension and finally after the fall of Lexington +directed Scott to instruct for greater activity. Presumably, Frémont +had already aroused himself somewhat; for, on the eighteenth, he had +ordered Lane to proceed to Kansas City and from thence to coöperate +with Sturgis,[115] Lane slowly obeyed[116] but managed, while obeying, +to do considerable marauding, which worked greatly to the general +detestation and lasting discredit of his brigade. For a man, +temperamentally constituted as Lane was, warfare had no terrors and +its votaries, no scruples. The grim chieftain as he has been somewhat +fantastically called, was cruel, indomitable, and disgustingly +licentious, a person who would have hesitated at nothing to accomplish +his purpose. It was to be expected, then, that he would see nothing +terrible in the letting loose of the bad white man, the half-civilized +Indian, or the wholly barbarous negro upon society. He believed that +the institution of slavery should look out for itself[117] and, like +Governor Robinson,[118] Senator Pomeroy, Secretary Cameron, John + +[Footnote 115: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 500.] + +[Footnote 116:--Ibid., 505-506.] + +[Footnote 117:--Ibid., 516.] + +[Footnote 118: Spring, _Kansas_, 272.] + +Cochrane,[119] Thaddeus Stevens[120] and many another, fully endorsed +the principle underlying Frémont's abortive Emancipation Proclamation. +He advocated immediate emancipation both as a political and a military +measure.[121] + +There was no doubt by this time that Lane had it in mind to utilize +the Indians. In the dog days of August, when he was desperately +marshaling his brigade, the Indians presented themselves, in idea, as +a likely military contingent. The various Indian agents in Kansas +were accordingly communicated with and Special Agent Augustus +Wattles authorized to make the needful preparations for Indian +enlistment.[122] Not much could be done in furtherance of the scheme +while Lane was engaged in Missouri but, in October, when he was +back in Kansas, his interest again manifested itself. He was then +recruiting among all kinds of people, the more hot-blooded the better. +His energy was likened to frenzy and the more sober-minded took +alarm. It was the moment for his political opponents to interpose +and Governor Robinson from among them did interpose, being firmly +convinced that Lane, by his intemperate zeal and by his guerrilla-like +fighting was provoking Missouri to reprisals and thus precipitating +upon Kansas the very troubles that he professed to wish to ward off. +Incidentally, Robinson, unlike Frémont, was vehemently opposed to +Indian enlistment. + +Feeling between Robinson and Lane became exceedingly tense in October. +Price was again moving + +[Footnote 119: _Daily Conservative_, November 22, 1861.] + +[Footnote 120: Woodburn, _Life of Thaddeus Stevens_, 183.] + +[Footnote 121: Lane's speech at Springfield, November 7, 1861 +[_Daily Conservative_, November 17, 1861].] + +[Footnote 122: For a full discussion of the progress of the movement, +see Abel, _American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist_, 227 +ff.] + +suspiciously near to Kansas. On the third he was known to have left +Warrensburg, ostensibly to join McCulloch in Bates County[123] and, on +the eighth, he was reported as still proceeding in a southwestwardly +direction, possibly to attack Fort Scott.[124] His movements gave +opportunity for a popular expression of opinion among Lane's +adherents. On the evening of the eighth, a large meeting was held in +Stockton's Hall to consider the whole situation and, amidst great +enthusiasm, Lane was importuned to go to Washington,[125] there to lay +the case of the piteous need of Kansas, in actuality more imaginary +than real, before the president. Nothing loath to assume such +responsibility but not finding it convenient to leave his military +task just then, Lane resorted to letter-writing. On the ninth, he +complained[126] to Lincoln that Robinson was attempting to break +up his brigade and had secured the coöperation of Prince to that +end.[127] The anti-Robinson press[128] went farther and accused +Robinson and Prince of not being big enough, in the face of grave +danger to the commonwealth, to forget old scores.[129] As a +solution of the problem before them, Lane suggested to Lincoln the +establishment of a new military district that should include Kansas, +Indian Territory, and Arkansas, and be under his command.[130] So +anxious was Lane to be + +[Footnote 123: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 525, 526, 527.] + +[Footnote 124:--Ibid, 527.] + +[Footnote 125: _Daily Conservative_, October 9, 10, 1861.] + +[Footnote 126: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 529.] + +[Footnote 127: _Daily Conservative_, October 9, 15, 1861.] + +[Footnote 128: Chief among the papers against Robinson, in the matter +of his longstanding feud with Lane, was the _Daily Conservative_ +with D.W. Wilder as its editor. Another anti-Robinson paper was +the Lawrence _Republican_. The Cincinnati _Gazette_ was +decidedly friendly to Lane.] + +[Footnote 129: _Daily Conservative_, October 15, 1861.] + +[Footnote 130: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 529-530. Lane +outlined his plan for a separate department in his speech in +Stockton's Hall [_Daily Conservative_, October 9, 1861]. (cont.)] + +identified with what he thought was the rescue of Kansas that he +proposed resigning his seat in the senate that he might be entirely +untrammelled.[131] Perchance, also, he had some inkling that with +Frederick P. Stanton[132] contesting the seat, a bitter partisan fight +was in prospect, a not altogether welcome diversion.[133] Stanton, +prominent in and out of office in territorial days, was an old +political antagonist of the Lane faction and one of the four +candidates whose names had been before the legislature in March. In +the second half of October, Lane's brigade notably contributed to +Frémont's show of activity and then, anticipatory perhaps to greater +changes, it was detached from the main column and given the liberty +of moving independently down the Missouri line to the Cherokee +country.[134] + +Lane's efforts towards securing Indian enlistment did not stop with +soliciting the Kansas tribes. Thoroughly aware, since the time of his +sojourn at Fort Scott, if not before, of the delicate situation +in Indian Territory, of the divided allegiance there, and of the +despairing cry for help that had gone forth from the Union element to +Washington, he conceived it eminently fitting and practicable that +that same Union element should have its loyalty put to good uses and +be itself induced to take up arms in behalf of the cause it affected +so ardently to endorse. To an ex-teacher among the Seminoles, E.H. +Carruth, was entrusted the task of recruiting. + +The situation in Indian Territory was more than + +[Footnote 130: (cont.) Robinson was opposed to the idea [Ibid., +November 2, 6, 1861].] + +[Footnote 131: _Official Records_, vol. iii, 530.] + +[Footnote 132: Martin, _First Two Years of Kansas_, 24; +_Biographical Congressional Directory_, 1771-1903.] + +[Footnote 133: _Daily Conservative_, November 1, 1861, gives +Robinson the credit of inciting Stanton to contest the seat.] + +[Footnote 134: _Daily Conservative_, October 30, 1861.] + +delicate. It was precarious and had been so almost from the beginning. +The withdrawal of troops from the frontier posts had left the +Territory absolutely destitute of the protection solemnly guaranteed +its inhabitants by treaty with the United States government. +Appeal[135] to the War Department for a restoration of what was a +sacred obligation had been without effect all the summer. Southern +emissaries had had, therefore, an entirely free hand to accomplish +whatever purpose they might have in mind with the tribes. In +September,[136] the Indian Office through Charles E. Mix, acting +commissioner of Indian affairs in the absence of William P. Dole, who +was then away on a mission to the Kansas tribes, again begged the War +Department[137] to look into matters so extremely urgent. National +honor would of itself have dictated a policy of intervention before + +[Footnote 135: Secretary Cameron's reply to Secretary Smith's first +request was uncompromising in the extreme and prophetic of his +persistent refusal to recognize the obligation resting upon the United +States to protect its defenceless "wards." This is Cameron's letter of +May 10, 1861: + +"In answer to your letter of the 4th instant, I have the honor +to state that on the 17th April instructions were issued by this +Department to remove the troops stationed at Forts Cobb, Arbuckle, +Washita, and Smith, to Fort Leavenworth, leaving it to the discretion +of the Commanding Officer to replace them, or not, by Arkansas +Volunteers. + +"The exigencies of the service will not admit any change in these +orders." [Interior Department Files, _Bundle no. 1 (1849-1864) +War_.] + +Secretary Smith wrote to Cameron again on the thirtieth [Interior +Department _Letter Press Book_, vol. iii, 125], enclosing Dole's +letter of the same date [Interior Department, _File Box, January 1 +to December 1, 1861_; Indian Office _Report Book_, no. 12, +176], but to no purpose.] + +[Footnote 136: Indian Office _Report Book_, no. 12, 218-219.] + +[Footnote 137: Although his refusal to keep faith with the Indians is +not usually cited among the things making for Cameron's unfitness for +the office of Secretary of War, it might well and justifiably be. No +student of history questions to-day that the appointment of Simon +Cameron to the portfolio of war, to which Thaddeus Stevens had +aspirations [Woodburn, _Life of Thaddeus Stevens_, 239], was +one of the worst administrative mistakes Lincoln ever made. It was +certainly one of the four cabinet appointment errors noted by Weed +[_Autobiography_, 607].] + +the poor neglected Indians had been driven to the last desperate +straits. The next month, October, nothing at all having been done in +the interval, Dole submitted[138] to Secretary Smith new evidence of +a most alarmingly serious state of affairs and asked that the +president's attention be at once elicited. The apparent result was +that about the middle of November, Dole was able to write with +confidence--and he was writing at the request of the president--that +the United States was prepared to maintain itself in its authority +over the Indians at all hazards.[139] + +Boastful words those were and not to be made good until many precious +months had elapsed and many sad regrettable scenes enacted. In early +November occurred the reorganization of the Department of the West +which meant the formation of a Department of Kansas separate and +distinct from a Department of Missouri, an arrangement that afforded +ample opportunity for a closer attention to local exigencies in both +states than had heretofore been possible or than, upon trial, was +subsequently to be deemed altogether desirable. It necessarily +increased the chances for local patronage and exposed military matters +to the grave danger of becoming hopelessly entangled with political. + +The need for change of some sort was, however, very evident and the +demand for it, insistent. If the southern Indians were not soon +secured, they were bound to menace, not only Kansas, but Colorado[140] +and to help materially in blocking the way to Texas, New Mexico, + +[Footnote 138: Indian Office _Report Book_ no. 12, 225.] + +[Footnote 139: Dole to Hunter, November 16, 1861, ibid., _Letter +Book_, no. 67, pp. 80-82.] + +[Footnote 140: On conditions in Colorado Territory, the following are +enlightening: ibid., _Consolidated Files_, C 195 of 1861; C 1213 +of 1861; C 1270 of 1861; C 1369 of 1861; V 43 of 1861; _Official +Records_, vol. iv, 73.] + +and Arizona. Their own domestic affairs had now reached a supremely +critical stage.[141] It was high time + +[Footnote 141: In addition to what may be obtained on the subject from +the first volume of this work, two letters of slightly later date +furnish particulars, as do also the records of a council held by Agent +Cuther with certain chiefs at Leroy. + +(a). LAWRENCE, KANSAS, Dec. 14th, 1861. + +HON.W.P. DOLE, Commissioner of Ind. Affairs + +Dear Sir, It is with reluctance that I again intrude on your valuable +time. But I am induced to do so by the conviction that the subject +of our Indian relations is really a matter of serious concern: as +involving the justice and honor of our own Government, and the deepest +interests--the very existence, indeed--of a helpless and dependent +people. And knowing that it is your wish to be furnished with every +item of information which may, in any way, throw light on the subject, +I venture to trouble you with another letter. + +Mico Hat-ki, the Creek man referred to in my letter of Oct. 31st has +been back to the Creek Nation, and returned about the middle of +last month. He was accompanied, to this place, by one of his former +companions, but had left some of their present company at LeRoy. They +were expecting to have a meeting with some of the Indians, at LeRoy, +to consult about the proper course to be pursued, in order to +protect the loyal and peaceable Indians, from the hostility of the +disaffected, who have become troublesome and menacing in their +bearing. + +With this man and his companion, I had considerable conversation, and +find that the Secessionists and disaffected Half-breeds are carrying +things with a high hand. While the loyal Indians are not in +a condition to resist them, by reason of the proximity of an +overwhelming rebel force. + +From them (repeating their former statements, regarding the defection +of certain parties, and the loyalty of others, with the addition of +some further particulars) I learn the following facts: Viz. That +M Kennard, the Principal Chief of the Lower Creeks, most of the +McIntoshes, George Stidham, and others have joined the rebels, and +organized a military force in their interest; for the purpose of +intimidating and harrassing the loyal Indians. They name some of the +officers, but are not sufficiently conversant with military terms to +distinguish the different grades, with much exactness. Unee McIntosh, +however, is the highest in rank, (a Colonel I presume) and Sam +Cho-co-ti, George Stidham, Chilly McIntosh, are all officers in the +Lower Creek rebel force. + +Among the Upper Creeks, John Smith, Timiny Barnet and Wm. Robinson, +are leaders. + +Among the Seminoles, John Jumper, the Principal Chief, is on the side +of the rebels. Pas-co-fa, the second chief, stands neutral. Fraser +McClish, though himself a Chickasaw, has raised a company (cont.)] + +for the Federal government to do something to attest its own +competency. There was need for it to do that, + +[Footnote 141: (cont.) among the Seminoles in favor of the rebellion. +They say the full Indians will kill him. + +The Choctaws are divided in much the same way as the other Tribes, the +disaffected being principally among the Half-breeds. + +The Chickasaw Governor, Harris, is a Secessionist; and so are most, if +not all, the Colberts. The full Indians are loyal to the Government, +as are some of the mixed bloods also, and here, I remark, from my own +knowledge, that this Governor Harris was the first to propose the +adoption of concerted measures, among the Southern Tribes, on the +subject of Secession. This was instantly and earnestly opposed by John +Ross, as being out of place, and an ungrateful violation of the Treaty +obligations, by which the Tribes had placed themselves under the +exclusive protection of the United States; and, under which, they had +enjoyed a long course of peace and prosperity. + +They say, there are about four hundred Secessionists, among the +Cherokees. But whether organized or not, I did not understand. I +presume they meant such as were formerly designated by the term +Warriors, somewhat analogous to the class among ourselves, who are fit +for military duty, though they may or may not be actually organized +and under arms. So that the _Thousands of Indians_ in +the secession papers, as figuring in the armies, are enormous +exaggerations; and most of them sheer fabrications. + +Albert Pike, of Little Rock, boasts of having visited and made treaty +alliances with the Comanches, and other tribes, on behalf of the +"Confederate States," but the Indians do not believe him. And, in +blunt style, say "he tells lies." + +They make favorable mention of O-poth-le-yo-ho-lo, an ex-Creek Chief, +a true patriot of former days. But, it seems, he has been molested and +forced to leave his home to avoid the annoyance and violence of the +rebel party. There are, however, more than three thousand young men, +of the warrior class, who adhere to his principles, and hold true +faith and allegiance to the United States. + +They say also that John Ross is not a Secessionist, and that there are +more than four thousand patriots among the Cherokees, who are true to +the Government of the United States. This agrees, substantially, with +my own personal knowledge, unless they have changed within a very +short time, which is not at all probable, as the Cherokees, of this +class, are pretty fully and correctly informed about the nature of the +controversy. And I may add, that much of their information is, through +one channel and another, communicated to the Creeks, and much of their +spirit too. + +On the whole, judging from the most reliable information, I have been +able to obtain, I feel assured that the Full Indians of the Creeks, +Cherokees, Seminoles, and the small bands living in the Creek Nation, +are faithful to the Government. And the same, to a great extent, is +(cont.)] + +moreover, on recognizably loyal ground, causes for dissatisfaction +among Kansas emigrant tribes to be + +[Footnote 141: (cont.) true of the Choctaws and Chickasaws. And were +it not for the proximity of the rebel force, the loyal Indians would +put down the Secession movement among themselves, at once. Or rather, +they would not have suffered it to rise at all. + +The loyal Indians say, they wish "to stand by their Old Treaties." And +they are as persistent in their adherence to these Treaties, as we +are, to our Constitution. And I have no doubt that, as soon as the +Government can afford them protection, they will be ready, at the +first call, to manifest, by overt action, the loyalty to which they +are pledged. + +They are looking, with great anxiety and hope, for the coming of the +great army. And I have no doubt that a friendly communication from the +Government, through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, would have a +powerful effect in removing any false impressions, which may have been +made, on the ignorant and unwary, by the emissaries of Secession, and +to encourage and reassure the loyal friends of the Government, who, in +despair of timely aid, may have been compelled to yield any degree of +submission, to the pressure of an overwhelming force. I was expecting +to see these Indians again, and to have had further conversation with +them. But I am informed by Charles Johnnycake that they have gone to +Fort Leavenworth and expect to go on to Washington. Hearing this, I +hesitated about troubling you with this letter at all, as, in that +case, you would see them yourself. But I have concluded to send it, as +affording me an opportunity to express a few thoughts, with which it +would hardly be worth while to occupy a separate letter. + +Hoping that the counsels and movements of the Government may be +directed by wisdom from above, and that the cause of truth and right +may prevail, I remain with great respect, Dear Sir, Your Obedient +Ser'v EVAN JONES. + +P.S. I rec. a note from Mr. Carruth, saying that he was going to +Washington, with a delegation of Southern Indians, and I suppose Mico +Hatki and his companions are that Delegation, or at least a part of +them. + +I will just say in regard to Mr. Carruth that I was acquainted with +him, several years ago, as a teacher in the Cherokee Nation. He +afterwards went to the Creek Nation, I _think_, as teacher of a +Government school, and I believe, has been there ever since. If so, +he must know a good deal about the Creeks. Mr. Carruth bore a good +character. I think he married one of the Missionary ladies of the +Presbyterian Mission. + +[Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Southern +Superintendency_, J 530 of 1861.] + +(b). Wichita Agency, L.D., December 15, 1861. + +All well and doing well. Hear you are having trouble among +yourselves--fighting one another, but you and we are friendly. Our +(cont.)] + +removed and drastic measures taken with the indigenous of the plains. + +The appointment of Hunter to the command of the + +[Footnote 141: (cont.) brothers the Comanches and all the other tribes +are still your friends. Mode Cunard and you were here and had the talk +with Gen. Pike; we still hold to the talk we made with Gen. Pike, and +are keeping the treaty in good faith, and are looking for him back +again soon. We look upon you and Mode Cunard and Gen. Pike as +brothers. Gen. Pike told us at the council that there were but few +of us here, and if any thing turned up to make it necessary he would +protect them. We are just as we were when Gen. Pike was up here and +keeping the treaty made with him. Our brothers the wild Comanches have +been in and are friendly with us. + +All the Indians here have but one heart. Our brothers, the Texans, +and the Indians are away fighting the cold weather people. We do not +intend to go North to fight them, but if they come down here, we will +all wait to drive them away. Some of my people are one-eyed and a +little crippled, but if the enemy comes here they will all jump out +to fight him. Pea-o-popicult, the principal Kiowa chief, has recently +visited the reserve, and expressed friendly intentions, and has gone +back to consult the rest of his people, and designs returning. + +Hoseca X Maria} Ke-Had-a-wah } Chiefs of the Camanches Buffalo Hump } +Te-nah Geo. Washington Jim Pockmark + +[Indian Office, Confederate Papers, Copy of a letter to John Jumper, +certified as a true copy by A.T. Pagy.] + +(c). LEROY, COFFEY CO., KANSAS, NOV. 4, 1861. + +HON. WM.P. DOLE, COM'R INDIAN AFFAIRS, +Washington, D.C. + +Dear Sir: Enclosed I send you a statement of delegation of Creeks, +Chickasaw, and Kininola who are here for assistance from the +Government. You will see by the enclosed that I have held a Council +with them the result of which I send verbatim. They have travelled +some 300 or 400 miles to get here, had to take an unfrequented +road and were in momentary fear of their lives not because the +secessionists were stronger than the Union party in their nation, but +because the secessionists were on the alert and were determined that +there should be no communication with the Government. + +They underwent a great many privations in getting here, had to bear +their own expenses, which as some of them who were up here a short +time ago have travelled in coming and going some 900 miles was +considerable. + +I am now supplying them with everything they need on my own +responsibility. They dare not return to their people unless troops +(cont.)] + +Department of Kansas was open to certain objections, no doubt; but, to +Lane, whose forceful personality had + +[Footnote 141: (cont.) are sent with them and they assure me the +moment that is done, a large portion of each of the tribes will rally +to the support of the Government and that their warriors will gladly +take up arms in its defence. + +I write to you from Topeka and urge that steps be taken to render them +the requisite protection. I am satisfied that the Department will +see the urgent necessity of carrying out the Treaty stipulations and +giving these Indians who are so desirous of standing firm by the +Government and who have resisted so persistently all the overtures of +the secessionists, the assistance and protection which is their due. I +am informed by these Indians that John Ross is desirous of standing by +the Government, and that he has 4000 warriors who are willing to do +battle for the cause of the Union. + +They also inform me, that the Washitas, Caddos, Tenies, Wakoes, +Tewakano, Chiekies, Shawnees, and Kickapoos are almost unanimously +Union. Gen. Lane is anxious to do something to relieve the Union +Indians in the southern tribes, by taking prompt and energetic steps +at this time--it can be done with little expense and but little +trouble, while the benefit to be derived will be incalculable. Let me +beg of you and more that the matter be laid before the Department and +the proper steps be taken to give the Indians that protection which is +their due and at the same time take an important step in sustaining +the supremacy of the Government. Your obedient Servant, GEO.A. CUTLER, +_agent_ for the Indians of the Creek agency. + +ENCLOSURES + +At a Council of the Creeks, held at Leroy in Coffey County, Kansas, at +the house of the Agent of said Indians, Maj. Geo. A. Cutler, who was +unable to visit their Country owing to the rebellion existing in the +Country, the following talk was had by the Chiefs of said nation, +eight in number--Four Creeks, Two Seminoles, Two Chickasaws. + +Oke-Tah-hah-shah-haw-choe, Chief of Creek Upper District says, he will +talk short words this time--wants to tell how to get trouble in Creek +nation. First time Albert Pike come in he made great deal trouble. +That man told Indian that the Union people would come and take away +property and would take away land--now you sleep, you ought to wake up +and attend to your own property. Tell them there ain't no U.S.--ain't +any more Treaty--all be dead--Tell them as there is no more U.S. no +more Treaty that the Creeks had better make new Treaty with the South +and the Southern President would protect them and give them their +annuity--Tell them if you make Treaty with southern President that he +would pay you more annuity and would pay better than the U.S. if they +the Indians would help the Southern President--Mr. Pike makes the half +(cont.)] + +impressed itself, for good or ill, upon the trans-Missouri region, it +was, to say the least, somewhat + +[Footnote 141: (cont.) breeds believe what he says and the half breeds +makes some of the full blood Indians believe what he says that they +(the Indians) must help the secessionists. Then that is so--but as for +himself he don't believe him yet. Then he thought the old U.S. +was alive yet and the Treaty was good. Wont go against the U.S. +himself--That is the reason the Secessions want to have him--The +Secessionists offered 5000$ for his head because he would not go +against the U.S. Never knew that Creek have an agent here until he +come and see him and that is why I have come among this Union people. +Have come in and saw my agent and want to go by the old Treaty. +Wants to get with U.S. Army so that I can get back to my people as +Secessionists will not let me go. Wants the Great Father to send the +Union Red people and Troops down the Black Beaver road and he will +guide them to his country and then all his people will be for the +Union--That he cannot get back to his people any other way--Our Father +to protect the land in peace so that he can live in peace on the land +according to the Treaty--At the time I left my union people I told +them to look to the Beaver Road until I come. Promised his own people +that the U.S. Army would come back the Beaver Road and wants to go +that way--The way he left his country his people was in an elbow +surrounded by secessions and his people is not strong enough against +them for Union and that is the reason he has come up for help--Needed +guns, powder, lead to take to his own people. Own people for the Union +about 3350 warriors all Creeks--Needed now clothing, tents for winter, +tools, shirts, and every thing owned by whites,--wants their annuity +as they need it now--The Indians and the Whites among us have done +nothing against any one but the Secessionists have compelled us to +fight and we are willing to fight for the Union. Creek half breeds +joined secessionists. 32 head men and leaders-27 towns for the Union +among Creeks + +_Signed_: Oke-tah-hah-shah-haw Choe +his X mark. + +_Talk of Chickasaw Chief, Toe-Lad-Ke_ + +Says--Will talk short words--have had fever and sick--Secessionists +told him no more U.S. no more Treaty--all broken up better make new +Treaty with Secessionists--Although they told him all this did not +believe them and that is reason came up to see if there was not still +old U.S.--Loves his country--loves his children and would not believe +them yet--That he did not believe what the Secessionists told him and +they would not let him live in peace and that is the reason he left +his country--The secessionists want to tie him--whip him and make him +join them--but he would not and he left. + + 100 warriors for secession-- + 2240 do " Union + +(cont.)] + +disconcerting, not because Lane was hostile to Hunter personally--the +two men had long had a friendly acquaintance + +[Footnote 141: (cont.) The secessionists plague him so much talk he +asks for his country that the army go down and that is what his people +wants same as Creek and Seminole--Have seen the agent of the Creeks +but have not seen our agent but want to see him--wants agent sent--He +has always done no wrong--Secessionists would not let him live in +peace--and if have to fight all his people will fight for Union--That +is all the chance that he can save his lands and property to +children--by old U.S. and Treaty--Chickasaw--Seminoles and Creeks all +in no difference--all for the Union--all want annuity and have had +none for some time--Now my Great Father you must remember me and my +people and all our wants. _Signed_: TOE-LAD-KE, his X mark. + +_Talk of Seminole Chief, Choo-Loo-Foe-Lop-hah-Choe_ + +Says: Pike went among the Seminoles and tell them the same as he +told the Creek. The talk of Pike he did not believe and told him +so himself--Some of my people did believe Pike and did join the +secessionists also he believed the old U.S. is alive and Treaty not +dead and that is the reason he come up and had this talk--Never had +done any thing against Treaty and had come to have Great Father +protect us--Secession told him that Union men was going to take away +land and property--could get no annuity old U.S. all gone--come to +see--find it not so--wants President to send an agent don't know who +agent is--wants to appoint agent himself as he knows who he wants. +Twelve towns are for the Union + + 500 warriors for the Union + 100 do " Secession + +All people who come with Billy Bowlegs are Union--Chief in place of +Billy Bowlegs Shoe-Nock-Me-Koe this is his name--Need everything that +Creeks need--arms clothing, etc. etc. wants to go with army same way +and same road with Creek--This is what we ask of our Great Father live +as the Treaty says in peace--and all Seminole warriors will fight for +the Union. This is the request of our people of our Great Father They +need their annuity have not had any for nearly a year and want it +sent. + +_Signed_: CHOO-LOO-FOE-LOP-HAH-CHOE, his X mark. + +We the Chiefs of the three nations Creeks, Chickasaws and Seminoles +who are of this delegation and all for the Union and the majority of +our people are for the Union and agree in all that has been said by +the Chiefs who have made this talk, and believe all they have said to +be true-- + + OKE-TAH-HAH-SHAH-HAW-CHOE his X mark Creek + WHITE CHIEF his X mark Creek + + BOB DEER his X mark Creek + PHIL DAVID his X mark Creek + +(cont.)] + +with each other[142]--but because he had had great hopes of receiving +the post himself.[143] The time was now drawing near for him to repair +to Washington to resume his senatorial duties since Congress was to +convene the second of December. + +To further his scheme for Indian enlistment, Lane had projected an +inter-tribal council to be held at his own headquarters. E.H. Carruth +worked especially to that end. The man in charge of the Southern +Superintendency, W.G. Coffin, had a similar plan in mind for less +specific reasons. His idea was to confer with the representatives of +the southern tribes with reference to Indian Territory conditions +generally. It was part of the duty appertaining to his office. +Humboldt[144] was the place selected by him for the meeting; +but Leroy, being better protected and more accessible, was soon +substituted. The sessions commenced the + +[Footnote 141: (cont.) + + TOE-LAD-KE his X mark Chickasaw + CHAP-PIA-KE his X mark Chickasaw + + CHOO-LOO-FOE-LOP-HAH-CHOE his X mark Seminole + OH-CHEN-YAH-HOE-LAH his X mark Seminole + + _Witness_: C.F. Currier + W. Whistler + +LEROY, COFFEY CO. KAN., Nov. 4 1861. + +I do certify that the within statement of the different chiefs were +taken before me at a council held at my house at the time stated and +that the talk of the Indian was correctly taken down by a competent +clerk at the time. + +GEO.A. CUTLER, _Agent_ for the Creek Indians. + +[Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Southern +Superintendency_, C 1400 of 1861.]] + +[Footnote 142: Their acquaintance dated, if not from the antebellum +days when Hunter was stationed at Fort Leavenworth and was not +particularly magnanimous in his treatment of Southerners, then from +those when he had charge, by order of General Scott, of the guard at +the White House. _Report of the Military Services of General David +Hunter_, pp. 7, 8.] + +[Footnote 143: _Daily Conservative_, November 13, 1861.] + +[Footnote 144: Coffin to Dole, October 2, 1861, Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 39.] + +sixteenth[145] of November and were still continuing on the +twenty-third.[146] It had not been possible to hold them earlier +because of the disturbed state of the country and the consequent +difficulty of getting into touch with the Indians. + +Upon assuming command of the Department of Kansas, General Hunter took +full cognizance of the many things making for disquietude and turmoil +in the country now under his jurisdiction. Indian relations became, of +necessity, matters of prime concern. Three things bear witness to this +fact, Hunter's plans for an inter-tribal council at Fort Leavenworth, +his own headquarters; his advocacy of Indian enlistment, especially +from among the southern Indians; and his intention, early avowed, of +bringing Brigadier-general James W. Denver into military prominence +and of entrusting to him the supervisory command in Kansas. In some +respects, no man could have been found equal to Denver in conspicuous +fitness for such a position. He had served as commissioner of Indian +affairs[147] under Buchanan and, although a Virginian by birth, +had had a large experience with frontier life--in Missouri, in the +Southwest during the Mexican War, and in California. He had also +measured swords with Lane. It was in squatter-sovereignty days when, +first as secretary and then as governor of Kansas Territory, he +had been in a position to become intimately acquainted with the +intricacies of Lane's true character and had had both occasion and +opportunity to oppose some of that worthy's autocratic and thoroughly +lawless + +[Footnote 145: _Daily Conservative_, November 17, 1861.] + +[Footnote 146:--Ibid., November 23,1861.] + +[Footnote 147: Denver was twice appointed Commissioner of Indian +Affairs by Buchanan. For details as to his official career, see +_Biographical Congressional Directory_, 499, and Robinson, +_Kansas Conflict_, 424.] + +maneuvers.[148] As events turned out, this very acquaintance with Lane +constituted his political unfitness for the control that Hunter,[149] +in December, and Halleck,[150] in the following March, designed to +give him. With the second summons to command, came opportunity for +Lane's vindictive animosity to be called into play. Historically, it +furnished conclusive proof, if any were needed, that Lane had supreme +power over the distribution of Federal patronage in his own state and +exercised that power even at the cost of the well-being and credit of +his constituency. + +When Congress began its second session in December, the fight against +Lane for possession of his seat in the Senate proceeded apace; but +that did not, in the least, deter him from working for his brigade. +His scheme now was to have it organized on a different footing from +that which it had sustained heretofore. His influence with the +administration in Washington was still very peculiar and very +considerable, so much so, in fact, that President Lincoln, without +taking expert advice and without consulting either the military men, +whose authority would necessarily be affected, or the civil officials +in Kansas, nominated him to the Senate as brigadier-general to have +charge of troops in that state.[151] Secretary Cameron was absent from +the city + +[Footnote 148: Robinson, _op. cit_., 378 ff., 424 ff.] + +[Footnote 149: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 456.] + +[Footnote 150:--Ibid., 832.] + +[Footnote 151: The Leavenworth _Daily Conservative_ seemed +fairly jubilant over the prospect of Lane's early return to military +activity. The following extracts from its news items and editorials +convey some such idea: + +"General Lane of Kansas has been nominated to the Senate and +unanimously confirmed, as Brigadier General, to command Kansas troops; +the express understanding being that General Lane's seat in the Senate +shall not be vacated until he accepts his new commission, which he +will not do until the Legislature of Kansas assembles, next month. He +has no idea of doing anything that shall oblige Governor Robinson and +his appointee (Stanton) (cont.)] + +at the time this was done and apparently, when apprised of it, made +some objections on the score, not so much of an invasion of his own +prerogative, as of its probable effect upon Hunter. Cameron had his +first consultation with Lane regarding the matter, January second, and +was given by him to understand that everything had been done in strict +accordance with Hunter's own wishes.[152] The practical question of +the relation of Lane's brigade to Hunter's command soon, however, +presented itself in a somewhat different light and its answer required +a more explicit statement from the president than had yet been made. +Lincoln, when appealed to, unhesitatingly repudiated every suggestion +of the idea that it had ever been his intention to give Lane an +independent command or to have Hunter, in any sense, superseded.[153] + +The need for sending relief to the southern Indians, which, correctly +interpreted meant, of course, reasserting authority over them and thus +removing a menacing and impending danger from the Kansas border, had +been one of Lane's strongest arguments in gaining his way with the +administration. The larger aspect of his purpose was, however, the one +that appealed to Commissioner Dole, who, as head of the Indian Bureau, +seems fully to have appreciated the responsibility that + +[Footnote 151: (cont.) who has been in waiting for several months to +take the place."--_Daily Conservative_, January 1, 1862. + +"Rejoicing in Neosho Battalion over report that Lane appointed to +command Kansas troops."--Ibid., January 4, 1862. + +"General Lane will soon be here and General Denver called to another +command."--Ibid., January 7, 1862.] + +[Footnote 152: Cameron to Hunter, January 3, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 512-513.] + +[Footnote 153: Martin F. Conway, the Kansas representative in +Congress, was under no misapprehension as to Lane's true position; +for Lincoln had told him personally that Lane was to be under Hunter +[_Daily Conservative_, February 6, 1862].] + +assuredly rested in all honor upon the government, whether conscious +of it or not, to protect its wards in their lives and property. From +the first intimation given him of Lane's desire for a more energetic +procedure, Dole showed a willingness to coöperate; and, as many things +were demanding his personal attention in the West, he so timed a +journey of his own that it might be possible for him to assist in +getting together the Indian contingent that was to form a part of the +"Southern Expedition."[154] + +The urgency of the Indian call for help[155] and the + +[Footnote 154: Lane's expedition was variously referred to as "the +Southern Expedition," "the Cherokee Expedition," "the great jayhawking +expedition," and by many another name, more or less opprobrious.] + +[Footnote 155: Representations of the great need of the Indians for +assistance were made to the government by all sorts of people. Agent +after agent wrote to the Indian Office. The Reverend Evan Jones wrote +repeatedly and on the second of January had sent information, brought +to him at Lawrence by two fugitive Cherokees, of the recent battle in +which the loyalists under Opoethle-yo-ho-la had been worsted, at +the Big Bend of the Arkansas [Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, +_Southern Superintendency_, J 540 of 1862]. In the early winter, +a mixed delegation of Creeks and others had made their way to +Washington, hoping by personal entreaty to obtain succor for their +distressed people, and justice. Hunter had issued a draft for their +individual relief [Ibid., J523 of 1861], and passes from Fort +Leavenworth to Washington [Ibid., C1433 of 1861]. It was not so +easy for them to get passes coming back. Application was made to the +War Department and referred back to the Interior [Ibid., A 434 +of 1861]. The estimate, somewhat inaccurately footed up, of the total +expense of the return journey as submitted by agents Cutler and +Carruth was, + + "11 R.R. Tickets to Fort Leavenworth by way of New York City + $48 $ 528.00 + + 11 men $2 ea (incidental expenses) 22.00 + + 2 1/2 wks board at Washington $5 137.50 + + Expenses from Leavenworth to Ind. Nat 50.00 + + Pay of Tecumseh for taking care of horses 25.00 + ------- + + [Ibid., C 1433 of 1861]. $ 960.50" + +Dole had not encouraged the delegation to come on to Washington. +He pleaded lack of funds and the wish that they would wait in Fort +Leavenworth and attend Hunter's inter-tribal council so that they +might go back to their people carrying definite messages of what was +to be done (cont.)] + +evident readiness of the government to make answer to that call before +it was quite too late pointed auspiciously to a successful outcome for +Senator Lane's endeavors; but, unfortunately, Major-general Hunter had +not been sufficiently counted with. Hunter had previously shown much +sympathy for the Indians in their distress[156] and also a realization +of the strategic importance + +[Footnote 155: (cont.) [Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 67, +p. 107]. Dole had been forwarned of their intention to appear in +Washington by the following letter: + +FORT LEAVENWORTH KAN., Nov. 23rd 1861. +HON WM.P. DOLE, Com. Indian Affs. + +Sir: On my arrival in St. Louis I found Gen'l Hunter at the Planters +House and delivered the message to him that you had placed in my hands +for that purpose. He seemed fully satisfied with your letter and has +acted on it accordingly. I recd from Gen'l Hunter a letter for Mr. +Cutler, and others of this place, all of which I have delivered. +Having found Cutler here, he having been ordered by Lane to move the +council from Leroy to Fort Scott. But from some cause (which I have +not learned) he has brought the chiefs all here to the Fort, where +they are now quartered awaiting the arrival of Gen'l Hunter. He has +with him six of the head chiefs of the Creek, Seminole and Cherokee +Nations, and tells me that they are strong for the Union. He also says +that John Ross (Cherokee) is all right but dare not let it be known, +and that he will be here if he can get away from the tribe. + +These chiefs all say they want to fight for the Union, and that they +will do so if they can get arms and ammunition. Gen'l Hunter has +ordered me to await his arrival here at which time he will council +with these men, and report to you the result. I think he will be +here on Tuesday or Wednesday. Cutler wants to take the Indians to +Washington, but I advised him not to do so until I could hear from +you. When I met him here he was on his way there. + +You had better write to him here as soon as you get this, or you will +see him there pretty soon. + +I have nothing more to write now but will write in a day or two. + +Yours Truly R.W. DOLE. + +P.S. Coffin is at home sick, but will be here soon. Branch is at St. +Joe but would not come over with me, cause, too buissie to attend to +business. + +[Indian Office Special Files, no 201, _Southern Superintendency_, +D 410 of 1861].] + +[Footnote 156: In part proof of this take his letter to +Adjutant-general Thomas, January 15, 1862. + +"On my arrival here in November last I telegraphed for permission to +(cont.)] + +of Indian Territory. Some other explanation, therefore, must be found +for the opposition he advanced to Lane's project as soon as it was +brought to his notice. It had been launched without his approval +having been explicitly sought and almost under false pretences.[157] +Then, too, Lane's bumptiousness, after he had accomplished his object, +was naturally very irritating. But, far above every other reason, +personal or professional, that Hunter had for objecting to a command +conducted by Lane was the identical one that Halleck,[158] Robinson, +and many another shared with him, a wholesome repugnance to such +marauding[159] as Lane had permitted his men to indulge in in the +autumn. It was to be feared that Indians under Lane would inevitably +revert to savagery. There would be no one to put any restraint upon +them and their natural instincts would be given free play. Conceivably +then, it was not mere supersensitiveness and pettiness of spirit that +moved General Hunter to take exception to Lane's appointment but +regard for the honor of his profession, perchance, also, a certain +feeling of personal dignity that + +[Footnote 156: (cont.) muster a Brigade of Kansas Indians into the +service of the United States, to assist the friendly Creek Indians in +maintaining their loyalty. Had this permission been promptly granted, +I have every reason to believe that the present disastrous state of +affairs, in the Indian country west of Arkansas, could have been +avoided. I now again respectfully repeat my request."--Indian Office +General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +[Footnote 157: To the references given in Abel, _The American Indian +as Slaveholder and Secessionist_, add Thomas to Hunter, January 24, +1862, _Official Records_, vol. viii, 525.] + +[Footnote 158: The St. Louis _Republican_ credited Halleck with +characterizing Hunter's command, indiscriminately, as "marauders, +bandits, and outlaws" [_Daily Conservative_, February 7, 1862]. +In a letter to Lincoln, January 6, 1862, Halleck said some pretty +plain truths about Lane [_Official Records_, vol. vii, 532-533]. +He would probably have had the same objection to the use of +Indians that he had to the use of negroes in warfare [_Daily +Conservative_, May 23, 1862, quoting from the Chicago +_Tribune_].] + +[Footnote 159: On marauding by Lane's brigade, see McClellan to +Stanton, February 11, 1862 [_Official Records_, vol. viii, +552-553].] + +legitimately resented executive interference with his rights. His +protest had its effect and he was informed that it was entirely within +his prerogative to lead the expedition southward himself. He resolved +to do it. Lane was, for once, outwitted. + +The end, however, was not yet. About the middle of January, Stanton +became Secretary of War and soon let it be known that he, too, had +views on the subject of Indian enlistment. As a matter of fact, he +refused to countenance it.[160] The disappointment was the most keen +for Commissioner Dole. Since long before the day when Secretary Smith +had announced[161] to him that the Department of War was contemplating +the employment of four thousand Indians in its service, he had hoped +for some means of rescuing the southern tribes from the Confederate +alliance and now all plans had come to naught. And yet the need +for strenuous action of some sort had never been so great.[162] +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la and his defeated followers were refugees on the +Verdigris, imploring help to relieve their present + +[Footnote 160: Note this series of telegrams [Indian Office Special +Files, no. 201, _Southern Superintendency_, D 576 of 1862]: + +"Secretary of War is unwilling to put Indians in the army. Is to +consult with President and settle it today."--SMITH to Dole, February +6, 1862. + +"President cant attend to business now. Sickness in the family. No +arrangements can be made now. Make necessary arrangements for relief +of Indians. I will send communication to Congress today."--Same to +Same, February 11, 1862. + +"Go on and supply the destitute Indians. Congress will supply the +means. War Department will not organize them."--Same to Same, February +14, 1862.] + +[Footnote 161: Smith to Dole, January 3, 1862 [Indian Office Special +Files, no. 201, _Central Superintendency_, I 531 of 1862; +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 150].] + +[Footnote 162: On the second of January, Agent Cutler wired from +Leavenworth to Dole, "Heopothleyohola with four thousand warriors is +in the field and needs help badly. Secession Creeks are deserting him. +Hurry up Lane."--Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Southern +Superintendency_, C 1443 of 1862.] + +necessities and to enable them to return betimes to their own +country.[163] Moreover, Indians of northern antecedents and sympathies +were exhibiting unwonted enthusiasm for the cause[164] and it seemed +hard to have to repel them. Dole was, nevertheless, compelled to do +it. On the eleventh of February, he countermanded the orders he had +issued to Superintendent Coffin and thus a temporary quietus was put +upon the whole affair of the Indian Expedition. + +[Footnote 163: Their plea was expressed most strongly in the course of +an interview which Dole had with representatives of the Loyal Creeks +and Seminoles, Iowas and Delawares, February 1, 1862. Robert Burbank, +the Iowa agent, was there. White Cloud acted as interpreter [_Daily +Conservative_, February 2, 1862].] + +[Footnote 164: Some of these had been provoked to a desire for war by +the inroads of Missourians. Weas, Piankeshaws, Peorias, and Miamies, +awaiting the return of Dole from the interior of Kansas, said, +"they were for peace but the Missourians had not left them alone" +[Ibid., February 9, 1862].] + + + + +III. THE INDIAN REFUGEES IN SOUTHERN KANSAS + + +The thing that would most have justified the military employment of +Indians by the United States government, in the winter of 1862, was +the fact that hundreds and thousands of their southern brethren were +then refugees because of their courageous and unswerving devotion to +the American Union. The tale of those refugees, of their wanderings, +their deprivations, their sufferings, and their wrongs, comparable +only to that of the Belgians in the Great European War of 1914, is +one of the saddest to relate, and one of the most disgraceful, in the +history of the War of Secession, in its border phase. + +The first in the long procession of refugees were those of the army +of Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la who, after their final defeat by Colonel James +McIntosh in the Battle of Chustenahlah, December 26, 1861, had fled up +the valley of the Verdigris River and had entered Kansas near Walnut +Creek. In scattered lines, with hosts of stragglers, the enfeebled, +the aged, the weary, and the sick, they had crossed the Cherokee Strip +and the Osage Reservation and, heading steadily towards the northeast, +had finally encamped on the outermost edge of the New York Indian +Lands, on Fall River, some sixty odd miles west of Humboldt. Those +lands, never having been accepted as an equivalent for their Wisconsin +holdings by the Iroquois, were not occupied throughout their entire +extent by Indians and only here and there + +encroached upon by white intruders, consequently the impoverished +and greatly fatigued travellers encountered no obstacles in settling +themselves down to rest and to wait for a much needed replenishment of +their resources. + +Their coming was expected. On their way northward, they had fallen +in, at some stage of the journey, with some buffalo hunters, Sacs and +Foxes of the Mississippi, returning to their reservation, which lay +some distance north of Burlington and chiefly in present Osage County, +Kansas. To them the refugees reported their recent tragic experience. +The Sacs and Foxes were most sympathetic and, after relieving the +necessities of the refugees as best they could, hurried on ahead, +imparting the news, in their turn, to various white people whom they +met. In due course it reached General Denver, still supervising +affairs in Kansas, and William G. Coffin, the southern +superintendent.[165] It was the first time, since his appointment the +spring before, that Coffin had had any prospect of getting in touch +with any considerable number of his charges and he must have welcomed +the chance of now really earning his salary. He ordered all of the +agents under him--and some[166] of them had not previously entered +officially upon their duties--to assemble at Fort Roe, on the +Verdigris, and be prepared to take charge of their + +[Footnote 165: These facts were obtained chiefly from a letter, not +strictly accurate as to some of its details, written by Superintendent +Coffin to Dole, January 15, 1862 [Indian Office Special Files, no. +201, _Southern Superintendency_, C 1474 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 166: For instance, William P. Davis, who had been appointed +Seminole Agent, despairing of ever reaching his post, had gone into +the army [Dole to John S. Davis of New Albany, Indiana, April 5, 1862, +Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 68, p. 39]. George C. Snow of +Parke County, Indiana, was appointed in his stead [Dole to Snow, +January 13, 1862, Ibid., no. 67, p. 243].] + +several contingents; for the refugees, although chiefly Creeks, were +representative of nearly every one of the non-indigenous tribes of +Indian Territory. + +It is not an easy matter to say, with any show of approach to exact +figures, how many the refugees numbered.[167] For weeks and weeks, +they were almost continually coming in and even the very first reports +bear suspicious signs of the exaggeration that became really notorious +as graft and peculation entered more and more into the reckoning. +Apparently, all those who, in ever so slight a degree, handled the +relief funds, except, perhaps, the army men, were interested in +making the numbers appear as large as possible. The larger the need +represented, the larger the sum that might, with propriety, be +demanded and the larger the opportunity for graft. Settlers, traders, +and some government agents were, in this respect, all culpable +together. + +There was no possibility of mistake, however, intentional or +otherwise, about the destitution of the refugees. It was inconceivably +horrible. The winter weather of late December and early January had +been most inclement and the Indians had trudged through it, over +snow-covered, rocky, trailless places and desolate prairie, nigh three +hundred miles. When they started out, they were not any too well +provided with clothing; for they had departed in a hurry, and, before +they got to Fall River, not a few of them were absolutely naked. They +had practically no tents, no bed-coverings, and no provisions. Dr. +A.B. Campbell, a surgeon sent out by General Hunter,[168] had reached +them + +[Footnote 167: Compare the statistics given in the following: +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 151; 1862, +pp. 137, 157; Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Southern +Superintendency_, C 1525 of 1862; General Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, C 1602 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 168: The army furnished the first relief that reached them. +In its issue (cont.)] + +towards the end of January and their condition was then so bad, so +wretched that it was impossible for him to depict it. Prairie grasses +were "their only protection from the snow" upon which they were +lying "and from the wind and weather scraps and rags stretched upon +switches." Ho-go-bo-foh-yah, the second Creek chief, was ill with a +fever and "his tent (to give it that name) was no larger than a small +blanket stretched over a switch ridge pole, two feet from the ground, +and did not reach it by a foot from the ground on either side of +him." Campbell further said that the refugees were greatly in need of +medical assistance. They were suffering "with inflammatory diseases +of the chest, throat, and eyes." Many had "their toes frozen off," +others, "their feet wounded." But few had "either shoes or moccasins." +Dead horses were lying around in every direction and the sanitary +conditions were so bad that the food was contaminated and the +newly-arriving refugees became sick as soon as they ate.[169] + +Other details of their destitution were furnished by Coffin's son +who was acting as his clerk and who was among the first to attempt +alleviation of their misery.[170] As far as relief went, however, the +supply was so out of proportion to the demand that there was never +any time that spring when it could be said that they were fairly +comfortable and their ordinary wants satisfied. Campbell frankly +admitted that he "selected the nakedest of the naked" and doled out to +them the few articles he + +[Footnote 168: (cont.) of January 18, 1862, the _Daily +Conservative_ has this to say: "The Kansas Seventh has been ordered +to move to Humboldt, Allen Co. to give relief to Refugees encamped on +Fall River. Lt. Col. Chas. T. Clark, 1st Battalion, Kansas Tenth, is +now at Humboldt and well acquainted with the conditions."] + +[Footnote 169: Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +pp. 151-152.] + +[Footnote 170: O.S. Coffin to William G. Coffin, January 26, 1862, +Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Southern Superintendency_, +C 1506 of 1862.] + +had. When all was gone, how pitiful it must have been for him to see +the "hundreds of anxious faces" for whom there was nothing! Captain +Turner, from Hunter's commissary department, had similar experiences. +According to him, the refugees were "in want of every necessary of +life." That was his report the eleventh of February.[171] On the +fifteenth of February, the army stopped giving supplies altogether +and the refugees were thrown back entirely upon the extremely limited +resources of the southern superintendency. + +Dole[172] had had warning from Hunter[173] that such would have to +be the case and had done his best to be prepared for the emergency. +Secretary Smith authorized expenditure for relief in advance of +congressional appropriation, but that simply increased the moral +obligation to practice economy and, with hundreds of loyal Indians on +the brink of starvation,[174] it was no + +[Footnote 171: Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +pp. 152-154.] + +[Footnote 172: Dole had an interview with the Indians immediately upon +his arrival in Kansas [Moore, _Rebellion Record_, vol. iv, 59-60, +Doc. 21].] + +[Footnote 173: Hunter to Dole, February 6, 1862, forwarded by Edward +Wolcott to Mix, February 10, 1862 [Indian Office General Files, +_Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, W 513 and D 576 of 1862; +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 150].] + +[Footnote 174: Agent G.C. Snow reported, February 13, 1862, on the +utter destitution of the Seminoles [Indian Office General +Files, _Seminole_, 1858-1869] and, on the same day, Coffin +[Ibid., _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1526] to +the same effect about the refugees as a whole. They were coming in, +he said, about twenty to sixty a day. The "destitution, misery and +suffering amongst them is beyond the power of any pen to portray, it +must be seen to be realised--there are now here over two thousand men, +women, and children entirely barefooted and more than that number that +have not rags enough to hide their nakedness, many have died and they +are constantly dying. I should think at a rough guess that from 12 to +15 hundred dead Ponies are laying around in the camp and in the river. +On this account so soon as the weather gets a little warm, a removal +of this camp will be indespensable, there are perhaps now two thousand +Ponies living, they are very poor and many of them must die before +grass comes which we expect here from the first to the 10th of March. +We are issuing a little corn to (cont.)] + +time for economy. The inadequacy of the Indian service and the +inefficiency of the Federal never showed up more plainly, to the utter +discredit of the nation, than at this period and in this connection. + +Besides getting permission from Secretary Smith to go ahead and supply +the more pressing needs of the refugees, Dole accomplished another +thing greatly to their interest. He secured from the staff of General +Lane a special agent, Dr. William Kile of Illinois,[175] who +had formerly been a business partner of his own[176] and, like +Superintendent Coffin, his more or less intimate friend. Kile's +particular duty as special agent was to be the purchasing of supplies +for the refugees[177] and he at once visited their encampment in order +the better to determine their requirements. His investigations more +than corroborated the earlier accounts of their sufferings and +privations and his appointment under the circumstances seemed fully +justified, notwithstanding that on the surface of things it appeared +very suggestive of a near approach to nepotism, and of nepotism Dole, +Coffin, and many others were unquestionably guilty. They worked into +the service just as many of their own relatives and friends as they +conveniently and safely could. The official pickings were considered +by them as their proper perquisites. "'Twas ever thus" in American +politics, city, county, state, and national. + +The Indian encampment upon the occasion of + +[Footnote 174: (cont.) the Indians and they are feeding them a +little...." See also Moore, _Rebellion Record_, vol. iv, 30.] + +[Footnote 175: Dole was from Illinois also, from Edgar County; Coffin +was from Indiana [Indian Office Miscellaneous Records, no. 8, p. +432].] + +[Footnote 176: _Daily Conservative_, February 8, 1862.] + +[Footnote 177: Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, D 576 of 1862; _Letter Book_, no. 67, pp. +450-452.] + +Kile's[178] visit was no longer on Fall River. Gradually, since first +discovered, the main body of the refugees had moved forward within the +New York Indian Lands to the Verdigris River and had halted in the +neighborhood of Fort Roe, where the government agents had received +them; but smaller or larger groups, chiefly of the sick and their +friends, were scattered all along the way from Walnut Creek.[179] Some +of the very belated exiles were as far westward as the Arkansas, over +a hundred miles distant. Obviously, the thing to do first was to get +them all together in one place. There were reasons why the Verdigris +Valley was a most desirable location for the refugees. Only a very few +white people were settled there and, as they were intruders and had +not a shadow of legal claim to the land upon which they had squatted, +any objections that they might make to the presence of the Indians +could be ignored.[180] + +For a few days, therefore, all efforts were directed, at large +expense, towards converting the Verdigris Valley, in the vicinity of +Fort Roe, into a concentration camp; but no precautions were taken +against allowing unhygienic conditions to arise. The Indians +themselves were much diseased. They had few opportunities for personal +cleanliness and less ambition. Some of the food doled out to them was +stuff that the army had condemned and rejected as unfit for use. They +were emaciated, sick, discouraged. Finally, with + +[Footnote 178: Indian Office Land Files, 1855-1870, _Southern +Superintendency_, K 107 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 179: Some had wandered to the Cottonwood and were camped +there in great destitution. Their chief food was hominy [_Daily +Conservative_, February 14, 1862].] + +[Footnote 180: For an account of the controversy over the settlement +of the New York Indian Lands, see Abel, _Indian Reservations in +Kansas and the Extinguishment of their Title_, 13-14.] + +the February thaw, came a situation that soon proved intolerable. The +"stench arising from dead ponies, about two hundred of which were +in the stream and throughout the camp,"[181] unburied, made removal +imperatively necessary. + +The Neosho Valley around about Leroy presented itself as a likely +place, very convenient for the distributing agents, and was next +selected. Its advantages and disadvantages seemed about equal and had +all been anticipated and commented upon by Captain Turner.[182] It +was near the source of supplies--and that was an item very much to +be considered, since transportation charges, extraordinarily high in +normal times were just now exorbitant, and the relief funds very, very +limited. No appropriation by Congress had yet been made although one +had been applied for.[183] The great disadvantage of the location was +the presence of white settlers and they objected, as well they might, +to the near proximity of the inevitable disease and filth and, +strangely enough, more than anything else, to the destruction of the +timber, which they had so carefully husbanded. The concentration on +the Neosho had not been fully accomplished when the pressure from the +citizens became so great that Superintendent Coffin felt obliged to +plan for yet another removal. Again the sympathy of the Sacs and +Foxes of Mississippi manifested itself and most opportunely. Their +reservation + +[Footnote 181: Annual Report of Superintendent Coffin, October 15, +1862, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 136. +Compare with Coffin's account given in a letter to Dole, February 13, +1862.] + +[Footnote 182: February 11, 1862, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1862, p. 153; Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, +_Southern Superintendency_, D 576 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 183: _Congressional Globe_, 37th congress, second +session, part I, pp. 815, 849. Dole's letter to Smith, January 31, +1862, describing the destitution of the refugees, was read in the +Senate, February 14, 1862, in support of joint resolution S. no. 49, +for their relief.] + +lay about twenty-five miles to the northward and they generously +offered it as an asylum.[184] But the Indians balked. They were +homesick, disgusted with official mismanagement[185] and indecision, +and determined to go no farther. They complained bitterly of the +treatment that they had received at the hands of Superintendent Coffin +and of Agent Cutler and, in a stirring appeal[186] to President +Lincoln, set forth their injuries, their grievances, and +their incontestable claim upon a presumably just and merciful +government.[187] + +The Indians were not alone in their rebellious attitude. There was +mutiny seething, or something very like it, within the ranks of the +agents.[188] E.H. Carruth + +[Footnote 184: Coffin to Dole, March 28, 1862 [Indian Office Special +Files, no. 201, _Southern Superintendency_, C 1565 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 185: Mismanagement there most certainly had been. In no +other way can the fact that there was absolutely no amelioration in +their condition be accounted for. Many documents that will be cited in +other connections prove this point and Collamore's letter is of itself +conclusive. George W. Collamore, known best by his courtesy title of +"General," went to Kansas in the critical years before the war under +circumstances, well and interestingly narrated in Stearns' _Life and +Public Services of George Luther Stearns_, 106-108. He had been +agent for the New England Relief Society in the year of the great +drouth, 1860-1861 [_Daily Conservative_, October 26, 1861] and +had had much to do with Lane, in whose interests he labored, and who +had planned to make him a brigadier under himself as major-general +[Stearns, 246, 251]. He became quartermaster-general of Kansas +[_Daily Conservative_, March 27, 1862] and in that capacity made, +in the company of the Reverend Evan Jones, a visit of inspection to +the refugee encampment. His discoveries were depressing [Ibid., +April 10, 1862]. His report to the government [Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, C 1602 of 1862] is +printed almost _verbatim_ in Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1862, 155-158.] + +[Footnote 186: Coffin's letter to Dole of April 21, 1862 [Indian +Office General Files, _Wichita_, 1862-1871, C 1601 of 1862] seems +to cast doubt upon the genuineness of some of the signatures attached +to this appeal and charges Agent Carruth with having been concerned in +making the Indians discontented.] + +[Footnote 187: Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la and other prominent refugees +addressed their complaints to Dole, March 29, 1862 [Indian Office Land +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1855-1870, O 43 of 1862] and +two days later to President Lincoln, some strong partisan, supposed by +Coffin to be Carruth, acting as scribe.] + +[Footnote 188: On the way to the Catholic Mission, whither he was +going in order (cont.)] + +who had been so closely associated with Lane in the concoction of the +first plan for the recovery of Indian Territory, was now figuring as +the promoter of a rising sentiment against Coffin and his minions, who +were getting to be pretty numerous. The removal to the Sac and Fox +reservation would mean the getting into closer and closer touch with +Perry Fuller,[189] the contractor, whose dealings in connection with +the Indian refugees were to become matter, later on, of a notoriety +truly disgraceful. Mistrust of Coffin was yet, however, very vague in +expression and the chief difficulty in effecting the removal from the +Neosho lay, therefore, in the disgruntled state of the refugees, +which was due, in part, to their unalleviated misery and, in part, to +domestic + +[Footnote 188: (cont.) to coöperate with Agent Elder in negotiating +with the Osages, Coffin heard of "a sneaking conspiracy" that was "on +foot at Iola for the purpose of prejudicing the Indians against us +[himself and Dole, perhaps, or possibly himself and the agents]." +The plotters, so Coffin reported, "sent over the Verdigris for E.H. +Carruth who" was "deep in the plot," which was a scheme to induce the +Indians to lodge complaint against the distributers of relief. One of +the conspirators was a man who had studied law under Lane and who had +wanted a position under Kile. Lane had used his influence in the man's +behalf and the refusal of Coffin to assign him to a position was +supposed to be the cause of all the trouble. Coffin learned that +his enemies had even gone so far as to plan vacancies in the Indian +service and to fill them. They had "instructed Lane, Pomeroy, and +Conway accordingly," leaving graciously to Lane the choice of +superintendent. A Mr. Smith, correspondent of the Cincinnati +_Gazette_ was their accredited secretary [Coffin to Dole, +April 2, 1862, Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, C 1571 of 1862]. + +Further particulars of the disaffection came to Coffin's ears before +long and he recounted them to Dole in a letter of April 9, 1862 +[Ibid., General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, +1859-1862].] + +[Footnote 189: Perry Fuller had been in Kansas since 1854 [U.S. +House _Reports_, 34th congress, first session, no. 200, p. 8 of +"Testimony"]. The first time that his name is intimately used in the +correspondence, relative to the affairs of the refugees, is in a +letter from Kile to Dole, March 29, 1862 [Indian Office Consolidated +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, K 113 of 1862, which also +makes mention of the great unwillingness of the Indians to move to the +Sac and Fox reservation.]] + +tribal discord. There was a quarrel among them over leadership, the +election of Ock-tah-har-sas Harjo as principal chief having +aroused strong antagonistic feeling among the friends of +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la.[190] Moreover, dissatisfaction against their agent +steadily increased and they asked for the substitution of Carruth; but +he, being satisfied with his assignment to the Wichitas,[191] had no +wish to change.[192] + +[Footnote 190: Carruth gave particulars of this matter to Dole, April +20, 1862 [Indian Office General Files, _Wichita_, 1862-1871, C +1601 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 191: Dole to Carruth, March 18, 1862 [Indian Office +_Letter Book_, no. 67, pp. 493-494].] + +[Footnote 192: Carruth to Dole, April 10, 1862 [Ibid., +General Files, _Wichita_, 1862-1871, C 1588 of 1862; _Letters +Registered_, vol. 58].] + + + + +IV. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST INDIAN EXPEDITION + + +Among the manifold requests put forward by the refugees, none was so +insistent, none so dolefully sincere, as the one for means to return +home. It is a mistake to suppose that the Indian, traditionally +laconic and stoical, is without family affection and without that +noblest of human sentiments, love of country. The United States +government has, indeed, proceeded upon the supposition that he is +destitute of emotions, natural to his more highly civilized white +brother, but its files are full to overflowing with evidences to the +contrary. Everywhere among them the investigator finds the exile's +lament. The red man has been banished so often from familiar and +greatly loved scenes that it is a wonder he has taken root anywhere +and yet he has. Attachment to the places where the bones of his people +lie is with him the most constant of experiences and his cry for those +same sacred places is all the stronger and the more sorrowful because +it has been persistently ignored by the white man. + +The southern Indians had not been so very many years in the Indian +Territory, most of them not more than the span of one generation, but +Indian Territory was none the less home. If the refugees could only +get there again, they were confident all would be well with them. In +Kansas, they were hungry, afflicted with disease, and dying daily by +the score.[193] Once at home + +[Footnote 193: And yet they did have their amusements. Their days of +exile were not filled altogether with bitterness. Coffin, in a letter +to the (cont.)] + +all the ills of the flesh would disappear and lost friends be +recovered. The exodus had separated them cruelly from each other. +There were family and tribal encampments within the one large +encampment,[194] it is true, but there were also widely isolated +groups, scattered indiscriminately across two hundred miles of bleak +and lonely prairie, and no amount of philanthropic effort on the part +of the government agents could mitigate the misery arising therefrom +or bring the groups together. The task had been early abandoned as, +under the circumstances, next to impossible; but the refugees went on +begging for its accomplishment, notwithstanding that they had +neither the physical strength nor the means to render any assistance +themselves. Among them the wail of the bereaved vied in tragic cadence +with the sad inquiry for the missing. + +When Dole arrived at Leavenworth the latter part of January, +representatives of the loyal Indians interviewed him and received +assurances, honest and well-meant at the time given, that an early +return to Indian Territory would be made possible. Lane, likewise +interviewed,[195] was similarly encouraging and had every reason to +be; for was not his Indian brigade in process of formation? Much +cheered and even exhilarated in spirit, the Indians went away to +endure and to wait. They had great confidence in Lane's power to +accomplish; but, as the days and the weeks passed and he did not come, +they grew tired of waiting. The waiting + +[Footnote 193: (cont.) _Daily Conservative_, published April 16, +1862, gives, besides a rather gruesome account of their diseases, some +interesting details of their camp life.] + +[Footnote 194: On their division into tribal encampments, see Kile +to Dole, April 10, 1862 [Indian Office General Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, 1859-1862, K 119 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 195: They had their interview with Lane at the Planters' +House while they were awaiting the arrival of Dole. Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la +(Crazy Dog) and a Seminole chief, Aluktustenuke (Major Potatoes) were +among them [_Daily Conservative_, January 28, February 8, 1862].] + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF COLONEL W.A. PHILLIPS] + +seemed so hopeless to them miserable, so endlessly long. Primitive as +they were, they simply could not understand why the agents of a great +government could not move more expeditiously. The political and +military aspects of the undertaking, involved in their return home, +were unknown to them and, if known, would have been uncomprehended. +Then, too, the vacillation of the government puzzled them. They became +suspicious; for they had become acquainted, through the experience of +long years, with the white man's bad faith and they had nothing to go +upon that would counteract the influence of earlier distrust. And so +it happened, that, as the weary days passed and Lane's brigade did not +materialize, every grievance that loomed up before them took the shape +of a disappointed longing for home. + +So poignant was their grief at the continued delay that they despaired +of ever getting the help promised and began to consider how they could +contrive a return for themselves. And yet, quite independent of Lane's +brigade, there had been more than one movement initiated in their +behalf. The desire to recover lost ground in Indian Territory, under +the pretext of restoring the fugitives, aroused the fighting instinct +of many young men in southern Kansas and several irregular expeditions +were projected.[196] Needless to say they came to nothing. In point of +fact, they never really developed, but died almost with the thought. +There was no adequate equipment for them and the longer the delay, +the more necessary became equipment; because after the Battle of Pea +Ridge, Pike's brigade had been set free to operate, if it so willed, +on the Indian Territory border. + +[Footnote 196: In addition to those referred to in documents already +cited, the one, projected by Coffin's son and a Captain Brooks, is +noteworthy. It is described in a letter from Coffin to Dole, March 24, +1862.] + +Closely following upon the Federal success of March 6 to 8, came +numerous changes and readjustments in the Missouri-Kansas commands; +but they were not so much the result of that success as they were +a part of the general reorganization that was taking place in the +Federal service incident to the more efficient war administration of +Secretary Stanton. By order of March 11, three military departments +were arranged for, the Department of the Potomac under McClellan, +that of the Mountain under Frémont, and that of the Mississippi under +Halleck. The consolidation of Hunter's Department of Kansas with +Halleck's Department of Missouri was thus provided for and had long +been a consummation devoutly to be wished.[197] Both were naturally +parts of the same organic whole when regarded from a military point +of view. Neither could be operated upon independently of the other. +Moreover, both were infested by political vultures. In both, the army +discipline was, in consequence, bad; that is, if it could be said to +be in existence at all. If anything, Kansas was in a worse state than +Missouri. Her condition, as far as the military forces were concerned, +had not much improved since Hunter first took command and it was then +about the worst that could possibly be imagined. Major Halpine's +description[198] of it, made by him in his capacity as assistant +adjutant-general, officially to Halleck, is anything but flattering. +Hunter was probably well rid of his job and Halleck, whom Lincoln much +admired because he was "wholly for the service,"[199] had asked for +the entire command.[200] + +[Footnote 197: Halleck, however, had not desired the inclusion of +Kansas in the contemplated new department because he thought that +state had only a remote connection with present operations.] + +[Footnote 198: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 615-617.] + +[Footnote 199: Thayer, _Life and Letters of John Hay_, vol. i, +127-128.] + +[Footnote 200: Badeau, _Military History of U.S. Grant_, vol. i, +53, _footnote_.] + +Halleck's plans for remodeling the constituent elements of his +department were made with a thorough comprehension of the difficulties +confronting him. It is not surprising that they brought General Denver +again to the fore. Hunter's troubles had been bred by local politics. +That Halleck well knew; but he also knew that Indian relations were a +source of perplexity and that there was no enemy actually in Kansas +and no enemy worth considering that would threaten her, provided her +own jay-hawking hordes could be suppressed. Her problems were chiefly +administrative.[201] For the work to be done, Denver seemed the +fittest man available and, on the nineteenth, he, having previously +been ordered to report to Halleck for duty,[202] was assigned[203] to +the command of a newly-constituted District of Kansas, from which +the troops,[204] who were guarding the only real danger zone, +the southeastern part of the state, were expressly excluded. The +hydra-headed evil of the western world then asserted itself, the +meddling, particularistic spoils system, with the result that Lane and +Pomeroy, unceasingly vigilant whenever and wherever what they regarded +as their preserves were likely to be encroached upon, went to +President Lincoln and protested against the preferment of Denver.[205] +Lincoln weakly yielded and wired to Halleck to suspend + +[Footnote 201: Halleck to Stanton, March 28, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. viii, 647-648.] + +[Footnote 202:--Ibid., 612] + +[Footnote 203:--Ibid., 832.] + +[Footnote 204: Those troops, about five thousand, were left under +the command of George W. Deitzler, colonel of the First Kansas +(Ibid., 614), a man who had become prominent before the war in +connection with the Sharpe's rifles episode (Spring, _Kansas_, +60) and whose appointment as an Indian agent, early in 1861, had been +successfully opposed by Lane (Robinson, _Kansas Conflict_, 458). +There will be other occasions to refer to him in this narrative. He is +believed to have held the secret that induced Lane to commit suicide +in 1866 [Ibid., 457-460].] + +[Footnote 205: Stanton to Halleck, March 26, 1862 [_Official +Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 516].] + +the order for Denver's assignment to duty until further notice.[206] +Stanton, to whom Halleck applied[207] for an explanation, +deprecated[208] the political interference of the Kansas senators and +the influence it had had with the chief executive, but he, too, had to +give way. So effective was the Lane-Pomeroy objection to Denver that +even a temporary[209] appointment of him, resorted[210] to by Halleck +because of the urgent need of some sort of a commander in Kansas, was +deplored by the president.[211] Denver was then sent to the place +where his abilities and his experience would be better appreciated, to +the southernmost part of the state, the hinterland of the whole Indian +country.[212] Official indecision and personal envy pursued him +even there, however, and it was not long before he was called +eastward.[213] The man who succeeded him in command of the District of +Kansas[214] was one who proved to be his ranking officer[215] and his +rival, Brigadier-general S.D. Sturgis. Blunt succeeded him at Fort +Scott. + +[Footnote 206: Lincoln to Halleck, March 21, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 516.] + +[Footnote 207: Halleck to Stanton, March 26, 1862, Ibid.] + +[Footnote 208: "Deprecated" is, perhaps, too mild a word to describe +Stanton's feeling in the matter. Adjutant-general Hitchcock is +authority for the statement that Stanton threatened "to leave the +office" should the "enforcement" of any such order, meaning the +non-assignment of Denver and the appointment of a man named Davis +[Davies?], believed by Robinson to be a relative of Lane [_Kansas +Conflict_, 446], be attempted [Hitchcock to Halleck, March 22, +1862, _Official Records_, vol. viii, 832-833].] + +[Footnote 209:--Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 519.] + +[Footnote 210:--Ibid., vol. viii, 647-648.] + +[Footnote 211:--Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 519.] + +[Footnote 212: Concerning the work, mapped out for Denver, see Halleck +to Sturgis, April 6, 1862 [_Official Records_, vol. viii, 668] +and Halleck to Stanton, April 7, 1862 [Ibid., 672].] + +[Footnote 213: May 14, 1862 [Ibid., vol. iii, part i, +supplement, 249].] + +[Footnote 214:--Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 520.] + +[Footnote 215: "It is stated that the commission of Gen. Sturgis is +dated April 10 and that of Gen. Denver Aug. 14 and consequently Gen. +Sturgis is the ranking officer in this military District."--_Daily +Conservative_, April 10, 1862.] + +The elimination of Kansas as a separate department marked the revival +of interest in an Indian expedition. The cost of supporting so huge +a body of refugees had really become a serious proposition and, as +Colonel C. R. Jennison[216] had once remarked, it would be economy to +enlist them.[217] Congress had provided that certain Indian annuity +money might be diverted to their maintenance,[218] but that fund was +practically exhausted before the middle of March.[219] As already +observed, the refugees very much wished to assist in the recovery of +Indian Territory.[220] In fact they were determined to go south if the +army went and their disappointment was likely to be most keen in the +event of its and their not going.[221] It was under circumstances such +as these that Commissioner Dole recommended to Secretary Smith, March +13, 1862, that he + + Procure an order from the War Department detailing two + Regiment of Volunteers from Kansas to go with the Indians + to their homes and to remain there for their protection as long + (as) may be necessary, also to furnish two thousand stand of + arms and ammunition to be placed in the hands of the loyal + Indians. + +Dole's unmistakable earnestness carried the day. Within less than a +week there had been promised[222] him all that he had asked for and +more, an + +[Footnote 216: Jennison, so says the _Daily Conservative_, +March 25, 1862, had been ordered with the First Cavalry to repair to +Humboldt at the time the Indian Expedition was under consideration the +first of the year and was brevetted acting brigadier for the purpose +of furthering Dole's intentions.] + +[Footnote 217: _Daily Conservative_, February 18, 1862.] + +[Footnote 218: _Congressional Globe_, 37th congress, second +session, part i, 835, 878.] + +[Footnote 219: Dole to Smith, March 13, 1862 [Indian Office _Report +Book_, no. 12, 331-332].] + +[Footnote 220: Coffin to Dole, March 3, 1862 [Ibid., +Consolidated Files, _Southern Superintendency_, C 1544 of 1862; +_Letters Registered_, no. 58].] + +[Footnote 221: _Daily Conservative_, March 5, 1862.] + +[Footnote 222: Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +148.] + +expeditionary force of two white regiments and two[223] thousand +Indians, appropriately armed. To expedite matters and to obviate any +difficulties that might otherwise beset the carrying out of the plan, +a semi-confidential agent, on detail from the Indian Office, was sent +west with despatches[224] to Halleck and with an order[225] from the +Ordnance Department for the delivery, at Fort Leavenworth, of the +requisite arms. The messenger was Judge James Steele, who, upon +reaching St. Louis, had already discouraging news to report to Dole. +He had interviewed Halleck and had found him in anything but a helpful +mood, notwithstanding that he must, by that time, have received and +reflected upon the following communication from the War Department: + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + +WASHINGTON CITY, D. C, March 19, 1862. +MAJ. GEN.H.W. HALLECK, + +Commanding the Department of Mississippi: + +General: It is the desire of the President, on the application of the +Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, that +you should detail two regiments to act in the Indian country, with a +view to open the way for the friendly Indians who are now refugees in +Southern Kansas to return to their homes and to protect them there. +Five thousand friendly Indians will also be armed to aid in their +own protection, and you will please furnish them with necessary +subsistence. + +Please report your action in the premises to this Department. Prompt +action is necessary. + +By order of the Secretary of War: + +L. THOMAS, Adjutant-general[226] + +[Footnote 223: Two thousand was most certainly the number, although +the communication from the War Department gives it as five.] + +[Footnote 224: Dole to Halleck, March 21, 1862 [Indian Office +_Letter Book_, no. 67, 516-517].] + +[Footnote 225:--Ibid., 517-518.] + +[Footnote 226: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 624-625.] + +Steele inferred from what passed at the interview with Halleck that +the commanding general was decidedly opposed to arming Indians. Steele +found him also non-committal as to when the auxiliary force would be +available.[227] Dole's letter, with its seeming dictation as to +the choice of a commander for the expedition, may not have been to +Halleck's liking. He was himself at the moment most interested in the +suppression of guerrillas and jayhawkers, against whom sentence of +outlawry had just been passed. As it happened, that was the work in +which Dole's nominee, Colonel Robert B. Mitchell,[228] was to render +such signal service[229] and, anticipating as much, Halleck may have +objected to his being thought of for other things. Furthermore, Dole +had no right to so much as cast a doubt upon Halleck's own ability to +select a proper commander. + +A little perplexed but not at all daunted by Halleck's lack of +cordiality, Steele proceeded on his journey and, arriving at +Leavenworth, presented his credentials to Captain McNutt, who was in +charge of the arsenal. Four hundred Indian rifles were at hand, ready +for him, and others expected.[230] What to do next, was the question? +Should he go on to Leroy and trust to the auxiliary force's showing up +in season or wait for it? The principal part of his mission was yet +to be executed. The Indians had to be enrolled and everything got in +train for their expedition southward. Their homes + +[Footnote 227: Steele to Dole, March 27, 1862 [Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendence_, 1859-1862, S 537 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 228: Robert B. Mitchell was colonel, first of the Second +Kansas Infantry, then of the Second Kansas Cavalry. He raised the +former, in answer to President Lincoln's first call, 1861 [Crawford, +_Kansas in the Sixties_, 20], chiefly in Linn County, and the +latter in 1862.] + +[Footnote 229: Connelley, _Quantrilt and the Border Wars_, 236 +ff.] + +[Footnote 230: Steele to Dole, March 26, 1862 [Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendence_, 1859-1862].] + +once recovered, they were to be left in such shape as to be able to +"protect and defend themselves."[231] + +Halleck's preoccupation, prejudice, or whatever it was that prevented +him from giving any satisfaction to Steele soon yielded, as all +things sooner or later must, to necessity; but not to the extent of +sanctioning the employment of Indians in warfare except as against +other "Indians or in defense of their own territory and homes." The +Pea Ridge atrocities were probably still fresh in his mind. On the +fifth of April, he instructed[232] General Denver with a view to +advancing, at last, the organization of the Indian expedition and +Denver, Coffin, and Steele forthwith exerted all their energies in +coöperating effort[233]. Some time was spent in inspecting arms[234] +but, on the eighth, enough for two thousand Indians went forward in +the direction of Leroy and Humboldt[235] and on the sixteenth were +delivered to the superintendent[236]. Coffin surmised that new +complications would arise as soon as the distribution began; for all +the Indians, whether they intended to enlist or not, would try to +secure guns. Nothing had yet been said about their pay and nothing +heard of an auxiliary force[237]. Again the question was, what, + +[Footnote 231: Dole to Steele, March 21, 1862, Indian Office _Letter +Book_, no. 67, 508-509.] + +[Footnote 232: _Official Records_, vol. viii, 665.] + +[Footnote 233: Dole's name might well be added to this list; for he +had never lost his interest or relaxed his efforts. On the fifth of +April, he communicated to Secretary Smith the intelligence that he +had issued instructions to "the officers appointed to command the two +Regiments of Indians to be raised as Home Guard to report at Fort +Leavenworth to be mustered into service ... "--Indian Office _Report +Book_, no. 12, 357.] + +[Footnote 234: Steele to Dole, April 7, 1862 [Ibid., General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, S 538 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 235: Denver to Halleck, April 8, 1862 [_Official +Records_, vol. viii, 679].] + +[Footnote 236: Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +148.] + +[Footnote 237: "... I fear we shall have trouble in regard to the guns +as many will take guns that will not go and whether they will give up +their arms is doubtful. I had a long talk with Opothly-Oholo on that +point and told (cont.)] + +in the event of its not appearing, should the Indian agents do?[238] + +The time was propitious for starting the expedition; for not the +shadow of an enemy had been lately seen in the West, unless count be +taken of Indians returning home or small roving bands of possible +marauders that the people of all parties detested[239]. But the order +for the supplanting of Denver by Sturgis had already been issued, +April sixth[240], and Sturgis's policy was not yet + +[Footnote 237: (cont.) him you could only get 2000 guns and you wanted +every one to go and an Indian with it and that if any of them got guns +that did not go they must give up their guns to those that would go +but I know enough of the Indian character to know that it will be next +thing to an impossibility to get a gun away from one when he once gets +it and I shall put off the distribution of the guns till the last +moment and it would be best to send them on a day or two before being +distributed but that would make them mad and they would not go at all +and how we are to know how many to look out for from others than those +we have here I am not able to see but we will do all that we can but +you may look out for dificulty in the matter they all seem anxious now +to go and make no objections as yet nor have they said anything about +their pay but as they were told before when we expect them to go into +the Hunter Lane expedition that they would get the same pay as white +troops and set off a part of it for their families it was so indelibly +impressed upon their minds that I fear we will have a blow up on that +score when it comes up we hear nothing yet of any troops being ordered +to this service and I very much fear they will put off the matter so +long that there will be no crop raised this season ... the mortality +amongst them is great more since warm weather has set in than during +the cold weather they foolishly physic themselves nearly to death danc +[dance] all night and then jump into the river just at daylight to +make themselves bullet proof they have followed this up now every +night for over two weeks and it has no doubt caused many deaths +Long Tiger the Uchee Chief and one of the best amongst them died +to-day--yesterday we had 7 deaths and there will not be less +to-day"--Coffin to Dole, April 7, 1862, Indian Office General Files, +_Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1578 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 238: This was the query put to Dole by Steele in a letter of +the thirteenth of April, which acknowledged Dole's of the third and +ventured the opinion that Postmaster-general Blair "must be imitating +General McClellan and practicing strategy with the mails." Steele +further remarked, "Gen'l Denver, Maj. Wright and I are in the dark as +to the plans of the Indian Expedition. Gen. Denver thinks I +should proceed at once to Leroy without waiting for your +instructions."--Ibid., S 539 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 239: Curtis to Halleck, April 5, 1862 [_Official +Records_, vol. viii, 662].] + +[Footnote 240: Sturgis, upon the receipt of orders of this date, +assumed command of (cont.)] + +known. It soon revealed itself, however, and was hostile to the whole +project that Dole had set his heart upon. Apparently that project, the +moment it had been taken up by Denver, had ceased to have any interest +for Lane on the score of its merits and had become identified with +the Robinson faction in Kansas politics. At any rate, it was the +anti-Robinson press that saw occasion for rejoicing in the complete +removal of Denver from the scene, an event which soon took place[241]. + +The relieving of Denver from the command of the District of Kansas +inaugurated[242] what contemporaries described as "Sturgis' military +despotism,"[243] in amplification of which it is enough to say that +it attempted the utter confounding, if not the annihilation, of the +Indian Expedition, a truly noble undertaking to be sure, considering +how much was hoped for from that expedition, how much of benefit and +measure of justice to a helpless, homeless, impoverished people and +considering, also, how much of time and thought and + +[Footnote 240: (cont.) the District of Kansas; but Denver was not +called east until the fourteenth of May. On the twenty-first of April, +it was still expected that he would lead an expedition "down the +borders of Arkansas into the Indian country." [KELTON to Curtis, April +21, 1862, Ibid., vol. xiii, 364].] + +[Footnote 241: The _Daily Conservative_, for instance, rejoiced +over this telegram from Sidney Clark of May 2, which gave advanced +information of Denver's approaching departure: "Conservative: The +Department of Kansas is reinstated. Gen. Blunt takes command. Denver +reports to Halleck; Sturgis here." The newspaper comment was, "We +firmly believe that a prolongation of the Denver-Sturgis political +generalship, aided as it was by the corrupt Governor of this +State, would have led to a revolution in Kansas ..."--_Daily +Conservative_, May 6, 1862.] + +[Footnote 242: General Sturgis assumed command, April 10, 1862 +[_Official Records_, vol. viii, 683], and Denver took temporary +charge at Fort Scott [Ibid., 668].] + +[Footnote 243: Quoted from the _Daily Conservative_ of May 20; +but not with the idea of subscribing thereby to any verdict that would +bear the implication that all of Sturgis's measures were arbitrary +and wrong. Something strenuous was needed in Kansas. The arrest of +Jennison and of Hoyt [Ibid., April 19, 23, 1862] because of +their too radical anti-slavery actions was justifiable. Jennison had +disorganized his regiment in a shameful manner [Ibid., June 3, +1862].] + +energy, not to mention money, had already been expended upon it. + +Sturgis's policy with reference to the Indian Expedition was initiated +by an order[244], of April 25, which gained circulation as purporting +to be in conformity with instructions from the headquarters of the +Department of the Mississippi, although in itself emanating from those +of the District of Kansas. It put a summary stop to the enlistment +of Indians and threatened with arrest anyone who should disobey its +mandate. Superintendent Coffin, in his inimitable illiteracy, at once +entered protest[245] against it and coolly informed Sturgis that, in +enrolling Indians for service, he was acting under the authority, not +of the War, but of the Interior Department. At the same sitting, he +applied to Commissioner Dole for new instructions[246]. + +[Footnote 244: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 365.] + +[Footnote 245: + + LE ROY COFFEE COUNTY, KANSAS, April 29th 1862. + BRIG. GENL S.D. STURGIS, Fort Leavenworth Kansas + +Dear Sir: A Special Messenger arrived here last night from Fort +Leavenworth with your orders No. 8 and contents noted. I would most +respectfully inform you that I am acting under the controle and +directions of the Interior and not of the War Department. I have +been endeavoring to the best of my humble ability to carry out the +instructions and wishes of that Department, all of which I hope will +meet your aprobation. + +Your Messenger reports himself Straped, that no funds were furnished +him to pay his expenses, that he had to beg his way down here. I have +paid his bill here and furnished him with five dollars to pay his way +back. Very respectfully your Obedient Servant + +W.G. COFFIN, _Sup't. of Indian Affairs_, Southern +Superintendency. [Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, _Southern +Superintendency_, C 1612 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 246: LEROY COFFEY CO., KANSAS, April 29th, 1862. + +SIR: Enclosed please find a communication from Brigadier General +Sturgis in regard to the organising of the Indians and my reply to the +same, the officers are here, or at least four of them. Col Furnace +Agutant Elithurp Lieutenant Wattles and Agutant Dole I need scarcely +say to you that we shall continue to act under your Instructions til +further orders, the Officers above alluded to have been untiring in +their efforts to get acquainted with and get the permanent (cont.)] + +Colonel John Ritchie[247] of the inchoate Second Regiment Indian Home +Guards did the same[248]. + +The reëstablishment[249] of the Department of Kansas, at this critical +moment, while much to be regretted as indicative of a surrender to +politicians[250] and an abandonment of the idea, so fundamentally +conducive to military success, that all parts must contribute to the +good of the whole, had one thing to commend it, it restored vigor +to the Indian Expedition. The department was reëstablished, under +orders[251] of May second, with James G. Blunt in command. He entered +upon his duties, May fifth, and on that selfsame day authorized the +issue of the following most significant instructions, in toto, a +direct countermand of all that Sturgis had most prominently stood for: + +[Footnote 246: (cont.) organization of the Indians under way and have +made a fine impression upon them, and I should very much regret any +failure to carry out the programe as they have been allready so +often disappointed that they have become suspicious and it all has a +tendency to lessen their confidence in us and to greatly increase +our dificulties All of which is most Respectfully Submitted by your +obedient Servant + +W.G. COFFIN, Sup't of Indian Affairs. [Indian Office Special Files, +no. 201, _Southern Superintendency_, C 1612 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 247: For an inferential appraisement of Ritchie's character +and abilities, see Kansas _Historical Collections_, vol. iii, +359-366.] + +[Footnote 248: Ritchie to Dole, April 26, 1863 [Indian Office +Miscellaneous Files, 1858-1863].] + +[Footnote 249: The reëstablishment, considered in the light of the +first orders issued by Blunt, those set out here, was decidedly in +the nature of a reflection upon the reactionary policy of Halleck and +Sturgis; but Halleck had no regrets. Of Kansas, he said, "Thank God, +it is no longer under my command." [_Official Records_, vol. +xiii, 440.] Ever since the time, when he had been urged by the +administration in Washington, peculiarly sensitive to political +importunities, not to retain, outside of Kansas, the Kansas troops +if he could possibly avoid it, there had been more or less of rancor +between him and them. His opinion of them was that they were a +"humbug" [Ibid., vol. viii, 661].] + +[Footnote 250: Almost simultaneously, Schofield was given independent +command in Missouri, a similar surrender to local political pressure.] + +[Footnote 251: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 368-369.] + +General Orders, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF KANSAS, +No. 2. Fort Leavenworth, Kans., May 5, 1862. + +I. General Orders, No. 8, dated Headquarters District of Kansas, April +25, 1862, is hereby rescinded. + +II. The instructions issued by the Department at Washington to the +colonels of the two Indian regiments ordered to be raised will be +fully carried out, and the regiments will be raised with all possible +speed. + +By order of Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt,[252] + +THOS. MOONLIGHT, _Captain +and Assistant Adjutant-general_.[253] + +The full extent, not only of Sturgis's failure to coöperate with +the Indian Office, but also of his intention utterly to block the +organization of the Indian Expedition, is revealed in a letter[254] +from Robert W. Furnas, colonel commanding the First Regiment Indian +Home Guards, to Dole, May 4, 1862. That letter best explains itself. +It was written from Leroy, Kansas, and reads thus: + + Disclaiming any idea of violating "Regulations" by an "Official + Report" to you, permit me to communicate certain facts extremely + embarrassing, which surround the Indian Expedition. + + In compliance with your order of Ap'l 5th. I reported myself + "forthwith" to the U.S. mustering officer at Ft. Leavenworth and + was "mustered into the service" on the 18th. of April. I "awaited + the orders from Genl Halleck" as directed but rec'd none. On the + 20th. Ap'l I rec'd detailed + +[Footnote 252: The promotion of Blunt to a brigadier-generalship had +caused surprise and some opposition. Referring to it, the _Daily +Conservative_, April 12, 1862, said, "Less than three months ago +Mr. Lincoln informed a gentleman from this State that no Kansas man +would be made a Brigadier 'unless the Kansas Congressional delegation +was unanimously and strenuously in his favor' ... Either the President +has totally changed his policy or Lane, Pomeroy and Conway are +responsible for this most unexpected and unprecedented appointment +..."] + +[Footnote 253: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 370.] + +[Footnote 254: Indian Office General Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, 1859-1862, F 363 of 1862.] + + instructions from Adjt. Gen'l Thomas, authorizing me to proceed + and raise "from the loyal Indians now in Kansas a Regiment of + Infantry." I immediately repaired to this place and in a very + few days enrolled a sufficient number of Indians to form a + minimum[255] Regiment. I am particularly indebted to the Agts. + Maj. Cutler of the Creeks and Maj. Snow of the Seminoles, for + their valuable services. Immediately after the enrolling, and + in compliance with my instructions from Adjt. Gen'l Thomas, I + notified Lieut. Chas. S. Bowman U.S. mustering officer at Ft. + Leavenworth of the fact, to which I have rec'd no answer. + + At this point in my procedure a special messenger from Gen'l + Sturgis reached this place with a copy of his "Order No. 8," a + copy of which I herewith send you. On the next day Maj. Minor in + command at Iola, Kansas, and who had been furnished with a copy of + General Sturgis' "Order" came with a company of Cavalry to this + place "to look into matters." I showed him my authority, and + informed him what I had done. He made no arrest, seeming utterly + at a loss to understand the seemingly _confused_ state of + affairs. Whether Gen'l Sturgis will on the reception of my notice + at the Fort arrest me, or not, I know not. I have gone to the + limits of my instructions and deem it, if not my duty, prudent at + least to notify you of the condition of affairs, that you may be + the better enabled to remove obstacles, that the design of the + Department may be fully and promptly executed....[256] + +[Footnote 255: The regiment, according to the showing of the muster +roll, comprised one thousand nine men. Fifteen hundred was the more +usual number of a regiment, which, normally, had three battalions with +a major at the head of each.] + +[Footnote 256: The remainder of the letter deals with the muster roll +of the First Regiment Indian Home Guards, which was forwarded to Dole, +under separate cover, the same day, and of which Dole acknowledged the +receipt, May 16, 1862 [Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 68, pp. +240-241]. The roll shows the captain and number of each company as +here: + + Company A Billy Bowlegs 106 + Company B A-ha-luk-tus-ta-na-ke 100 + Company C Tus-te-nu-ke-ema-ela 104 + Company D Tus-te-nuk-ke 100 + Company E Jon-neh (John) 101 + Company F Mic-co-hut-ka (White Chief) 103 + Company G Ah-pi-noh-to-me 103 + +(cont.)] + +It soon developed that General Halleck had been equally at fault +in disregarding the wishes of the government with respect to the +mustering in of the loyal Indians. He had neglected to send on +to Kansas the instructions which he himself had received from +Washington.[257] It was incumbent, therefore, upon Blunt to ask for +new. He had found the enlisted Indians with no arms, except guns, no +shot pouches, no powder horns, although they were attempting to supply +themselves as best they could.[258] Blunt thought they ought to be +furnished with sheath, or bowie, knives; but the Indian Office had no +funds for such a purpose.[259] The new instructions, when they came, +were found to differ in no particular from those which had formerly +been issued. The Indian Home Guards were to constitute an irregular +force and were to be supported by such white troops, as Blunt should +think necessary. They were to be supplied with transportation and +subsistence and Blunt was to "designate the general to command." +Blunt's own appointment was expected to remove all difficulties that +had stood in the way of the Indian Expedition while under the control +of Halleck.[260] On + +[Footnote 256: (cont.) + + Company H Lo-ga-po-koh 94 + Company I Jan-neh (John 100 + Company J Lo-ka-la-chi-ha-go 98] + +[Footnote 257: Coffin to Dole, May 8, 1862, Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +[Footnote 258: Same to Same, May 13, 1862, Ibid., Land Files, +_Southern Superintendency_, 1855-1870.] + +[Footnote 259: Dole to Coffin, May 20, 1862, Ibid., _Letter +Book_, no. 68, p. 252.] + +[Footnote 260: "I visited the War Department today to ascertain what +orders had been forwarded to you and your predecessor relative to the +organization of two thousand Indians as a home guard, which when +so organized would proceed to their homes in the Indian country in +company with a sufficient number of white troops to protect them at +their homes. + +"I learn from Adjutant General Thomas that all necessary orders have +been forwarded to enable you to muster these Indian Regiments into the +service as an irregular force; and to send such white force with them +as (cont.)] + +May 8 came the order from Adjutant-general Thomas, "Hurry up the +organization and departure of the two Indian regiments,"[261] which +indicated that there was no longer any question as to endorsement by +the Department of War. + +As a matter of fact, the need for hurry was occasioned by the activity +of secessionists, Indians and white men, in southwest Missouri, which +would, of itself, suggest the inquiry as to what the Indian allies of +the Confederacy had been about since the Battle of Pea Ridge. Van +Dorn had ordered them to retire towards their own country and, while +incidentally protecting it, afford assistance to their white ally by +harassing the enemy, cutting off his supply trains, and annoying him +generally. The order had been rigidly attended to and the Indians had +done their fair share of the irregular warfare that terrorized and +desolated the border in the late spring of the second year of the war. +Not all of them, regularly enlisted, had participated in it, however; +for General Pike had, with a considerable part of his brigade, gone +away from the border as far as possible and had intrenched himself at +a fort of his own planning, Fort McCulloch, in the Choctaw Nation, on +the Blue River, a branch of the Red.[262] Furthermore, + +[Footnote 260: (cont.) in your judgment may be deemed necessary, also +that the difficulties we experienced while the expedition was under +the control of Gen'l Halleck are now removed by your appointment, and +that you will designate the general to command the whole expedition +and see that such supplies for the transportation and subsistence as +may be necessary are furnished to the whole expedition (Indians as +well as whites). Lieut. Kile informs me that there was doubt whether +the Quarter Master would be expected to act as Commissary for +the Regiment. I suppose that you fully understand this was the +intention...."--Dole to Blunt, May 16, 1862, Indian Office _Letter +Book_, no. 68, pp. 241-242.] + +[Footnote 261: _Daily Conservative_, May 9, 1862.] + +[Footnote 262: "... General Albert Pike retreated from the battle of +Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a distance of 250 miles, and left his new-made +wards to the mercy (cont.)] + +Colonel Drew and his men, later converts to secessionism, had, for a +good part of the time, contented themselves with guarding the Cherokee +Nation,[263] thus leaving Colonel Cooper and Colonel Stand Watie, with +their commands, to do most of the scouting and + +[Footnote 262: (cont.) of war, stringing his army along through the +Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw Nations, passing through Limestone Gap, on +among the Boggies, and halted at Carriage Point, on the Blue, 'away +down along the Chickasaw line.' Cherokee Knights of the Golden Circle +followed Pike's retreat to Texas ... "--Ross, _Life and Times of +Hon. William P. Ross_, p. viii.] + +[Footnote 263: These two letters from John Ross are offered in +evidence of this. They are taken from Indian Office Miscellaneous +Files, John Ross _Papers_: + +(a) + +EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, PARK HILL, March 21st, 1862. + +SIR: I am in receipt of your favor of the 23rd. inst. I have no doubt +that forage can be procured for Col. Drew's men in this vicinity by +hauling it in from the farms of the surrounding Districts. The subject +of a Delegate in Congress shall be attended to so soon as arrangements +can be made for holding an election. I am happy to learn that Col. +Drew has been authorized to furlough a portion of the men in his +Regiment to raise corn. I shall endeavor to be correctly informed of +the movements of the enemy and advise you of the same. And I shall be +gratified to receive any important information that you may have to +communicate at all times. I am very respectfully and truly, Yours, +etc. John Ross, _Prin'l Chief_, Cherokee Nation. + +(b). + +EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, C.N. PARK HILL, April 10th, 1862. + +SIR: I beg leave to thank you for your kind response to my letter of +the 22nd ulto and your order stationing Col. Drew's Regiment in this +vicinity. Though much reduced by furloughs in number it will be +useful for the particular purposes for which it was ordered here. The +unprotected condition of the country however is a source of general +anxiety among the People, who feel that they are liable to be overrun +at any time by small parties from the U.S. Army which remains in the +vicinity of the late Battle Ground. This is more particularly the case +since the removal of the Confederate Forces under your command and +those under Major Gen'l Price. Without distrusting the wisdom that has +prompted these movements, or the manifestation of any desire on my +part to enquire into their policy it will be nevertheless a source +of satisfaction to be able to assure the people of the country that +protection will not be withheld from them and that they will not +be left to their own feeble defense. Your response is respectfully +requested, I have the honor to be Sir with high regards, Your Obt +Servt. JOHN ROSS, _Prin'l Chief_, Cherokee Nation. + +To Brig. Gen'l A. Pike Com'dg, Department Indian Territory, Head Qrs. +Choctaw Nation.] + +skirmishing. So kindly did the Indians take to that work that Colonel +Cooper recommended[264] their employment as out-and-out guerrillas. +That was on May 6 and was probably suggested by the fact that, on +April 21, the Confederate government had definitely authorized the +use of partisan rangers.[265] A good understanding of Indian military +activity, at this particular time, is afforded by General Pike's +report[266] of May 4, + + ... The Cherokee[267] and Creek troops are in their respective + countries. The Choctaw troops are in front of me, in their + country, part on this side of Boggy and part at Little Boggy, 34 + miles from here. These observe the roads to Fort Smith and by + Perryville toward Fort Gibson. Part of the Chickasaw battalion is + sent to Camp McIntosh, 11 miles this side of the Wichita Agency, + and part to Fort Arbuckle, and the Texan company is at Fort Cobb. + + I have ordered Lieutenant-colonel Jumper with his Seminoles to + march to and take Fort Larned, on the Pawnee Fork of the Arkansas, + where are considerable stores and a little garrison. He will go as + soon as their annuity is paid. + + The Creeks under Colonel McIntosh are about to make an extended + scout westward. Stand Watie, with his Cherokees, scouts along the + whole northern line of the Cherokee country from Grand Saline to + Marysville, and sends me information continually of every movement + of the enemy in Kansas and Southwestern Missouri. + + The Comanches, Kiowas, and Reserve Indians are all peaceable and + quiet. Some 2,000 of the former are encamped about three days' + ride from Fort Cobb, and some of them come in at intervals to + procure provisions. They have sent to me to know + +[Footnote 264: Cooper to Van Dorn, May 6, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 823-824.] + +[Footnote 265: _Journal of the Congress of the Confederate +States_, vol. v, 285.] + +[Footnote 266: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 819-823.] + +[Footnote 267: This situation, so eminently satisfactory to John Ross, +did not continue long, however, and on May 10, the Cherokee Principal +Chief had occasion to complain that his country had been practically +divested of a protecting force and, at the very moment, too, when the +Federals were showing unwonted vigor near the northeastern border +[Ross to Davis, May 10, 1862, _Official Records_, vol. xiii, +824-825].] + + if they can be allowed to send a strong party and capture any + trains on their way from Kansas to New Mexico, to which I have no + objection. To go on the war-path somewhere else is the best way to + keep them from troubling Texas ... + +Stand Watie's scouting had brought him, April 26,[268] into a slight +action with men of the First Battalion First Missouri Cavalry at +Neosho, in the vicinity of which place he lingered many days and where +his men[269] again fought, in conjunction with Colonel Coffee's, May +31.[270] The skirmish of the later date was disastrous to the Federals +under Colonel John M. Richardson of the Fourteenth Missouri State +Militia Cavalry and proved to be a case where the wily and nimble +Indian had taken the Anglo-Saxon completely by surprise.[271] From +Neosho, Stand Watie moved down, by slow and destructive stages, +through Missouri and across into Indian Territory. His next important +engagement was at Cowskin Prairie, June 6. + +Meanwhile, the organization of the Indian Expedition, or Indian Home +Guard, as it was henceforth most commonly styled, was proceeding +apace.[272] The + +[Footnote 268: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 61-63; Britton, +_Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, 281-282.] + +[Footnote 269: Stand Watie's whole force was not engaged and he, +personally, was not present. Captain Parks led Watie's contingent and +was joined by Coffee.] + +[Footnote 270: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 90-92, 94-95.] + +[Footnote 271:--Ibid., 92-94, 409. Watie, although not +present, seems to have planned the affair [Ibid., 95]. +Lieutenant-colonel Mills, who reported upon the Neosho engagement, was +of the opinion that "the precipitate flight" of the Federals could +be accounted for only upon the supposition that the "screaming and +whooping of the Indians" unnerved them and "rendered their untrained +horses nearly unmanageable."--Ibid., 93.] + +[Footnote 272: The progress in organization is indicated by these +communications to the Indian Office: + +(a). + +The enrollment, organizing etc. etc. of the Indians, and preparations +for their departure, are progressing satisfactorily, though as I +anticipated, it will be difficult to raise two Regiments, and I have +some fears of our success in getting the full number for the 2nd +Regiment. But if we get one full company of Delawares and Shawnees, +(cont.)] + +completion of the first regiment gave little concern. It was composed +of Creeks and Seminoles, eight companies of the former and two of the +latter. The second regiment was miscellaneous in its composition and +took longer to + +[Footnote 272: (cont.) as promised, and four companies of Osages, +which the chiefs say they can raise, I think we shall succeed. + +Two Regiments of white troops and Rabb's Battery have already started +and are down by this time in the Cherokee Nation. Col. Doubleday, who +is in command, has notified the officers here to prepare with all +possible despatch, for marching orders. We are looking for Aliens +Battery here this week and if it comes I hope to make considerable +addition to the Army from the loyal Refugee Indians here, as they have +great confidence in "_them waggons that shoot_," this has been a +point with them all the time. + +We were still feeding those that are mustered in and shall I suppose +have to do so until the requisitions arive. The Dellawares and +Shaw-nees also, I had to make arrangements to feed from the time of +their arrival at the Sac and Fox Agency. But from all the indications +now we expect to see the whole Expedition off in ten days or two +weeks.--Coffin to Dole, June 4, 1862, Indian Office General Files, +_Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1661. + +(b). + +It has been some time since I wrote you and to fill my promise I again +drop you a line. I presume you feel a lively interest in whatever +relates to the Indians. The 1st. Regt. is now mustered into the +service and will probably to-day number something over a minimum Regt. +It is composed entirely of Creeks and Seminoles, eight companys of the +former and two of the latter. + +I have understood that the report of the Creek Agent gave the number +of Creek men at 1990--If this is a fact it is far from a correct +statement--The actual number of Creek men over 14 years of age +(refugees) will not number over 900. Some of these are unable to be +soldiers. The actual number of Seminoles (men) will not excede 300 +over 14 years of age, many of them are old and disabled as soldiers. +Thus you will see that but one Regt. could be raised from that +quarter. You are aware that the Creeks and Seminoles speak one +language nearly and are thus naturally drawn together and they were +not willing to be divided. + +The second regt. is now forming from the various other tribes and I +have no doubt will be filled, it would have been filled long ago, but +Col. Ritchie did not repair here for a long time in fact not till +after our Regt. was raised--Adjutant Dole came here promptly to do his +duty--but in the absence of his Col. could not facilitate his regt. +without assuming a responsibility that would have been unwise. I +regret that he could not have been placed in our regt. for he will +prove a faithful and reliable officer and should I be transfered to +(cont.)] + +organize, largely because its prospective commander, Colonel John +Ritchie, who had gone south to persuade the Osages to enlist,[273] was +slow in putting in an appearance at Humboldt. The Neosho Agency, to +which the Osages belonged, was in great confusion, partly due to + +[Footnote 272: (cont.) any other position which I am strongly in hopes +I may be, I hope you will exercise your influence to transfer him +to my place, this will be agreable to all the officers of the 1st. +regiment and desirable on his part. + +The condition of the Indians here at the present writing is very +favorable, sickness is abating and their spirits are reviving. I +think I have fully settled the fact of the Indians capability and +susceptibility to arive at a good state of military disipline. You +would be surprised to see our Regt. move. They accomplish the feat of +regular time step equal to any white soldier, they form in line with +dispatch and with great precission; and what is more they now manifest +a great desire to learn the entire white man's disiplin in military +matters. That they will make brave and ambitious soldiers I have no +doubt. Our country may well feel proud that these red men have at +last fell into the ranks to fight for our flag, and aid in crushing +treason. Much honor is due them. I am sorry that Dr. Kile did +not accept the appointment of Quartermaster but owing to some +misunderstanding with Col. Ritchie he declines. + +You will please remember me to Gen'l Lane and say that I have not +heard from him since I left Washington.--A.C. ELITHORPE to Dole, June +9, 1862, Indian Office General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, +1859-1862, C 1661. + +(c). + +The Indian Brigade, consisting of about one thousand Creeks and +Seminoles, sixty Quapaws, sixty Cherokees and full companies of wild +Delawares, Kechees, Ironeyes, Cadoes, and Kickapoos, left this place +(Leroy) yesterday for Humboldt, at which place I suppose they will +join the so much talked of Indian expedition. Although I have not as +yet fully ascertained the exact number of each Tribe, represented in +said Brigade, but they may be estimated at about Fifteen Hundred, +all of the Southern Refugee Indians who have been fed here by the +Government, besides sixty Delawares from the Delaware Reservation, and +about two Hundred Osages, the latter of which I have been assured will +be increased to about four or five hundred, ere they get through the +Osage Nation ... + +The news from the Cherokee Nation is very cheering and encouraging; it +has been reported that nearly Two Thousand Cherokees will be ready to +join the expedition on its approach into that country....--Coffin to +Dole, June 15, 1862, Ibid., C 1684.] + +[Footnote 273: Coffin to Dole, June 4, 1862, Ibid., +_Neosho_, C 1662 of 1862. See also Carruth to Coffin, September +19, 1862, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +164-166.] + +the fact that, at this most untoward moment, the Osages were being +approached for a cession of lands, and partly to the fact that +Indians of the neighborhood, of unionist sympathies, Cherokees and +Delawares[274] from the Cherokee country, Shawnees, Quapaws,[275] and +Seneca-Shawnees, were being made refugees, partly, also, to the fact +that Agent Elder and Superintendent Coffin were not working in harmony +with each other. Their differences dated from the first days of their +official relationship. Elder had been influential, for reasons most +satisfactory to himself and not very complimentary to Coffin, +in having the Neosho Agency transferred to the Central +Superintendency.[276] Coffin had vigorously objected and with such +effect that, in March, 1862, a retransfer had been ordered;[277] but +not before Coffin had reported[278] that everything was now amicable +between him and Elder. Elder was evidently of a different opinion and +before long was asking to be allowed again to report officially +to Superintendent Branch at St. Joseph.[279] There was a regular +tri-weekly post between that place and Fort Scott, Elder's present +headquarters, and the chances were good that Branch would be in a +position to attend to mail more promptly than was Coffin.[280] The +counter arguments + +[Footnote 274: F. Johnson to Dole, April 2, 1862, Indian Office, +_Central Superintendency_, Delaware, J 627 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 275: The propriety of permitting the refugee Quapaws to +"return to their homes by accompanying the military expedition" was +urged upon the Indian Office in a letter from Elder to Coffin, May +29, 1862 [Coffin to Dole, June 4, 1862, Ibid., _Southern +Superintendency_, Neosho, C 1663 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 276: Office letter of June 5, 1861.] + +[Footnote 277: Mix to Branch, March 1, 1862, Indian Office _Letter +Book_, no. 67.] + +[Footnote 278: Coffin to Dole, February 28, 1862, Ibid., +General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1541 of +1862.] + +[Footnote 279: Elder to Dole, May 16, 1862, Ibid., Neosho, E +106 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 280: Coffin was spending a good deal of his time at Leroy. +Leroy was one hundred twenty-five miles, so Elder computed, from +Leavenworth, where he (cont.)] + +of Coffin[281] were equally plausible and the request for transfer +refused. + +The outfit for the Indians of the Home Guard was decidedly inferior. +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la wanted batteries, "wagons that shoot."[282] His +braves, many of them, were given guns that were worthless, that would +not shoot at all.[283] In such a way was their eagerness to learn the +white man's method of fighting and to acquire his discipline rewarded. +The fitting out was done at Humboldt, although Colonel William +Weer[284] of the Tenth Kansas Infantry, who was the man finally +selected to command the entire force, would have preferred it done at +Fort Scott.[285] The Indians had a thousand and one excuses for not +expediting matters. They seemed to have a deep-seated distrust of what +the Federal intentions regarding them might be when + +[Footnote 280: (cont.) directed his mail, and sixty or seventy from +Fort Scott. His communications were held up until Coffin happened to +go to Leavenworth. Moreover, Coffin was then expecting to go soon +"into the Indian country."] + +[Footnote 281: Coffin complained that Elder neglected his duties. It +was Coffin's intention to remove the headquarters of the Southern +Superintendency from Fort Scott to Humboldt. It would then be very +convenient for Elder to report to him, especially if he would go back +to his own agency headquarters and not linger, as he had been doing, +at Fort Scott [Coffin to Dole, June 10, 1862, Ibid., C 1668 of +1862.]] + +[Footnote 282: _Daily Conservative_, May 10, 1862.] + +[Footnote 283: Weer to Doubleday, June 6, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 418; Coffin to Dole, June 17, 1862, Indian +Office General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +[Footnote 284: Weer was one of the men in disfavor with Governor +Robinson [_Daily Conservative_, May 25, 1862]. He had been +arrested and his reinstatement to command that came with the +appearance of Blunt upon the scene was doubtless the circumstance that +afforded opportunity for his appointment to the superior command +of the Indian Expedition. Sturgis had refused to reinstate him. In +December, 1861, a leave of absence had been sought by Weer, who was +then with the Fourth Kansas Volunteers, in order that he might go +to Washington, D.C., and be a witness in the case involving Lane's +appointment as brigadier-general [Thomas to Hunter, December 12, 1861, +_Congressional Globe_, 37th congress, second session, part i, +128].] + +[Footnote 285: Weer to Moonlight, June 6, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 419.] + +once they should be back in their own country. They begged that some +assurance be given them of continued protection against the foe and +in their legal rights. And, in the days of making preparations, they +asked again and again for tangible evidence that white troops were +really going to support them in the journey southward. + +The main portion of the Indian Expedition auxiliary white force had +all this time been more or less busy, dealing with bushwhackers and +the like, in the Cherokee Neutral Lands and in the adjoining counties +of Missouri. When Blunt took command of the Department of Kansas, +Colonel Frederick Salomon[286] of the Ninth Wisconsin Volunteer +Infantry was in charge at Fort Scott and the troops there or reporting +there were, besides eight companies of his own regiment, a part of +the Second Ohio Cavalry under Colonel Charles Doubleday, of the Tenth +Kansas Infantry under Colonel William F. Cloud, and the Second Indiana +Battery.[287] Blunt's first thought was to have Daubleday[288] lead +the Indian Expedition, the auxiliary white force of which was to be +selected from the regiments at Fort Scott. Doubleday accordingly made +his plans, rendezvoused his men, and arranged that the mouth of Shoal +Creek should be a rallying point and temporary headquarters;[289] but +events were already in train for Colonel + +[Footnote 286: Salomon was born in Prussia in 1826 [Rosengarten, +_The German Soldier in the Wars of the United States_, 150]. He +had distinguished himself in some of the fighting that had taken place +in Missouri in the opening months of the war and, when the Ninth +Wisconsin Infantry, composed solely of German-Americans, had been +recruited, he was called to its command [Love, _Wisconsin in the War +of the Rebellion_, 578].] + +[Footnote 287: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 371-372, 377.] + +[Footnote 288: for an account of Doubleday's movements in April that +very probably gained him the place, see Britton, _Civil War on the +Border_, vol. i, 296.] + +[Footnote 289: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 397, 408.] + +Weer to supersede him and for his own assignment to the Second Brigade +of the expedition. + +Previous to his supersedure by Weer, Doubleday conceived that it might +be possible to reach Fort Gibson with ease,[290] provided the +attempt to do so should be undertaken before the various independent +secessionist commands could unite to resist.[291] That they were +planning to unite there was every indication.[292] Doubleday[293] was +especially desirous of heading off Stand Watie who was still hovering +around in the neighborhood of his recent adventures, and was believed +now to have an encampment on Cowskin Prairie near Grand River. +Accordingly, on the morning of June 6, Doubleday started out, with +artillery and a thousand men, and, going southward from Spring River, +reached the Grand about sundown.[294] Watie was three miles away +and, Doubleday continuing the pursuit, the two forces came to an +engagement. It was indecisive,[295] however, and Watie slipped away +under + +[Footnote 290: Doubleday to Moonlight, May 25, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 397.] + +[Footnote 291: Doubleday to Blunt, June 1, 1862, Ibid., 408.] + +[Footnote 292: General Brown reported on this matter, June 2 +[Ibid., 409] and June 4 [Ibid., 414], as did also +General Ketchum, June 3 [Ibid., 412]. They all seem to have had +some intimation that General Pike was to unite with Stand Watie as +well as Coffee and others, and that was certainly General Hindman's +intention. On May 31, the very day that he himself assumed command, +Hindman had ordered Pike to advance from Fort McCulloch to the Kansas +border. The order did not reach Pike until June 8 and was repeated +June 17 [Ibid., 40].] + +[Footnote 293: The idea seems to have obtained among Missourians that +Doubleday was all this time inactive. They were either ignorant of or +intent upon ignoring the Indian Expedition. June 4, Governor Gamble +wrote to Secretary Stanton asking that the Second Ohio and the Ninth +Wisconsin, being at Fort Scott and unemployed, might be ordered to +report to Schofield [Ibid., 414, 438], who at the instance of +politicians and contrary to the wishes of Halleck [Ibid., 368] +had been given an independent command in Missouri.] + +[Footnote 294: Doubleday to Weer, June 8, 1862 [Ibid., 102].] + +[Footnote 295: Doubleday reported to Weer that it was a pronounced +success, so did Blunt to Schofield [Ibid., 427]; but subsequent +events showed that it was (cont.)] + +cover of the darkness. Had unquestioned success crowned Doubleday's +efforts, all might have been well; but, as it did not, Weer, who had +arrived at Fort Scott[296] a few days before and had been annoyed +to find Doubleday gone, ordered him peremptorily to make no further +progress southward without the Indians. The Indian contingent had in +reality had a set-back in its preparations. Its outfit was incomplete +and its means for transportation not forthcoming.[297] Under such +circumstances, Weer advised the removal of the whole concern to Fort +Scott, but that was easier said than done, inasmuch, as before any +action was taken, the stores were _en route_ for Humboldt.[298] +Nevertheless, Weer was determined to have the expedition start before +Stand Watie could be reinforced by Rains.[299] Constant and insistent +were the reports that the enemy was massing its forces to destroy the +Indian Expedition.[300] + +[Footnote 295: (cont.) anything but that and the _Daily +Conservative_ tried to fix the blame upon Weer [Weer to Moonlight, +June 23, 1862, Ibid., 446]. The newspaper account of the whole +course of affairs may be given, roughly paraphrased, thus: Doubleday, +knowing, perhaps, that Weer was to supersede him and that his time for +action was short, "withdrew his detachment from Missouri, concentrated +them near Iola, Kansas, and thence directed them to march to the +mouth of Shoal Creek, on Spring River, himself taking charge of the +convoying of a train of forty days supplies to the same place ..." He +arrived June 4. Then, "indefatigible in forwarding the preparations +for a blow upon the camp of organization which the rebels had occupied +unmolested on Cowskin Prairie," he made his plans for further advance. +At that moment came the news that Weer had superseded him and had +ordered him to stop all movement south. He disregarded the order and +struck, even though not fully prepared [_Daily Conservative_, +June 13, 1862].] + +[Footnote 296: Weer to Moonlight, June 5, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 418.] + +[Footnote 297:--Ibid.; Weer to Doubleday, June 6, 1862, +Ibid., 418-419.] + +[Footnote 298: Weer to Moonlight, June 13, 1862, Ibid., 430.] + +[Footnote 299: Same to same, June 7, 1862, Ibid., 422.] + +[Footnote 300: The destruction of the Indian Expedition was most +certainly the occasion for the massing, notwithstanding the fact that +Missourians were apprehensive for the safety of their state only and +wanted to have Weer's white troops diverted to its defence. Curtis, +alone, of the commanders in Missouri seems to have surmised rightly in +the matter [Curtis to Schofield, Ibid., 432].] + +Weer, therefore, went on ahead to the Osage Catholic Mission and +ordered the Fort Scott troops to meet him there. His purpose was to +promote the enlistment of the Osages, who were now abandoning the +Confederate cause.[301] He would then go forward and join Doubleday, +whom he had instructed to clear the way.[302] + +Weer's plans were one thing, his embarrassments, another. Before the +middle of June he was back again at Leroy,[303] having left Salomon +and Doubleday[304] at Baxter Springs on the west side of Spring +River in the Neutral Lands, the former in command. Weer hoped by his +presence at Leroy to hurry the Indians along; for it was high time the +expedition was started and he intended to start it, notwithstanding +that many officers were absent from their posts and the men of +the Second Indian Regiment not yet mustered in. It was absolutely +necessary, if anything were going to be done with Indian aid, to get +the braves away from under the influence of their chiefs, who were +bent upon delay and determent. By the sixteenth he had the warriors +all ready at Humboldt,[305] their bullet-proof medicine taken, their +grand war dance indulged in. By the twenty-first, the final packing +up began,[306] and it was not long thereafter before the Indian +Expedition, after having experienced so many vicissitudes, had +definitely materialized and was on its way south. Accompanying Weer +were the Reverend Evan Jones, entrusted with + +[Footnote 301: Weer to Moonlight, June 13, 1862.] + +[Footnote 302: Weer to Doubleday, June 6, 1862.] + +[Footnote 303: Weer to Moonlight, June 13, 1862.] + +[Footnote 304: On the twentieth, General Brown requested Salomon to +send Doubleday to southwest Missouri [_Official Records_, vol. +xiii, 440] and Salomon so far complied with the request as to post +some companies of Doubleday's regiment, under Lieutenant-colonel +Ratliff, at Neosho [Ibid., 445, 459].] + +[Footnote 305:--Ibid., 434.] + +[Footnote 306:--Ibid., 441.] + +a confidential message[307] to John Ross, and two special Indian +agents, E.H. Carruth, detailed at the instance of the Indian Office, +and H.W. Martin, sent on Coffin's own responsibility, their particular +task being to look out for the interests and welfare of the Indians +and, when once within the Indian Territory, to take careful stock of +conditions there, both political and economic.[308] The Indians were +in fine spirits and, although looking + +[Footnote 307: The message, addressed to "Mutual Friend," was an +assurance of the continued interest of the United States government +in the inhabitants of Indian Territory and of its determination to +protect them [Coffin to Ross, June 16, 1862, Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1684].] + +[Footnote 308: "... You will assure all loyal Indians in the Indian +Territory of the disposition and the ability of the Government of the +United States to protect them in all their rights, and that there is +no disposition on the part of said government to shrink from any of +its Treaty Obligations with all such of the Indian Tribes, who +have been, are now, and remaining loyal to the same. Also that the +government will, at the earliest practicable period, which is +believed not to be distant, restore to all loyal Indians the rights, +privileges, and immunities, that they have enjoyed previous to the +present unfortunate rebellion. + +"If, during the progress of the Army you should find Indians in a +suffering condition whose loyalty is _beyond doubt_, you will, +on consultation with the officers, render such assistance, as you may +think proper, with such aid as the officers may render you. + +"You will carefully look into the condition of the country, ascertain +the quantity of Stock, Hogs, and Cattle, also the quantity of Corn, +wheat etc. which may be in the hands of the loyal Indians, and the +amount of the crops in the ground the present season, their condition +and prospects. + +"You are requested to communicate with me at this office at every +suitable opportunity on all the above mentioned points, in order to +enable me to keep the Hon. Com'r of Indian Aff'rs well advised of the +condition of affairs in the Indian Territory, and that the necessary +steps may be taken at the earliest possible moment, consistent with +safety and economy, to restore the loyal Indians now in Kansas to +their homes. + +"Should any considerable number of the Indians, now in the Army, +remain in the Indian Territory, or join you from the loyal Indians, +now located therein you will very probably find it best, to remain +with them, until I can get there with those, who are now here. But of +these matters you will be more able to judge on the ground."--Extract +from Coffin's instructions to Carruth, June 16, 1862, Ibid., +Similar instructions, under date of June 23, 1862, were sent to H.W. +Martin.] + +somewhat ludicrous in their uniforms,[309] were not much behind their +comrades of the Ninth and Tenth Kansas[310] in earnestness and in +attention to duty.[311] Nevertheless, they had been very reluctant to +leave their families and were, one and all, very apprehensive as to +the future. + +[Footnote 309: "I have just returned from Humboldt--the army there +under Col. Weer consisting of the 10th Kansas Regiment 4 Companys of +the 9th Kansas Aliens Battery of Six Tenths Parrot Guns and the first +and second Indian Regements left for the Indian Territory in good +stile and in fine spirits the Indians with their new uniforms and +small Military caps on their Hugh Heads of Hair made rather a Comecal +Ludecrous apperance they marched off in Columns of 4 a breast singing +the war song all joining in the chourse and a more animated seen is +not often witnessed. The officers in command of the Indian Regements +have labored incessantly and the improvement the Indians have made in +drilling is much greater than I supposed them capabell of and I think +the opinion and confidence of all in the eficency of the Indian +Regements was very much greater when they left than at any previous +period and I have little doubt that for the kind of service that will +be required of them they will be the most efecient troops in the +Expedition."--COFFIN to Dole, June 25, 1862, Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1684.] + +[Footnote 310: Weer took with him as white anxiliary "the Tenth +Kansas, Allen's battery, three companies Ninth Kansas..." [_Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 441]. It seems to have been his intention to +take the Second Kansas also; but that regiment was determined to stay +at Humboldt until it had effected a change in its colonels in favor of +Owen A. Bassett [Ibid., 434].] + +[Footnote 311: Weer was disgusted with conditions surrounding his +white force. This is his complaint, on the eve of his departure: + +"Commissions to officers from the Governor are pouring in daily. I am +told that the Tenth is rapidly becoming a regiment of officers. To add +to these difficulties there are continual intrigues, from colonels +down, for promotions and positions of command. Officers are leaving +their posts for Fort Leavenworth and elsewhere to engage in these +intrigues for more prominent places. The camps are filled with rumors +of the success of this or that man. Factions are forming, and a +general state of demoralization being produced..."--WEER to Moonlight, +June 21, 1862, Ibid., 441-442.] + + + + +V. THE MARCH TO TAHLEQUAH AND THE RETROGRADE MOVEMENT OF THE "WHITE +AUXILIARY" + + +Towards the end of June, the various elements designed to comprise the +First Indian Expedition had encamped at Baxter Springs[312] and two +brigades formed. As finally organized, the First Brigade was put under +the command of Colonel Salomon and the Second, of Colonel William +R. Judson. To the former, was attached the Second Indian Regiment, +incomplete, and, to the latter, the First. Brigaded with the Indian +regiments was the white auxiliary that had been promised and that the +Indians had almost pathetically counted upon to assist them in their +straits. Colonel Weer's intention was not to have the white and red +people responsible for the same duties nor immediately march together. +The red were believed to be excellent for scouting and, as it would +be necessary to scout far and wide all the way down into the Indian +Territory, the country being full of bushwhackers, also, most likely, +of the miscellaneous forces of General Rains, Colonel Coffee, and +Colonel Stand Watie, they were to be reserved for that work. + +The forward movement of the Indian Expedition began at daybreak on the +twenty-eighth of June. It was then that the First Brigade started, its +white contingent, "two sections Indiana Battery, one battalion of + +[Footnote 312: Baxter Springs was a government post, established on +Spring River in the southwest corner of the Cherokee Neutral Lands, +subsequent to the Battle of Pea Ridge [Kansas Historical Society, +_Collections_, vol. vi, 150].] + +Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and six companies of Ninth Wisconsin +Volunteer Infantry,"[313] taking the military road across the Quapaw +Strip and entering the Indian Territory, unmolested. A day's journey +in the rear and travelling by the same route came the white contingent +of the Second Brigade and so much of the First Indian as was +unmounted.[314] Beyond the border, the cavalcade proceeded to Hudson's +Crossing of the Neosho River, where it halted to await the coming of +supply trains from Fort Scott. In the meantime, the Second Indian +Regiment, under Colonel John Ritchie, followed, a day apart, by the +mounted men of the First under Major William A. Phillips,[315] had +also set out, its orders[316] being to leave the military road and to +cross to the east bank of Spring River, from thence to march southward +and scour the country thoroughly between Grand River and the Missouri +state line. + +The halt at Hudson's Crossing occupied the better part of two days and +then the main body of the Indian Expedition resumed its forward march. +It crossed the Neosho and moved on, down the west side of Grand River, +to a fording place, Carey's Ford, at which point, it passed over to +the east side of the river and camped, a short distance from the ford, +at Round Grove, on Cowskin Prairie, Cherokee ground, and the scene of +Doubleday's recent encounter with the enemy. At this + +[Footnote 313: Salomon to Weer, June 30, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 458.] + +[Footnote 314: James A. Phillips to Judson, June 28, 1862 [_Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 456].] + +[Footnote 315: William A. Phillips, a Scotsman by birth, went out to +Kansas in the autumn of 1855 as regular staff correspondent of the New +York _Tribune_ [Kansas Historical Society _Collections_, +vol. v, 100, 102]. He was a personal friend of Dana's [Britton, +_Memoirs_, 89], became with Lane an active Free State man and +later was appointed on Lane's staff [_Daily Conservative_, +January 24, 31, 1862]. He served as correspondent of the _Daily +Conservative_ at the time when that newspaper was most guilty of +incendiarism.] + +[Footnote 316: James A. Phillips to Judson, June 28, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 456.] + +place it anxiously awaited the return of Lieutenant-colonel Ratliff, +who had been despatched to Neosho in response to an urgency call from +General E.B. Brown in charge of the Southwestern Division of the +District of Missouri.[317] + +The Confederates were still in the vicinity, promiscuously wandering +about, perhaps; but, none the less, determined to check, if possible, +the Federal further progress; for they knew that only by holding the +territorial vantage, which they had secured through gross Federal +negligence months before, could they hope to maintain intact the +Indian alliance with the Southern States. Stand Watie's home farm was +in the neighborhood of Weer's camp and Stand Watie himself was even +then scouting in the Spavinaw hills.[318] + +In the latter part of May, under directions from General +Beauregard[319] but apparently without the avowed knowledge of the +Confederate War Department and certainly without its official[320] +sanction, Thomas C. + +[Footnote 317: Weer to Moonlight, June 23, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 445, and same to same, July 2, 1862, +Ibid., 459-461.] + +[Footnote 318: Anderson, _Life of General Stand Watie_, 18.] + +[Footnote 319: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 28.] + +[Footnote 320: The emphasis should be upon the word, _official_, +since the government must assuredly have acquiesced in Hindman's +appointment. Hindman declared that the Secretary of War, in +communicating on the subject to the House of Representatives, "ignored +facts which had been officially communicated to him," in order to +convey the impression that Hindman had undertaken to fill the post +of commander in the Trans-Mississippi Department without rightful +authority [Hindman to Holmes, February 8, 1863, Ibid., vol. +xxii, part 2, p. 785]. The following telegram shows that President +Davis had been apprised of Hindman's selection, and of its tentative +character. + +BALDWIN, June 5, 1862. + +(Received 6th.) + +THE PRESIDENT: + +Do not send any one just now to command the Trans-Mississippi +District. It will bring trouble to this army. Hindman has been sent +there temporarily. Price will be on to see you soon. + +EARL VAN DORN, Major-General. + +[Ibid., vol. lii, part 2, supplement, p. 320.]] + +Hindman had assumed the command of the Trans-Mississippi +Department.[321] As an Arkansan, deeply moved by the misfortunes and +distress of his native state, he had stepped into Van Dorn's place +with alacrity, intent upon forcing everything within his reach to +subserve the interests of the Confederate cause in that particular +part of the southern world. To the Indians and to their rights, +natural or acquired, he was as utterly indifferent as were most other +American men and all too soon that fact became obvious, most obvious, +indeed, to General Pike, the one person who had, for reasons best +known to himself, made the Indian cause his own. + +General Hindman took formal command of the Trans-Mississippi +Department at Little Rock, May 31. It was a critical moment and he was +most critically placed; for he had not the sign of an army, Curtis's +advance was only about thirty-five miles away, and Arkansas was yet, +in the miserable plight in which Van Dorn had left her in charge of +Brigadier-general J.S. Roane, it is true, but practically denuded of +troops. Pike was at Fort McCulloch, and he had a force not wholly to +be despised.[322] It was to him, therefore, that Hindman + +[Footnote 321: _Department_ seems to be the more proper word +to use to designate Hindman's command, although _District_ and +_Department_ are frequently used interchangeably in the records. +In Hindman's time and in Holmes's, the Trans-Mississippi Department +was not the same as the Trans-Mississippi District of Department No. +2 [See Thomas Jordan, Chief of Staff, to Hindman, July 17, 1862, +_Official Records_, vol. xiii, 855]. On the very date of +Hindman's assignment, the boundaries of his command were defined as +follows: + +"The boundary of the Trans-Mississippi Department will embrace the +States of Missouri and Arkansas, including Indian Territory, the +State of Louisiana west of the Mississippi, and the State of +Texas."--Ibid., 829.] + +[Footnote 322: Yet Hindman did, in a sense, despise it and, from the +start, he showed a tendency to disparage Pike's abilities and efforts. +On the nineteenth of June, he reported to Adjutant-general Cooper, +among other things, that he had ordered Pike to establish his +headquarters at Fort Gibson and added, "His force does not amount to +much, but there is no earthly need of its (cont.)] + +made one of his first appeals for help and he ordered him so to +dispose of his men that some of the more efficient, the white, might +be sent to Little Rock and the less efficient, the red, moved upward +"to prevent the incursions of marauding parties," from Kansas.[323] +The orders were repeated about a fortnight later; but Pike had already +complied to the best of his ability, although not without protest[324] +for he had collected his brigade and accoutered it by his own energies +and his own contrivances solely. Moreover, he had done it for the +defence of Indian Territory exclusively. + +Included among the marauders, whose enterprises General Hindman was +bent upon checking, were Doubleday's men; for, as General Curtis +shrewdly surmised,[325] some inkling of Doubleday's contemplated +maneuvers had most certainly reached Little Rock. Subsequently, when +the Indian Expedition was massing at Baxter Springs, more vigorous +measures than any yet taken were prepared for and all with the view +of delaying or defeating it. June 23, Pike ordered Colonel Douglas H. +Cooper to repair to the country north of the Canadian River and to +take command of all troops, except Jumper's Seminole battalion, that +should be there or placed there.[326] Similarly, June 26, Hindman, in +ignorance of Pike's action, assigned Colonel J.J. Clarkson[327] to the +supreme command, under + +[Footnote 322: (cont.) remaining 150 miles south of the Kansas line +throwing up intrenchments." [_Official Records_, vol. xiii, +837].] + +[Footnote 323: Hindman to Pike, May 31, 1862 [Ibid., 934].] + +[Footnote 324: Pike to Hindman, June 8, 1862 [Ibid., 936-943].] + +[Footnote 325:--Ibid., 398, 401.] + +[Footnote 326: General Orders, Ibid., 839, 844-845.] + +[Footnote 327: Of Clarkson, Pike had this to say: "He applied to me +while raising his force for orders to go upon the Santa Fe' road and +intercept trains. I wrote him that he could have such orders if +he chose to come here, and the next I heard of him he wrote for +ammunition, and, I learned, was going to make (cont.)] + +Pike, "of all forces that now are or may hereafter be within the +limits of the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole countries."[328] As fate +would have it, Clarkson was the one of these two to whom the work in +hand first fell. + +The Indian Expedition was prepared to find its way contested; for its +leaders believed Rains,[329] Coffey, and Stand Watie to be all in the +immediate vicinity, awaiting the opportunity to attack either singly +or with combined forces; but, except for a small affair between a +reconnoitering party sent out by Salomon and the enemy's pickets,[330] +the march was without incident worth recording until after Weer had +broken camp at Cowskin Prairie. Behind him the ground seemed clear +enough, thanks to the very thorough scouting that had been done by the +Indians of the Home Guard regiments, some of whom, those of Colonel +Phillips's command, had been able to penetrate Missouri.[331] Of +conditions ahead of him, Weer was not so sure and he was soon made +aware of the near presence of the foe. + +Colonel Watie, vigilant and redoubtable, had been on the watch for the +Federals for some time and, learning of their approach down the east +side of Grand River, sent two companies of his regiment to head off +their advance guard. This was attempted in a surprise movement at +Spavinaw Creek and accomplished with some measure of success.[332] +Colonel Clarkson was at + +[Footnote 327: (cont.) forays into Missouri. I had no ammunition for +that business. He seized 70 kegs that I had engaged of Sparks in Fort +Smith, and soon lost the whole and Watie's also. Without any notice +to me he somehow got in command of the northern part of the Indian +country over two colonels with commissions nine months older than +his."--Pike to Hindman, July 15, 1862, _Official Records_, vol. +xiii, 858.] + +[Footnote 328: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 845-846.] + +[Footnote 329: Rains had made Tahlequah the headquarters of the Eighth +Division Missouri State Guards.--PIKE to Hindman, July 15, 1862, +Ibid., 858.] + +[Footnote 330:--Ibid., vol. xiii, 458, 460.] + +[Footnote 331:--Ibid., 460.] + +[Footnote 332: Anderson, _Life of General Stand Watie_, 18. This +incident is most (cont.)] + +Locust Grove and Weer, ascertaining that fact, prepared for an +engagement. His supplies and camp equipage, also an unutilized part of +his artillery he sent for safety to Cabin Creek, across Grand River +and Lieutenant-colonel Lewis R. Jewell of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry +he sent eastward, in the direction of Maysville, Arkansas, his +expectation being--and it was realized--that Jewell would strike +the trail of Watie and engage him while Weer himself sought out +Clarkson.[333] + +The looked-for engagement between the main part of the Indian +Expedition and Clarkson's force, a battalion of Missourians that had +been raised by Hindman's orders and sent to the Indian Territory "at +the urgent request of Watie and Drew,"[334] occurred at Locust Grove +on the third of July. It was nothing but a skirmish, yet had very +significant results. Only two detachments of Weer's men were actively +engaged in it.[335] One of them was from the First Indian Home Guard +and upon it the brunt of the fighting fell.[336] + +[Footnote 332: (cont.) likely the one that is referred to in Carruth +and Martin's letter to Coffin, August 2, 1862, Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 162.] + +[Footnote 333: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, +300-301.] + +[Footnote 334: Report of General Hindman, _Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 40.] + +[Footnote 335: Weer to Moonlight, July 6, 1862, Ibid., 137.] + +[Footnote 336: Carruth and Martin reported to Coffin, August 2, 1862, +that the Indians did practically all the fighting on the Federal side. +In minor details, their account differed considerably from Weer's. + +"When near Grand Saline, Colonel Weer detached parts of the 6th, +9th, and 10th Kansas regiments, and sent the 1st Indian regiment in +advance. By a forced night march they came up to the camp of Colonel +Clarkson, completely surprising him, capturing all his supplies, and +taking one hundred prisoners; among them the colonel himself. + +"The Creek Indians were first in the fight, led by Lieutenant Colonel +Wattles and Major Ellithorpe. We do not hear that any white man fired +a gun unless it was to kill the surgeon of the 1st Indian regiment. +We were since informed that one white man was killed by the name of +McClintock, of the 9th Kansas regiment. In reality, it was a victory +gained by the 1st Indian regiment; and while the other forces would, +no doubt, have acted well, it is the height of injustice to claim +this victory for the whites...."--Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1862, p. 162.] + +The Confederates were worsted and lost their train and many prisoners. +Among the prisoners was Clarkson himself. His battalion was put to +flight and in that circumstance lay the worst aspect of the whole +engagement; for the routed men fled towards Tahlequah and spread +consternation among the Indians gathered there, also among those who +saw them by the way or heard of them. Thoroughly frightened the red +men sought refuge within the Federal lines. Such conduct was to be +expected of primitive people, who invariably incline towards the +side of the victor; but, in this case, it was most disastrous to the +Confederate Indian alliance. For the second time since the war began, +Colonel John Drew's enlisted men defected from their own ranks[337] +and, with the exception of a small body under Captain Pickens +Benge,[338] went boldly over to the enemy. The result was, that the +Second Indian Home Guard, Ritchie's regiment, which had not previously +been filled up, had soon the requisite number of men[339] and there +were more to spare. Indeed, during the days that followed, so many +recruits came in, nearly all of them Cherokees, that lists were opened +for starting a third regiment of Indian Home Guards.[340] It was not +long before it was organized, accepted by Blunt, and W.A. Phillips +commissioned as its colonel.[341] The regular mustering in of the new +recruits had to be done at Fort Scott and thither Ritchie sent the +men, intended for his regiment, immediately. + +The Indian Expedition had started out with a very definite preliminary +programme respecting the + +[Footnote 337: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 138.] + +[Footnote 338: Hindman's Report, Ibid., 40.] + +[Footnote 339: Ritchie to Blunt, July 5, 1862, Ibid., 463-464.] + +[Footnote 340: Weer to Moonlight, July 12, 1862, Ibid., 488.] + +[Footnote 341: Blunt to Salomon, August 3, 1862, Ibid., 532; +Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, 304.] + +management of Indian affairs, particularly as those affairs might +be concerned with the future attitude of the Cherokee Nation. The +programme comprised instructions that emanated from both civil and +military sources. The special Indian agents, Carruth and Martin, had +been given suitable tasks to perform and the instructions handed them +have already been commented upon. Personally, these two men were very +much disposed to magnify the importance of their own position and +to resent anything that looked like interference on the part of the +military. As a matter of fact, the military men treated them with +scant courtesy and made little or no provision for their comfort and +convenience.[342] Colonel Weer seems to have ignored, at times, their +very existence. On more than one occasion, for instance, he deplored +the absence of some official, accredited by the Indian Office, to take +charge of what he contemptuously called "this Indian business,"[343] +which business, he felt, greatly complicated all military +undertakings[344] and was decidedly beyond the bounds of his peculiar +province.[345] + +[Footnote 342: Pretty good evidence of this appears in a letter, which +Carruth and Martin jointly addressed to Coffin, September 4, 1862, +in anticipation of the Second Indian Expedition, their idea being to +guard against a repetition of some of the experiences of the first. +"We wish to call your attention," wrote they, "to the necessity of +our being allowed a wagon to haul our clothing, tents, etc. in the +Southern expedition. + +"In the last expedition we had much annoyance for the want of +accommodations of our own. Unless we are always by at the moment of +moving, our things are liable to be left behind, that room may be made +for _army baggage_ which sometimes accumulates amazingly.... + +"The cold nights of autumn and winter will overtake us in the next +expedition and we ought to go prepared for them. We must carry many +things, as clothing, blankets, etc."--General Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +[Footnote 343: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 460.] + +[Footnote 344:--Ibid., 487.] + +[Footnote 345: Weer, nevertheless, was not long in developing some +very pronounced ideas on the subject of Indian relations. The earliest +and best indication of (cont.)] + +The military instructions for the management of Indian affairs +outlined a policy exceedingly liberal, a policy that proceeded upon +the assumption that stress of circumstances had conditioned the Indian +alliance with the Confederacy. This idea was explicitly conveyed in +a communication from Weer, through his acting assistant +adjutant-general, to John Ross, and again in the orders issued +to Salomon and Judson. Ross and his people were to be given an +opportunity to return to their allegiance, confident that the United +States government would henceforth protect them.[346] And the military +commanders were invited to give their "careful attention to the +delicate position" which the Indian Expedition would occupy + + In its relation to the Indians. The evident desire of the + government is to restore friendly intercourse with the tribes and + return the loyal Indians that are with us to their homes. Great + care must be observed that no unusual degree of vindictiveness be + tolerated between Indian and Indian. Our policy toward the rebel + portion must be a subject of anxious consideration, and its + character will to a great degree be shaped by yourself (Judson) in + conjunction with Colonel Salomon. No settled policy can at + present be marked out. Give all questions their full share of + investigation. No spirit of private vengeance should be + tolerated.[347] + +After the skirmish at Locust Grove, Colonel Weer deemed that the +appropriate moment had come for approaching John Ross with suggestions +that the Cherokee Nation abandon its Confederate ally and return to +its allegiance to the United States government. From + +[Footnote 345: (cont.) that is to be found in his letter of July +twelfth, in which he gave his opinion of the negroes, whom he found +very insolent. He proposed that the Cherokee Nation should abolish +slavery by vote.] + +[Footnote 346: J.A. Phillips to Ross, June 26, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 450.] + +[Footnote 347: Phillips to Judson, June 28, 1862, Ibid., 456. +Orders, almost identically the same, were issued to Salomon. See +Phillips to Salomon, June 27, 1862, Ibid., 452.] + +his camp on Wolf Creek, therefore, he addressed a conciliatory +communication[348] to the Cherokee chief, begging the favor of an +interview and offering to make full reparation for any outrages or +reprisals that his men, in defiance of express orders to the contrary, +might have made upon the Cherokee people through whose country they +had passed.[349] Weer had known for several days, indeed, ever since +he first crossed the line, that the natives were thoroughly alarmed at +the coming of the Indian Expedition. They feared reprisals and Indian +revenge and, whenever possible, had fled out of reach of danger, many +of them across the Arkansas River, taking with them what of their +property they could.[350] Weer had done his best to restrain his +troops, especially the Indian, and had been very firm in insisting +that no "outrages perpetrated after Indian fashion" should occur.[351] + +Weer's message to Ross was sent, under a flag of truce, by Doctor +Gillpatrick, a surgeon in the Indian Expedition, who had previously +served under Lane.[352] Ross's reply,[353] although prompt, was +scarcely satisfactory from Weer's standpoint. He refused pointblank +the request for an interview and reminded Weer that the Cherokee +Nation, "under the sanction and authority of the whole Cherokee +people," had made a formal alliance with the Confederate government +and + +[Footnote 348: Weer to Ross, July 7, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 464.] + +[Footnote 349: That there had been outrages and reprisals, Carruth and +Martin admitted but they claimed that they had been committed by white +men and wrongfully charged against Indians [Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, _Report_, 1862, 162-163].] + +[Footnote 350: Weer to Moonlight, July 2, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 460.] + +[Footnote 351:--Ibid., 452, 456, 461.] + +[Footnote 352: _Daily Conservative_, December 27, 1861.] + +[Footnote 353: Ross to Weer, July 8, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 486-487; Moore, _Rebellion Record_, vol. v, 549.] + +proposed to remain true, as had ever been its custom, to its treaty +obligations. To fortify his position, he submitted documents +justifying his own and tribal actions since the beginning of the +war.[354] Weer was naturally much embarrassed. Apparently, he had had +the notion that the Indians would rush into the arms of the Union +with the first appearance of a Federal soldier; but he was grievously +mistaken. None the less, verbal reports that reached his headquarters +on Wolf Creek restored somewhat his equanimity and gave him the +impression that Ross, thoroughly anti-secessionist at heart himself, +was acting diplomatically and biding his time.[355] Weer referred[356] +the matter to Blunt for instructions at the very moment when Blunt, +ignorant that he had already had communication with Ross, was +urging[357] him to be expeditious, since it was "desirable to +return the refugee Indians now in Kansas to their homes as soon as +practicable." + +There were other reasons, more purely military, why a certain haste +was rather necessary. Some of those reasons inspired Colonel Weer +to have the country around about him well reconnoitered. On the +fourteenth of July, he sent out two detachments. One, led by Major +W.T. Campbell, was to examine "the alleged position of the enemy south +of the Arkansas," and the other, led by Captain H.S. Greeno, to repair +to Tahlequah and Park Hill.[358] Campbell, before he had advanced far, +found out that there was a strong Confederate force at Fort Davis[359] +so he halted at Fort Gibson and was + +[Footnote 354: Weer to Moonlight, July 12, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 487. The documents are to be found +accompanying Weer's letter, Ibid., 489-505.] + +[Footnote 355: Blunt to Stanton, July 21, 1862, Ibid., 486.] + +[Footnote 356: Weer to Moonlight, July 12, 1862, Ibid., +487-488.] + +[Footnote 357: Blunt to Weer, July 12, 1862, Ibid., 488-489.] + +[Footnote 358: Weer to Moonlight, July 16, 1862, Ibid., +160-161.] + +[Footnote 359: Campbell to Weer, July 14, 1862, Ibid., 161.] + +there joined by Weer. Meanwhile, Greeno with his detachment of one +company of whites and fifty Cherokee Indians had reached Tahlequah and +had gone into camp two and one-half miles to the southward.[360] He +was then not far from Park Hill, the residence of Chief Ross. All the +way down he had been on the watch for news; but the only forces he +could hear of were some Indian, who were believed to be friendly to +the Union although ostensibly still serving the Confederacy. It was a +time of crisis both with them and with him; for their leaders had just +been summoned by Colonel Cooper, now in undisputed command north +of the Canadian, to report immediately for duty at Fort Davis, his +headquarters. Whatever was to be done would have to be done quickly. +There was no time to lose and Greeno decided the matter for all +concerned by resorting to what turned out to be a very clever +expedient. He made the commissioned men all prisoners of war[361] and +then turned his attention to the Principal Chief, who was likewise in +a dilemma, he having received a despatch from Cooper ordering him, +under authority of treaty provisions and "in the name of President +Davis, Confederate States of America, to issue a proclamation calling +on all Cherokee Indians over 18 and under 35 to come forward and +assist in protecting the country from invasion."[362] Greeno thought +the matter over and concluded there was nothing for him to do but to +capture Ross also and to release him, subsequently, on parole. These +things he did and there were many people who thought, both then and +long + +[Footnote 360: Greeno to Weer, July 15, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 473; Carruth and Martin to Coffin, July 19, 1862, +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, 158-160.] + +[Footnote 361: Greeno to Weer, July 17, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 161-162.] + +[Footnote 362: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 473.] + +afterwards, that the whole affair had been arranged for beforehand and +that victor and victim had been in collusion with each other all the +way through. + +Up to this point the Indian Expedition can be said to have met with +more than a fair measure of success; but its troubles were now to +begin or rather to assert themselves; for most of them had been +present since the very beginning. Fundamental to everything else was +the fact that it was summer-time and summer-time, too, in a prairie +region. Troops from the north, from Wisconsin and from Ohio, were +not acclimated and they found the heat of June and July almost +insufferable. There were times when they lacked good drinking +water, which made bad matters worse. The Germans were particularly +discontented and came to despise the miserable company in which they +found themselves. It was miserable, not so much because it was largely +Indian, but because it was so ill-equipped and so disorderly. At +Cowskin Prairie, the scouts had to be called in, not because their +work was finished, but because they and their ponies were no longer +equal to it.[363] They had played out for the simple reason that they +were not well fitted out. The country east of Grand River was "very +broken and flinty and their ponies unshod." It has been claimed, +although maybe with some exaggeration, that not "a single horse-shoe +or nail" had been provided for Colonel Salomon's brigade.[364] + +The supplies of the Indian Expedition were insufficient and, although +at Spavinaw Creek Colonel Watie's entire commissary had been +captured[365] and Clarkson's at Locust Grove, there was great +scarcity. Weer had + +[Footnote 363: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 460.] + +[Footnote 364: Love, _Wisconsin in the War of Rebellion_, 580.] + +[Footnote 365: Anderson, Life of General Stand Watìe, 19.] + +been cautioned again and again not to cut himself off from easy +communication with Fort Scott.[366] He had shown a disposition to +wander widely from the straight road to Fort Gibson; but Blunt had +insisted that he refrain altogether from making excursions into +adjoining states.[367] He had himself realized the shortness of his +provisions and had made a desperate effort to get to the Grand +Saline so as to replenish his supply of salt at the place where the +Confederates had been manufacturing that article for many months. He +had known also that for some things, such as ordnance stores, he would +have to look even as far as Fort Leavenworth.[368] + +The climax of all these affairs was reached July 18, 1862. On that +day, Frederick Salomon, colonel of the First Brigade, took matters +into his own hands and arrested his superior officer. It was +undoubtedly a clear case of mutiny[369] but there was much to be said +in extenuation of Salomon's conduct. The reasons for his action, as +stated in a _pronunciamento_[370] to his associates in command +and as submitted to General Blunt[371] are here given. They speak for +themselves. + + Headquarters Indian Expedition, + Camp on Grand River, July 18, 1862. + +To Commanders of the different Corps constituting Indian Expedition: + +Sirs: In military as well as civil affairs great and violent wrongs +need speedy and certain remedies. The time had arrived, in my +judgment, in the history of this expedition when the greatest wrong +ever perpetrated upon any troops was about + +[Footnote 366: Consider, for example, Blunt's orders of July 14 +[_Official Records_, vol. xiii, 472].] + +[Footnote 367: Blunt to Weer, July 3, 1862, Ibid., 461.] + +[Footnote 368: Weer to Moonlight, July 2, 1862, Ibid.] + +[Footnote 369: As such the Indian agents regarded it. See their +communication on the subject, July 19, 1862, Ibid., 478.] + +[Footnote 370: Ibid., 475-476.] + +[Footnote 371: Ibid., 484-485.] + +to fall with crushing weight upon the noble men composing the command. +Some one must act, and that at once, or starvation and capture were +the imminent hazards that looked us in the face. + +As next in command to Colonel Weer, and upon his express refusal to +move at all for the salvation of his troops, I felt the responsibility +resting upon me. + +I have arrested Colonel Weer and assumed command. + +The causes leading to this arrest you all know. I need not reiterate +them here. Suffice to say that we are 160 miles from the base of +operations, almost entirely through an enemy's country, and without +communication being left open behind us. We have been pushed forward +thus far by forced and fatiguing marches under the violent southern +sun without any adequate object. By Colonel Weer's orders we were +forced to encamp where our famishing men were unable to obtain +anything but putrid, stinking water. Our reports for disability and +unfitness for duty were disregarded; our cries for help and complaints +of unnecessary hardships and suffering were received with closed ears. +Yesterday a council of war, convened by the order of Colonel Weer, +decided that our only safety lay in falling back to some point from +which we could reopen communication with our commissary depot. Colonel +Weer overrides and annuls the decision of that council, and announces +his determination not to move from this point. We have but three days' +rations on hand and an order issued by him putting the command on half +rations. For nearly two weeks we have no communication from our rear. +We have no knowledge when supply trains will reach us, neither has +Colonel Weer. Three sets of couriers, dispatched at different times +to find these trains and report, have so far made no report. Reliable +information has been received that large bodies of the enemy were +moving to our rear, and yet we lay here idle. We are now and ever +since our arrival here have been entirely without vegetables or +healthy food for our troops. I have stood with arms folded and seen my +men faint and fall away from me like the leaves of autumn because I +thought myself powerless to save them. + +I will look upon this scene no longer. I know the responsibility I +have assumed. I have acted after careful thought + +and deliberation. Give me your confidence for a few days, and all that +man can do, and with a pure purpose and a firm faith that he is right, +shall be done for the preservation of the troops. + + F. Salomon, _Colonel Ninth Wis. Vols_., + _Comdg. Indian Expedition_. + + Headquarters Indian Expedition, + Camp on Wolf Creek, Cherokee Nation, July 20, 1862. + Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt, + +_Commanding Department of Kansas_: + +Sir: I have the honor to report that I have arrested Col. William +Weer, commanding the Indian Expedition, and have assumed command. +Among the numerous reasons for this step a few of the chief are as +follows: + +From the day of our first report to him we have found him a man +abusive and violent in his intercourse with his fellow-officers, +notoriously intemperate in habits, entirely disregarding military +usages and discipline, always rash in speech, act, and orders, +refusing to inferior officers and their reports that consideration +which is due an officer of the U.S. Army. + +Starting from Cowskin Prairie on the 1st instant, we were pushed +rapidly forward to the vicinity of Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas River, +a distance of 160 miles from Fort Scott. No effort was made by him to +keep communication open behind us. It seemed he desired none. We +had but twenty-three days' rations on hand. As soon as he reached +a position on Grand River 14 miles from Fort Gibson his movements +suddenly ceased. We could then have crossed the Arkansas River, but it +seemed there was no object to be attained in his judgment by such a +move. There we lay entirely idle from the 9th to the 19th. We had at +last reached the point when we had but three days' rations on hand. +Something must be done. We were in a barren country, with a large +force of the enemy in front of us, a large and now impassable river +between us, and no news from our train or from our base of operations +for twelve days. What were we to do? Colonel Weer called a council of +war, at which he stated that the Arkansas River was now impassable +to our forces; that a train containing commissary stores had been +expected for three days; that three different sets of couriers sent +out some time previous had + +entirely failed to report; that he had been twelve days entirely +without communication with or from the department, and that he had +received reliable information that a large force of the enemy were +moving to our rear via the Verdigris River for the purpose of cutting +off our train. + +Upon this and other information the council of war decided that our +only safety lay in falling back to some point where we could reopen +communication and learn the whereabouts of our train of subsistence. +To this decision of the council he at the time assented, and said that +he would arrange with the commanders of brigades the order of march. +Subsequently he issued an order putting the command on half rations, +declaring that he would not fall back, and refused utterly, upon my +application, to take any steps for the safety or salvation of his +command. I could but conclude that the man was either insane, +premeditated treachery to his troops, or perhaps that his grossly +intemperate habits long continued had produced idiocy or monomania. +In either case the command was imperiled, and a military necessity +demanded that something be done, and that without delay. I took the +only step I believed available to save your troops. I arrested this +man, have drawn charges against him, and now hold him subject to your +orders. + +On the morning of the 19th I commenced a retrograde march and have +fallen back with my main force to this point. + +You will see by General Orders, No. 1, herewith forwarded, that I have +stationed the First and Second Regiments Indian Home Guards as a corps +of observation along the Grand and Verdigris Rivers; also to guard the +fords of the Arkansas. Yesterday evening a courier reached me at Prior +Creek with dispatches saying that a commissary train was at Hudson's +Crossing, 75 miles north of us, waiting for an additional force as an +escort. Information also reaches me this morning that Colonel Watie, +with a force of 1,200 men, passed up the east side of Grand River +yesterday for the purpose of cutting off this train. I have sent out +strong reconnoitering parties to the east of the river, and if the +information proves reliable will take such further measures as I deem +best for its security. + +I design simply to hold the country we are now in, and will make +no important moves except such as I may deem necessary for the +preservation of this command until I receive specific + +instructions from you. I send Major Burnett with a small escort to +make his way through to you. He will give you more at length the +position of this command, their condition, &c. + +Very respectfully, your obedient servant, +F. Salomon, _Colonel Ninth Wis. Vols_., +_Comdg. Indian Expedition_. + +Salomon's insubordination brought the Indian Expedition in its +original form to an abrupt end, much to the disgust and righteous +indignation of the Indian service. The arrest of Colonel Weer threw +the whole camp into confusion,[372] and it was some hours before +anything like order could be restored. A retrograde movement of the +white troops had evidently been earlier resolved upon and was at once +undertaken. Of such troops, Salomon assumed personal command and +ordered them to begin a march northward at two o'clock on the morning +of the nineteenth.[373] At the same time, he established the troops, +he was so brutally abandoning, as a corps of observation on or near +the Verdigris and Grand Rivers. They were thus expected to cover his +retreat, while he, unhampered, proceeded to Hudson's Crossing.[374] + +With the departure of Salomon and subordinate commanders in sympathy +with his retrograde movement, Robert W. Furnas, colonel of the First +Indian, became the ranking officer in the field. Consequently it was +his duty to direct the movements of the troops that remained. The +troops were those of the three Indian regiments, the third of which +had not yet been formally recognized and accepted by the government. +Not all of these troops were in camp when the arrest of Weer took +place. One of the last official acts of Weer as + +[Footnote 372: Carruth and Martin to Blunt, July 19, 1862.] + +[Footnote 373: Blocki, by order of Salomon, July 18, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 477.] + +[Footnote 374: Carruth and Martin to Coffin, August 2, 1862.] + +commander of the Indian Expedition had been to order the First Indian +to proceed to the Verdigris River and to take position "in the +vicinity of Vann's Ford." Only a detachment of about two hundred men +had as yet gone there, however, and they were there in charge of +Lieutenant A.C. Ellithorpe. A like detachment of the Third Indian, +under John A. Foreman, major, had been posted at Fort Gibson.[375] +Salomon's _pronunciamento_ and his order, placing the Indian +regiments as a corps of observation on the Verdigris and Grand Rivers, +were not communicated to the regimental commanders of the Indian Home +Guard until July 22;[376] but they had already met, had conferred +among themselves, and had decided that it would be bad policy to take +the Indians out of the Territory.[377] They, therefore agreed to +consolidate the three regiments into a brigade, Furnas in command, +and to establish camp and headquarters on the Verdigris, about twelve +miles directly west of the old camp on the Grand.[378] + +The brigading took place as agreed upon and Furnas, brigade commander, +retained his colonelcy of the First Indian, while Lieutenant-colonel +David B. Corwin took command of the Second and Colonel William +A. Phillips of the Third. Colonel Ritchie had, prior to recent +happenings, been detached from his command in order to conduct a party +of prisoners to Fort Leavenworth, also to arrange for the mustering in +of Indian recruits.[379] But two days' rations were on hand, so jerked +beef was accepted as the chief article of diet until other supplies +could be obtained.[380] There was likely to be plenty of + +[Footnote 375: Furnas to Blunt, July 25, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 512.] + +[Footnote 376:--Ibid., 512.] + +[Footnote 377: Britton, _Civil War on the border_, vol. i, 309.] + +[Footnote 378: _Official Records_, vol. xii, 512; Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, Report, 1862, 163.] + +[Footnote 379: Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +163-164.] + +[Footnote 380: Carruth and Martin to Coffin, July 25, 1862, +Ibid., 160.] + +that; for, as Weer had once reported, cattle were a drug on the market +in the Cherokee country, the prairies "covered with thousands of +them."[381] The encampment on the Verdigris was made forthwith; but it +was a failure from the start. + +The Indians of the First Regiment showed signs of serious +demoralization and became unmanageable, while a large number of the +Second deserted.[382] It was thought that deprivation in the midst of +plenty, the lack of good water and of the restraining influence of +white troops had had much to do with the upheaval, although there had +been much less plundering since they left than when they were present. +With much of truth back of possible hatred and malice, the special +agents reported that such protection as the white men had recently +given Indian Territory "would ruin any country on earth."[383] + +With the hope that the morale of the men would be restored were they +to be more widely distributed and their physical conditions improved, +Colonel Furnas concluded to break camp on the Verdigris and return to +the Grand. He accordingly marched the Third Indian to Pryor Creek[384] +but had scarcely done so when orders came from Salomon, under cover of +his usurped authority as commander of the Indian Expedition, for +him to cross the Grand and advance northeastward to Horse Creek and +vicinity, there to pitch his tents. The new camp was christened Camp +Wattles. It extended from Horse to Wolf Creek and constituted a point +from which the component parts of the Indian Brigade did + +[Footnote 381: Weer to Moonlight, July 12, 1862.] + +[Footnote 382: Furnas to Blunt, July 25, 1862.] + +[Footnote 383: Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +160-161.] + +[Footnote 384: Named in honor of Nathaniel Pryor of the Lewis and +Clark expedition and of general frontier fame, and, therefore, +incorrectly called Prior Creek in Furnas's report.] + +extensive scouting for another brief period. In reality, Furnas was +endeavoring to hold the whole of the Indian country north of the +Arkansas and south of the border.[385] + +Meanwhile, Salomon had established himself in the neighborhood of +Hudson's Crossing, at what he called, Camp Quapaw. The camp was on +Quapaw land. His idea was, and he so communicated to Blunt, that he +had selected "the most commanding point in this (the trans-Missouri) +country not only from a military view as a key to the valleys of +Spring River, Shoal Creek, Neosho, and Grand River, but also as the +only point in this country now where an army could be sustained with a +limited supply of forage and subsistence, offering ample grazing[386] +and good water."[387] No regular investigation into his conduct +touching the retrograde movement, such as justice to Weer would seem +to have demanded, was made.[388] He submitted the facts to Blunt and +Blunt, at first alarmed[389] lest a complete abandonment of Indian +Territory would result, acquiesced[390] when, he found that the Indian +regiments were holding their own there.[391] Salomon, indeed, so far +strengthened Furnas's hand as to supply him with ten days rations and +a section of Allen's battery. + +[Footnote 385: For accounts of the movements of the Indian Expedition +after the occurrence of Salomon's retrograde movement, see the +_Daily Conservative_, August 16, 21, 26, 1862.] + +[Footnote 386: On the subject of grazing, see Britton, _Civil War on +the Border_, vol. i, 308.] + +[Footnote 387: Salomon to Blunt, July 29, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 521.] + +[Footnote 388: H.S. Lane called Stanton's attention to the matter, +however, Ibid., 485.] + +[Footnote 389: Blunt to Salomon, August 3, 1862, Ibid., +531-532.] + +[Footnote 390: He acquiesced as, perforce, he had to do but he was +very far from approving.] + +[Footnote 391: In November, Dole reported to Smith that Salomon's +retrograde movement had caused about fifteen hundred or two thousand +additional refugees to flee into Kansas. Dole urged that the Indian +Expedition should be reenforced and strengthened [Indian Office +_Report Book_, no. 12, 503-504].] + + + + +VI. GENERAL PIKE IN CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL HINDMAN + + +The retrograde movement of Colonel Salomon and the white auxiliary of +the Indian Expedition was peculiarly unfortunate and ill-timed since, +owing to circumstances now to be related in detail, the Confederates +had really no forces at hand at all adequate to repel invasion. On the +thirty-first of May, as earlier narrated in this work, General Hindman +had written to General Pike instructing him to move his entire +infantry force of whites and Woodruff's single six-gun battery to +Little Rock without delay. In doing this, he admitted that, while +it was regrettable that Pike's force in Indian Territory should be +reduced, it was imperative that Arkansas should be protected, her +danger being imminent. He further ordered, that Pike should supply the +command to be sent forward with subsistence for thirty days, should +have the ammunition transported in wagons, and should issue orders +that not a single cartridge be used on the journey.[392] + +To one of Pike's proud spirit, such orders could be nothing short +of galling. He had collected his force and everything he possessed +appertaining to it at the cost of much patience, much labor, much +expense. Untiring vigilance had alone made possible the formation of +his brigade and an unselfish willingness to advance his own funds had +alone furnished it with quartermaster and commissary stores. McCulloch +and Van + +[Footnote 392: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 934.] + +Dorn[393] each in turn had diverted his supplies from their destined +course, yet he had borne with it all, uncomplainingly. He had even +broken faith with the Indian nations at Van Dorn's instance; for, +contrary to the express terms of the treaties that he had negotiated, +he had taken the red men across the border, without their express +consent, to fight in the Pea Ridge campaign. And with what result? +Base ingratitude on the part of Van Dorn, who, in his official report +of the three day engagement, ignored the help rendered[394] and left +Pike to bear the stigma[395] of Indian atrocities alone. + +With the thought of that ingratitude still rankling in his breast, +Pike noted additional features of Hindman's first instructions to him, +which were, that he should advance his Indian force to the northern +border of Indian Territory and hold it there to resist invasion from +Kansas. He was expected to do this unsupported + +[Footnote 393: Van Dorn would seem to have been a gross offender in +this respect. Similar charges were made against him by other men and +on other occasions [_Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, +825].] + +[Footnote 394: It was matter of common report that Van Dorn despised +Pike's Indians [Ibid., vol. xiii, 814-816]. The entire Arkansas +delegation in Congress, with the exception of A.H. Garland, testified +to Van Dorn's aversion for the Indians [Ibid., 815].] + +[Footnote 395: How great was that stigma can be best understood from +the following: "The horde of Indians scampered off to the mountains +from whence they had come, having murdered and scalped many of the +Union wounded. General Pike, their leader, led a feeble band to the +heights of Big Mountain, near Elk Horn, where he was of no use to +the battle of the succeeding day, and whence he fled, between roads, +through the woods, disliked by the Confederates and detested by the +Union men; to be known in history as a son of New Hampshire--a poet +who sang of flowers and the beauties of the sunset skies, the joys of +love and the hopes of the soul--and yet one who, in the middle of the +19th century, led a merciless, scalping, murdering, uncontrollable +horde of half-tame savages in the defense of slavery--themselves +slave-holders--against that Union his own native State was then +supporting, and against the flag of liberty. He scarcely struck a blow +in open fight.... His service was servile and corrupt; his flight +was abject, and his reward disgrace."--_War Papers and Personal +Recollections of the Missouri Commandery_, 232.] + +by white troops, the need of which, for moral as well as for physical +strength, he had always insisted upon. + +It is quite believable that Van Dorn was the person most responsible +for Hindman's interference with Pike, although, of course, the very +seriousness and desperateness of Hindman's situation would have +impelled him to turn to the only place where ready help was to be had. +Three days prior to the time that Hindman had been assigned to the +Trans-Mississippi Department, Roane, an old antagonist of Pike[396] +and the commander to whose immediate care Van Dorn had confided +Arkansas,[397] had asked of Pike at Van Dorn's suggestion[398] all the +white forces he could spare, Roane having practically none of his own. +Pike had refused the request, if request it was, and in refusing it, +had represented how insufficient his forces actually were for purposes +of his own department and how exceedingly difficult had been the task, +which was his and his alone, of getting them together. At the time of +writing he had not a single dollar of public money for his army and +only a very limited amount of ammunition and other supplies.[399] + +Pike received Hindman's communication of May 31 late in the afternoon +of June 8 and he replied to it that same evening immediately after +he had made arrangements[400] for complying in part with its +requirements. + +The reply[401] as it stands in the records today is a strong +indictment of the Confederate management of Indian + +[Footnote 396: Pike had fought a duel with Roane, Roane having +challenged him because he had dared to criticize his conduct in +the Mexican War [Hallura, _Biographical and Pictorial History of +Arkansas_, vol. i, 229; _Confederate Military History_, vol. +x, 99].] + +[Footnote 397: Maury to Roane, May 11, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 827.] + +[Footnote 398: Maury to Pike, May 19, 1862, Ibid.] + +[Footnote 399: Pike to Roane, June 1, 1862, Ibid., 935-936.] + +[Footnote 400: General Orders, June 8, 1862, Ibid., 943.] + +[Footnote 401: Pike to Hindman, June 8, 1862, Ibid., 936-943.] + +affairs in the West and should be dealt with analytically, yet also as +a whole; since no paraphrase, no mere synopsis of contents could ever +do the subject justice. From the facts presented, it is only too +evident that very little had been attempted or done by the Richmond +authorities for the Indian regiments. Neither officers nor men had +been regularly or fully paid. And not all the good intentions, few as +they were, of the central government had been allowed realization. +They had been checkmated by the men in control west of the +Mississippi. In fact, the army men in Arkansas had virtually exploited +Pike's command, had appropriated for their own use his money, his +supplies, and had never permitted anything to pass on to Indian +Territory, notwithstanding that it had been bought with Indian funds, +"that was fit to be sent anywhere else." The Indian's portion was the +"refuse," as Pike so truly, bitterly, and emphatically put it, or, in +other words of his, the "crumbs" that fell from the white man's table. + +Pike's compliance with Hindman's orders was only partial and he +offered not the vestige of an apology that it was so. What he did send +was Dawson's[402] infantry regiment and Woodruff's battery which went +duly on to Little Rock with the requisite thirty days' subsistence and +the caution that not a single cartridge was to be fired along the way. +The caution Pike must have repeated in almost ironical vein; for the +way to Little Rock lay through Indian Territory and cartridges like +everything else under Pike's control had been collected solely for its +defense. + +Respecting the forward movement of the Indian troops, Pike made not +the slightest observation in his + +[Footnote 402: C.L. Dawson of the Nineteenth Regiment of Arkansas +Volunteers had joined Pike at Fort McCulloch in April [_Fort Smith +Papers_].] + +reply. His silence was ominous. Perhaps it was intended as a warning +to Hindman not to encroach too far upon his department; but that is +mere conjecture; inasmuch as Pike had not yet seen fit to question +outright Hindman's authority over himself. As if anticipating an echo +from Little Rock of criticisms that were rife elsewhere, he ventured +an explanation of his conduct in establishing himself in the extreme +southern part of Indian Territory and towards the west and in +fortifying on an open prairie, far from any recognized base.[403] He +had gone down into the Red River country, he asserted, in order to be +near Texas where supplies might be had in abundance and where, since +he had no means of defence, he would be safe from attack. He deplored +the seeming necessity of merging his department in another and larger +one. His reasons were probably many but the one reason he stressed +was, for present purposes, the best he could have offered. It +was, that the Indians could not be expected to render to him as a +subordinate the same obedience they had rendered to him as the chief +officer in command. Were his authority to be superseded in any degree, +the Indians would naturally infer that his influence at Richmond had +declined, likewise his power to protect them and their interests. + +During the night Pike must have pondered deeply + +[Footnote 403: His enemies were particularly scornful of his work +in this regard. They poked fun at him on every possible occasion. +Edwards, in _Shelby and His Men_, 63, but echoed the general +criticism, + +"Pike, also a Brigadier, had retreated with his Indian contingent out +of North West Arkansas, unpursued, through the Cherokee country, the +Chickasaw country, and the country of the Choctaws, two hundred and +fifty miles to the southward, only halting on the 'Little Blue', an +unknown thread of a stream, twenty miles from Red river, where he +constructed fortifications on the open prairie, erected a saw-mill +remote from any timber, and devoted himself to gastronomy and poetic +meditation, with elegant accompaniments..."] + +over things omitted from his reply to Hindman and over all that was +wanting to make his compliance with Hindman's instructions full and +satisfactory. On the ninth, his assistant-adjutant, O.F. Russell, +prepared a fairly comprehensive report[404] of the conditions in and +surrounding his command. Pike's force,[405] so the report stated, was +anything but complete. With Dawson gone, there would be in camp, of +Arkansas troops, one company of cavalry and one of artillery and, of +Texas, two companies of cavalry. When men, furloughed for the wheat +harvest, should return, there would be "in addition two regiments +and one company of cavalry, and one company of artillery, about 80 +strong."[406] The withdrawal of white troops from the Territory would +be interpreted by the Indians to mean its abandonment. + +Of the Indian contingent, Russell had this to say: + + The two Cherokee regiments are near the Kansas line, operating on + that frontier. Col. Stand Watie has recently had a skirmish there, + in which, as always, he and his men fought gallantly, and were + successful. Col. D.N. McIntosh's Creek Regiment is under orders to + advance up the Verdigris, toward the Santa Fé road. Lieut. Col. + Chilly McIntosh's Creek Battalion, Lieut. Col. John Jumper's + Seminole Battalion, and Lieut. Col. J.D. Harris' Chickasaw + Battalion are under orders, and part of them now in motion toward + the Salt Plains, to take Fort Larned, the post at Walnut Creek, + and perhaps Fort Wise, and intercept trains going to New Mexico. + The First Choctaw (new)[407] Regiment, of Col. Sampson Folsom, + and the Choctaw Battalion (three companies), of Maj. Simpson (N.) + Folsom, are at Middle Boggy, 23 miles northeast of this point. + They were under orders to march northward to + +[Footnote 404: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 943-945.] + +[Footnote 405: For tabulated showing of Pike's brigade, see +Ibid., 831.] + +[Footnote 406: Compare Russell's statement with Hindman's +[Ibid., 30]. See also Maury to Price, March 22, 1862 +[Ibid., vol. viii, 798].] + +[Footnote 407: The parentheses appear here as in the original.] + + the Salt Plains and Santa Fé road; but the withdrawal of Colonel + Dawson's regiment prevents that, and the regiment is now ordered + to take position here, and the battalion to march to and take + position at Camp McIntosh, 17 miles this side of Fort Cobb, where, + with Hart's Spies, 40 in number, it will send out parties to + the Wichita Mountains and up the False Wichita, and prevent, if + possible, depredations on the frontier of Texas. + + The First Choctaw and Chickasaw Regiment, of Col. Douglas H. + Cooper, goes out of service on the 25th and 26th of July. It is + now encamped 11 miles east of here.... The country to the westward + is quiet, all the Comanches this side of the Staked Plains being + friendly, and the Kiowas[408] having made peace, and selected + a home to live at on Elk Creek, not far from the site of Camp + Radziwintski, south of the Wichita Mountains. + + The Indian troops have been instructed, if the enemy[409] invades + the country, to harass him, and impede his progress by every + possible means, and, falling back here as he advances, to assist + in holding this position against him. + +Included in Russell's report there might well have been much +interesting data respecting the condition of the troops that Pike +was parting with; for it can scarcely be said that he manifested any +generosity in sending them forth. He obeyed the letter of his order +and ignored its spirit. He permitted no guns to be taken out of the +Territory that had been paid for with money that he had furnished. +Dawson's regiment had not its full quota of men, but that was scarcely +Pike's fault. Neither was it his fault that its equipment was so +sadly below par that it could make but very slow progress on the nine +hundred mile march between Fort McCulloch and Little Rock. Moreover, +the health of the + +[Footnote 408: Pike had just received assurances of the friendly +disposition of the Kiowas [Bickel to Pike, June 1, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 936].] + +[Footnote 409: The enemy in mind was the Indian Expedition. Pike had +heard that Sturgis had been removed "on account of his tardiness in +not invading the Indian country...." [Ibid., 944].] + +men was impaired, their duties, especially the "fort duties, throwing +up intrenchments, etc.,"[410] had been very fatiguing. Pike had no +wagons to spare them for the trip eastward. So many of his men had +obtained furloughs for the harvest season and every company, in +departing, had taken with it a wagon,[411] no one having any thought +that there would come a call decreasing Pike's command. + +So slowly and laboriously did Dawson's regiment progress that Hindman, +not hearing either of it or of Woodruff's battery, which was slightly +in advance, began to have misgivings as to the fate of his orders of +May 31. He, therefore, repeated them in substance, on June 17, with +the additional specific direction that Pike should "move at once to +Fort Gibson." That order Pike received June 24, the day following his +issuance of instructions to his next in command, Colonel D.H. Cooper, +that he should hasten to the country north of the Canadian and there +take command of all forces except Chief Jumper's. + +The receipt of Hindman's order of June 17 was the signal for Pike +to pen another lengthy letter[412] of description and protest. +Interspersed through it were his grievances, the same that were +recited in the letter of June 8, but now more elaborately dwelt upon. +Pike was getting irritable. He declared that he had done all he could +to expedite the movement of his troops. The odds were unquestionably +against him. His Indians were doing duty in different places. Most +of the men of his white cavalry force were off on furlough. Their +furloughs would not expire until the + +[Footnote 410: Dawson to Hindman, June 20, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 945-946.] + +[Footnote 411: Dawson had allowed his wagons to go "of his own motion" +[Pike to Hindman, June 24, 1862, Ibid., 947].] + +[Footnote 412:--Ibid., 947-950.] + +twenty-fifth and not until the twenty-seventh could they be +proceeded against as deserters. Not until that date, too, would the +reorganization, preliminary to marching, be possible. He was short of +transportation and half of what he had was unserviceable. + +Of his available Indian force, he had made what disposition to +him seemed best. He had ordered the newly-organized First Choctaw +Regiment, under Colonel Sampson Folsom, to Fort Gibson and had +assigned Cooper to the command north of the Canadian, which meant, +of course, the Cherokee country. Cooper's own regiment was the First +Choctaw and Chickasaw, of which, two companies, proceeding from +Scullyville, had already posted themselves in the upper part of the +Indian Territory, where also were the two Cherokee regiments, Watie's +and Drew's. The remaining eight companies of the First Choctaw and +Chickasaw were encamped near Fort McCulloch and would have, before +moving elsewhere, to await the reorganization of their regiment, now +near at hand. However, Cooper was not without hope that he could +effect reorganization promptly and take at least four companies +to join those that had just come from Scullyville. There were six +companies in the Chickasaw Battalion, two at Fort Cobb and four on the +march to Fort McCulloch; but they would all have to be left within +their own country for they were averse to moving out of it and were +in no condition to move. The three companies of the Choctaw Battalion +would also have to be left behind in the south for they had no +transportation with which to effect a removal. The Creek commands, +D.N. McIntosh's Creek Regiment, Chilly McIntosh's Creek Battalion, and +John Jumper's Seminole Battalion, were operating in the west, along + +the Santa Fé Trail and towards Forts Larned and Wise. + +June 17 might be said to mark the beginning of the real controversy +between Pike and Hindman; for, on that day, not only did Hindman +reiterate the order to hurry that aroused Pike's ire but he encroached +upon Pike's prerogative in a financial particular that was bound, +considering Pike's experiences in the past, to make for trouble. +Interference with his commissary Pike was determined not to brook, +yet, on June 17, Hindman put N. Bart Pearce in supreme control at +Fort Smith as commissary, acting quartermaster, and acting ordnance +officer.[413] His jurisdiction was to extend over northwestern +Arkansas and over the Indian Territory. Now Pike had had dealings +already with Pearce and thought that he knew too well the limits of +his probity. Exactly when Pike heard of Pearce's promotion is not +quite clear; but, on the twenty-third, Hindman sent him a conciliatory +note explaining that his intention was "to stop the operations of the +commissaries of wandering companies in the Cherokee Nation, who" +were "destroying the credit of the Confederacy by the floods of +certificates they" issued and not "to restrict officers acting under" +Pike's orders.[414] All very well, but Pearce had other ideas as to +the functions of his office and lost no time in apprising various +people of them. His notes[415] to Pike's officers were most +impertinently prompt. They were sent out on the twenty-fourth of June +and on the twenty-sixth Pike reported[416] the whole history of his +economic embarrassments to the Secretary of War.[417] + +[Footnote 413: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 967.] + +[Footnote 414:--Ibid., 946.] + +[Footnote 415:--Ibid., 968, 968-969, 969.] + +[Footnote 416:--Ibid., 841-844.] + +[Footnote 417: George W. Randolph.] + +His indignation must have been immense; but whether righteously so or +not, it was for others higher up to decide. That Pike had some sort of +a case against the men in Arkansas there can be no question. The tale +he told Secretary Randolph was a revelation such as would have put +ordinary men, if involved at all, to deepest shame. Hindman, perforce, +was the victim of accumulated resentment; for he, personally, had +done only a small part of that of which Pike complained. In the main, +Pike's report simply furnished particulars in matters, such as the +despoiling him of his hard-won supplies, of which mention has already +been made; and his chief accusation was little more than hinted at, +the gist of it being suggested in some of his concluding sentences: + + ... I struggled for a good while before I got rid of the curse of + dependence for subsistence, transportation, and forage on officers + at Fort Smith. I cannot even get from that place the supplies I + provide myself and hardly my own private stores. My department + quartermaster and commissary are fully competent to purchase what + we need, and I mean they shall do it. I have set my face against + all rascality and swindling and keep contractors in wholesome + fear, and have made it publicly known by advertisement that I + prefer to purchase of the farmer and producer and do not want any + contractors interposed between me and them. My own officers will + continue to purchase subsistence, transportation, forage, and + whatever else I need until I am ordered to the contrary by you, + and when that order comes it will be answered by my resignation. + Mr. White's[418] contract will not be acted under here. I have + beef enough on hand and engaged, and do not want any from him. I + have had to buy bacon at 20 to 26 cents, and he ought to be made + to pay every cent of the difference between that price and fifteen + cents. I also strenuously object to receiving mules or anything + else purchased at Fort Smith. + +[Footnote 418: "George E. White, formerly a partner, I believe, of +Senator Oldham of Texas..."--_Official Records_, vol. xiii, 842.] + + I could get up a mule factory now with the skeletons I have, + and there are a few miles from here 600 or 800 sent up by Major + Clark[419] in even a worse plight. + + I know nothing about Major Pearce as a quartermaster nor of + any right Major-General Hindman has to make him one. He is an + assistant commissary of subsistence, with the rank of major, and + Major Quesenbury, my brigade or department quartermaster, is major + by an older commission.... + + While I am here there will be no fine contracts for mules, hay, + keeping of mules, beef on the hoof at long figures, or anything of + the kind. Fort Smith is very indignant at this, and out of this + grief grows the anxious desire of many patriots to see me resign + the command of this country or be removed....[420] + +Subsequent communications[421] from Pike to Randolph reported the +continued despoiling of his command and the persistent infringement of +Pearce upon his authority, in consequence of which, the Indians were +suffering from lack of forage, medicines, clothing, and food.[422] +Pearce, in his turn, reported[423] to Hindman Pike's obstinacy and +intractability and he even cast insinuations against his honesty. Pike +was openly defying the man who claimed to be his superior officer, +Hindman. He was resisting his authority at every turn and had already +boldly declared,[424] with special reference to Clarkson, of course, +that + + No officer of the Missouri State Guard, whatever his rank, unless + he has a command adequate to his rank, can ever exercise or assume + any military authority in the Indian country, and much less assume + command of any Confederate troops or + +[Footnote 419: George W. Clark, _Official Records_, vol. xiii.] + +[Footnote 420: For an equally vigorous statement on this score, see +Pike to Randolph, June 30, 1862 [Ibid., 849].] + +[Footnote 421:--Ibid., 846-847, 848-849, 850-851, 852.] + +[Footnote 422: Chilly McIntosh to Pike, June 9, 1862, Ibid., +853; Pike to Chilly McIntosh, July 6, 1862, Ibid., 853-854.] + +[Footnote 423: July 5, 1862 [Ibid., 963-965]; July 8, 1862 +[Ibid., 965-967].] + +[Footnote 424:--Ibid., 844-845.] + + compare rank with any officer in the Confederate service. The + commissioned colonels of Indian regiments rank precisely as if + they commanded regiments of white men, and will be respected and + obeyed accordingly. + +With the same confidence in the justness of his own cause, he +called[425] Pearce's attention to an act of Congress which seemed "to +have escaped his observation," and which Pike considered conclusively +proved that the whole course of action of his enemies was absolutely +illegal. + +In some of his contentions, General Pike was most certainly on strong +ground and never on stronger than when he argued that the Indians were +organized, in a military way, for their own protection and for the +defence of their own country. Since first they entered the Confederate +service, many had been the times that that truth had been brought home +to the authorities and not by Pike[426] alone but by several of his +subordinates and most often by Colonel Cooper.[427] The Indians had +many causes of dissatisfaction and sometimes they murmured pretty +loudly. Not even Pike's arrangements satisfied them all and his +inexplicable conduct in establishing his headquarters at Fort +McCulloch was exasperating beyond measure to the Cherokees.[428] Why, +if he were really sincere in saying that his supreme duty was the +defence of Indian Territory, did he not place himself where he could +do something, where, for instance, he could take precautions against +invasions from + +[Footnote 425: Pike to Pearce, July 1, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 967.] + +[Footnote 426: One of the best statements of the case by Pike is to +be found in a letter from him to Stand Watie, June 27, 1862 +[Ibid., 952].] + +[Footnote 427: For some of Cooper's statements, illustrative of his +position, see his letter to Pike, February 10, 1862 [Ibid., +896] and that to Van Dorn, May 6, 1862 [ibid., 824].] + +[Footnote 428: It was at the express wish of Stand Watie and Drew that +Hindman placed Clarkson in the Cherokee country [Carroll to Pike, June +27, 1862, ibid., 952].] + +Kansas? And why, when the unionist Indian Expedition was threatening +Fort Gibson, Tahlequah, and Cherokee integrity generally, did he not +hasten northward to resist it? Chief Ross, greatly aggrieved because +of Pike's delinquency in this respect, addressed[429] himself to +Hindman and he did so in the fatal days of June. + +In addressing General Hindman as Pike's superior officer, John Ross +did something more than make representations as to the claims, which +his nation in virtue of treaty guaranties had upon the South. He urged +the advisability of allowing the Indians to fight strictly on the +defensive and of placing them under the command of someone who would +"enjoy their confidence." These two things he would like to have done +if the protective force, which the Confederacy had promised, were not +forthcoming. The present was an opportune time for the preferring +of such a request. At least it was opportune from the standpoint of +Pike's enemies and traducers.[430] It fitted into Hindman's scheme of +things exactly; for he had quite lost patience, granting he had ever +had any, with the Arkansas poet. It was not, however, within his +province to remove him; but it was within his power so to tantalize +him that he could render his position as brigade and department +commander, intolerable. That he proceeded to do. Pike's quick +sensibilities were not proof against such treatment and he soon lost +his temper. + +His provocations were very great. As was perfectly + +[Footnote 429: Ross to Hindman, June 25, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 950-951. A little while before, Ross had +complained, in a similar manner, to President Davis [Ibid., +824-825].] + +[Footnote 430: Pike had his traducers. The Texans and Arkansans +circulated infamous stories about him. See his reference to the same +in a letter to Hindman, July 3, 1862 [Ibid., 955].] + +natural, the Confederate defeat at Locust Grove counted heavily +against him.[431] On the seventh of July, Hindman began a new attack +upon him by making requisition for his ten Parrott guns.[432] They +were needed in Arkansas. On the eighth of July came another attack in +the shape of peremptory orders, two sets of them, the very tone of +which was both accusatory and condemnatory. What was apparently the +first[433] set of orders reached Pike by wire on the eleventh of July +and commanded him to hurry to Fort Smith, travelling night and day, +there to take command of all troops in the Indian Territory and in +Carroll's district.[434] Almost no organization, charged Hindman, was +in evidence among the Confederate forces in the upper Indian country +and a collision between the two Cherokee regiments was impending. Had +he been better informed he might have said that there was only one of +them now in existence. + +The second[435] set of orders, dated July 8, was of a tenor much the +same, just as insulting, just as peremptory. The only difference of +note was the substitution of the upper Indian country for Fort Smith +as a point for headquarters. In the sequel, however, the second +set proved superfluous; for the first so aroused Pike's ire that, +immediately upon its receipt, he prepared his resignation and sent it +to Hindman for transmission to Richmond.[436] + +Hindman's position throughout this affair was not + +[Footnote 431: July 3.] + +[Footnote 432: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 854.] + +[Footnote 433: First, probably only in the sense that it was the first +to be received.] + +[Footnote 434: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 857.] + +[Footnote 435:--Ibid., 856-857.] + +[Footnote 436: Pike to Hindman, July 15, 1862 [Ibid., 858]; +Pike to Secretary of War, July 20, 1862 [Ibid., 856].] + +destitute of justification.[437] One has only to read his general +reports to appreciate how heavy was the responsibility that rested +upon him. It was no wonder that he resorted to questionable expedients +to accomplish his purposes, no wonder that he instituted martial +law[438] in a seemingly refractory country, no wonder that he took +desperate measures to force Pike to activity. Pike's leisurely way of +attending to business was in itself an annoyance and his leisurely way +of moving over the country was a positive offence. He had been ordered +to proceed with dispatch to Fort Gibson. The expiration of a month and +a half found him still at Fort McCulloch. He really did not move from +thence until, having sent in his resignation, he made preparations for +handing over his command to Colonel Cooper. That he intended to do at +some point on the Canadian and thither he wended his way.[439] By the +twenty-first of July, "he had succeeded in getting as far as Boggy +Depot, a distance of 25 miles;[440] but then he had not left Fort +McCulloch until that very morning.[441] + +Pike's definite break with Hindman was, perhaps, more truly a +consummation of Hindman's wishes than of Pike's own. On the third +of July, as if regretting his previous show of temper, he wrote to +Hindman a long letter,[442] conciliatory in tone throughout. He +discussed the issues between them in a calm and temperate spirit, + +[Footnote 437: In September, Hindman declared he had never had any +knowledge of the order creating Pike's department [_Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 978].] + +[Footnote 438: He instituted martial law, June 30, 1862 and, although +he believed he had precedent in Pike's own procedure, Pike criticized +him severely. See Pike to J.S. Murrow, Seminole Agent, October 25, +1862, Ibid., 900-902. Hindman had authorized Pearce, June 17, +1862, to exercise martial law in the cities of Fort Smith and Van +Buren and their environs [Ibid., 835].] + +[Footnote 439: Pike to Hindman, July 15, 1862.] + +[Footnote 440: Hindman's Report [_Official Records_, vol. xiii, +40].] + +[Footnote 441: Pike to the Secretary of War, July 20, 1862 +[Ibid., 859].] + +[Footnote 442:--Ibid., 954-962.] + +changing nothing as regarded the facts but showing a willingness to +let bygones be bygones. Considering how great had been his chagrin, +his indignation, and his poignant sense of ingratitude and wrong, he +rose to heights really noble. He seemed desirous, even anxious, that +the great cause in which they were both so vitally interested should +be uppermost in both their minds always and that their differences, +which, after all, were, comparatively speaking, so very petty, should +be forgotten forever. It was in the spirit of genuine helpfulness that +he wrote and also in the spirit of great magnanimity. Pike was a man +who studied the art of war zealously, who knew the rules of European +warfare, and a man, who, even in war times, could read Napier's +_Peninsular War_ and succumb to its charm. He was a classicist +and a student very much more than a man of action. Could those around +him, far meaner souls many of them than he, have only known and +remembered that and, remembering it, have made due allowances for his +vagaries, all might have been well. His generous letter of the third +of July failed utterly of its mission; but not so much, perhaps, +because of Hindman's inability to appreciate it or unwillingness +to meet its writer half-way, as because of the very seriousness +of Hindman's own military situation, which made all compromises +impossible. The things he felt it incumbent upon him to do must be +done his way or not at all. The letter of July 3 could scarcely have +been received before the objectionable orders of July 8 had been +planned. + +The last ten days of July were days of constant scouting on the part +of both the Federal and Confederate Indians but nothing of much +account resulted. Colonel W.A. Phillips of the Third Indian Home +Guard, + +whose command had been left by Furnas to scout around Tahlequah and +Fort Gibson, came into collision with Stand Watie's force on the +twenty-seventh at Bayou Bernard, seven miles, approximately, from the +latter place. The Confederate Cherokees lost considerably in dead +and prisoners.[443] Phillips would have followed up his victory by +pursuing the foe even to the Verdigris had not Cooper, fearing that +his forces might be destroyed in detail, ordered them all south of the +Arkansas and thereby circumvented his enemy's designs. Phillips +then moved northward in the direction of Furnas's main camp on Wolf +Creek.[444] + +Pike had his own opinion of Cooper and Watie's daring methods of +fighting and most decidedly disapproved of their attempting to meet +the enemy in the neighborhood of Fort Gibson. That part of the Indian +Territory, according to his view of things, was not capable of +supporting an army. He discounted the ability of his men to conquer, +their equipment being so meagre. He, therefore, persisted in advising +that they should fight only on the defensive. He advised that, +notwithstanding he had a depreciatory[445] regard for the Indian +Expedition, and, both before and after the retrograde movement +of Colonel Salomon, underestimated its size and strength. He Was +confident that Cooper would have inevitably to fall back to the +Canadian, where, as he said, "the defensible country commences." Pike +objected strenuously to the courting of an open battle and, could he +have followed the bent of his own inclinations, "would have sent only + +[Footnote 443: Phillips to Furnas, July 27, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 181-182.] + +[Footnote 444: Same to same, August 6, 1862, Ibid., 183-184.] + +[Footnote 445: Cooper reported that Pike regarded the Indian +Expedition as only a "jayhawking party," and "no credit due" "for +arresting its career" [Cooper to Davis, August 8, 1862, Ibid., +vol liii, supplement, 821].] + +small bodies of mounted Indians and white troops to the +Arkansas."[446] + +No doubt it was in repudiation of all responsibility for what Cooper +and Watie might eventually do that he chose soon to bring himself, +through a mistaken notion of justice and honor, into very disagreeable +prominence. Discretion was evidently not Pike's cardinal virtue. At +any rate, he was quite devoid of it when he issued, July 31, his +remarkable circular address[447] "to the Chiefs and People of the +Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Chickasaws, and Choctaws." In that +address, he notified them that he had resigned his post as department +commander and dilated upon the causes that had moved him to action. He +shifted all blame for failure to keep faith with the Indian nations +from himself and from the Confederate government to the men upon whom +he steadfastly believed it ought to rest. He deprecated the plundering +that would bring its own retribution and begged the red men to be +patient and to keep themselves true to the noble cause they had +espoused. + + Remain true, I earnestly advise you, to the Confederate States + and yourselves. Do not listen to any men who tell you that the + Southern States will abandon you. They will not do it. If the + enemy has been able to come into the Cherokee country it has not + been the fault of the President; and it is but the fortune of war, + and what has happened in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, + and even Arkansas. We have not been able to keep the enemy from + our frontier anywhere; but in the interior of our country we can + defeat them always. + + Be not discouraged, and remember, above all things, that you can + have nothing to expect from the enemy. They will have no mercy on + you, for they are more merciless than wolves and more rapacious. + Defend your country with what help you + +[Footnote 446: Pike to the Secretary of War, July 20, 1862, +_Official Records_, vol. xiii, 859-860.] + +[Footnote 447:--Ibid., 869-871.] + + can get until the President can send you troops. If the enemy ever + comes to the Canadian he cannot go far beyond that river. The war + must soon end since the recent victories near Richmond, and no + treaty of peace will be made that will give up any part of your + country to the Northern States. If I am not again placed in + command of your country some other officer will be in whom you + can confide. And whatever may be told you about me, you will soon + learn that if I have not defended the whole country it was because + I had not the troops with which to do it; that I have cared for + your interest alone; that I have never made you a promise that I + did not expect, and had not a right to expect, to be able to keep, + and that I have never broken one intentionally nor except by the + fault of others. + +The only fair way to judge Pike's farewell address to his Indian +charges is to consider it in the light of its effect upon them, +intended and accomplished.[448] So little reason has the red man had, +in the course of his long experience with his white brother, to trust +him that his faith in that white brother rests upon a very slender +foundation. Pike knew the Indian character amazingly well and knew +that he must retain for the Confederacy the Indian's confidence at all +cost. Were he to fail in that, his entire diplomatic work would have +been done in vain. To stay the Cherokees in their desertion to +the North was of prime necessity. They had already gone over in +dangerously large numbers and must be checked before other tribes +followed in their wake. Very possibly Pike had been made aware + +[Footnote 448: Pike gives this as the effect of his proclamation: + +"... it effected what I desired. The Choctaw force was immediately +increased to two full regiments; the Creek force to two regiments +and two companies; the Seminole force was doubled; the Chickasaws +reorganized five companies and a sixth is being made up. The Indians +looked to me alone, and for me to vindicate myself was to vindicate +the Government. We lost half the Cherokees solely because their moneys +and supplies were intercepted..."--Ibid., 904-905. See also +Pike to Holmes, December 30, 1862. Another effect was, the creation of +a prejudice self-confessed in General Holmes's mind against Pike.] + +of Chief Ross's complaint to Hindman. If so, it was all important +that he should vindicate himself. So maligned had he been that his +sensitiveness on the score of the discharge of his duties was very +natural, very pardonable. After all he had done for the Confederacy +and for the Indians, it seemed hardly right that he should be blamed +for all that others had failed to do. His motives were pure and could +not be honestly impugned by anybody. The address was an error of +judgment but it was made with the best of intentions. + +And so the authorities at Richmond seem to have regarded it; that is, +if the reference in President Davis's letter[449] to Pike of August 9 +is to this affair. Pike wrote to the president on the same day that he +started his address upon its rounds, but that letter,[450] in which +he rehearsed the wrongs he had been forced to endure, also those more +recently inflicted upon him, did not reach Richmond until September +20. His address was transmitted by Colonel D.H. Cooper, who had +taken great umbrage at it and who now charged the author with having +violated an army regulation, which prohibited publications concerning +Confederate troops.[451] Davis took the matter under advisement and +wrote to Pike a mild reprimand. It was as follows: + + Richmond, Va., August 9, 1862. + + Brig. Gen. Albert Pike, + + Camp McCulloch, Choctaw Nation: + + General: Your communication of July 3 is at hand. I regret the + necessity of informing you that it is an impropriety for an + officer of the Army to address the President through a printed + circular.[452] Under the laws for the government of + +[Footnote 449: Official Records, vol. liii, supplement, 822.] + +[Footnote 450:--Ibid., vol. xiii, 860-869.] + +[Footnote 451:--Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 820-821.] + +[Footnote 452: It is possible that the printed circular here referred +to was some other one that was directly addressed to the president but +none such has been found.] + + the Army the publication of this circular was a grave military + offense, and if the purpose was to abate an evil, by making an + appeal that would be heeded by me, the mode taken was one of the + slowest and worst that could have been adopted. + + Very respectfully, yours, Jefferson Davis. + +The sympathy of Secretary Randolph was conceivably with Pike; for, on +the fourteenth of July, he wrote assuring him that certain general +orders had been sent out by the Adjutant and Inspector General's +Office which were "intended to prevent even the major-general +commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department from diverting from their +legitimate destination (the Department of Indian Territory) munitions +of war and supplies procured by 'him' for that department."[453] +That did not prevent Hindman's continuing his pernicious practices, +however. On the seventeenth he demanded[454] that Pike deliver to +him his best battery and Pike, discouraged and yet thoroughly beside +himself with ill-suppressed rage,[455] sent it to him.[456] At +the same time he insisted that he be immediately relieved of his +command.[457] He could endure the indignities to which he was +subjected no longer. The order for his relief arrived in due course +and also directions for him to report in person at Hindman's +headquarters.[458] He had not then issued his circular; but, as + +[Footnote 453: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 903; Pike to +Holmes, December 30, 1862, Pike _Papers_, Library of the +Supreme Council, 33º. Pike did not receive Randolph's letter of July +fourteenth until some time in August and not until after he had had an +interview with Holmes. See Pike to Holmes, December 30, 1862.] + +[Footnote 454: Official Records, vol. xiii, 970.] + +[Footnote 455: This is inferred from the very peculiar _General +Orders_ that issued from Fort McCulloch that selfsame day. They +were sarcastic in the extreme. No general in his right senses would +have issued them. They are to be found, Ibid., 970-973.] + +[Footnote 456:--Ibid., 973, 974.] + +[Footnote 457:--_Ib id_., 973.] + +[Footnote 458: Pike to Hindman, July 31, 1862, Ibid., 973.] + +soon as he had, the whole situation changed. He had deliberately put +himself in the wrong and into the hands of his enemies. The address +was, in some respects, the last act of a desperate[459] man. And there +is no doubt that General Pike was desperate. Reports were spreading in +Texas that he was a defaulter to the government and, as he himself in +great bitterness of spirit said, "The incredible villainy of a slander +so monstrous, and so without even any ground for suspicion," was +"enough to warn every honest man not to endeavor to serve his +country."[460] + +Not until August 6 did General Pike's circular address reach Colonel +D.H. Cooper, who was then at Cantonment Davis. Cooper wisely +suppressed all the copies he could procure and then, believing Pike to +be either insane or a traitor, ordered his arrest,[461] sending out +an armed force for its accomplishment. Hindman, as soon as notified, +"indorsed and approved" his action.[462] This is his own account of +what he did: + + ... I approved his action, and ordered General Pike sent to Little + Rock in custody. I also forwarded Colonel Cooper's letter to + Richmond, with an indorsement, asking to withdraw my approval + of General Pike's resignation, that I might bring him before a + court-martial on charges of falsehood, cowardice, and treason. He + was also liable to the penalties prescribed by section 29 of the + act of Congress regulating intercourse with the Indians and to + preserve peace on the frontiers, approved April 8, 1862.... + + But his resignation had been accepted....[463] + +[Footnote 459: And yet, August 1, 1862, Pike wrote to Davis one of the +sanest papers he ever prepared. It was full of sage advice as to the +policy that ought to be pursued in Indian Territory [_Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 871-874].] + +[Footnote 460: Pike to S. Cooper, August 3, 1862, Ibid., 975. +See also Pike to Newton, August 3, 1862, Ibid., 976.] + +[Footnote 461: D.H. Cooper to Hindman, August 7, 1862, ibid., 977.] + +[Footnote 462: Pike to Anderson, October 26, 1862, Ibid., 903.] + +[Footnote 463: Hindman's Report, Ibid., 41.] + + + + +VII. ORGANIZATION OF THE ARKANSAS AND RED RIVER SUPERINTENDENCY + + +The mismanagement of southern Indian affairs of which General Pike so +vociferously complained was not solely or even to any great degree +attributable to indifference to Indian interests on the part of +the Confederate government and certainly not at all to any lack of +appreciation of the value of the Indian alliance or of the strategic +importance of Indian Territory. The perplexities of the government +were unavoidably great and its control over men and measures, removed +from the seat of its immediate influence, correspondingly small. +It was not to be expected that it would or could give the same +earnestness of attention to events on the frontier as to those nearer +the seaboard, since it was, after all, east of the Mississippi that +the great fight for political separation from the North would have to +be made. + +The Confederate government had started out well. It had dealt with the +Indian nations on a basis of dignity and lofty honor, a fact to be +accounted for by the circumstance that Indian affairs were at first +under the State Department with Toombs at its head;[464] and, in this +connection, let it be recalled that it was under authority of the +State Department that Pike had + +[Footnote 464: Toombs did not long hold the portfolio. Among the +Pickett _Papers_, is a letter from Davis to Toombs, July 24, +1861, accepting with regret his resignation [Package 89].] + +entered upon his mission as diplomatic agent to the tribes west of +Arkansas.[465] Subsequently, and, indeed, before Pike had nearly +completed his work, Indian affairs were transferred[466] to the +direction of the Secretary of War and a bureau created in his +department for the exclusive consideration of them, Hubbard receiving +the post of commissioner.[467] + +The Provisional Congress approached the task of dealing with Indian +matters as if it already had a big grasp on the subject and intended, +at the outset, to give them careful scrutiny and to establish, with +regard to them, precedents of extreme good faith. Among the + +[Footnote 465: In evidence of this, note, in addition to the material +published in Abel, _The American Indian as Slaveholder and +Secessionist_, the following letters, the first from Robert Toombs +to L.P. Walker, Secretary of War, dated Richmond, August 7, 1861; +and the second from William M. Browne, Acting Secretary of State, to +Walker, September 4, 1861: + +1. "I have the honor to inform you that under a resolution of +Congress, authorizing the President to send a Commissioner to the +Indian tribes west of Arkansas and south of Kansas, Mr. Albert Pike of +Arkansas was appointed such Commissioner under an autograph letter of +the President giving him very large discretion as to the expenses +of his mission. Subsequent to the adoption of the resolution, above +named, Congress passed a law placing the Indian Affairs under the +control of your Department and consequently making the expenses of +Mr. Pike and all other Indian Agents, properly payable out of +the appropriation at your disposal for the service of the Indian +Bureau."--Pickett _Papers_, Package 106, Domestic Letters, +Department of State, vol. i, p.86. + +2. "The accompanying letters and reports from Commissioner Albert Pike +addressed to your Department are respectfully referred to you, +the affairs to which they relate being under your supervision and +control."--Ibid., P-93.] + +[Footnote 466: A re-transfer to the State Department was proposed +as early as the next November [_Journal of the Congress of the +Confederate States_, 489].] + +[Footnote 467: President Davis recommended the creation of the +bureau, March 12, 1861 [Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the +Confederacy_, vol. i, p. 58: Journal of the Congress of the +Confederate States, vol. i, p. 142]. On the sixteenth, he nominated +David Hubbard of Alabama for commissioner [Pickett Papers, Package +88]. The bill for the creation of the bureau of Indian Affairs was +signed the selfsame day [Journal, vol. i, 151]. S.S. Scott became +Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs before the year was out.] + +things[468] it considered and in some cases favorably disposed of +were, the treaties of amity and alliance negotiated by Albert Pike, +the transfer of Indian trust + +[Footnote 468: The preliminaries of the negotiations with the Indians +have not been enumerated here, although they might well have been. On +the twentieth of February, 1861, W.P. Chilton of Alabama offered a +resolution to inquire into the expediency of opening negotiations +[_Journal_, vol. i, 70]. March 4, Toombs urged that a special +agent be sent and offered a resolution to that effect [Ibid., +105]. The day following, Congress passed the resolution [Ibid., +107]: but left the powers and duties of the special agent, or +commissioner, undefined. Davis appointed Pike to the position and, +after Congress had expressed its wishes regarding the mission in the +act of May 21, 1861, had a copy of the act transmitted to him as his +instructions [Richardson, vol. i, 149]. + +The act of May 21, 1861, carried a blanket appropriation of $100,000, +which was undoubtedly used freely by Pike for purposes connected +with the successful prosecution of his mission. In December, the +Provisional Congress appropriated money for carrying into effect the +Pike treaties. The following letter is of interest in connection +therewith: + +Richmond, Va., 9" December 1861. + +Sir: On the 1st or 2nd of August 1861, after I had made Treaties with +the Creeks and Seminoles, I authorized James M.C. Smith, a resident +citizen of the Creek Nation, to raise and command a company of Creek +Volunteers, to be stationed at the North Fork Village, in the Creek +country, on the North Fork of the Canadian, where the great road from +Missouri to Texas crosses that river, to act as a police force, watch +and apprehend disaffected persons, intercept improper communications, +and prevent the driving of cattle to Kansas. + +The Company was soon after raised, and has remained in the service +ever since. At my appointment George W. Stidham acted as Quartermaster +and Commissary for it, and without funds from the Government, has +supplied it. + +By the Treaty with the Seminoles, made on the 1st of August, they +agreed to furnish, and I agreed to receive, five companies of mounted +volunteers of that Nation. Two companies, and perhaps more, were +raised, and have since been received, I understand, by Col. Cooper, +and with Captain Smith's company employed in putting down the +disaffected party among the Creeks. Under my appointment, Hugh +McDonald has acted as Quartermaster and Commissary for the Seminole +companies, and made purchases without funds from the Government. After +I had made the Treaties with the Reserve Indians and Comanches, in +August 1861, Fort Cobb being about to be abandoned by the Texan +Volunteers who had held it, I authorized M. Leeper, the Wichita +agent, to enlist a small force, of twenty or twenty-five men, under a +Lieutenant, for the security of the Agency. He enlisted, (cont.)] + +funds from the United to the Confederate States government,[469] the +payment of Indian troops and their pensioning.[470] Its disposition to +be grateful and generous came out in the honor which it conferred upon +John Jumper, the Seminole chief.[471] + +A piece of very fundamental work the Provisional Congress did not have +time or opportunity to complete. + +[Footnote 468: (cont.) I learn, only some fifteen, and he has had them +for some time in the service. + +I also appointed a person named McKuska, formerly a soldier, to take +charge of what further property remained at Fort Cobb, and employed +another person to assist him, agreeing that the former should be paid +as Ordnance Sergeant, and the latter as private; and directing the +Contractor for the Indians to issue to the former two rations, and to +the latter one. + +In consequence of the collection of some force of disaffected Creeks +and others, and an apprehended attack by them, Col. Douglas H. Cooper +called for troops from all the Nations, and I understand that several +companies were organized and marched to join his regiment. I think +they are still in the service. + +I am now empowered to receive all the Indians who offer to enter the +service. To induce them to enlist, what is already owing them must be +paid; and I earnestly hope that Congress will pass the bill introduced +for that purpose. Respectfully your obedient servant + +Albert Pike, _Brig. Genl Commd Dept of Ind. Terr'y_. +Hon. W. Miles, Chairman Com. on Mil. Affs. + +[War Department, Office of the Adjutant-General, Archives Division, +_Confederate Records_.]] + +[Footnote 469: Journal, vol. i, 650, 743, 761. The Confederate +government took, in the main, a just, reasonable, and even charitable +view on the subject of the assumption of United States obligations. +Pike had exceeded his instructions in promising the Indians that +monetary obligations would be so assumed. See his letter to Randolph, +June 30, 1862.] + +[Footnote 470: This matter went over into the regular Congress, +which began its work, February 18, 1862. For details of the bill for +pensions see _Journal_, vol. i, 43, 79.] + +[Footnote 471: "_The Congress of the Confederate States of America +do enact_, That the President of the Confederate States be +authorized to present to Hemha Micco, or John Jumper, a commission, +conferring upon him the honorary title of Lieutenant Colonel of the +army of the Confederate States, but without creating or imposing the +duties of actual service or command, or pay, as a complimentary mark +of honor, and a token of good will and confidence in his friendship, +good faith, and loyalty to this government...."--_Statutes at Large +of the Provisional Government_, 284.] + +That work was, the establishment of a superintendency of Indian +Affairs in the west that should be a counterpart, in all essentials, +of the old southern superintendency, of which Elias Rector had been +the incumbent. Elias Rector and the agents[472] under him, all +of whom, with scarcely a single exception, had gone over to the +Confederacy, had been retained, not under authority of law, but +provisionally. The intention was to organize the superintendency +as soon as convenient and give all employees their proper official +status. Necessarily, a time came when it was most expedient for army +men to exercise the ordinary functions of Indian agents;[473] but +even that arrangement was to be only temporary. Without doubt, the +enactment of a law for the establishment of a superintendency of +Indian affairs was unduly delayed by the prolonged character of Pike's +diplomatic mission. The Confederate government evidently did not +anticipate that the tribes with which it sought alliance would be so +slow[474] or so wary in accepting the protectorate it offered. Not +until January 8, 1862, did the Provisional Congress have before it +the proposition for superintendency organization. The measure was +introduced by Robert W. Johnson of Arkansas and it + +[Footnote 472: Quite early a resolution was submitted that had in +view "the appointment of agents to the different tribes of Indians +occupying territory adjoining this Confederacy..." [_Journal_, +vol. i, 81.]] + +[Footnote 473: _Journal_, vol. i, 245.] + +[Footnote 474: Pike was not prepared beforehand for so extended a +mission. In November, he wrote to Benjamin, notifying him that he was +enclosing "an account in blank for my services as commissioner to the +Indian nations west of Arkansas. + +"It was not my intention to accept any remuneration, but the great +length of time during which I found it necessary to remain in the +Indian Country caused me such losses and so interfered with my +business that I am constrained unwillingly to present this account. I +leave it to the President or to Congress to fix the sum that shall +be paid me...."--Pike to Benjamin, November 25, 1861, Pickett +_Papers_, Package 118.] + +went in succession to the Judiciary and Indian Affairs committees; but +never managed to get beyond the committee stage.[475] + +February 18, 1862, saw the beginning of the first session of the +first congress that met under the Confederate constitution. Six +days thereafter, Johnson, now senator from Arkansas, again took +the initiative in proposing the regular establishment of an Indian +superintendency.[476] As Senate Bill No. 3, his measure was referred +to the Committee[477] on Indian Affairs and, on March 11, reported +back with amendments.[478] Meanwhile, the House was considering a +bill of similar import, introduced on the third by Thomas B. Hanly, +likewise from Arkansas.[479] On the eighteenth, it received Senate +Bill No. 3 and substituted it for its own, passing the same on April +Fool's day. The bill was signed by the president on April 8.[480] + +The information conveyed by the journal entries is unusually meagre; +nevertheless, from the little that is given, the course of debate on +the measure can be inferred to a certain extent. The proposition as +a whole carried, of course, its own recommendation, since the +Confederacy was most anxious to retain the Indian friendship and it +certainly could not be retained were not some system introduced into +the service. In matters of detail, local interests, as always in +American legislation, had full play. They asserted themselves most +prominently, for example, in the endeavor made + +[Footnote 475: _Journal_, vol. i, 640, 672, 743.] + +[Footnote 476:--Ibid., vol. ii, 19.] + +[Footnote 477: The Committee on Indian Affairs, at the time, consisted +of Johnson, chairman, Clement C. Clay of Alabama, Williamson S. Oldham +of Texas, R.L.Y. Payton of Missouri, and W.E. Simms of Kentucky.] + +[Footnote 478: _Journal_, vol. ii, 51-52.] + +[Footnote 479: _Journal_, vol. v, 47.] + +[Footnote 480:--Ibid., 210.] + +to make Fort Smith, although quite a distance from all parts of the +Indian Territory except the Cherokee and Choctaw countries, the +permanent headquarters, also in that to compel disbursing agents to +make payments in no other funds than specie or treasury notes. The +amendment of greatest importance among those that passed muster was +the one attaching the superintendency temporarily to the western +district of Arkansas for judicial purposes. It was a measure that +could not fail to be exceedingly obnoxious to the Indians; for they +had had a long and disagreeable experience, judicially, with Arkansas. +They had their own opinion of the white man's justice, particularly +as that justice was doled out to the red man on the white man's +ground.[481] Taken in connection with regulations[482] made by the War +Department for the conduct of Indian affairs, the Act of April 8 most +certainly exhibited an honest intention on the part of the Confederate +government to carry out the provisions of the Pike treaties. The +following constituted its principal features: With headquarters at +either Fort Smith or Van Buren, as the president might see fit to +direct, the superintendency was to embrace "all the Indian country +annexed to the Confederate States, that lies west of Arkansas and +Missouri, north of Texas, and east of Texas and New Mexico." A +superintendent and six agents were immediately provided for, +individually bonded and obligated to continue resident during the term +of office, to engage in no mercantile pursuit or gainful occupation + +[Footnote 481: The Confederacy, as a matter of fact, never did keep +its promise regarding the establishment of a judiciary in Indian +Territory. Note Commissioner Scott's remarks in criticism, December i, +1864 [_Official Records_, vol. xli, part iv, 1088-1089].] + +[Footnote 482: The regulations referred to can be found in +_Confederate Records_, chap. 7, no. 48.] + +whatsoever, and to prosecute no Indian claims against the government. +In the choice of interpreters, preference was to be given to +applicants of Indian descent. Indian trade privileges were to be +greatly circumscribed and, in the case of the larger nations, the +complete control of the trade was to rest with the tribal authorities. +In the case, also, of those same larger nations, the restrictions +formerly placed upon land alienations were to be removed. Intruders +and spirituous liquors were to be rigidly excluded and all payments +to Indians were to be carefully safeguarded against fraud and graft. +Indian customs of citizenship and adoption were to be respected. No +foreign interference was to be permitted. Foreign emissaries were to +be dealt with as spies and as such severely punished. The Confederate +right of eminent domain over agency sites and buildings, forts, and +arsenals was to be recognized, as also the operation of laws against +counterfeiting and of the fugitive slave law. In default of regular +troops, the Confederacy was to support an armed police for protection +and the maintenance of order. The judicial rights of the Indians were +to be very greatly extended but the Confederacy reserved to itself the +right to apprehend criminals other than Indian. + +The intentions of the Confederate government were one thing, its +accomplishments another. The act of April 8 was not put into immediate +execution, and might have been allowed to become obsolete had it not +been for the controversy between Pike and Hindman. On the first of +August, while the subject-matter of the address, which he had so +imprudently issued to the Indians, was yet fresh in his mind, General +Pike wrote a letter of advice, eminently sound advice, to President +Davis.[483] Avoiding all captiousness, he set forth a + +[Footnote 483: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 871-874.] + +programme of what ought to be done for Indian Territory and for the +Indians, in order that their friendly alliance might be maintained. He +urged many things and one thing very particularly. It was the crux +of them all and it was that Indian Territory should be absolutely +separated from Arkansas, in a military way, and that no troops +from either Arkansas or Texas should be stationed within it. Other +suggestions of Pike's were equally sound. Indeed, the entire letter of +the first of August was sound and in no part of it more sound than in +that which recommended the immediate appointment of a superintendent +of Indian affairs for the Arkansas and Red River Superintendency, also +the appointment of Indian agents for all places that had none.[484] It +was high time that positions in connection with the conduct of Indian +affairs should be something more than sinecures. + +Aspirants for the office of superintendent had already made their +wants known. Foremost among them was Douglas H. Cooper. It was not in +his mind, however, to separate the military command from the civil +and he therefore asked that he be made brigadier-general and _ex +officio_ superintendent of Indian affairs in the place of Pike +removed.[485] His own representations of Pike's grievous offence had +fully prepared him for the circumstance of Pike's removal and he +anticipated it in making his own application for office. Subsequent +knowledge of Pike's activities and of his standing at Richmond must +have come to Cooper as a rude awakening. + +Nevertheless, Cooper did get his appointment. It + +[Footnote 484: In his message of August 18, 1862 [Richardson, vol. i, +238], President Davis remarked upon the vacancies in these offices and +said that, in consequence of them, delays had occurred in the payment +of annuities and allowances to which the Indians were entitled.] + +[Footnote 485: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 821.] + +came the twenty-ninth of September in the form of special orders from +the adjutant-general's office.[486] Pike was still on the ground, as +will be presently shown, and Cooper's moral unfitness for a position +of so much responsibility was yet to be revealed. The moment was +one when the Confederacy was taking active steps to keep its most +significant promise to the Indian nations, give them a representation +in Congress. The Cherokees had lost no time in availing themselves of +the privilege of electing a delegate, neither had the Choctaws +and Chickasaws. Elias C. Boudinot had proved to be the successful +candidate of the former and Robert M. Jones[487] of the latter. Over +the credentials of Boudinot, the House of Representatives made some +demur; but, as there was no denying his constitutional right, under +treaty guarantee, to be present, they were accepted and he was given +his seat.[488] Provisions had, however, yet to be determined for +regulating Indian elections and fixing the pay and mileage, likewise +also, the duties and privileges of Indian delegates.[489] Perhaps it +is unfair to intimate that the provisions would have been determined +earlier, had congress not preferred to go upon the assumption that +they would never be needed, since it was scarcely likely that the +Indians would realize the importance of their rights and act upon +them.[490] + +[Footnote 486: War Department, _Confederate Records, Special Orders +of the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office_, C.S.A., 1862, p. +438; _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 885.] + +[Footnote 487: See document of date, October 7, 1861, signed by +Douglas H. Cooper, certifying that Robert M. Jones had received the +"greatest number of votes cast" as delegate in Congress for the +Choctaws and Chickasaws [Pickett _Papers_, Package 118].] + +[Footnote 488: _Journal_, vol. v, 513, 514.] + +[Footnote 489:--Ibid., vol. ii, 452, 457, 480; vol. v, 514, +523, 561.] + +[Footnote 490: Davis had thrown the responsibility of the whole matter +upon Congress, when he insisted that the "delegate" clauses in the +treaties should (cont.)] + +While Congress was debating the question of Indian delegate +credentials and their acceptance, a tragedy took place in +Indian Territory that more than confirmed General Pike's worst +prognostications and proved his main contention that Indian affairs +should be considered primarily upon their own merits, as an end in +themselves, and dealt with accordingly. Had the Arkansas and Red River +Superintendency been regularly established, the tragedy referred to +might never have occurred; but it was not yet established and for +many reasons, one of them being that, although Douglas H. Cooper's +appointment had been resolved upon, he had not yet been invested with +the office of superintendent.[491] His commission was being withheld +because charges of incapacity and drunkenness had been preferred +against him.[492] + +General Pike's disclosures had aroused suspicion and grave +apprehension in Richmond, so much so, indeed, that the War Department, +convinced that conditions in Indian Territory were very far from being +what they should be, decided to undertake an investigation of its own +through its Indian bureau. Promptly, therefore, S.S. Scott, acting +commissioner, departed for the West. General Pike was in Texas. + +Now one of the contingencies that Pike had most constantly dreaded was +tribal disorder on the Leased + +[Footnote 490: (cont.) be so modified as to make the admission of the +Indians dependent, not upon the treaty-making power, but upon the +legislative. See his message of December 12, 1861, Richardson, vol. i, +149-151.] + +[Footnote 491: Elias Rector, who had been retained as superintendent +under the Confederate government, seems never to have exercised the +functions of the office subsequent to the assumption by Pike of his +duties as commander of the Department of Indian Territory. He +was probably envious of Pike and resigned rather than serve in a +subordinate capacity. He seems to have made some troube for Pike +[_Official Records_, vol. xiii, 964, 976].] + +[Footnote 492:--Ibid., 906, 908, 910-911, 927-928.] + +District,[493] a disorder that might at any moment extend itself to +Texas and to other parts of the Indian Territory, imperiling the whole +Confederate alliance. So long as there was a strong force at Fort +McCulloch and at the frontier posts of longer establishment, +particularly at Fort Cobb, the Reserve Indians could be held in check +with comparative ease. Hindman, ignorant of or indifferent to the +situation, no matter how serious it might be for others, had ordered +the force to be scattered and most of it withdrawn from the Red River +Valley. + +The so-called Wichita, or Reserve, Indians, to call them by a +collective term only very recently bestowed, had ever constituted a +serious problem for the neighboring states as well as for the central +government. It was with the Confederacy as with the old Union. The +Reserve Indians were a motley horde, fragments of many tribes that +had seen better days. They were all more or less related, either +geographically or linguistically. Some of them, it is difficult +to venture upon what proportion, had been induced to enter into +negotiations with Pike and through him had formed an alliance with +the Confederacy. Apparently, those who had done this were chiefly +Tonkawas. Other Reserve Indians continued true to the North. As time +went on hostile feelings, engendered by living in opposite camps, +gained in intensity, the more especially because white men, both north +and south, encouraged them to go upon the war-path, either against +their own associates or others. Reprisals, frequently bloody, were +regularly instituted. With Pike's departure from Fort McCulloch an +opportunity for greater vindictiveness offered, notwithstanding the +fact that the Choctaw and Chickasaw + +[Footnote 493: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 868.] + +troops had been left behind and were guarding the near-by country, +their own. + +Sometime in the latter part of August or the early part of September, +Matthew Leeper, the Wichita agent under the Confederate government, a +left-over from Buchanan's days, went from the Leased District,[494] +frightened away, some people thought, perhaps afraid of the inevitable +results of the mischief his own hands had so largely wrought, and +sojourned in Texas, his old home. The sutler left also and a man named +Jones was then in sole charge of the agency. The northern sympathizers +among the Indians thereupon aroused themselves. They had gained +greatly of late in strength and influence and their numbers had +been augmented by renegade Seminoles from Jumper's battalion and by +outlawed Cherokees. They warned Jones that Leeper would be wise not to +return. If he should return, it would be the worse for him; for they +were determined to wreak revenge upon him for all the misery his +machinations in favor of the Confederacy and for his own gain had cost +them. Presumably, Jones scorned to transmit the warning and, in course +of time, Leeper returned. + +The twenty-third of October witnessed one of the bloodiest scenes ever +enacted on the western plains. The northern Indians of the Reserve +together with a lot of wandering Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos, +many of them good-for-nothing or vicious, some Seminoles and Cherokees +attacked Leeper unawares, killed him,[495] as also three white male +employees of the agency. + +[Footnote 494: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 828.] + +[Footnote 495: On the murder of Agent Leeper, see Scott to Holmes, +November 2, 1862, _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 919-921; Holmes +to Secretary of War, November 15, 1862, Ibid., 919: F. Johnson +to Dole, January 20, 1863, Abel, _American Indian as Slaveholder and +Secessionist_, 329-330, _footnote_; (cont.)] + +They then put "the bodies into the agency building and fired it." The +next morning they made an equally brutal attack upon the Tonkawas and +with most telling effect. More than half of them were butchered. The +survivors, about one hundred fifty, fled to Fort Arbuckle.[496] Their +condition was pitiable. The murderers, for they were nothing less than +that, fled northward, they and their families, to swell the number of +Indian refugees already living upon government bounty in Kansas. + +Commissioner Scott then at Fort Washita hurried to the Leased District +to examine into the affair. He had made many observations since +leaving Richmond, had talked with Pike, now returned from Texas, +and had come around pretty much to his way of thinking. His +recommendations to the department commander that were intended to +reach the Secretary of War as well were in every sense a corroboration +of Pike's complaints in so far as the woeful neglect of the Indians +was concerned. Better proof that Hindman's conduct had been highly +reprehensible could scarcely be asked for. + +[Footnote 495: (cont.) Moore, _Rebellion Record_, vol. vi, 6; +W.F. Cady to Cox, February 16, 1870, Indian Office _Report Book_, +no. 19, 186-188; Coffin to Dole, September 24, 1863, Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1863, 177.] + +[Footnote 496: S.S. Scott asked permission of Governor Winchester +Colbert, November 10, 1862, to place the fugitive Tonkawas +"temporarily on Rocky or Clear Creek, near the road leading from Fort +Washita to Arbuckle." Colbert granted the permission, "provided they +are subject to the laws of the Chickasaw Nation, and will furnish +guides to the Home Guards and the Chickasaw Battalion, when called +upon to do so."] + + + + +VIII. THE RETIREMENT OF GENERAL PIKE + + +The tragedy at the Wichita agency brought General Pike again to the +fore. His resignation had not been accepted at Richmond as Hindman +supposed was the case at the time he released him from custody. In +fact, as events turned out, it looked as though Hindman were decidedly +more in disrepute there than was Pike. His arbitrary procedure in the +Trans-Mississippi District had been complained of by many persons +besides the one person whom he had so unmercifully badgered. +Furthermore, the circumstances of his assignment to command were being +inquired into and everything divulged was telling tremendously against +him. + +The irregularity of Hindman's assignment to command has been already +commented upon in this narrative. Additional details may now be given. +Van Dorn had hopes, on the occasion of his own summons to work farther +east, that Sterling Price would be the one chosen eventually to +succeed him or, at all events, the one to take the chief command of +the Confederate forces in the West. He greatly wished that upon him +and upon him alone his mantle should fall.[497] The filling of the +position by Hindman was to be but tentative, to last only until +Price,[498] perhaps also Van Dorn, + +[Footnote 497: Van Dorn to President Davis, June 9, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 831-832.] + +[Footnote 498: Price was preferred to H.M. Rector; because Van Dorn +felt that Rector's influence with the people of Arkansas had greatly +declined. The truth was, Governor Rector had become incensed at the +disregard shown for Arkansas by Confederate commanders. In a recent +proclamation, he had announced that the state would henceforth look +out for herself.] + +could discuss matters personally with the president and remove the +prejudice believed to be existing in his mind against Price; but the +War Department had quite other plans developed, a rumor of which soon +reached the ears of Van Dorn. It was then he telegraphed, begging +Davis to make no appointment for the present to the command of the +Trans-Mississippi District and informing him that Hindman had been +sent there temporarily.[499] The request came to Richmond too late. An +appointment had already been resolved upon and made. The man chosen +was John Bankhead Magruder, a major-general in the Army of Northern +Virginia. However, as he was not yet ready to take up his new duties, +Hindman was suffered to assume the command in the West; but Magruder's +rights held over. They were held in abeyance, so to speak, temporarily +waived.[500] + +The controversy between Pike and Hindman would seem to have impelled +Secretary Randolph to wish to terminate early Magruder's delay; but +Magruder was loath to depart. His lack of enthusiasm ought to have +been enough to convince those sending him that he + +[Footnote 499: The orders for Hindman to repair west, issuing from +Beauregard's headquarters, were explicit, not upon the point of the +temporary character of his appointment, but upon that of its having +been made "at the earnest solicitation of the people of Arkansas." +[_Official Records_, vol. x, part ii, 547].] + +[Footnote 500: Price, nothing daunted, continued to seek the position +and submitted plans for operations in the West. His importunities +finally forced the inquiry from Davis as to whether Magruder's +appointment had ever been rescinded and whether, since he seemed in +no hurry to avail himself of it, he really wanted the place. Randolph +reported that Magruder had no objection to the service to which he had +been ordered but desired to remain near Richmond until the expected +battle in the neighborhood should have occurred. Randolph then +suggested that Price be tendered the position of second in command +[Randolph to Davis, June 23, 1862, _Official Records_, vol. +xiii, 837], an arrangement that met with Magruder's hearty approval +[Magruder to R.E. Lee, June 26, 1862, Ibid., 845].] + +was hardly the man for the place. His acquaintance with +Trans-Mississippi conditions was very superficial, yet even he found +out that they were of a nature to admonish those concerned of their +urgency, especially in the matter of lack of arms.[501] By the +fourteenth of July his indecision was apparently overcome. At any +rate, on that day Randolph wrote Pike that Magruder, the real +commander of the Trans-Mississippi District, would soon arrive at +Little Rock and that the offences of which Pike had had reason to +complain would not be repeated. + +Letters travelled slowly in those days and Randolph's comforting +intelligence did not reach Pike in time to avert the catastrophe of +his proclamation and consequent arrest. And it was just as well, all +things considered, for Magruder never reached Little Rock. He was a +man of intemperate habits and, while _en route_, was ordered back +to Richmond to answer "charges of drunkenness and disobedience of +orders."[502] His appointment was thereupon rescinded. The man +selected in his place, to the total ignoring of Price's prior claims, +was Theophilus H. Holmes, a native of North Carolina.[503] President +Davis was still possessed of the notion that frontier affairs could be +best conducted by men who had no local attachments there. Late events +had all too surely lent weight to his theory. Nevertheless, in holding +it, Davis was strictly inconsistent and illogical; for loyalty to +the particular home state constituted the strongest asset that the +Confederacy had. It was the lode-star that had drawn Lee and + +[Footnote 501: Magruder to Randolph, July 5, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 851-852.] + +[Footnote 502: Clark to Price, July 17, 1862, _Official Records_, +vol. liii, supplement, 816-817.] + +[Footnote 503: Wright, _General Officers of C.S.A_., 15-16.] + +many another, who cared not a whit for political principles in and +for themselves, from their allegiance to the Union. It was the great +bulwark of the South. + +Holmes was ordered west July 16;[504] but, as he had the necessary +preparations to make and various private matters to attend to, August +had almost begun before it proved possible for him to reach Little +Rock.[505] The interval had given Hindman a new lease of official life +and a further extension of opportunity for oppression, which he had +used to good advantage. The new department commander, while yet in +Richmond, had discussed the Pike-Hindman controversy with his superior +officers and had arrived at a conclusion distinctly favorable to Pike. +He frankly confessed as much weeks afterwards. Once in Little Rock, +however, he learned from the Hindman coterie of Pike's Indian +proclamation and immediately veered to Hindman's side.[506] Pike +talked with him, recounted his grievances in a fashion that none could +surpass, but made absolutely no impression upon him. So small a thing +and so short a time had it taken to develop a hostile prejudice in +Holmes's mind, previously unbiased, so deep-seated that it never, +in all the months that followed, knew the slightest diminution. +Conversely and most fortuitously, a friendliness grew up between +Holmes and the man whom he had supplanted that made the former, either +forget the orders given him in Richmond or put so new a construction +upon them that they were rendered nugatory. It was a situation, +exceedingly fortunate for + +[Footnote 504: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 855.] + +[Footnote 505: He had reached Vicksburg by the thirtieth of July and +from that point he issued his orders assuming the command [ibid., +860].] + +[Footnote 506: Pike to Holmes, December 30, 1862 (Appendix); +_Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 121-122.] + +the service as a whole, no doubt, but most unhappy for Indian +Territory. + +It finally dawned upon Pike that it was useless to argue any longer +upon the matters in dispute between him and Hindman, for Holmes had +pre-judged the case. Moreover, Holmes was beginning to appreciate the +advantage of being in a position where he could, by ignoring Pike's +authority and asserting his own, be much the gainer in a material way. +How he could have reconciled such an attitude with the instructions +he had received from Randolph it is impossible to surmise. The +instructions, whether verbal or written, must have been in full accord +with the secretary's letter to Pike of the fourteenth of July, which, +although Pike was as yet ignorant of it, had explicitly said that no +supplies for Indian Territory should be diverted from their course and +that there should be no interference whatever with Pike's somewhat +peculiar command.[507] All along the authorities in Richmond, their +conflicting departmental regulations to the contrary notwithstanding, +had insisted that the main object of the Indian alliance had been +amply attained when the Indians were found posing as a Home Guard. +Indians were not wanted for any service outside the limits of their +own country. Service outside was to be deprecated, first, last, and +always. Indeed, it was in response to a suggestion from Pike, made in +the autumn of 1861, that the Indian Territory ought to be regarded as +a thing apart, to be held for the Confederacy most certainly but not +to be involved in the warfare outside, that Pike's department had been +created and no subsequent + +[Footnote 507: Pike to Holmes, December 30, 1862. The same assurance +had apparently been given to Pike in May [_Official Records_, +vol. xiii, 863].] + +arrangements for the Trans-Mississippi Department or District, +whichever it may have been at the period, were intended to militate +against that fundamental fact.[508] + +Despairing of accomplishing anything by lingering longer in Little +Rock, Pike applied to Holmes for a leave of absence and was granted +it for such time as might have to elapse before action upon his +resignation could be secured.[509] The circumstance of Hindman's +having relieved Pike from duty was thus ignored or passed over in +silence. General Pike had come to Little Rock to see his family[510] +but he now decided upon a visit to Texas. Exactly what he expected to +do there nobody knows; but he undoubtedly had at heart the interests +of his department. He went to Warren first and later to Grayson +County. At the latter place, he made Sherman his private headquarters +and it was from there that he subsequently found it convenient to pass +over again into Indian Territory. + +Pike was in Arkansas as late as the nineteenth of August and probably +still there when Randolph's letter of the fourteenth of July, much +delayed, arrived.[511] If angry before, he was now incensed; for he +knew for a certainty at last that Hindman had been a sort of usurper +in the Trans-Mississippi District and, with power emanating from no +one higher than Beauregard, had never legally possessed a flicker of +authority for doing the many insulting things that he had arrogantly +done to him.[512] Next, from some source, came the + +[Footnote 508: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 861, 864, 868.] + +[Footnote 509: Holmes to the Secretary of War, November 15, 1862 +[ibid., 918].] + +[Footnote 510: For an account of Pike's movements, see _Confederate +Military History_, vol. x, 126.] + +[Footnote 511: Abel, _American Indian as Slaveholder and +Secessionist_, 356.] + +[Footnote 512: Pike to Holmes, December 30, 1862, "Appendix."] + +news that President Davis had refused positively to accept Pike's +resignation.[513] What better proof could anyone want that Pike was +sustained at headquarters? What that view of the matter may have meant +in emboldening him to his later excessively independent actions must +be left to the reader's conjecture. It never occurred to Pike that if +his resignation had been refused, it had probably been refused upon +the supposition that, with Hindman out of the way, all would be well. +One good reason for thinking that that was the Richmond attitude +towards the affair is the fact that no record of anything like +immediate and formal action upon the resignation is forthcoming. +Pike heard that it had been refused and positively, which was very +gratifying; but it is far more likely that it had been put to one side +and purposely; in order that, since Pike was unquestionably the best +man for Indian Territory, all difficulties might be left to adjust +themselves, the less said about Hindman's autocracy the better it +would be for all concerned. + +But it was soon apparent that Hindman was not to be put out of the +way. It was to be still possible for him to work mischief in Indian +Territory. With some slight modifications, the Trans-Mississippi +District had been converted into the Trans-Mississippi Department and, +on the twentieth of August, orders[514] issued from + +[Footnote 513: There is something very peculiar about the acceptance +or non-acceptance of Pike's resignation. Randolph wrote to Holmes, +October 27, 1862, these words: "... General Pike's resignation having +been accepted, you will be left without a commanding officer in the +Indian Territory..." [_Official Records_, vol. xiii, 906]. A +letter endorsement, made by Randolph, on or later than September 19th, +was to this effect: "General Pike's resignation has not yet been +accepted" [Ibid., liii, supplement, 821], and another, made by +him, November 5th, to this: "Accept General Pike's resignation, and +notify him of it" [Ibid., 822].] + +[Footnote 514: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 877.] + +Little Rock, arranging for an organization into three districts, the +Texas, the Louisiana,[515] and the Arkansas. The last-named district +was entrusted to General Hindman and made to embrace Arkansas, +Missouri, and the Indian Territory. Hindman took charge at Fort Smith, +August twenty-fourth and straightway planned such disposition of his +troops as would make for advancing the Confederate line northward of +the Boston Mountains, Fort Smith, and the Arkansas River. The Indian +forces that were concentrated around Forts Smith and Gibson were +shifted to Carey's Ferry that they might cover the military road +southward from Fort Scott. To hold the Cherokee country and to help +maintain order there, a battalion of white cavalry was posted at +Tahlequah and, in each of the nine townships, or districts, of the +country, the formation of a company of home guard, authorized.[516] + +The maintaining of order in the Cherokee Nation had come to be +imperatively necessary. John Ross, the Principal Chief, was now +a prisoner within the Federal lines.[517] His capture had been +accomplished by strategy only a short time before and not without +strong suspicion that he had been in collusion with his captors. Early +in August, General Blunt, determined that the country north of the +Arkansas should not be abandoned, notwithstanding the retrograde +movement of Colonel Salomon, had ordered Salomon, now a brigadier in +command of the Indian Expedition, to send + +[Footnote 515: Not all of Louisiana was in Holmes's department and +only that part of it west of the Mississippi constituted the District +of Louisiana. Governor Moore had vigorously protested against a +previous division, one that "tacked" "all north of Red River" "onto +Arkansas" [_Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 819].] + +[Footnote 516:--Ibid., vol. xiii, 46-47.] + +[Footnote 517: Nominally, Ross was yet a prisoner, although, as a +matter of fact, he had started upon a mission to Washington, his +desire being to confer with President Lincoln in person regarding the +condition of the Cherokees [Blunt to Lincoln, August 13, 1862, ibid., +565-566].] + +back certain white troops in support of the Indian.[518] Dr. +Gillpatrick, who was the bearer of the orders, imparted verbal +instructions that the expeditionary force so sent should proceed to +Tahlequah and complete what Colonel Phillips had confessed he had not +had sufficient time for, the making of diplomatic overtures to the +Cherokee authorities.[519] + +Blunt's expeditionary force had proceeded to Tahlequah and to Park +Hill and there, under the direction of Colonel William F. Cloud, had +seized John Ross and his family, their valuables, also official papers +and the treasury of the Cherokee Nation.[520] The departure of the +Principal Chief had had a demoralizing effect upon the Cherokees; +for, when his restraining influence was removed, likewise the Federal +support, political factions, the Pins, or full-bloods, and the +Secessionists, mostly half-breeds, had been able to indulge their +thirst for vengeance uninterruptedly.[521] Chaos had well-nigh +resulted. + +The departure of the expeditionary force had meant more than mere +demoralization among the Indians. It had meant the abandonment of +their country to the Confederates and the Confederates, once realizing +that, delaying nothing, took possession. The secessionist Cherokees +then called a convention, formally deposed John Ross, and elected +Stand Watie as Principal Chief in his stead.[522] Back of all such +revolutionary work, was General Hindman and it was not long before +Hindman himself was in Tahlequah.[523] Once there, he proceeded to set +his stamp upon things with customary + +[Footnote 518: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 531-532.] + +[Footnote 519:--Ibid., 182.] + +[Footnote 520:--Ibid., 552.] + +[Footnote 521:--Ibid., 623, 648.] + +[Footnote 522: _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 129.] + +[Footnote 523: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 42.] + +vigor and order was shortly restored both north and south of the +Arkansas. Guerrilla warfare was summarily suppressed, marauding +stopped, and the perpetrators of atrocities so deservedly punished +that all who would have imitated them lost their taste for such +fiendish sport. As far north as the Moravian Mission, the Confederates +were undeniably in possession; but, at that juncture, Holmes called +Hindman to other scenes. A sort of apathy then settled like a cloud +upon the Cherokee Nation[524]. Almost lifeless, it awaited the next +invader. + +One part of the programme, arranged for at the time of the +re-districting of the Trans-Mississippi Department, had called for a +scheme to reënter southwest Missouri. Hindman was to lead but Rains, +Shelby, Cooper, and others were to constitute a sort of outpost and +were to make a dash, first of all, to recover the lead mines at +Granby. The Indians of both armies were drawn thitherward, the one +group to help make the advance, the other to resist it. At Newtonia on +September 30 the first collision of any moment came and it came and it +ended with victory for the Confederates[525]. Cooper's Choctaws and +Chickasaws fought valiantly but so also did Phillips's Cherokees. They +lost heavily in horses[526], their own poorly shod ponies; but they +themselves stood fire well. To rally them after defeat proved, +however, a difficult matter. Their + +[Footnote 524: Report of M.W. Buster to Cooper, September 19, 1862, +_Official Records_, vol. xiii, 273-277.] + +[Footnote 525: For detailed accounts of the Battle of Newtonia, see +Ibid., 296-307; Edwards, _Shelby and his Men_, 83-89; +Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, 355-363; Anderson, +_Life of General Stand Watie_, 20; Crawford, _Kansas in the +Sixties_, 54; _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 132.] + +[Footnote 526: Evan Jones to Dole, January 8, 1864, Indian Office +General Files, Cherokee, 1859-1865, J 401.] + +disciplining had yet left much to be desired.[527] Scalping[528] of +the dead took place as on the battle-field of Pea Ridge; but, in other +respects, the Indians of both armies acquitted themselves well and far +better than might have been expected. + +The participation of the Indians in the Battle of Newtonia was +significant. Federals and Confederates had alike resorted to it for +purposes other than the red man's own. The Indian Expedition had now +for a surety definitely abandoned the intention for which it was +originally organized and outfitted. As a matter of fact, it had long +since ceased to exist. The military + +[Footnote 527: "Since leaving the Fugitive Indians on Dry Wood Creek, +nothing has occurred of material interest other than you will receive +through official Dispatches from the Officers of our Army. The Indians +under Col. Phillips fought well at the Battle Newtonia, they have at +all times stood fire. The great difficulty of their officers is in +keeping them together in a retreat, and should such be necessary on +the field in presence of an enemy in their present state of discipline +it would be almost impossible to again return them to the attack in +good order--Another Battle was fought at this place in which the enemy +were defeated with considerable loss, four of their guns being taken +by a charge of the 2d Kansas. + +"In this Contest the Indians behaved well, the officers and soldiers +of our own regiments now freely acknowledge them to be valuable Allies +and in no case have they as yet faltered, untill ordered to retire, +the prejudice once existing against them is fast disappearing from our +Army and it is now generaly conceded that they will do good service +in our border warfare. This we have never doubted and confident as we +have been of their fitness for border warfare we have been content to +await, untill they had proven to the country not only their loyalty +but their ability to fight. Since their organization they have been +engaged in several battles and in every case successfully, one of us +will start in a day or two for Tahlequah and may find something of +interest on the march. We are now in the Cherokee Nation. An effort +is now being made by Gen'l Blunt to punish plundering in the country. +Union People have suffered from this as much as rebels. We have before +called the attention of our Army Officers to this fact; with our +Fifteen Hundred Cherokee Warriors in the service of our government--we +feel that every possible protection should be extended to them as a +people" [Carruth to Coffin, October 25, 1862, enclosed in Coffin to +Dole, November 16, 1862, Indian Office General Files, _Southern +Superintendency_ 1859-1862].] + +[Footnote 528: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 894.] + +organization, of which the Indian regiments in the Federal service now +formed a part, was Blunt's division of the Army of the Frontier and +it had other objects in view, other tasks to perform, than the simple +recovery of Indian Territory. + +It is true General Blunt had set his heart upon that particular +accomplishment but he was scarcely a free agent in the matter. Men +above him in rank had quite other aims and his, perforce, had to be +subordinated to theirs. In August, Blunt had planned a kind of second +Indian Expedition to go south to Fort Gibson and to restore the +refugees to their homes.[529] It had started upon its way when the +powers higher up interposed. + +General Schofield, anticipating the renewed endeavor of the +Confederates to push their line forward, had called upon Blunt for +assistance and Blunt had responded with such alacrity as was possible, +considering that many of the troops he summoned for Schofield's use +were those that had been doing hard service within and on the border +of the Indian country for full two months. During all that time their +horses had been deprived entirely of grain feed and had been compelled +to subsist upon prairie grass. They were in a bad way.[530] Once +outside the Indian Territory, the Indian regiments, begrudging the +service demanded of them, were kept more fully occupied than were the +white; for there was + +[Footnote 529: "Orders have been given by General Blunt for the Indian +Expedition to go South soon; he says the families of the Indians may +go"--CARRUTH to Coffin, August 29, 1862, enclosed in Coffin to +Mix, August 30, 1862, Indian Office General Files, _Southern +Superintendence_, 1859-1862. + +"Enclosed you will find an order from General James G. Blunt in +regard to the removal of the Indian families to their homes. I start +to-morrow for Fort Scott, Kansas, to overtake the second Indian +expedition, commanded by General Blunt in person."--Carruth to Coffin, +September 19, 1862, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Report, 1862, p. +166.] + +[Footnote 530: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, 337.] + +always scouting[531] for them to do and frequently skirmishing. On +Cowskin River, Phillips's Third Indian and, near Shirley's Ford on +Spring River, Ritchie's Second had each engaged the Confederates with +success, although not entirely with credit. Ritchie had allowed his +men to run amuck even to the extent of attacking their comrades in +Colonel Weer's brigade, which was the second in Blunt's reorganized +army. On account of his lack of control over his troops, Ritchie was +reported upon for dismissal from the service.[532] + +The Battle of Newtonia was inconclusive. Subsequent to it, the +Federals were greatly reënforced and, in the first days of October, +Schofield and Blunt, who had both arrived recently upon the scene, +coming to the aid of Salomon, who had been the vanquished one at +Newtonia, were able, in combination with Totten, to deprive Cooper of +all the substantial fruits of victory. He was obliged to fall back +into Arkansas, whither a part of Blunt's division pursued him and +encamped themselves on the old battle-field of Pea Ridge.[533] + +Cooper was far from being defeated, however, and, under orders from +Rains, soon made plans for attempting an invasion of Kansas; but +Blunt, ably seconded by Crawford of the Second Kansas, was too quick +for him. He followed him to Maysville and then a little beyond the +Cherokee border to old Fort Wayne in the present Delaware District of +the Nation. There, on the open prairie, a battle was fought,[534] on +October 22, so + +[Footnote 531: Phillips to Blunt, September 5, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 614-615.] + +[Footnote 532: Weer to Moonlight, September 12, 1862, ibid., 627; Weer +to Blunt, September 24, 1862, ibid., 665-666; Britton, _Civil War on +the Border_, vol. i, 352.] + +[Footnote 533: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, 366; +Crawford, _Kansas in the Sixties_, 54.] + +[Footnote 534: Anderson, _Life of General Stand Watie_, 20; +Crawford, _Kansas in the_ (cont.)] + +disastrous to the Confederates, who, by the by, were greatly +outnumbered, that they fled, a demoralized host, by way of Fort Gibson +across the Arkansas River to Cantonment Davis,[535] Stand Watie and +his doughty Cherokees covering their retreat. The Federals had then +once again an undisputed possession of Indian Territory north of the +Arkansas.[536] + +Such was the condition of affairs when Pike emerged from his +self-imposed retreat in Texas. The case for the Confederate cause +among the Indians was becoming desperate. So many things that called +for apprehension were occurring. Cooper and Rains were both in +disgrace, the failure of the recent campaign having been attributed +largely to their physical unfitness for duty. Both were now facing an +investigation of charges for drunkenness. Moreover, the brutal attack +upon and consequent murder of Agent Leeper had just shocked the +community. Hearing of that murder and considering that he was still +the most responsible party in Indian Territory, General Pike made +preparations to proceed forthwith to the Leased District. His plans +were frustrated by his own arrest at the command of General Holmes. + +His unfriendliness to Pike was in part due to Holmes's own +necessities. It was to his interest to assert authority over the man +who could procure supplies for Indian Territory and when occasion +offered, if that man should dare to prove obdurate, to ignore his +position altogether. Nevertheless, Holmes had not seen fit in early +October to deny Pike his title of + +[Footnote 534: (cont.) _Sixties_, 56-62; Edwards, _Shelby and +his Men, 90; Official Records, vol. xiii, 43, 324. 325, 325-328, +329-331, 331-332, 332-336, 336-337, 759_; Britton, _Civil War on +the Border_, vol. i, _364-375_.] + +[Footnote 535: _Official Records, vol. xiii, 765_.] + +[Footnote 536: Blunt was ordered "to clean out the Indian country" +[Ibid., 762].] + +commander and had personally addressed him by it.[537] Yet all the +time he was encroaching upon that commander's prerogatives, was +withholding his supplies, just as Hindman had done, and was exploiting +Indian Territory, in various ways, for his own purposes. Rumors came +that Pike was holding back munition trains in Texas and then that +he was conspiring with Texan Unionists against the Confederacy. To +further his own designs, Holmes chose to credit the rumors and +made them subserve the one and the same end; for he needed Pike's +ammunition and he wanted Pike himself out of the way. He affected to +believe that Pike was a traitor and, when he reappeared as brigade +commander, to consider that he had unlawfully reassumed his old +functions. Accordingly, he issued an order to Roane,[538] to whom +he had entrusted the Indians, for Pike's arrest; but he had already +called Pike to account for holding back the munition trains and had +ordered him, if the charge were really true, to report in person at +Little Rock.[539] + +The order for General Pike's arrest bore date of November 3. Roane, +the man to whom the ungracious task was assigned, was well suited to +it. He had been adjudged by Holmes himself as absolutely worthless +as a commander and, being so, had been sent to take care of the +Indians,[540] a severe commentary upon Holmes's own fitness for +the supreme control of anything that had to do with them or their +concerns. Others had an equally poor opinion of Roane's generalship +and character. John S. Phelps, indeed, was writing at this very time, +the autumn of 1862, to Secretary + +[Footnote 537: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 924.] + +[Footnote 538:--Ibid., 923, 980, 981.] + +[Footnote 539:--Ibid., 904.] + +[Footnote 540:--Ibid., 899.] + +Stanton in testimony of Roane's unsavory reputation.[541] + +The arrest of Pike took place November 14 at Tishomingo in the +Chickasaw country and a detachment of Shelby's brigade was detailed +to convey him to Little Rock.[542] Then, as once before, his reported +resignation saved him from long confinement and from extreme +ignominy. On the fifth of November, President Davis instructed the +adjutant-general to accept Pike's resignation forthwith and five days +thereafter,[543] before the arrest had actually taken place, Holmes +advised Hindman that he had better let Pike go free so soon as he +should leave the Indian country; inasmuch as his resignation was now +an assured thing.[544] Holmes evidently feared to let the release take +place within the limits of Pike's old command; for some of the Indians +were still devotedly attached to him and were still pinning their +faith upon his plighted word. John Jumper and his Seminole braves were +among those most loyal to Pike; and Holmes was afraid that wholesale +desertions from their ranks would follow inevitably Pike's +degradation. Many desertions had already occurred, ostensibly because +of lack of food and raiment. Commissioner Scott had complained to +Holmes of the Indian privations[545] and Holmes had been forced to +concede, although only at the eleventh hour, the Indian claim to some +consideration. He had arbitrarily shared tribal quota of supplies, +bought with tribal money, with white troops and had lamely excused +himself by saying that he had done it to prevent + +[Footnote 541: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 752.] + +[Footnote 542:--Ibid., 921.] + +[Footnote 543:--Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 821.] + +[Footnote 544:--Ibid., vol. xiii, 913.] + +[Footnote 545:--Ibid., 920.] + +grumbling[546] and the charge of favoritism. One other offence of +which Holmes was guilty he did not attempt to palliate, the taking of +the Indians out of their own country without their consent. To the +very last Pike had expostulated[547] against such violation of treaty +promises; but Holmes and Hindman were deaf alike to entreaty and to +reprimand. + +General Pike, poet and student, was now finally deprived of his +command and the Indians left to their own devices or at the mercy of +men, who could not be trusted or were not greatly needed elsewhere. No +one attempted any longer to conceal the truth that alliance with the +Indians was a supremely selfish consideration, and nothing more, +on the part of those who coveted Indian Territory because of its +geographical position, its strategic and economic importance. For a +little while longer, Pike contended with his enemies by means of the +best weapon he had, his facile pen. His acrimonious correspondence +with the chief of those enemies, Hindman and Holmes, reached its +highest point of criticism in a letter of December 30 to the latter. +That letter summed up his grievances and was practically his last +charge. Having made it, he retired from the scene, not to reappear +until near the close of the war, when Kirby Smith found it +advantageous to reëmploy him for service among the red men. + +[Footnote 546: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 928.] + +[Footnote 547:--Ibid., 905, 963.] + + + + +IX. THE REMOVAL OF THE REFUGEES TO THE SAC AND FOX AGENCY + + +General Blunt's decision to restore the Indian refugees in Kansas to +their own country precipitated a word war of disagreeable significance +between the civil and military authorities. The numbers of the +refugees had been very greatly augmented in the course of the summer, +notwithstanding the fact that so large a proportion of the men had +joined the Indian Expedition. It is true they had not all stayed with +it. The retrograde movement of Colonel Salomon and his failure later +on to obey Blunt's order to the letter[548] that he should return +to the support of the Indians had disheartened them and many of the +enlisted braves had deserted the ranks, as chance offered, and had +strayed back to their families in the refugee camps of southern +Kansas.[549] + +[Footnote 548: Blunt to Caleb Smith, November 21, 1862 [Indian Office +General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, I 860].] + +[Footnote 549: One of the first notices of their desertion was the +following: + +"We are getting along well, very well. The Indians seem happy and +contented, and seemingly get enough to eat and wear. At least I hear +no complaint. For the last two or three days the Indian soldiers have +been stragling back, until now there are some three or four hundred +in, and they are still coming. I held a council with them to-day to +try and find out why they are here. But they don't seem to have any +idea themselves. All I could learn was that Old George started and the +rest followed. The Col. it seems told them to go some where else. I +shall send an express to Col. Furness in the morning to find out if +possible what it means. It seems to me it will not do to give the +provisions purchased for the women and children to the soldiers.... + +"The soldiers look clean and hearty, and complain of being +treated like dogs, starved etc, which I must say their looks +belie...."--GEO.A. CUTLER to Wm. G. Coffin, August 13, 1862, +Ibid.] + +Then the numbers had been augmented in other ways. The Quapaws, who +had been early driven from their homes and once restored,[550] had +left them again when they found that their country had been denuded of +all its portable resources. It was exposed to inroads of many sorts. +Even the Federal army preyed upon it and, as all the able-bodied male +Quapaws were gradually drawn into that army, there was no way of +defending it. Its inhabitants, therefore, returned as exiles to the +country around about Leroy.[551] + +It was much the same with near neighbors of the Quapaws, with the +Senecas and the Seneca-Shawnees. These Indians had been induced to +accept one payment of their annuities from the Confederate agent[552] +but had later repented their digression from the old allegiance to +the United States and had solicited its protection in order that they +might remain true. Some of them stayed with Agent Elder near Fort +Scott,[553] others moved northward and lived upon the charity of the +Shawnees near Lawrence.[554] But those Shawnees were doomed themselves +to be depredated upon, especially that group of them known as Black +Bob's Band, a band that had been assigned a settlement in Johnson + +[Footnote 550: Coffin to Elder, August 9, 1862; Coffin to Mix, August +16, 1862, Indian Office General Files, _Neosho_, C 1745 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 551: Some of the Quapaws that went to Leroy were not _bona +fide_ refugees. Elder reported them as lured thither by the idea +of getting fed [Elder to Dole, July 9, 1862, Ibid., E 114 of +1862].] + +[Footnote 552: Coffin to Dole, May 31, 1862, Indian Office General +Files, _Neosho_.] + +[Footnote 553: Coffin to Mix, July 30, 1862, Ibid., C 1732 of +1862.] + +[Footnote 554: J.J. Lawler to Mix, August 2, 1862, Ibid., +_Shawnee_, 1855-1862; Abbott to Branch, July 26, 1862, +Ibid. Some of the Senecas, about one hundred twenty-three, went +as far as Wyandot City. For them and their relief, the Senecas in +New York interceded. See Chief John Melton to Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, September 2, 1862, Ibid., _Neosho_, H 541; Mix to +Coffin, September 11, 1862, Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 69, +99.] + +County, adjoining the Missouri border.[555] In August[556] and again +in the first week of September[557] guerrillas under Quantrill,[558] +crossed over the line and raided the Black Bob lands, robbing the +Indians of practically everything they possessed, their clothing, +their household goods, their saddles, their ponies, their provisions, +and driving the original owners quite away. They fired upon them as +they fled and committed atrocities upon the helpless ones who lagged +behind. They then raided Olathe.[559] Somewhat earlier, guerrillas +had similarly devastated the Kansas Agency, although not to the same +extent.[560] The Black Bob Shawnees found a refuge in the western part +of the tribal reserve.[561] + +[Footnote 555: This group of Shawnee refugees must be distinguished +from the so-called _Absentee Shawnees_, who also became refugees. +The Shawnees had been very much molested and disturbed during the +period of border strife following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska +Bill. Black Bob's Band was then exceedingly desirous of going south to +dwell with the Seneca-Shawnees [Rector to Greenwood, January 6, 1860, +enclosing Dorn to Greenwood, December 30, 1859, Indian Office General +Files, _Neosho_, R 463 of 1860]. The Absentee Shawnees had +taken refuge in Indian Territory prior to the war, but were expelled +immediately after it began. They obtained supplies for a time from the +Wichita Agent and lived as refugees on Walnut Creek [Paschal Fish and +other Shawnee delegates to Cooley, December 5, 1865, Indian Office +Land Files, _Shawnee_, 1860-1865]. Later on, they seem, at least +some of them, to have gone up to the Shawnee Reserve [Dole to Coffin, +July 27, 1863, Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 71, 195; Dole +to Usher, July 27, 1863, Ibid., _Report Book_, no. 13, +208-209].] + +[Footnote 556: H.B. Branch to Dole, June 19, 1863, enclosing +various letters from Agent Abbott, Indian Office General Files, +_Shawnee_, 1863-1875, B 343.] + +[Footnote 557: Branch to Dole, October 3, 1862, transmitting +letter from Abbott to Branch, September 25, 1862, Ibid., +_Shawnee_, 1855-1862, B 1583.] + +[Footnote 558: Connelley, _Quantrill and the Border Wars_, 269, +says that, from' August 15, 1863, the Confederate government was +directly responsible for the work of Quantrill. From that day, the +guerrillas were regular Confederate soldiers. They were not generally +regarded as such, however; for, in November, 1863, Price was trying +to prevail upon Quantrill and his men to come into the regular army +[_Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 907-908].] + +[Footnote 559: Governor Robinson issued a proclamation, on the +occasion of this emergency for volunteers against guerrillas.] + +[Footnote 560: Farnsworth to Dole, July 23, 1862 [Indian Office +General Files, _Kansas_, 1855-1862, F 386].] + +[Footnote 561: Letter of Agent Abbott, June 5, 1863, Ibid., +_Shawnee_, 1863-1875, B 343.] + +Some Wyandot Indians, who before the war had sought and found homes +among the Senecas,[562] were robbed of everything they possessed by +secessionist Indians,[563] who would not, however, permit them to go +in search of relief northward.[564] When all efforts to induce them to +throw in their lot with the Confederacy proved unavailing, the strict +watch over them was somewhat relaxed and they eventually managed to +make their escape. They, too, fled into Kansas. And so did about one +hundred Delawares, who had been making their homes in the Cherokee +country. In the spring of 1862, they had begun to return destitute to +the old reservation[565] but seem not to have been counted refugees +until much later in the year.[566] The Delaware Reservation on the +northern bank of the Kansas River and very near to Missouri was +peculiarly exposed + +[Footnote 562: Indian Office General Files, _Neosho_, I 81 of +1860.] + +[Footnote 563: Lawrence and others, Wyandots, to Dole, December 23, +1862, ibid., Land Files, _Shawnee_, 1860-1865, L 12 of 1862. This +letter was answered January 20, 1863, and, on the same day, Coffin was +instructed to relieve their distress.] + +[Footnote 564: "Being personally acquainted with the condition of the +Wyandots ... would here state, that a portion of them are living among +the Senecas bordering on the Cherokee Country, and they are in a +suffering condition. The rebel portion of the Senecas and Cherokees +have robbed them of all of their ponies, and in fact all the property +they had, and will not allow them to leave to come to Wyandott, which +is about 2 hundred miles in distance, and their friends in Wyandott +are unable to relieve them (on account of the rebel forces) without +protection of our armies. The Wyandotts that are here are anxious to +go and relieve their friends, and would respectfully request that they +be allowed to form into a military company and be mustered into Gov'nt +service and go with the expedition south to relieve their friends and +assist in reclaiming the rebel Indians. A few of the Wyandotts are in +service ... They are all very anxious to be transferred into a company +by themselves for the purpose above stated...."--CHARLES MOORE to +Dole, February 9, 1862, Indian Office Special Files, no. 201, D 576.] + +[Footnote 565: Johnson to Dole, April 2, 1862, Indian Office General +Files, _Delaware_, 1862-1866.] + +[Footnote 566: Johnson to Dole, November 5, 1862, ibid., _Southern +Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +to ravages, horses and cattle being frequently stolen.[567] For that +reason and because so much urged thereto by Agent Johnson,[568] who +was himself anxious for service, the Delawares were unusually eager to +enlist. + +The Osages had been induced by Ritchie and others to join the Indian +Expedition or to serve as independent scouts.[569] Their families, +consequently, found it safe and convenient to become refugees.[570] +In July, they formed much the larger part of some five hundred from +Elder's agency, who sought succor at Leroy. That did not deter the +Osages, however, from offering a temporary abiding-place, within their +huge reserve, to the homeless Creeks under Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la.[571] + +[Footnote 567: Johnson to Dole, May 28, 1862, Indian Office General +Files, _Delaware_, I 667 of 1862.] + +[Footnote 568: Johnson wished to retain his agency and also hold a +commission as colonel of volunteers, Department of the Interior, +_Register of Letters Received_, no. 4, pp. 214, 357. James H. +Lane endorsed his request and it was granted.] + +[Footnote 569: The Osages rendered occasionally some good service. +They and the Comanches plundered the Chickasaws very considerably +[Holmes Colbert to N.G. Taylor, April 14, 1868, Indian Office +Consolidated Files, _Chickasaw_, C 716 of 1868. See also Office +letter to Osage treaty commissioners, May 4, 1868]. In October, the +Osage force advanced as far as Iola and then retreated [Henning to +Blunt, October 11, 1862, _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 726]. +Soon after that they were mustered out and in a very disgruntled +condition. They claimed that the government had used them very badly +and had never paid them anything [Henning to Chipman, November 13, +1862, Ibid., 790]. They knew little of the discipline of war +and left the army whenever they had a mind to.] + +[Footnote 570: The Osages joined the Indian Expedition only upon +condition that their families would be supported during their absence +[Coffin to Dole, June 4, 1862, Indian Office Consolidated Files, +_Neosho_, C 1662 of 1862]. The families were soon destitute. +Coffin ordered Elder to minister to them at Leroy; but he seems to +have distrusted the southern superintendent and to have preferred to +keep aloof from him. Coffin then appointed a man named John Harris as +special Osage agent [Coffin to Dole, July 7, 1862, Ibid., C +1710]. Elder tried to circumvent Coffin's plans for the distribution +of cattle [Coffin to Elder, July 16, 1862, ibid., C 1717] and Coffin +lodged a general charge of neglect of duty against him [Coffin to +Dole, July 19, 1862, Ibid.].] + +[Footnote 571: The invitation was extended by White Hair and Charles +Mograin [Coffin to Dole, November 16, 1862, Ibid., C 1904]. +Coffin was anxious for (cont.)] + +During the summer the wretched condition of the Indian refugees +had, thanks to fresh air, sunlight, and fair weather, been much +ameliorated. Disease had obtained so vast a start that the medical +service, had it been first-class, which it certainly was not, would +otherwise have proved totally inadequate. The physicians in attendance +claimed to have from five to eight thousand patients,[572] yet one +of them, Dr. S.D. Coffin, found it possible to be often and for +relatively long periods absent from his post. Of this the senior +physician, Dr. William Kile, made complaint [573] and that +circumstance marked the beginning of a serious estrangement between +him and Superintendent Coffin.[574] + +In August, General Blunt announced his intention of returning the +Indian families to their homes.[575] He was convinced that some of the +employees of the Indian Office and of the Interior Department were +personally profiting by the distribution of supplies to the refugees +and that they were conniving with citizens of Kansas in perpetrating +a gigantic fraud against the government. The circumstances of the +refugees had been well aired + +[Footnote 571: (cont.) Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la who had been rather +obstreperous, to accept [Coffin to Dole, November 14, 1862, Indian +Office General Files, Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862].] + +[Footnote 572: Dr. S.D. Coffin, to Dole, July 5, 1862, ibid., General +Files, Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862; J.C. Carter to Dole July +22, 1862, ibid.] + +[Footnote 573: Kile to Dole, ibid.] + +[Footnote 574: The estrangement resulted in the retirement of Kile +from the service. In September, Dr. Kile asked for a leave of absence. +Shortly afterwards, Secretary Smith instructed Charles E. Mix, the +acting commissioner, that the services of Kile were no longer +needed, since the superintendent could attend to the purchasing and +distributing of supplies [Smith to Mix, September 22, 1862, Indian +Office General Files, Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862]. Mix +promptly informed Kile that his resignation was accepted [Mix to Kile, +September 22, 1862, ibid., Letter Book, no. 69, p. 133].] + +[Footnote 575: "Orders have been given by General Blunt for the Indian +Expedition to go South soon; he says the families of the Indians may +go. They wish to do so but no provision is made for their +subsistence or conveyance. We wish immediate instructions in this +particular."--Carruth to Coffin, August 29, 1862, ibid., General +Files, Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862.] + +in Congress, first in connection with a Senate resolution for their +relief.[576] On July fifth, Congress had passed an act suspending +annuity appropriations to the tribes in hostility to the United States +government and authorizing the president to expend, at discretion, +those same annuities in behalf of the refugees.[577] At once, the +number[578] of refugees increased and white men rushed forward to +obtain contracts for furnishing supplies. + +There was a failure of the corn crop in southern Kansas that year and +Dr. Kile, appreciating certain facts, that the Indian pony is dear, +as is the Arabian horse, to his master, that the Indian ponies were +pretty numerous in spite of the decimation of the past winter, and +that they would have to be fed upon corn, advised a return to Indian +Territory before the cold weather should set in.[579] He communicated +with Blunt[580] and found Blunt of the same opinion, so also +Cutler[581] and Coleman.[582] Contrariwise was Superintendent +Coffin,[583] whose view of the case was strengthened by E.H. Carruth, +H.W. Martin,[584] and A.C. Ellithorpe.[585] + +[Footnote 576: _U.S. Congressional Globe_, 37th congress, second +session, part i, 815, 849, 875, 891, 940.] + +[Footnote 577: _U.S. Statutes at Large_, vol. xii, 528.] + +[Footnote 578: In October, Coffin put the number of refugees, +inclusive of the Cherokees on Drywood Creek, at almost seven thousand +five hundred [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_ 1862, +p. 137] and asked for sixty-nine thousand dollars for their support +during the third quarter of 1862 [Coffin to Mix, September 16, +1862, Indian Office General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, +1859-1862].] + +[Footnote 579: Kile to Dole, July 25, 1862, Ibid.] + +[Footnote 580: Kile to Blunt, September 2, 1862, Ibid.] + +[Footnote 581: Cutler to Coffin, September 30, 1862, Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, 139.] + +[Footnote 582: Coleman to Coffin, September 30, 1862, Ibid., +141.] + +[Footnote 583: Coffin to Mix, August 30, 1862, Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862: same to same, +September 13, 1862, Ibid.] + +[Footnote 584: Carruth and Martin to Coffin, September 28, 1862, +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, 167.] + +[Footnote 585: "In replying to the several interrogatorys contained in +your letter of the 11th inst, I shall base my answer entirely upon my +own (cont.)] + +In the contest that ensued between the military and civil authorities +or between Blunt and Coffin,[586] Coffin triumphed, although Blunt +made no concealment of his + +[Footnote 585: (cont.) observations and experience, obtained during a +six months campaign with the Indians, and in the Creek and Cherokee +countries. Taking a deep interest in the welfare of these loyal +refugee Indians, who have sacrificed _all_, rather than fight +against our Flag, I shall be cautious and advise no policy but that +which will insure their safe restoration to their homes. + +"The important question in your letter and that which embodies the +whole subject matter is the following--'Would it be safe in the +present condition of the country to restore the southern refugee +Indians now in southern Kansas, the women and children, the old, +feeble and infirm to their homes in the Indian country?' + +"I answer--It would not be safe to take the women and children to the +Creek or Cherokee countries this fall for the following reasons, 1st +The corn and vegetable crop north of the Arkansas River will not +afford them subsistence for a single month. The excessive drouth has +almost completely destroyed it, and what little would have matured is +laid waste by the frequent foraging parties of our own Army, or those +of the Rebels. + +"The amount of Military force necessary to restore and safely protect +this people in their homes would far exceed what is at present at the +disposal of the Department of Kansas; and should they be removed to +the Indian country, and our forces again be compelled to fall back for +the protection of Missouri or Kansas, it would again involve their +precipitate flight, or insure their total destruction. + +"Again--the effectiveness of our troops would be materially embarased +by the presence of such a vast number of timid and helpless +creatures--I base my judgment upon the following facts--viz.: + +"The expedition which I have been with during the summer, exploring +this country, consisted of three Brigades but containing actually only +about 6 thousand men. We routed, captured, and pursued the fragments +of several Rebel commands, driving them south of the Arkansas River, +opposite to, and in the vicinity of Fort Gibson. This done, we found +the whole of Western Arkansas alive, and the numerous rebel squads +were at once reinforced from the guerila parties of Missouri, +Arkansas, Texas, and the various rebel Indian tribes, until they now +number a force of from 30 to 40 thousand strong, under the command of +Pike, Drew, McIntosh, Rains, Stand Watie and others, ready to contest +the passage of the Arkansas River at any point and in fact capable of +crossing to the north side of the river and possessing the country we +have twice passed over. Why did our command fall back? Simply because +we had not force sufficient to cross the Arkansas River and maintain +our position and because we were to remote from our dipo of supplies. + +"The Creek country west of the Verdigris River is almost destitute +(cont.)] + +[Footnote 586: A dispute between Blunt and Coffin had been going on +for some time. In August, Coffin wrote to Mix that "The contrariness +and (cont.)] + +suspicions of graft and peculation[587] and the moment, following the +defeat of the Confederates at old Fort Wayne, seemed rather auspicious +for the return of the refugees. In reality, it was not, however; for +the Federals were far from possessing Indian Territory and they had no +force that they could devote to it exclusively. + +[Footnote 585: (cont.) of forage for man or beast, owing to the +drouth--Hence to remove these families would involve to the gov't +great additional expense, not only to subsist but to protect +them--Where they are they need no military protection and food is +abundant. + +"You will bear in mind that a large portion of the Indian country is +south of the Arkansas River and is at present the stronghold of the +Rebels. Many portions of it mountainous and rugged, affording secure +retreats that will require a powerful army to dislodge."--A.C. +ELLITHORPE to Coffin, September 12, 1862, Indian Office General Files, +_Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +[Footnote 586: (cont.) interference manifested by the military +authorities in the Indian Country towards those who are having +charge of the Indians within the Cherokee Nation is so annoying and +embarrassing that it has become unpleasant, difficult, and almost +impossible for them to attend to the duties of their official +capacities with success. If the Military would only make it +their business to rid the Indian Territory of Rebels instead of +intermeddling with the affairs of the Interior Department or those +connected with or acting for the same, the Refugee Indians in +Kansas might have long since been enabled to return to their homes +..."--Indian Office General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, +1863-1864, C 466.] + +[Footnote 587: It was not long before the Indians were complaining +of the very things that General Blunt suspected. For instance, in +December, the Delawares begged President Lincoln to remove Agent +Johnson because of his peculations and ungovernable temper. They also +asked that the store of Thomas Carney and Co. be ordered away from +their reservation. The latter request had been made before, the +Delawares believing that Leavenworth and Lawrence were sufficiently +near for them to trade independently [Indian Office General Files, +_Delaware_, 1862-1866]. Coffin made a contract with Stettaner +Bros. November 29, 1862, and Dole confirmed it by letter, December 13, +1862 [ibid., _Southern Superintendency_, 1863-1864]. Secretary +Smith was not very well satisfied with the Stettaner bids. They were +too indefinite [Ibid., 1859-1862, 1837]. Nevertheless, Dole, +who was none too scrupulous himself, recommended their acceptance +[Dole to Smith, December 11, 1862]. Number 201 of Indian Office +_Special Files_ is especially rich in matter relating to +transactions of Stettaner Bros., Carney and Stevens, and Perry +Fuller, so also are the files of the Indian Division of the Interior +Department, and also, to some extent, the House Files in the Capitol +Building at Washington, D.C.] + +Aside from pointing out the military inadequacy, Coffin had chiefly +argued that provisions could easily be obtained where the refugees +then were; but his opposition to Blunt's suggestion was considerably +vitiated by recommendations of his own, soon given, for the removal of +the refugees to the Sac and Fox Agency upon the plea that they could +not be supported much longer to advantage in southern Kansas. The +drouth was the main reason given; but, as Kile had very truly said, +the settlers were getting pretty tired of the Indian exiles, whose +habits were filthy and who were extremely prodigal in their use of +timber. The Sac and Fox Agency was headquarters for the Sacs and Foxes +of Mississippi, for the Ottawas, and for the confederated Chippewas +and Munsees. C.C. Hutchinson was the agent there and there Perry +Fuller, Robert S. Stevens, and other sharpers had their base of +operations. + +The removal northward was undertaken in October and consummated in a +little less than two months; but at an expense that was enormous and +in spite of great unwillingness on the part of most of the Indians, +who naturally objected to so greatly lengthening the distance between +them and their own homes.[588] The refugees were distributed in tribal +groups rather generally over the reserves included within the Sac and +Fox Agency. At the request of Agent Elder, the Ottawas consented to +accommodate the Seneca-Shawnees and the Quapaws, although not without +expressing their fears that the dances and carousals of the Quapaws +would demoralize their young men[589] and, finally, not without +insisting upon a mutual agreement that no + +[Footnote 588: Coffin to Dole, November 14, 1862, Ibid., Indian +Office General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +[Footnote 589: C.C. Hutchinson to Dole, August 21, 1863, Indian Office +General Files, _Ottawa_, 1863-1872, D 236.] + +spirituous liquors should be brought within the limits of their +Reserve under any circumstances whatsoever.[590] The Creeks, Choctaws, +and Chickasaws found a lodgment on the Sac and Fox Reservation and the +Seminoles fairly close at hand, at Neosho Falls. That was as far north +as they could be induced to go. + +Of the Cherokees, more needs to be said for they were not so easily +disposed of. At various times during the past summer, Cherokees, +opposed to, not identified with, or not enthusiastic in the +Confederate cause, had escaped from Indian Territory and had collected +on the Neutral Lands. Every Confederate reverse or Federal triumph, +no matter how slight, had proved a signal for flight. By October, the +Cherokee refugees on the Neutral Lands were reported to be nearly two +thousand in number, which, allowing for some exaggeration for the sake +of getting a larger portion of relief, was a goodly section of the +tribal population.[591] At the end of October, Superintendent Coffin +paid them a visit and urged them to remove to the Sac and Fox Agency, +whither the majority of their comrades in distress were at that very +moment going.[592] The Cherokees refused; for General Blunt had given +them his word that, if he were successful in penetrating the Indian +Territory, they should at once go home.[593] Not long after Coffin's +departure, their camp on Drywood + +[Footnote 590: J.T. Jones to Dole, December 30, 1862, Indian Office +General Files, _Sac and Fox_, 1862-1866. The precautions proved +of little value. Whiskey was procured by both the hosts and their +guests and great disorders resulted. Agent Hutchinson did his best +to have the refugees removed, but, in his absence, the Ottawas were +prevailed upon by Agent Elder to extend their hospitality for a while +longer.] + +[Footnote 591: Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, +137.] + +[Footnote 592:--Ibid., 1863, 175.] + +[Footnote 593: Coffin to Dole, November 10, 1862, enclosing copies of +a correspondence between him and a committee of the Cherokee refugees, +October 31, 1862, Indian Office General Files, _Cherokee_, +1859-1865, C 1892.] + +Creek, about twelve miles south of Fort Scott, was raided by +guerrillas;[594] but even that had no effect upon their determination +to remain. The Neutral Lands, although greatly intruded upon by white +people, were legally their own and they declined to budge from them at +the instance of Superintendent Coffin. + +Arrangements were undertaken for supplying the Cherokee refugees with +material relief;[595] but scarcely had anything been done to that end +when, to Coffin's utter surprise, as he said, the military authorities +"took forcible possession of them" and had them all conveyed to +Neosho, Missouri, presumably out of his reach. But Coffin would +not release his hold and detailed the new Cherokee agent, James +Harlan,[596] and Special Agent A.G. Proctor to follow them there. + +John Ross, his family, and a few friends were, meanwhile, constituting +another kind of refugee in the eastern part of the United States.[597] +and were criticized by some + +[Footnote 594: Coffin to Dole, November 14, 1862, Indian Office +General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862.] + +[Footnote 595: Coffin to Mix, August 31, 1863, Indian Office General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1863-1864, C 466. A.M. Jordan, +who acted as commissary to the Cherokees at Camp Drywood, reported to +Dole, December 6, 1862, that he was feeding about a thousand who were +then there [ibid., _Cherokee_, I 847 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 596: Charles W. Chatterton, of Springfield, Illinois, who +had been appointed Cherokee agent in the place of John Crawford, +removed [Dole to Coffin, March 18, 1862, ibid., _Letter Book_, +no. 67 pp. 492-493] had died, August 31, at the Sac and Fox Agency +[Hutchinson to Mix September 1, 1862, Ibid., General Files, +_Cherokee_, H 538 of 1862]; [Coffin to Dole, September 13, +1862, Ibid., C 1827: W.H. Herndon to Dole, November 15, 1862, +Ibid., H 605]. Harlan was not regularly commissioned as +Cherokee agent until January, 1863 [Coffin to Dole, April 7, 1863, +Ibid., C 143 of 1863; Harlan to Dole, January 26, 1863, +Ibid., H 37 of 1863].] + +[Footnote 597: John Ross asked help for his own family and for the +families of various relations, thirty-four persons in all. He wanted +five hundred dollars for each person [Ross to Dole, October 13, 1862, +Ibid., R 1857 of 1862]. Later, he asked for seventeen thousand +dollars, likewise for maintenance [Ross to Dole, November 19, 1862, +Ibid.]. The beginning of the next year, he notified the +department that some of his party were about to return home (cont.)] + +of their opponents for living in too sumptuous a manner.[598] + +The removal, under military supervision, of the Cherokee refugees, +had some justification in various facts, Blunt's firm conviction that +Coffin and his instigators or abettors were exploiting the Indian +service, that the refugees at Leroy were not being properly cared for, +and that those on the Neutral Lands had put themselves directly under +the protection of the army.[599] His then was the responsibility. When +planning his second Indian Expedition, Blunt had discovered that the +Indian men were not at all inclined to accompany it unless they could +have some stronger guarantee than any yet given that their families +would be well looked after in their absence. They had returned from +the first expedition to find their women and children and aged men, +sick, ill-fed, and unhappy. + +It was with knowledge of such things and with the hope that they would +soon be put a stop to and their repetition prevented by a return of +the refugees to Indian Territory, that John Ross, in October, made a +personal appeal to President Lincoln and interceded with him to send +a military force down, sufficient to over-awe the Confederates and to +take actual possession + +[Footnote 597: (cont.) [Ibid., R 14 of 1863] and requested that +transportation from Leavenworth and supplies be furnished them [Indian +Office General Files, _Cherokee_, R 13 of 1863]. Dole informed +Coffin that the request should be granted [see Office letter of +January 6, 1863] and continued forwarding to John Ross his share of +the former remittance [Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 69, 503]. +To make the monetary allowance to John Ross, Cherokee chief, the +Chickasaw funds were drawn upon [Second Auditor, E.B. Trench, to Dole, +June 19, 1863, Ibid., General Files, _Cherokee_, A 202 of +1863; Office letter of June 20, 1863].] + +[Footnote 598: Ross and others to Dole, July 29, 1864 [Ibid., +General Files, _Cherokee_, 1859-1865, R 360]; Secretary of the +Interior to Ross, August 25, 1864 [Ibid., I 651]; John Ross +and Evan Jones to Dole, August 26, 1864 [Ibid., R 378]; Office +letter of October 14, 1864; Coffin's letter of July 8, 1864.] + +[Footnote 599: Blunt to Smith, November 21, 1862.] + +of the land. Lincoln's sympathies and sense of justice were +immediately aroused and he inquired of General Curtis, in the +field, as to the practicability of occupying "the Cherokee country +consistently with the public service."[600] Curtis evaded the direct +issue, which was the Federal obligation to protect its wards, by +boasting that he had just driven the enemy into the Indian Territory +"and beyond" and by doubting "the expediency of occupying ground so +remote from supplies."[601] + +General Blunt's force continued to hold the northeastern part of the +Cherokee country until the end of October when it fell back, crossed +the line, and moved along the Bentonville road in order to meet its +supply train from Fort Scott.[602] Blunt's division finally took its +stand on Prairie Creek[603] and, on the twelfth of November, made its +main camp on Lindsay's prairie, near the Indian boundary.[604] The +rout of Cooper at Fort Wayne had shaken the faith of many Indians in +the invincibility of the Confederate arms. They had disbanded and gone +home, declaring "their purpose to join the Federal troops the first +opportunity" that presented itself.[605] To secure them and to +reconnoitre once more, Colonel Phillips had started out near the +beginning of November and, from the third to the fifth, had made his +way down through the Cherokee Nation, by way of Tahlequah and Park +Hill, to Webber's Falls on the Arkansas.[606] His return was by + +[Footnote 600: Lincoln to Curtis, October 10, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 723.] + +[Footnote 601: Curtis to Lincoln, October 10, 1862, Ibid.] + +[Footnote 602: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, +376-377.] + +[Footnote 603:--Ibid., 379.] + +[Footnote 604:--Ibid., 380; Bishop, _Loyalty on the +Frontier_, 56.] + +[Footnote 605: Blunt to Schofield, November 9, 1862, _Official +Records_, vol. xiii, 785.] + +[Footnote 606: H.W. Martin to Coffin, December 20, 1862, Indian Office +General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1950.] + +Dwight's Mission. His view of the country through which he passed must +have been discouraging.[607] There was little to subsist upon and the +few Indians lingering there were in a deplorable state of deprivation, +little food, little clothing[608] and it was winter-time. + +So desolate and abandoned did the Cherokee country appear that General +Blunt considered it would be easily possible to hold it with his +Indian force alone, three regiments, yet he said no more about the +immediate return of the refugees,[609] but issued an order for their +removal to Neosho. The wisdom of his action might well be questioned +since the expense of supporting them there would be immeasurably +greater than in Kansas[610] unless, indeed, the military authorities +intended to assume the entire charge of them.[611] Special Agent +Martin regarded some talk that was rife of letting them forage upon +the impoverished people of Missouri as + +[Footnote 607: It was not discouraging to Blunt, however. His letter +referring to it was even sanguine [_Official Records_, vol. xiii, +785-786].] + +[Footnote 608: Martin to Coffin, December 20, 1862.] + +[Footnote 609: The Interior Department considered it, however, and +consulted with the War Department as late as the twenty-sixth. See +_Register of Letters Received_, vol. D., p. 155.] + +[Footnote 610: Coffin to Henning, December 28, 1862, Indian Office +Consolidated Files, _Cherokee_, C 17 of 1863.] + +[Footnote 611: Coffin's letter to Dole of December 20 [Indian Office +General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1859-1862, C 1950] +would imply that the superintendent expected that to be the case. He +said, having reference to Martin's report, "... The statement of facts +which he makes, from all the information I have from other sources, I +have no doubt are strictly true and will no doubt meet your serious +consideration. + +"If the Programme as fixed up by the Military Officers, and which I +learn Dr. Gillpatrick is the bearer to your city and the solicitor +general to procure its adoption is carried out, the Indian Department, +superintendent, and agents may all be dispensed with. The proposition +reminds me of the Fable of the Wolves and the Shepherds, the wolves +represented to the shepherds that it was very expensive keeping dogs +to guard the sheep, which was wholly unnecessary; that if they would +kill off the dogs, they, the wolves, would protect the sheep without +any compensation whatever."] + +sheer humbug. The army was not doing that and why should the +defenceless Indians be expected to do it. As it was, they seem to +have been reduced to plundering in Kansas.[612] On the whole, it +is difficult to explain Blunt's plan for the concentration of the +Cherokee refugees at Neosho, since there were, at the time, many +indications that Hindman was considering another advance and an +invasion of southwest Missouri. + +The November operations of the Federals in northeastern Arkansas +were directed toward arresting Hindman's progress, if progress were +contemplated. Meanwhile, Phillips with detachments of his Indian +brigade was continuing his reconnoissances and, when word came that +Stand Watie had ventured north of the Arkansas, Blunt sent him to +compel a recrossing.[613] Stand Watie's exploit was undoubtedly +a preliminary to a general Confederate plan for the recovery of +northwestern Arkansas and the Indian Territory, a plan, which Blunt, +vigorous and aggressive, was determined to circumvent. In the action +at Cane Hill,[614] the latter part of November, and in the Battle of +Prairie Grove,[615] December seventh, the mettle of the Federals was +put to a severe test which it stood successfully and Blunt's cardinal +purpose was fully accomplished.[616] In both engagements, the Indians +played a part and played it + +[Footnote 612: These Indians must have been the ones referred to in +Richard C. Vaughn's letter to Colonel W.D. Wood, December i, 1862 +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 796].] + +[Footnote 613: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. i, p. +382.] + +[Footnote 614:--Ibid., vol. i, chapter xxix.] + +[Footnote 615:--Ibid., vol. i, chapter xxx; _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 66-82, 82-158, vol. liii, supplement, +458-461, 866, 867; Livermore, _The Story of the Civil War_, part +iii, bk. 1, 84-85.] + +[Footnote 616: One opinion is to the effect that the result of +the Battle of Prairie Grove, Fayetteville, or Illinois Creek, was +virtually to end the war north of the Arkansas River [Ibid., p. +85; _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 82]. (cont.)] + +conspicuously and well, the northern regiments so well,[617] indeed, +that shortly afterwards two additional ones, the Fourth and the Fifth, +were projected.[618] Towards the end of the year, Phillips, whom Blunt +had sent upon another excursion into Indian Territory,[619] could +report + +[Footnote 616: (cont.) Bishop wrote, "After the battle of Prairie +Grove, and the gradual retrogression of the Army of the Frontier into +Missouri, Fayetteville was still held as a military post, and those of +us who remained there were given to understand that the place would +not be abandoned ... The demoralized enemy had fallen back to Little +Rock, with the exception of weak nomadic forces that, like Stygian +ghosts, wandered up and down the Arkansas from Dardanelle to Fort +Smith...." [_Loyalty on the Frontier_, 205]. Schofield was of +the opinion, however, that the Battle of Prairie Grove was a hard-won +victory. "Blunt and Herron were badly beaten in detail, and owed +their escape to a false report of my arrival with re-enforcements." +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, p. 6].] + +[Footnote 617: And yet it was only a short time previously that Major +A.C. Ellithorpe, commanding the First Regiment Indian Home Guards, had +had cause to complain seriously of the Creeks of that regiment. On +November 7, he wrote from Camp Bowen that Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la was +enticing the Indians away from the performance of their duties. "You +will now perceive that we are on the border of the Indian country and +a very large portion of the Indians are now scouting through their own +Territory. What I now desire is that every man who was enlisted as a +soldier shall at once return to his command by the way of Fort Scott +unless otherwise ordered by competent authority...." [Indian Office +Land Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1855-1870, C 1933]. +Coffin, as usual, appeared as an apologist for the Indians and +attempted to exonerate Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la from all blame [Letter to +Dole, December 3, 1862, Ibid.]. He called the aged chief, "that +noble old Roman of the Indians," and the chief himself protested +against the injustice and untruth of Ellithrope's accusation +[Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la to Coffin, November 24, 1862, Ibid.].] + +[Footnote 618: Officers for these two regiments were appointed by the +president, December 26, 1862, and ordered to report to Blunt, who, in +turn ordered them to report to Phillips. When the officers arrived in +Indian Territory, they found no such regiments as the Fourth and Fifth +Indian [_U.S. Senate Report_, 41st congress, third session, no. +359]. They never did materialize as a matter of fact; but the officers +did duty, nevertheless, and were regularly mustered out of the service +in 1863. In 1864, Congress passed an act for the adjudication of their +claim for salary [_U.S. Statutes at Large_, vol. xiii, 413]. It +is rather surprising that the regiments were not organized; inasmuch +as many new recruits were constantly presenting themselves.] + +[Footnote 619: Phillips to Blunt, December 25, 1862 [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 873-874].] + +that Stand Watie and Cooper had been pushed considerably below +the Arkansas, that many of the buildings at Fort Davis had been +demolished,[620] that one of the Creek regiments was about to retire +from the Confederate service, and that the Choctaws, once so deeply +committed, were wavering in their allegiance to the South.[621] + +[Footnote 620: The buildings at Fort Davis were burnt, and +deliberately, by Phillips's orders. [See his own admission, +Ibid., part ii, 56, 62].] + +[Footnote 621: Blunt to Weed, December 30, 1862, Ibid., part i, +168.] + + + + +X. NEGOTIATIONS WITH UNION INDIANS + + +As though the Indians had not afflictions enough to endure merely +because of their proximity to the contending whites, life was made +miserable for them, during the period of the Civil War, as much as +before and after, by the insatiable land-hunger of politicians, +speculators, and would-be captains of industry, who were more often +than not, rogues in the disguise of public benefactors. Nearly all +of them were citizens of Kansas. The cessions of 1854, negotiated +by George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, were but a +prelude to the many that followed. For years and years there was in +reality never a time when some sort of negotiation, _sub rosa_ +or official, was not going on. The order of procedure was pretty much +what it had always been: a promise that the remaining land should be +the Indian's, undisturbed by white men and protected by government +guarantee, forever; encroachment by enterprising, covetous, and +lawless whites; conflict between the two races, the outraged and the +aggressive; the advent of the schemer, the man with political capital +and undeveloped or perverted sense of honor, whose vision was such +that he saw the Indian owner as the only obstacle in the way of +vast material and national progress; political pressure upon the +administration in Washington, lobbying in Congress; authorization of +negotiations with the bewildered Indians; delimitation of the meaning +of the solemn and grandly-sounding word, _forever_. + +When the war broke out, negotiations, begun in the + +border warfare days, were still going on. This was most true as +regarded the Osages, whose immense holding in southern Kansas +was something not to be tolerated, so the politicians reasoned, +indefinitely. Petitions,[622] praying that the lands be opened to +white settlement were constantly being sent in and intruders,[623] who +intended to force action, becoming more and more numerous and more +and more recalcitrant. One of the first official communications of +Superintendent Coffin embodied a plea for getting a treaty of cession +for which the signs had seemed favorable the previous year. +Coffin, however, discredited[624] a certain Dr. J.B. Chapman, who, +notwithstanding he represented white capitalists,[625] had yet found +favor with the Osages. To their + +[Footnote 622: For example, take the petitions forwarded by M.W. +Delahay, surveyor-general of Kansas [Indian Office Consolidated Files, +_Neosho_, D 455 of 1861]. One of the petitions contains this +statement: "... The lands being largely settled upon and improved and +those adjacent being all claimed and settled upon by residents--while +a large emigration from Texas and other rebellious States are forced +to seek homes in a more northern and uncongenial climate greatly +against their interests and inclinations...."] + +[Footnote 623: Intruders upon the Osage lands, as upon the Cherokee +Neutral, were numerous for years before the war. Agent Dorn was +continually complaining of them, chiefly because they were free-state +in politics. He again and again asked for military assistance in +removing them. See his letter to Greenwood, February 26, 1860, +_Neosho_, 1833-1865, D 107. Buchanan's administration had +conceived the idea of locating other Kansas Indians upon the huge +Osage Reserve. See Dorn to Greenwood, March 26, 1860, Ibid., D +119. Apparently, the fragments of tribes in the northeastern corner of +Indian Territory had been approached on the same subject, but they did +not favor it and Agent Dorn was doubtful if the Osages would [Dorn to +Greenwood, April 17, 1860, Ibid., D 129].] + +[Footnote 624: He described him as a self-appointed guardian of the +Osages, as a scamp and a nuisance [Coffin to Dole, June 17, 1861, +Ibid., C 1223 of 1861].] + +[Footnote 625: Chapman, August 26, 1860, inquired of Greenwood whether +there was any prospect of a treaty being negotiated with the Osages +and whether the capitalists he represented would be likely to secure +railroad rights to the South by it. He asserted that the Delawares had +been "humbugged" by their treaty, it having been negotiated "in the +interests of the Democrats at Leavenworth" [Ibid., C 702 of +1860].] + +everlasting sorrow and despoliation, the Indians have been fated to +place a child-like trust in those least worthy. + +The defection of portions of the southern tribes offered an undreamed +of opportunity for Kansas politicians to accomplish their purposes. +They had earlier thought of removing the Kansas tribes, one by one, +to Indian Territory; but the tribes already there had a lien upon +the land, titles, and other rights, that could not be ignored. Their +possession was to continue so long as the grass should grow and the +water should run. It was not for the government to say that they +should open their doors to anybody. An early intimation that the +Kansans saw their opportunity was a resolution[626] submitted by James +H. Lane to the Senate, March 17, 1862, proposing an inquiry into "the +propriety and expediency of extending the southern boundary of Kansas +to the northern boundary of Texas, so as to include within the +boundaries of Kansas the territory known as the Indian territory." +Obviously, the proposition had a military object immediately in view; +but Commissioner Dole, to whom it was referred, saw its ulterior +meaning and reported[627] adversely upon it as he had upon an earlier +proposition to erect a regular territorial form of government in the +Indian country south of Kansas.[628] He was "unable to perceive any +advantage to be derived from the adoption of such a measure, since the +same military power that would be required to enforce the authority +of territorial officers is all-sufficient to protect and enforce the +authority of such officers as are required in the management of our +present system + +[Footnote 626: _United State Congressional Globe_, 37th congress, +second session, part ii, p. 1246.] + +[Footnote 627: Dole to Smith, April 2, 1862, Indian Office _Report +Book_, no. 12, 353-354.] + +[Footnote 628: Dole to Smith, March 17, 1862, Ibid., 335-337.] + +of Indian relations."[629] And he insisted that the whole of the +present Indian country should be left to the Indians.[630] The honor +of the government was pledged to that end. Almost coincidently he +negatived[631] another suggestion, one advocated by Pomeroy for the +confiscation of the Cherokee Neutral Lands.[632] For the time being, +Dole was strongly opposed to throwing either the Neutral Lands or the +Osage Reserve open to white settlers. + +Behind Pomeroy's suggestion was the spirit of retaliation, of meting +out punishment to the Indians, who, because they had been so basely +deserted by the United States government, had gone over to the +Confederacy; but the Kansas politicians saw a chance to kill two birds +with one stone, vindictively punish the southern Indians for their +defection and rid Kansas of the northern Indians, both emigrant and +indigenous. The intruders upon Indian lands, the speculators and the +politicians, would get the spoils of victory. Against the idea of +punishing the southern Indians for what after all was far from being +entirely their fault, the friends of justice marshaled their forces. +Dole was not exactly of their number; for he had other ends to serve +in resisting measures advanced by the Kansans, yet, to his credit be +it said that he did always hold firmly to the notion that tribes like +the Cherokee were more sinned against than sinning. The government +had been the first to shirk responsibility and to violate sacred +obligations. It had failed to give the protection guaranteed by +treaties and it was not giving it yet adequately. + +[Footnote 629: Dole to Smith, March 17, 1862, Indian Office _Report +Book_, no. 12, 335.] + +[Footnote 630: Report of April 2, 1862.] + +[Footnote 631: Dole to Smith, March 20, 1862, Indian Office _Report +Book_, no. 12, 343-344.] + +[Footnote 632: _Daily Conservative_, May 10, 1862. Note the +arguments in favor of confiscation as quoted from the _Western +Volunteer_.,] + +The true friends of justice were men of the stamp of W.S. +Robertson[633] and the Reverend Evan Jones,[634] who went out of +their way to plead the Indian's cause and to detail the extenuating +circumstances surrounding his lamentable failure to keep faith. +Supporting the men of the opposite camp was even the Legislature of +Kansas. In no other way can a memorial from the General Assembly, +urging the extinguishment of the title of certain Indian lands in +Kansas, be interpreted.[635] + +It is not easy to determine always just what motives did actuate +Commissioner Dole. They were not entirely above suspicion and his +name is indissolubly connected with some very nefarious Indian +transactions; but fortunately they have not to be recounted here. At +the very time when he was offering unanswerable arguments against +the propositions of Lane and Pomeroy, he was entertaining something +similar to those propositions in his own mind. A special agent, +Augustus Wattles, who had been sufficiently familiar and mixed-up with +the free state and pro-slavery controversy to be called upon to give +testimony before the Senate + +[Footnote 633: Robertson wrote to the Secretary of the Interior, +January 7, 1862, asking most earnestly "that decisive measures be +not taken against the oppressed and betrayed people of the Creek and +Cherokee tribes, until everything is heard about their struggle in the +present crisis" [Department of the Interior, _Register of Letters +Received_, "Indians," no. 4]. The letter was referred to the +Indian Office and Mix replied to it, February 14, 1862 [Indian Office +_Letter Book_, no. 67, p. 357]. The concluding paragraph of +the letter is indicative of the government feeling, "... In reply +I transmit herewith for your information the Annual Report of this +Office, which will show ... what policy has governed the Office as to +this matter, and that it is in consonance with your wish...."] + +[Footnote 634: Jones wrote frequently and at great length on the +subject of justice to the Cherokees. One of his most heartfelt appeals +was that of January 21, 1862 [Indian Office Consolidated Files, +_Cherokee_, J 556 of 1862].] + +[Footnote 635: Cyrus Aldrich, representative from Minnesota and +chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs referred the +memorial to the Indian Office [_Letters Registered_, vol. 58, +_Southern Superintendency_, A. 484 of 1862].] + +Harper's Ferry Investigating Committee[636] and who had been on the +editorial staff of the New York Tribune,[637] had, in 1861, been sent +by the Indian Office to inspect the houses that Robert S. Stevens had +contracted to build for the Sacs and Foxes of Mississippi and for the +Kaws.[638] The whole project of the house-building was a fraud upon +the Indians, a scheme for using up their funds or for transferring +them to the pockets of promoters like Stevens[639] and M.C. +Dickey[640] without the trouble of giving value received. + +From a letter[641] of protest, written by Stevens against Wattles's +mission of inspection, it can be inferred that there was a movement on +foot to induce the Indians to emigrate southward. Stevens, not wholly +disinterested, thought it a poor time to attempt changes in tribal + +[Footnote 636: Robinson, _Kansas Conflict_, 358.] + +[Footnote 637:--Ibid., 370. For other facts touching Wattles +and his earlier career, see Villard, _John Brown_, index; Wilson, +_John Brown: Soldier of Fortune_, index.] + +[Footnote 638; On the entire subject of negotiations with the Indians +of Kansas, see Abel, _Indian Reservations in Kansas and the +Extinguishment of Their Titles_. The house-building project is +fully narrated there.] + +[Footnote 639: For additional information about Stevens, see _Daily +Conservative_, February 11, 12, 13, 28, 1862. Senator Lane +denounced him as a defaulter to the government in the house-building +project. See _Lane_ to Dole, April 22, 1862; Smith to Dole, May +13 1862; Dole to Lane, May 5, 1862, _Daily Conservative_, May 21, +1862. In July, Lane, hearing that certificates of indebtedness were +about to be issued to Stevens on his building contract for the +Sacs and Foxes, entered a "solemn protest against such action" and +requested that the Department would let the matter lie over until the +assembling of Congress [Interior Department, _Register of Letters +Received_, January 2, 1862 to December 27, 1865, "Indians," no. 4]. +Governor Robinson's enemies regarded him as the partner of Stevens +[_Daily Conservative_, November 22, 1861] in the matter of some +other affairs, and that fact may help to explain Senator Lane's bitter +animosity. The names of Robinson and Stevens were connected in the +bond difficulty, which lay at the bottom of Robinson's impeachment.] + +[Footnote 640: Dickey's interest in the house-building is seen in +the following: Dickey to Greenwood, February 26, 1861, Indian Office +General Files, _Kansas_, 1855-1862, D250; same to same, March 1, +1861, Ibid., D 251.] + +[Footnote 641: Stevens to Mix, August 24, 1861, Indian Office Special +Files, no. 201, _Sac and Fox_, S439 of 1861.] + +policy. His conclusions were right, his premises, necessarily +unrevealed, were false. Wattles became involved in the emigration +movement, if he did not initiate it, and, subsequent to making his +report upon the house-building, received a private communication from +Dole, asking his opinion "of a plan for confederating the various +Indian tribes, in Kansas and Nebraska, into one, and giving them +a Territory and a Territorial Government with political +privileges."[642] This was in 1861, long before any scheme that Lane +or Pomeroy had devised would have matured. Wattles started upon a tour +of observation and inquiry among the Kansas tribes and discovered +that, with few exceptions, they were all willing and even anxious to +exchange their present homes for homes in Indian Territory. Some had +already discussed the matter tentatively and on their own account +with the Creeks and Cherokees. On his way east, after completing his +investigations, Wattles stopped in New York and "consulted with our +political friends" there "concerning this movement, and they not only +gave it their approbation, but were anxious that this administration +should have the credit of originating and carrying out so wise and so +noble a scheme for civilizing and perpetuating the Indian race." +Would Wattles and his friends have said the same had they been fully +cognizant of the conditions under which the emigrant tribes had been +placed in the West? + +In February of 1862, the House of Representatives called[643] for the +papers relating to the Wattles mission[644] and, in March, Wattles +expatiated upon the + +[Footnote 642: Wattles to Dole, January 10, 1862, Indian Office +Special Files, no. 201, _Central Superintendency_, W 528 of +1862.] + +[Footnote 643: Department of the Interior, _Register of Letters +Received_, "Indians," no. 4, p. 439.] + +[Footnote 644: The papers relating to the mission are collected in +Indian Office Special Files, no. 201.] + +emigration and consolidation scheme in a report to Secretary +Smith.[645] Then, yet in advance of congressional authorization, began +a systematic course of Indian negotiation, all having in view the +relieving of Kansas from her aboriginal encumbrance. No means were too +underhand, too far-fetched, too villainous to be resorted to. Every +advantage was taken of the Indian's predicament, of his pitiful +weakness, political and moral. The reputed treason of the southern +tribes was made the most of. Reconstruction measures had begun for the +Indians before the war was over and while its issue was very far from +being determined in favor of the North. + +As if urged thereto by some influence malign or fate sinister, the +loyal portion of two of the southern tribes, the Creeks and the +Seminoles, took in April, 1862, a certain action that, all unbeknown +to them, expedited the northern schemes for Indian undoing. The action +referred to was tribal reörganization. Each of the two groups of +refugees elected chiefs and headmen and notified the United States +government that it was prepared to do business as a nation.[646] The +business in mind had to do with annuity payments[647] and other dues +but the Indian Office soon extended it to include treaty-making. + +[Footnote 645: Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Central +Superintendency_, W 528 of 1862; Department of the Interior, +_Register of Letters Received_, "Indians," no. 4, p. 517.] + +[Footnote 646: Ok-ta-ha-ras Harjo and others to Dole, April 5, 1862, +Indian Office General Files, _Creek_, 1860-1869, O 45; Coffin to +Dole, April 15, 1862, transmitting communication of Billy Bowlegs +and others, April 14, 1862 ibid., _Seminole_, 1858-1869, C1594; +_Letters Registered_, vol. 58.] + +[Footnote 647: On the outside of the Seminole petition, the office +instruction for its answer of May 7, 1862, reads as follows: "Say that +by resolution of Congress the annuities were authorized to be used to +prevent starvation and suffering amongst them and that being the only +fund in our hands must not be diverted from that purpose at present."] + +Negotiations with the Osages had been going on intermittently all this +time. No opportunity to press the point of a land cession had ever +been neglected and much had been made, in connection with the project +for territorial organization, of the fact that the Osages had +memorialized Congress for a civil government, they thinking by means +of it to prevent further frauds and impositions being practiced upon +them.[648] Coffin and Elder, suspicious of each other, jealously +watched every avenue of approach to Osage confidence. On the ninth of +March, Elder inquired if Coffin had been regularly commissioned to +open up negotiations anew and asked to be associated with him if he +had.[649] A treaty was started but not finished for Elder received a +private letter from Dole that seemed to confine the negotiations to +a mere ascertaining of views.[650] Then the Indians grown weary of +uncertainty took matters into their own hands and appointed several +prominent tribesmen for the express purpose of negotiating a treaty +that would end the "suspense as to their future destiny."[651] From +the treaty of cession that Coffin drafted, he having taken a miserably +unfair advantage of Osage isolation and destitution, the Osages turned +away in disgust.[652] In November, some of their leading men journeyed +up to Leroy to invite the dissatisfied Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la to winter +with them.[653] Coffin seized the occasion to reopen the subject of a +cession and the Indians manifested + +[Footnote 648: Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Neosho_, A +476 of 1862. See also Indian Office report to the Secretary of the +Interior, May 6, 1862. The Commissioner's letter and the memorial were +sent to Aldrich, May 9, 1862.] + +[Footnote 649: Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Neosho_, E 94. +of 1862.] + +[Footnote 650: Coffin to Dole, April 5, 1862, Ibid., C 1583.] + +[Footnote 651: Communication of April 10, 1862, transmitted by Chapman +to Dole, Ibid., C 1640.] + +[Footnote 652: Elder to Coffin, July 9, 1862, Ibid., E 114.] + +[Footnote 653: Coffin to Dole, November 16, 1862, Ibid., C +1904.] + +a willingness to sell a part of their Reserve; but again Coffin was +too grasping and another season of waiting intervened. + +With slightly better success the Kickapoos were approached. Their +lands were coveted by the Atchison and Pike's Peak Railway Company +and Agent O.B. Keith used his good offices in the interest of that +corporation.[654] Good offices they were, from the standpoint of +benefit to the grantees, but most disreputable from that of the +grantors. He bribed the chiefs outrageously and the lesser men +among the Kickapoos indignantly protested.[655] Rival political and +capitalistic concerns, emanating from St. Joseph, Missouri, and from +the northern tier of counties in Kansas,[656] took up the quarrel and +never rested until they had forced a hearing from the government. The +treaty was arrested after it had reached the presidential proclamation +stage and was in serious danger of complete invalidation.[657] It +passed muster only when a Senate amendment had rendered it reasonably +acceptable to the Kickapoos. + +Not much headway was made with Indian treaty-making in 1862.[658] In +March, 1863, an element + +[Footnote 654: Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Kickapoo_, I +655 of 1862 and I 361 of 1864.] + +[Footnote 655:--Ibid., B 355 of 1863 and I 361 of 1864.] + +[Footnote 656: Albert W. Horton to Pomeroy, June 20, 1863 and O.B. +Keith to Pomeroy, June 20, 1863, Indian Office Consolidated Files, +_Kickapoo_, G 59 and P 64 of 1863.] + +[Footnote 657: Lane and A.C. Wilder requested the Interior Department, +September 1, 1863, "that no rights be permitted to attach to R.R. +Co. until charges of fraud in connection with Kickapoo Treaty are +settled." Their request was replied to, September 12, 1863 [Interior +Department, _Register of Letters Received_, January 2, 1862 to +December 27, 1865, "Indians," no. 4, 361].] + +[Footnote 658: Dole, however, seems to have become thoroughly +reconciled to the idea. He submitted his views upon the subject once +more in connection with a memorial that Pomeroy referred to the +Secretary of the Interior "for the concentration of the Indian tribes +of the West and especially those of Kansas, in the Indian country ... +" [Dole to Smith, November 22, 1862, Indian Office _Report Book_, +no. 12, pp. 505-506; Department of the Interior, _Register of +Letters Received_, vol. D, November 22, 1862]. (cont.)] + +conditioning a greater degree of success was introduced into the +government policy.[659] That was by the Indian appropriation act, +which, in addition to continuing the practice of applying tribal +annuities to the relief of refugees, authorized the president to +negotiate with Kansas tribes for their removal from Kansas and with +the loyal portion of Indian Territory tribes for cessions of land +on which to accommodate them.[660] As Dole pertinently remarked to +Secretary Usher, the measure was all very well as a policy in prospect +but it was one that most certainly could not be carried out until +Indian Territory was in Federal possession. Blunt was still striving +after possession or re-possession but his force was not "sufficient to +insure beyond peradventure his success."[661] + +Scarcely had the law been enacted when John Ross and other Cherokees, +living in exile and in affluence, offered to consider proposals for +a retrocession to the United States public domain of their Neutral +Lands. The Indian Office was not yet prepared to treat and not until +November did Ross and his associates[662] get any + +[Footnote 658: (cont.) December 26, 1862, Dole wrote to Smith thus: +"... It being in contemplation to extinguish the Indian title to lands +... in Kansas and provide them with homes in the Indian Territory ... +I would recommend that a commissioner should be appointed to negotiate +... I would accordingly suggest that Robt. S. Corwin be appointed ..." +[Indian Office _Report Book_, no. 13, pp. 12-13]. Now Corwin's +reputation was not such as would warrant his selection for the post. +He was not a man of strict integrity. His name is connected with many +shady transactions in the early history of Kansas.] + +[Footnote 659: Presumably, Lane was the chief promoter of it. See +Baptiste Peoria to Dole, February 9, 1863, Indian Office General +Files, _Osage River_, 1863-1867.] + +[Footnote 660: _U.S. Statutes at Large_, vol. xii, 793.] + +[Footnote 661: Dole to Usher, July 29, 1863, Indian Office _Report +Book_, no. 13, p. 211.] + +[Footnote 662: His associates were then the three men, Lewis Downing, +James McDaniel, and Evan Jones, who had been appointed delegates with +him, (cont.)] + +real encouragement[663] to renew their offer, yet the Cherokees had +as early as February repudiated their alliance with the southern +Confederacy. That the United States government was only awaiting a +time most propitious for itself is evident from the fact that, when, +in the spring following, refugees from the Neutral Lands were given +an opportunity to begin their backward trek, they were told that they +would not be permitted to linger at their old homes but would have to +go on all the way to Fort Gibson, one hundred twenty miles farther +south.[664] That was one way of ridding Kansas of her Indians and a +way not very creditable to a professed and powerful guardian. + +Almost simultaneously with Ross's first application came an offer from +the oppressed Delawares to look for a new home in the far west, in +Washington Territory. The majority preferred to go to the Cherokee +country.[665] Some of the tribe had already lived there and wanted to +return. Had the minority gained their point, the Delawares would have +traversed the whole continent within the space of about two and a half +centuries. They would have wandered from the Atlantic to the Pacific, +from the Susquehanna River to the Willamette, in a desperate effort to +escape the avaricious pioneer, and, to their own chagrin, they would +have found him on the western coast also. Never again would there be +any place for them free from his influence. + +In the summer of 1863, negotiations were undertaken + +[Footnote 662: (cont.) by the newly-constructed national council, for +doing business with the United States government [Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1863, p. 23].] + +[Footnote 663: See Office letter of November 19, 1863.] + +[Footnote 664: David M. Harlan to Dole, December 20, 1864, Indian +Office General Files, Cherokee 1859-1865, H 1033.] + +[Footnote 665: Johnson to Dole, May 24, 1863, ibid., _Delaware_, +1862-1866.] + +in deadly earnest. A commencement was made with the Creeks in May, +Agent Cutler calling the chiefs in council and laying before them +the draft of a treaty that had been prepared, upon the advice +of Coffin,[666] in Washington and that had been entrusted for +transmission to the unscrupulous ex-agent, Perry Fuller.[667] The +Creek chiefs consented to sell a tract of land for locating other +Indians upon, but declared themselves opposed to any plan for +"sectionizing" their country and asked that they might be consulted as +to the Indians who were to share it with them. The month before they +had prayed to be allowed to go back home. Well fed and clothed though +they were, and quite satisfied with their agent, they were terribly +homesick.[668] Might they not go down and clean out their country for +themselves? It seemed impossible for the army to do it.[669] + +Coffin next came forward with a suggestion that Indian colonization in +Texas would be far preferable to colonization elsewhere, although if +nothing better could be done, he would advocate the selection of the +Osage land on the Arkansas and its tributaries.[670] Why he wanted to +steer clear of the Indian Territory is not + +[Footnote 666: "... I would most respectfully suggest that a Treaty be +gotten up by you and the Sec. of the Interior, and sent to me and Gov. +Carney and some other suitable com. to have ratified in due form and +returned. And you will pardon me for saying that the Treaty should +be a model for all that are to follow with the broken and greatly +reduced, and fragmental tribes in the Indian Territory, and may +be made greatly to promote the interests of the Indians and the +Government especially in view of the removal of the Indians +from Kansas and Nebraska as contemplated by recent Act of +Congress."--COFFIN to Dole, March 22, 1863, Ibid., Land Files, +_Southern Superintendency_, 1855-1870, C 117.] + +[Footnote 667: Cutler to Dole, May, 1863, Ibid., General Files, +_Creek_, 1860-1869, C 240.] + +[Footnote 668: Ok-ta-ha-ras Harjo and others to "Our Father," April 1, +1863, (Indian Office General Files, _Creek_, 1860-1869).] + +[Footnote 669: Same to same, May 16, 1863, Ibid., O 6.] + +[Footnote 670: Coffin to Dole, May 23, 1863, Ibid., Land Files, +_Southern Superintendency_, 1855-1870.] + +evident. The Pottawatomies[671] asked to be allowed to settle on the +Creek land,[672] but the Creeks were letting their treaty hang fire. +They wanted it made in Washington, D.C., and they wanted one of their +great men, Mik-ko-hut-kah, then with the army, to assist in its +negotiation.[673] Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la had died in the spring[674] and +they were seemingly feeling a little helpless and forlorn. + +Thinking to make better progress with the treaties and better terms +if he himself controlled the government end of the negotiations, +Commissioner Dole undertook a trip west in the late summer.[675] By +the third of September the Creek treaty was an accomplished fact.[676] +Aside from the cession of land for the accommodation of Indian +emigrants, its most important provision was a recognition of the +binding force of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In due course, +the treaty went to the Senate and, in March, was accepted by that body +with amendments.[677] It went back to the + +[Footnote 671: A treaty had been made with the Pottawatomies by W.W. +Ross, their agent, November 15, 1861 [ibid., _Pottawatomie_, +I 547 of 1862]. Its negotiation was so permeated by fraud that the +Indians refused to let it stand [Dole to Smith, January 15, 1862]. +At this time, 1863, Superintendent Branch, against whom charges of +gambling, drunkenness, licentiousness, and misuse of annuity funds +had been preferred by Agent Ross [Indian Office General Files, +_Pottawatomie_, R 21 and 143 of 1863], was endeavoring to +persuade Father De Smet to establish a Roman Catholic Mission on their +Reserve. De Smet declined because of the exigencies of the war. His +letter of January 5, 1863, has no file mark.] + +[Footnote 672: Cutler to Dole, June 6, 1863, Indian Office General +Files, _Creek_, 1860-1869.] + +[Footnote 673:--Ibid.] + +[Footnote 674: Coffin to Dole, March 22, 1863.] + +[Footnote 675: Proctor's letter of July 31, 1863 would indicate that +Dole went to the Cherokee Agency before the Sac and Fox. Proctor was +writing from the former place and he said, "Mr. Dole leaves to-day +for Kansas ..." [Indian Office General Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, 1863-1864, C 466].] + +[Footnote 676: Indian Office Land Files, _Treaties_, Box 3, +1864-1866.] + +[Footnote 677: Usher to Dole, March 23, 1864, Ibid.,] + +Indians but they rejected it altogether.[678] The Senate amendments +were not such as they could conscientiously and honorably submit +to and maintain their dignity as a preëminently loyal and +semi-independent people.[679] One of the amendments was particularly +obnoxious. It affected the provision that deprived the southern Creeks +of all claims upon the old home.[680] Dole's Creek treaty of 1863 was +never ratified. + +Other treaties negotiated by Dole were with the Sacs and Foxes of +Mississippi,[681] the Osages, the Shawnees,[682] + +[Footnote 678: Its binding force upon them was, however, a subject +of discussion afterwards and for many years [Superintendent Byers +to Lewis V. Bogy, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 7, 1867, +Ibid., General Files, _Creek_, 1860-1869, B 94].] + +[Footnote 679: For an interpretation of the treaty relative to the +claims of the loyal Creeks, see Dole to Lane, January 27, 1864 +[ibid., _Report Book_, no. 13, pp. 287-291]. It is interesting to +note that a certain Mundy Durant who had been sixty years in the Creek +Nation, put in a claim, February 23, 1864, in behalf of the "loyal +Africans." He asked "that they have guaranteed to them equal rights +with the Indians ..." "All of our boys," said he, "are in the army and +I feel they should be remembered ..." [Ibid., General Files, +_Creek_, 1860-1869, D 362].] + +[Footnote 680: Article IV. Both the Creeks and the Seminoles, in +apprising the Indian Office of the fact that they had organized as a +nation, had voiced the idea that the southern Indians had forfeited +all their rights "to any part of the property or annuities ..."] + +[Footnote 681: The Sacs and Foxes brought forward a claim against +the southern refugees, for the "rent of 204 buildings," amounting to +$14,688.00 [Indian Office Land Files, _Southern Superintendency_, +1855-1870, Letter of May 14, 1864. See also Dole to Usher, March 25, +1865, Ibid., also I 952, C 1264, and C 1298, Ibid.,]. +Coffin thought the best way to settle their claim was to give them a +part of the Creek cession [Coffin to Martin, May 23, 1864, and Martin +to Dole, May 26, 1864, Ibid., General Files, _Sac and +Fox_, 1862-1866, M 284]. The Sac and Fox chiefs were willing to +submit the case to the arbitrament of Judge James Steele. Martin was +of the opinion that should their treaty, then pending, fail it would +be some time before they would consent to make another. This treaty +had been obtained with difficulty, only by Dole's "extraordinary +exertions with the tribe" [Martin to Dole, May 2, 1864, Ibid., +M 270].] + +[Footnote 682: Negotiations with the Shawnees had been undertaken in +1862. In June, Black Bob, the chief of the Shawnees on the Big Blue +Reserve in Johnson County, Kansas, protested against a treaty then +before Congress. He claimed it was a fraud (cont.)] + +and the New York Indians. He attempted one with the Kaws but +failed.[683] The Osages, who had + +[Footnote 682: (cont.) [Telegram, A.H. Baldwin to Dole, June 4, 1862, +ibid., _Shawnee_, 1855-1862, B 1340 of 1862], which was the red +man's usual appraisement of the white man's dealings. A rough draft +of another treaty seems to have been sent to Agent Abbott for the +Shawnees on July 18 and another, substantially the same, December 29. +One of the matters that called for adjustment was the Shawnee contract +with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, Dole affirming that "as the +principal members of that corporation, and those who control it are +now in rebellion against the U.S. Government, the said contract is +to be regarded as terminated...." [Indian Office Land Files, +_Shawnee_, 1860-1865, I 865]. Usher's letter to Dole of December +27, 1862 was the basis of the instruction. Dole's negotiations of 1863 +were impeached as were all the previous, Black Bob and Paschal Fish, +the first and second chiefs of the Chillicothe Band of Shawnees, +leading the opposition. Agent Abbott was charged with using +questionable means for obtaining Indian approval [Ibid., +General Files, _Shawnee_, 1863-1875]. Conditions at the Shawnee +Agency had been in a bad state for a long time, since before the +war. Guerrilla attacks and threatened attacks had greatly disturbed +domestic politics. They had interfered with the regular tribal +elections. + +"Last fall (1862), owing to the constant disturbance on the border of +Mo., the election was postponed from time to time, until the 12th of +January. Olathe had been sacked, Shawnee had been burned, and the +members of the Black Bob settlement had been robbed and driven from +their homes, and it had not been considered safe for any considerable +number to congregate together from the fact that the Shawnees usually +all come on horseback, and the bushwhackers having ample means to know +what was going on, would take the opportunity to make a dash among +them, and secure their horses. + +"De Soto was designated as the place to hold the election it being +some twenty miles from the border ..."--Abbott to Dole, April 6, 1863, +Ibid., Land Files, _Shawnee_, 1860-1865, A 158. In the +summer, the Shawnees made preparations for seeking a new home. Their +confidence in Abbott must have been by that time somewhat restored, +since the prospecting delegation invited him to join it [ibid., +_Shawnee_, A 755 of 1864]. A chief source of grievance against him +and cause for distrust of him had reference to certain depredation +claims of the Shawnees [Ibid., General Files, _Shawnee_, +1855-1862, I 801].] + +[Footnote 683: The Kaw lands had been greatly depredated upon and +encroached upon [Ibid., Land Files, _Kansas_, 1862]. Dole +anticipated that troubles were likely to ensue at any moment. He, +therefore, desired to put the Kaws upon the Cherokee land just as soon +as it was out of danger [Dole to H.W. Farnsworth, October 24, 1863, +ibid., _Letter Book_, no. 72, p. 57]. Jeremiah Hadley, the agent +for a contemplated Mission School among the Kaws, was much exercised +as to how a removal might affect his contract and work. See his letter +to Dole, November 17, 1863. + +An abortive treaty was likewise made with the Wyandots, whom Dole +(cont.)] + +recently[684] so generously consented to receive the unwelcome + +[Footnote 683: (cont.) designed to place upon the Seneca-Shawnee +lands. Both the Wyandots and the Seneca-Shawnees objected to the +ratification of the treaty [Coffin to Dole, January 28, 1864, Indian +Office Consolidated Files, _Neosho_, C 639 of 1864].] + +[Footnote 684: They had recently done another thing that, at the time +of occurrence, the Federals in Kansas deemed highly commendable. They +had murderously attacked a group of Confederate recruiting officers, +whom they had overtaken or waylaid on the plains. The following +contemporary documents, when taken in connection with Britton's +account [_Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 228], W.L. Bartles's +address [Kansas Historical Society, _Collections_, vol. viii, +62-66], and Elder's letter to Blunt, May 17, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 286, amply describe the affair: + +(a) + +"I have just returned to this place from the Grand Council of the +Great and Little Osage Indians. I found them feeling decidedly fine +over their recent success in destroying a band of nineteen rebels +attempting to pass through their country. A band of the Little Osages +met them first and demanded their arms and that they should go with +them to Humboldt (as we instructed them to do at the Council at +Belmont). The rebels refused and shot one of the Osages dead. The +Osages then fired on them. They ran and a running fight was kept up +for some 15 miles. The rebel guide was killed early in the action. +After crossing Lightning Creek, the rebels turned up the creek toward +the camp of the Big Hill Camp. The Little Osages had sent a runner +to aprise the Big Hills of the presence of the rebels and they were +coming down the creek 400 strong, and met the rebels, drove them to +the creek and surrounded them. The rebels displayed a white flag but +the Indians disregarded it. They killed all of them as they supposed; +but afterwards learned that two of them, badly wounded, got down a +steep bank of the creek and made their escape down the creek. They +scalped them all and cut their heads off. They killed 4 of their +horses (which the Indians greatly regretted) and captured 13, about 50 +revolvers, most of the rebels having 4 revolvers, a carbine and +saber. There were 3 colonels, one lieutenant-colonel, one major and 4 +captains. They had full authority to organise enroll and muster into +rebel service all the rebels in Colorado and New Mexico where they +were doubtless bound. Major Dowdney [Doudna] in command of troops at +Humboldt went down with a detachment and buried them and secured the +papers, letting the Indians keep all the horses, arms, etc. I have no +doubt that this will afford more protection to the frontiers of Kansas +than anything that has yet been done and from the frequency and +boldness of the raids recently something of the kind was very much +needed. The Indians are very much elated over it. I gave them all +the encouragement I could, distributed between two and three hundred +dollars worth of goods amongst them. There was a representative at the +Council from the Osages that have gone South, many of them now in the +army. He stated that they were all now very anxious to get back, and +wished to know if they should meet the loyal Osages on the hunt on the +Plains and come in with them if they could be suffered to stay. I gave +him a letter to them promising them if they returned immediately and +(cont.)] + +refugees on the Ottawa Reserve,[685] were distinctly overreached by +the government representatives, working in the interest of corporate +wealth. In August, the chief men of the Osages had gone up to the Sac +and Fox Agency to confer with Dole,[686] but Dole was being + +[Footnote 684: (cont.) joined their loyal brethren in protecting the +frontiers, running down Bushwhackers, and ridding the country of +rebels, they should be protected. I advised them to come immediately +to Humboldt and report to Major Dowdney and he would furnish them +powder and lead to go on the hunt. This seemed to give great +satisfaction to all the chiefs as they are exceedingly desirous to +have them back and the representative started immediately back with +the letter, and the Indians as well as the Fathers of the Mission have +no doubt but they will return. If so, it will very materially weaken +the rebel force now sorely pressing Col. Phillips' command at Fort +Gibson. + +"The Osages are now very desirous to make a treaty are willing to sell +25 miles in width by 50 off the east end of their reservation and 20 +miles wide off the north side, but I will write more fully of this +in a day or two."--COFFIN to Dole, June 10, 1863, Indian Office +Consolidated Files, _Neosho_, C 299 of 1863. + +(b) + +"It will be remembered that sometime in the month of May last a party +consisting of nineteen rebel officers duly commissioned and authorised +to organise the Indians and what rebels they might find in Colorado +and New Mexico against the Government of the United States while +passing through the country of the Great and Little Osages were +attacked and the whole party slaughtered by these Indians. As an +encouragement to those Indians to continue their friendship and +loyalty to our Government, I would respectfully recommend that medals +be given to the Head Chief of the combined tribes, White Hair, and the +Head Chief of the Little Bear and the chiefs of the Big Hill bands, +Clarimore and Beaver, four in all who were chiefly instrumental in the +destruction of those emissaries. + +"I believe the bestowal of the medals would be a well deserved +acknowledgment to those chiefs for an important service rendered and +promotive of good."--COFFIN to Dole, Indian Office Consolidated Files, +_Neosho_. C 596.] + +[Footnote 685: Coffin to Dole, July 13, 1863, Ibid., General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1863-1864. Coffin had been +directed, by an office letter of June 24 to have the refugees removed. +See also, Dole to Hutchinson, June 24, 1863, ibid., _Letter +Book_, no. 71, p. 69. Other primary sources bearing upon this +matter are, Hutchinson to ?, June 11, 1863, ibid., _Ottawa_, +1863-1873, H 230; Elder to Dole, August 10, 1863, _Neosho_, E 22 +of 1863; Hutchinson to Dole, August 21, 1863, _Ottawa_, D 236 of +1863; Mix to Elder, September 11, 1863, ibid., _Letter Book_, no. +71, p. 383.] + +[Footnote 686: "About 100 of the Osages with their Chiefs and headmen +visited the Sac and Fox agency to meet me on the 20th to Council and +probably make a treaty to dispose of a part of their reserve. I was +detained with the Delawares and Quantrels raid upon Lawrence and did +not reach the reserve (cont.)] + +unavoidably detained by the Delawares and by Quantrill's raid upon +Lawrence,[687] so, becoming impatient, they left. The commissioner +followed them to Leroy and before the month was out, he was able to +report a treaty as made.[688] It was apparently done over-night and +yet + +[Footnote 686: (cont.) until the 25th and found the Osages had left +that day for their homes. I followed them to this place [Leroy] 40 +miles south of the Sac and Fox agency and have been in Council with +them for two days. I have some doubt about succeeding in a treaty as +the Indians do not understand parting with their lands in trust. I +could purchase all we want at present for not exceeding 25 cts pr acre +but doubt whether the Senate would ratify such a purchase--as they +have adopted the Homestead policy with the Gov't lands and would not +wish to purchase of the Indians to give to the whites. I propose to +purchase 25 miles by 40 in the S.E. corner of their reserve @ 5 pr. +ct making a dividend of 10,000 annually. I have two reasons for this +purchase. 1st I want the land for other Kansas tribes and 2nd The +Indians are paupers now and must have this much money any way or +starve. Then I propose to take in trust the north half of their +reserve--to be sold for their benefit as the Sac and Fox and other +tribes dispose of their lands. To this last the Indians object they +want to sell outright and I may fail in consequence. We shall not +differ much about the details--if we can agree on the main points--I +shall know to-day-- + +"From here I return to the Sac and Fox agency where I have some hopes +of making a treaty with them or at least agree upon the main points so +soon as they can be provided with another home--The fact that we have +failed to drive the traitors out of the Indian Country interfers very +much with my operations here--from the Sac and Fox Reserve I may go to +the Pottawatamies but rather expect that I will return to Leavenworth +where I shall again council with the Delawares and from there go to +the Kickapoos--Senator Pomeroy is here with me and will probably +remain with me--Judge Johnston is also with me and assisting me as +Clerk since Mr. Whiting left. This is not considered as a very safe +country as Bush Whackers are plenty and bold--You may show this to Sec +Usher--"--Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Neosho_, D 195 of +1863.] + +[Footnote 687: Connelley, _Quantrill and the Border Wars_, +335-420.] + +[Footnote 688: "I arrived here last night from Leroy, after having +succeeded in effecting a treaty with the Osage Indians by which the +Govt. obtain of them by purchase thirty miles in extent off the East +end of their reserve (at a cost of 300,000$ to remain on interest +_forever_ at _5 pr ct_--which gives them an annuity of +15000$ annually)--They also cede to the U.S. _in trust_ twenty +miles off the North side of the Bal. of their reserve the full extent +east and west--to be disposed of as the Sec. Int. shall direct for +their benefit--with the usual reserves to half breeds--provision for +schools etc.--I have been all this afternoon in Council with the +Delewares who have to the No. of 30 or 40 followed me out here for the +purpose of again talking over (cont.)] + +it was not a conclusive thing; for, in October, the Osage chiefs were +still making propositions[689] and + +[Footnote 688: (cont.) the proposed treaty with them. They had trouble +after I left them at Leavenworth, but our council today has done good +and they have just left for home with the agreement to call a council +and send a delegation to the Cherokees to look up a new home--When +will Jno. Ross leave for his people. I wish he could be there when the +Delaware delegation goes down--as I am exceedingly anxious that they +get a home of the Cherokees. + +"I think there is but little doubt but I shall make a treaty with the +Sac and Foxes as they say they are _satisfied_ to remove to a +part of the Land I have purchased of the Osages--on the line next the +Cherokees--I can make a treaty with the Creeks and may do so but I +think I will make it _conditional_ upon the signatures of some of +the Chiefs now in the army--Those here are very anxious to treat and +sell us a large tract of the country The trouble with the Southern +Indians is their claims for losses by the war I will have to put in +a clause of some kind to satisfy them on that subject--That they are +entitled to it I have no doubt--but what view Congress will take +of it--or the Senate in ratifying the treaty of course I cannot +tell--Some of the Wyandots are here-- + +"I have just closed a Council with the Sac and Foxes and have heard +many fine speeches. We meet again day after tomorrow--as tomorrow +must be appropriated to the Creeks--I think I shall have a success +here--The Sack and Foxes to the No of say two hundred have a dance out +on the green They are dressed and painted for the occasion and as it +is in honor of my visit I must go out and witness it * * * Well we +have had an extensive dance which cost me a beef and while waiting for +a Chipaway Chief who comes as I learn to complain of his agent I go on +with my Letter--The New York Indians are tolerably well represented +and I shall talk with them tonight--This is a grand jubilee amongst +the Indians here. So many tribes and parts of tribes or their Chiefs +gathered here to see the Comr. Paint and feathers are in great demand +and singing, whooping--and the Drum is constantly ringing in my +ears. I am satisfied that it is a good arrangement to have them here +together it is cheaper and better and saves much time. + +"I made a great mistake that I did not bring maps of the reserves +and especially of the Indian Territory--I do the best I can from the +Treaties. + +"I have had no mail for Eight Days as my mail is at Leavenworth. I +expect my letters day after tomorrow when I hope to have a late letter +from you as well as one from the Sec.--Will you please send Hutchinson +some money he must have funds to pay for surveying and alloting the +Ottawa reserve The survey is finished and pay demanded." + +[Indian Office Consolidated Files, _Neosho_, D 198 of 1863].] + +[Footnote 689: The propositions were in the form of a memorandum, +drawn up by White Hair, principal chief of the Great and Little +Osages, and Little Bear, principal chief of the Little Osages, who, in +conjunction with Charles Mograin, assistant head chief of the Great +and Little Osages, had been (cont.)] + +making them after the fashion of the Creeks long before at Indian +Springs.[690] Dole had finally to be told that the rank and file of +the Osages would not allow their chiefs to confer with him except +in general council.[691] As a matter of fact, not one of the Dole +treaties could run the gauntlet of criticism and, consequently, the +whole project of treaty-making in 1862 and 1863 accomplished nothing +beneficial. It only served to complicate a situation already serious +and to forecast that when the great test should come, as come it +surely would, the government would be found wanting, lacking in +magnanimity, lacking in justice, and all too willing to sacrifice its +honor for big interests and transient causes. + +[Footnote 689: (cont.) solicited by their people, when in council at +Humboldt, July 4, to proceed to Washington and interview their Great +Father [Coffin to Dole, July 16, 1863, Indian Office Consolidated +Files, _Neosho_, C 365 of 1863]. The propositions were to the +effect that the Osages would gladly sell thirty miles by twenty miles +off the southeast corner of their Reserve and one-half of the Reserve +on the north for $1,350,000, which should draw six per cent interest +until paid [Ibid., D 239 of 1863]. John Schoenmaker of the +Osage Mission was apprehensive that the Roman Catholic interests would +be disregarded as in the Potawatomi Treaty. See letter to Coffin, June +25th.] + +[Footnote 690: Abel, _Indian Consolidation West of the +Mississippi_.] + +[Footnote 691: Charles Mograin warned Dole of this.] + + + + +XI. INDIAN TERRITORY IN 1863, JANUARY TO JUNE INCLUSIVE + + +As with the war as a whole, so with that part of it waged on the +Arkansas frontier, the year 1863 proved critical. Its midsummer season +saw the turning-point in the respective fortunes of the North and the +South, both in the east and in the west. The beginning of 1863 was a +time for recording great depletion of resources in Indian Territory, +as elsewhere, great disorganization within Southern Indian ranks, and +much privation, suffering, and resultant dissatisfaction among the +tribes generally. The moment called for more or less sweeping changes +in western commands. Those most nearly affecting the Arkansas frontier +were the establishment of Indian Territory as a separate military +entity[692] and the detachment of western Louisiana + +[Footnote 692: The establishment of a separate command for Indian +Territory was not accomplished all at once. In December, 1862, Steele +had been ordered to report to Holmes for duty and, in the first +week of January, he was given the Indian Territory post, subject to +Hindman. On or about the eighth, he assumed command [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 28] at Fort Smith. In less than a +week thereafter, his command was separated from that of Hindman +[Ibid., part ii, 771]. The following document shows exactly +what had been the previous relation between the two: + + Head Qrs. Dept. Indn. Terry. + Ft. Smith, Jan. 31st, 1863. + +COLONEL: Your special No. 22, par. viii has been recd. I would +respectfully suggest that when assigned to this command by Maj. Gen'l +Hindman the command was styled in orders, "1st Div'n 1st Corps Trans. +Miss. Army." The special order referred to, it is respectfully +suggested, may be susceptible of misconstruction as there are under my +command two separate Brigades, one under the command (cont.)] + +and Texas from the Trans-Mississippi Department.[693] Both were +accomplished in January and both were directly due to a somewhat tardy +realization of the vast strategic importance of the Indian country. +Unwieldy, geographically, the Trans-Mississippi Department had long +since shown itself to be. Moreover, it was no longer even passably +safe to leave the interests of Indian Territory subordinated to those +of Arkansas.[694] + +The man chosen, after others, his seniors in rank, had declined the +dubious honor,[695] for the command of Indian Territory was William +Steele, brigadier-general, northern born, of southern sympathies. Thus +was ignored whatever claim Douglas H. Cooper might have been thought +to have by reason of his intimate and long acquaintance with Indian +affairs and his influence, surpassingly great, with certain of the +tribes. Cooper's unfortunate weakness, addiction to intemperance, had +stood more or less in the way of his promotion right along just as +it had decreased his military efficiency on at least one memorable +occasion and had hindered the confirmation of his appointment as +superintendent of Indian affairs in the Arkansas and Red River +constituency. In this narrative, as events are divulged, it will be +seen that the preference for Steele exasperated Cooper, who was not a +big enough man to put love of country before the gratification of his +own + +[Footnote 692: (cont.) of Gen'l D.H. Cooper and one under command of +Col. J.W. Speight. + +I am, Col., Very Res'py W. STEELE, _Brig. Gen'l_., +Col. S.S. Anderson, A.A.G. + +P.S. Please find enclosed printed Gen. Order, no. 4, which I have +assumed the responsibility of issuing on receipt of Lt. Gen'l Holmes' +order declaring my command in the Ind'n country independent. + +(Sd) W. STEELE, _Brig. Gen'l_. + +[A.G.O., _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 65].] + +[Footnote 693: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 771-772.] + +[Footnote 694:--Ibid., 771.] + +[Footnote 695:--Ibid., 843; _Confederate Records_, chap. +2, no. 270, pp. 25-27.] + +[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF MONTHLY INSPECTION REPORT OF THE SECOND +CREEK REGIMENT OF MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS.] + +ambition, consequently friction developed between him and his rival +highly detrimental to the service to which each owed his best thought, +his best endeavor.[696] + +Conditions in Indian Territory, at the time Steele took command, were +conceivably the worst that could by any possibility be imagined. The +land had been stripped of its supplies, the troops were scarcely +worthy of the name.[697] Around Fort Smith, in Arkansas, things +were equally bad.[698] People were clamoring for protection against +marauders, some were wanting only the opportunity to move themselves +and their effects far away out of the reach of danger, others were +demanding that the unionists be cleaned out just as secessionists had, +in some cases, been. Confusion worse confounded prevailed. Hindman +had resorted to a system of almost wholesale furloughing to save +expense.[699] Most of the Indians had taken advantage of it and +were off duty when Steele arrived. Many had preferred to subsist at +government cost.[700] There was so little in their own homes for them +to get. Forage was practically non-existent and Steele soon had it +impressed [701] upon him that troops in the Indian Territory ought, as +Hindman had come to think months before,[702] to be all unmounted. + +Although fully realizing that it was incumbent upon him to hold Fort +Smith as a sort of key to his entire command, Steele knew it would be +impossible to + +[Footnote 696: It might as well be said, at the outset, that Cooper +was not the ranking officer of Steele. He claimed that he was +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1037-1038]; but the +government disallowed the contention [Ibid., 1038].] + +[Footnote 697:--Ibid., part i, 28; part ii, 862, 883, 909.] + +[Footnote 698: _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, pp. +29-30.] + +[Footnote 699: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 895, 909.] + +[Footnote 700:--Ibid., part i, 30.] + +[Footnote 701: _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 31.] + +[Footnote 702: _Official Records_, vol. xiii, 51.] + +maintain any considerable force there. He, therefore, resolved to +take big chances and to attempt to hold it with as few men as his +commissary justified, trusting that he would be shielded from attack +"by the inclemency of the season and the waters of the Arkansas."[703] +The larger portion of his army[704] was sent southward, in the +direction of Red River.[705] But lack of food and forage was, by no +manner of means, the only difficulty that confronted Steele. He was +short of guns, particularly of good guns,[706] and distressingly short +of money.[707] The soldiers had not been paid for months. + +The opening of 1863 saw changes, equally momentous, in Federal +commands. Somewhat captiously, General Schofield discounted recent +achievements of Blunt and advised that Blunt's District of Kansas +should be completely disassociated from the Division of the Army of +the Frontier,[708] which he had, at Schofield's own earlier request, +been commanding. It was another instance of personal jealousy, +interstate rivalry, and local + +[Footnote 703: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 30.] + +[Footnote 704: Perhaps the word, _army_, is inapplicable here. +Steele himself was in doubt as to whether he was in command of an army +or of a department [_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. +54].] + +[Footnote 705: _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 36. +See also, Steele to Anderson, January 22, 1863 [ibid., 50-51], which +besides detailing the movements of Steele's men furnishes, on the +authority of "Mr. Thomas J. Parks of the Cherokee Nation," evidence +of brutal murders and atrocities committed by Blunt's army "whilst +on their march through the northwestern portion of this State in the +direction of Kansas."] + +[Footnote 706: Crosby's telegram, February first, to the Chief of +Ordnance is sufficient attestation, + +"Many of Cooper's men have inferior guns and many none at all. Can you +supply?" [Ibid., 65-66].] + +[Footnote 707: The detention and the misapplication of funds by +William Quesenbury seem to have been largely responsible for Steele's +monetary embarrassment [ibid., 28, 63-64, 75, 76, 77, 79-81, 101, +147]. Cotton speculation in Texas was alluring men with ready money +southward [ibid., 94, 104].] + +[Footnote 708: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 6.] + +conflict of interests.[709] So petty was Schofield and so much in a +mood for disparagement that he went the length of condemning the work +of Blunt and Herron[710] in checking Hindman's advance as but a series +of blunders and their success at Prairie Grove as but due to an +accident.[711] General Curtis, without, perhaps, having any particular +regard for the aggrieved parties himself, resented Schofield's +insinuations against their military capacity, all the more so, no +doubt, because he was not above making the same kind of criticisms +himself and was not impervious to them. In the sequel, Schofield +reorganized the divisions of his command, relieved Blunt altogether, +and personally resumed the direction of the Army of the Frontier.[712] +Blunt went back to his District of Kansas and made his headquarters at +Fort Leavenworth. + +In some respects, the reorganization decided upon by Schofield proved +a consummation devoutly to be wished; for, within the reconstituted +First Division was placed an Indian Brigade, which was consigned to +the charge of a man the best fitted of all around to have it, Colonel +William A. Phillips.[713] And that was not all; inasmuch as the Indian +Brigade, consisting of the three regiments of Indian Home Guards, a +battalion of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry, and a four-gun battery that had +been captured at the Battle of Old + +[Footnote 709: It seems unnecessary and inappropriate to drag into the +present narrative the political squabbles that disgraced Missouri, +Kansas, Arkansas, and Colorado during the war. Lane was against +Schofield, Gamble against Curtis.] + +[Footnote 710: Yet both Blunt and Herron were, at this very time, in +line for promotion, as was Schofield, to the rank of major-general +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, II, 95.]] + +[Footnote 711:--Ibid., 6, 12, 95; _Confederate Military +History_, vol. x, 195.] + +[Footnote 712:--Ibid., 22.] + +[Footnote 713: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_ vol. ii, +18-19.] + +Fort Wayne,[714] was almost immediately detached from the rest of +Schofield's First Division and assigned to discretionary "service in +the Indian Nation and on the western border of Arkansas."[715] It +continued so detached even after Schofield's command had been deprived +by Curtis of the two districts over which the brigade was to range, +the eighth and the ninth.[716] Thus, at the beginning of 1863, had the +Indian Territory in a sense come into its own. Both the Confederates +and the Federals had given it a certain measure of military autonomy +or, at all events, a certain opportunity to be considered in and for +itself. + +Indian Territory as a separate military entity came altogether too +late into the reckonings of the North and the South. It was now a +devastated land, in large areas, desolate. General Curtis and many +another like him might well express regret that the red man had to be +offered up in the white man's slaughter.[717] It was unavailing regret +and would ever be. Just as with the aborigines who lay athwart the +path of empire and had to yield or be crushed so with the civilized +Indian of 1860. The contending forces of a fratricidal war had little +mercy for each other and none at all for him. Words of sympathy were +empty indeed. His fate was inevitable. He was between the upper and +the nether mill-stones and, for him, there was no escape. + +Indian Territory was really in a terrible condition. Late in 1862, it +had been advertised even by southern men as lost to the Confederate +cause and had been + +[Footnote 714: It is not very clear whether or not the constituents of +the Indian Brigade were all at once decided upon. They are listed as +they appear in Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, +3. Schofield seems to have hesitated in the matter [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 26].] + +[Footnote 715:--Ibid., 33.] + +[Footnote 716: On the subject of the reduction of Schofield's command, +see Ibid., 40.] + +[Footnote 717: Curtis to Phillips, February 17, 1863, Ibid., +113-114.] + +practically abandoned to the jayhawker. Scouting parties of both +armies, as well as guerrillas, had preyed upon it like vultures. +Indians, outside of the ranks, were tragic figures in their utter +helplessness. They dared trust nobody. It was time the Home Guard was +being made to justify its name. Indeed, as Ellithorpe reported, "to +divert them to any other operations" than those within their own gates +"will tend to demoralize them to dissolution."[718] + +The winter of 1862-1863 was a severe one. Its coming had been long +deferred; but, by the middle of January, the cold weather had set +in in real earnest. Sleet and snow and a constantly descending +thermometer made campaigning quite out of the question. Colonel +Phillips, no more than did his adversary, General Steele, gave any +thought to an immediate offensive. Like Steele his one idea was to +replenish resources and to secure an outfit for his men. They had been +provided with the half worn-out baggage train of Blunt's old division. +It was their all and would be so until their commander could +supplement it by contrivances and careful management. Incidentally, +Phillips expected to hold the line of the Arkansas River; but not to +attempt to cross it until spring should come. It behooved him to look +out for Marmaduke whose expeditions into Missouri[719] were cause for +anxiety, especially as their range might at any moment be extended. + +The Indian regiments of Phillips's brigade were soon reported[720] +upon by him and declared to be in a sad state. The first regiment was +still, to all intents and purposes, a Creek force, notwithstanding +that its fortunes had been varied, its desertions, incomparable. + +[Footnote 718: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 49.] + +[Footnote 719: _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 161, 162.] + +[Footnote 720: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 56-58.] + +The second regiment, after many vicissitudes, and after having gotten +rid of its unmanageable elements, notably, the Osages and the Quapaws, +had become a Cherokee and the third was largely so. That third +regiment was Phillips's own and was the only one that could claim the +distinction of being disciplined and even it was exposed occasionally +to the chronic weakness of all Indian soldiers, absence without leave. +The Indian, on his own business bent, was disposed to depart whenever +he pleased, often, too, at times most inopportune, sometimes, when he +had been given a special and particular task. He knew not the usages +of army life and really meant no offence; but, all the same, his utter +disregard of army discipline made for great disorder. + +It was not the chief cause of disorder, however, for that was the +unreliability of the regimental officers. The custom, from the first, +had been to have the field officers white men, a saving grace; but the +company officers, with few exceptions, had been Indians and totally +incompetent. Strange as it may seem, drilling was almost an unknown +experience to the two regiments that had been mustered in for the +First Indian Expedition. To obviate some of the difficulties already +encountered, Phillips had seen to it that the third regiment had +profited by the mistakes of its forerunners. It had, therefore, been +supplied with white first lieutenants and white sergeants, secured +from among the non-commissioned men of other commands. The result had +fully justified the innovation. After long and careful observation, +Phillips's conclusion was that it was likely to be productive of +irretrievable disaster and consequently an unpardonable error of +judgment "to put men of poor ability in an Indian regiment." Primitive +man has an inordinate respect for a strong + +character. He appreciates integrity, though he may not have it among +his own gifts of nature. "An Indian company improperly officered" will +inevitably become, to somebody's discomfiture, "a frightful mess." + +If any one there was so foolish as to surmise that the independent +commands, northern and southern, would be given free scope to +solve the problems of Indian Territory, unhampered by contingent +circumstances, he was foreordained to grevious disappointment. +Indian Territory had still to subserve the interests of localities, +relatively more important. It would be so to the very end. In and for +herself, she would never be allowed to do anything and her commanders, +no matter how much they might wish it otherwise--and to their lasting +honor, be it said, many of them did--would always have to subordinate +her affairs to those of the sovereign states around her; for even +northern states were sovereign in practice where Indians were +concerned. General Steele was one of the men who endeavored nobly to +take a large view of his responsibilities to Indian Territory. Colonel +Phillips, his contemporary in the opposite camp, was another; but both +met with insuperable obstacles. The attainment of their objects was +impossible from the start. Both men were predestined to failure. + +Foraging or an occasional scouting when the weather permitted was the +only order of the winter days for Federals and Confederates. With +the advent of spring, however, Phillips became impatient for +more aggressive action. He had been given a large programme, no +insignificant part of which was, the restoration of refugees to their +impoverished homes; but his first business would necessarily have to +be, the occupancy of the country. Not far was he allowed to venture +within + +it during the winter; because his superior officers wished him to +protect, before anything else, western Arkansas. Schofield and, after +Schofield's withdrawal from the command of southwestern Missouri, +Curtis had insisted upon that, while Blunt, to whom Phillips, after a +time, was made immediately accountable, was guardedly of another way +of thinking and, although not very explicit, seemed to encourage +Phillips in planning an advance. + +Phillips's inability to progress far in the matter of occupancy of +Indian Territory did not preclude his keeping a close tab on Indian +affairs therein, such a tab, in fact, as amounted to fomenting an +intrigue. It will be recalled that on the occasion of his making +the excursion into the Cherokee Nation, which had resulted in his +incendiary destruction of Fort Davis, he had gained intimations of +a rather wide-spread Indian willingness to desert the Confederate +service. He had sounded Creeks and Choctaws and had found them +surprisingly responsive to his machinations. They were nothing loath +to confess that they were thoroughly disgusted with the southern +alliance. It had netted them nothing but unutterable woe. Among +those that Phillips approached, although not personally, was Colonel +McIntosh, who communicated with Phillips through two intimate friends. +McIntosh was persuaded to attempt no immediate demonstration in favor +of the North; for that would be premature, foolhardy; but to bide the +time, which could not be far distant, when the Federal troops would be +in a position to support him.[721] The psychological moment was not +yet. Blunt called Phillips back for operations outside of Indian + +[Footnote 721: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 61-62.] + +Territory; but the seed of treason had been sown and sown in fertile +soil, in the heart of a McIntosh.[722] + +In January, 1863, Phillips took up again the self-imposed task of +emissary.[723] The unionist Cherokees, inclusive of those in the +Indian Brigade, were contemplating holding a national council on +Cowskin Prairie, which was virtually within the Federal lines. +Secessionist Cherokees, headed by Stand Watie, were determined that +such a council should not meet if they could possibly prevent it and +prevent it they would if they could only get a footing north of the +Arkansas River. Their suspicion was, that the council, if assembled, +would declare the treaty with the Confederate States abrogated. To +circumvent Stand Watie, to conciliate some of the Cherokees by making +reparation for past outrages, and to sow discord among others, +Phillips despatched Lieutenant-colonel Lewis Downing on a scout +southward. He was just in time; for the Confederates were on the +brink of hazarding a crossing at two places, Webber's Falls and Fort +Gibson.[724] Upon the return of Downing, Phillips himself moved across +the border with the avowed intention of rendering military support, +if needed, to the Cherokee Council, which convened on the fourth of +February.[725] From Camp Ross, he continued to send out scouting +parties, secret agents,[726] and agents of distribution. + +The Cherokee Council assembled without the preliminary formality of a +new election. War conditions + +[Footnote 722: This remark would be especially applicable if the +Colonel McIntosh, mentioned by Phillips, was Chilly, the son of +William McIntosh of Indian Springs Treaty notoriety.] + +[Footnote 723: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 100.] + +[Footnote 724:--Ibid., 85.] + +[Footnote 725:--Ibid., 96-97.] + +[Footnote 726:--Ibid., 100, 108.] + +had made regular pollings impossible. Consequently, the council that +convened in February, 1863 was, to all intents and purposes, the +selfsame body that, in October, 1861, had confirmed the alliance with +the Confederate States. It was Phillips's intention to stand by, with +military arm upraised, until the earlier action had been rescinded. +While he waited, word came that the harvest of defection among the +Creeks had begun; for "a long line of persons"[727] was toiling +through the snow, each wearing the white badge on his hat that +Phillips and McIntosh had agreed should be their sign of fellowship. +Then came an order for Phillips to draw back within supporting +distance of Fayetteville, which, it was believed, the Confederates +were again threatening.[728] Phillips obeyed, as perforce, he had to; +but he left a detachment behind to continue guarding the Cherokee +Council.[729] + +The legislative work of the Cherokee Council, partisan body that it +was, with Lewis Downing as its presiding officer and Thomas Pegg as +acting Principal Chief, was reactionary, yet epochal. It comprised +several measures and three of transcendant importance, passed between +the eighteenth and the twenty-first: + +1. An act revoking the alliance with the Confederate States and +re-asserting allegiance to the United States. + +2. An act deposing all officers of any rank or character whatsoever, +inclusive of legislative, executive, judicial, who were serving in +capacities disloyal to the United States and to the Cherokee Nation. + +[Footnote 727: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 101.] + +[Footnote 728:--Ibid., 111-112.] + +[Footnote 729:--Ibid., 115.] + +3. An act emancipating slaves throughout the Cherokee country.[730] + +His detention in Arkansas was not at all to Phillips's liking. It +tried his patience sorely; for he felt the crying need of Indian +Territory for just such services as his and, try as he would, he could +not visualize that of Arkansas. Eagerly he watched for a chance to +return to the Cherokee country. One offered for the fifth of March but +had to be given up. Again and yet again in letters[731] to Curtis +and Blunt he expostulated against delay but delay could not well be +avoided. The pressure from Arkansas for assistance was too great. +Blunt sympathized with Phillips more than he dared openly admit and +tacitly sanctioned his advance. Never at any time could there +have been the slightest doubt as to the singleness of the virile +Scotchman's purpose. In imagination he saw his adopted country +repossessed of Indian Territory and of all the overland approaches to +Texas and Mexico from whence, as he supposed, the Confederacy expected +to draw her grain and other supplies. Some regard for the Indian +himself he doubtless had; but he used it as a means to the greater +end. His sense of justice was truly British in its keenness. + +[Footnote 730: Ross to Dole, April 2, 1863 [Indian Office General +Files, _Cherokee_, 1859-1865, R 87]; Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, _Report_, 1863, p. 23; Britton, _Civil War on the +Border_, vol. ii, 24-25; Moore, _Rebellion Record_, vol. vi, +50; Eaton, _John Ross and the Cherokee Indians_, 196.] + +[Footnote 731: Britton [_Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 27] +conveys the idea that, while Phillips, truly enough, wished to enter +the Indian country at the earliest day practicable, he did not care to +go there before the Indian ponies could "live on the range." He knew +that the refugees at Neosho would insist upon following in his wake. +It would be heartless to expose them to starvation and to the ravages +of diseases like the small-pox. Nevertheless, the correspondence of +Phillips, scattered through the _Official Records_, vol. xxii, +part ii, 121-367, shows conclusively that the weeks of waiting were +weary ones.] + +His Indian soldiers loved him. They believed in him. He was able to +accomplish wonders in training them. He looked after their welfare and +he did his best to make the government and its agents of the Indian +Office keep faith with the refugees. Quite strenuously, too, he +advocated further enlistments from among the Indians, especially from +among those yet in Indian Territory. If the United States did not take +care, the Confederates would successfully conscript where the Federals +might easily recruit. In this matter as in many another, he had +Blunt's unwavering support; for Blunt wanted the officers of the +embryo fourth and fifth regiments to secure their commands. Blunt's +military district was none too full of men. + +March was then as now the planting season in the Arkansas Valley and, +as Phillips rightly argued, if the indigent Indians were not to be +completely pauperized, they ought to be given an opportunity to be +thrown once more upon their own resources, to be returned home in time +to put in crops. When the high waters subsided and the rivers became +fordable, he grew more insistent. There was grass in the valley of the +Arkansas and soon the Confederates would be seizing the stock that +it was supporting. He had held the line of the Arkansas by means of +scouts all winter, but scouting would not be adequate much longer. The +Confederates were beginning, in imitation of the Federals, to attach +indigents to their cause by means of relief distribution and the +"cropping season was wearing on." + +At the end of March, some rather unimportant changes were made by +Curtis in the district limits of his department and coincidently +Phillips moved over the border. The first of April his camp was at +Park Hill. His great desire was to seize Fort Smith; for he + +realized that not much recruiting could be done among the Choctaws +while that post remained in Confederate hands. Blunt advised caution. +It would not even do to attempt as yet any permanent occupation south +of the Arkansas. Dashes at the enemy might be made, of course, +but nothing more; for at any moment those higher up might order a +retrograde movement and anyhow no additional support could be counted +upon. Halleck was still calling for men to go to Grant's assistance +and accusing Curtis of keeping too many needlessly in the West. The +Vicksburg campaign was on. + +The order that Blunt anticipated finally came and Curtis called for +Phillips to return. La Rue Harrison, foraging in Arkansas,[732] was +whining for assistance. Phillips temporized, having no intention +whatsoever of abandoning his appointed goal. His arguments were +unanswerable but Curtis like Halleck could never be made to appreciate +the plighted faith that lay back of Indian participation in the war +and the strategic importance of Indian Territory. The northern Indian +regiments, pleaded Phillips, were never intended for use in Arkansas. +Why should they go there? It was doubtful if they could ever be +induced to go there again. They had been recruited to recover the +Indian Territory and now that they were within it they were going to +stay until the object had been attained. Phillips solicited Blunt's +backing and got it, to the extent, indeed, that Blunt informed Curtis +that if he wanted Indian Territory given up he must order it himself +and take the consequences. It was not given up but Phillips suffered +great embarrassments in holding it. The only support Blunt could +render him was to send a negro regiment to Baxter Springs to protect +supply + +[Footnote 732: _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 166-168.] + +trains. Guerrillas and bushwhackers were everywhere and Phillips's +command was half-starved. Smallpox[733] broke out and, as the men +became more and more emaciated, gained ground. Phillips continued to +make occasional dashes at the enemy and in a few engagements he was +more than reasonably successful. Webber's Falls was a case in point. + +As May advanced, the political situation in Missouri seemed to call +loudly for a change in department commanders and President Lincoln, +quite on his own initiative apparently, selected Schofield to succeed +Curtis,[734] Curtis having identified himself with a faction opposed +to Governor Gamble. The selection was obnoxious to many and to none +more than to Herron and to Blunt, whose military exploits Schofield +had belittled. The former threatened resignation if Schofield were +appointed but the latter restrained himself and for a brief space all +went well, Schofield even manifesting some sympathy for Phillips at +Fort Gibson, or Fort Blunt, as the post, newly fortified, was now +called. He declared that the Arkansas River must be secured its +entire length; but the Vicksburg campaign was still demanding men and +Phillips had to struggle on, unaided. Indeed, he was finally told +that if he could not hold on by himself he must fall back and let +the Indian Territory take care of itself until Vicksburg should have +fallen. + +[Footnote 733: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 26.] + +[Footnote 734: A change had been resolved upon in March, E.V. Sumner +being the man chosen; but he died on the way out [Livermore, _Story +of the Civil War_, part iii, book i, 256]. Sumner had had a wide +experience with frontier conditions, first, in the marches of the +dragoons [Pelzer, _Marches of the Dragoons in the Mississippi +Valley_] later, in New Mexico [Abel, _Official Correspondence of +James S. Calhoun_], and, still later, in ante-bellum Kansas. His +experience had been far from uniformly fortunate but he had learned a +few very necessary lessons, lessons that Schofield had yet to con.] + +The inevitable clash between Schofield and Blunt was not long +deferred. It came over a trifling matter but was fraught with larger +meanings.[735] It was probably as much to get away from Schofield's +near presence as to see to things himself in Indian Territory that led +Blunt to go down in person to Fort Gibson. He arrived there on the +eleventh of July, taking Phillips entirely by surprise. Vicksburg had +fallen about a week before. + +The difficulties besetting Colonel Phillips were more than matched by +those besetting General Steele. He, too, struggled on unaided, nay, +more, he was handicapped at every turn. Scarcely had he taken command +at Fort Smith when he was apprised of the fact that the chief armorer +there had been ordered to remove all the tools to Arkadelphia.[736] +Steele was hard put to it to obtain any supplies at all.[737] Many +that he did get the promise of were diverted from their course,[738] +just as were General Pike's. This was true even in the case of +shoes.[739] He tried to fit his regiments out one by one with the +things the men required in readiness for a spring campaign[740] but it +was up-hill work. And what was perfectly incomprehensible to him was, +that when his need was so great there was yet corn available for +private parties to speculate in and to realize enormous profits +on.[741] In April, the Indian regiments, assembling and reforming +in expectation of a call to action, made special demands upon his +granaries but they were + +[Footnote 735: June 9, orders issued redistricting Schofield's +Department of Missouri [_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, +315].] + +[Footnote 736: _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 34.] + +[Footnote 737: Steele to Blair, February 10, 1863, Ibid., +87-88.] + +[Footnote 738: Steele to Anderson, February 8, 1863, Ibid., +81-82.] + +[Footnote 739: Duval to Cabell, May 15, 1863, Ibid., 244-245.] + +[Footnote 740: Steele to Cabell, March 19, 1863, Ibid., 148.] + +[Footnote 741: Steele to Anderson, March 22, 1863, Ibid., 158.] + +nearly empty.[742] It was not possible for him to furnish corn for +seed or, finally, the necessaries of life to indigent Indians. Indian +affairs complicated, his situation tremendously.[743] He could get no +funds and no + +[Footnote 742: Steele to Anderson, April 3, 1863, _Confederate +Records_, 179-180.] + +[Footnote 743: For instance the officers of the First Cherokee +regiment had a serious dispute as to the ranking authority among +them [Ibid., Letter from Steele, March 14, 1863, p. 143]. The +following letters indicate that there were other troubles and other +tribes in trouble also: + +(a) + +"Your communication of 13 Inst. is to hand. I am directed by the +Commanding Gen'l to express to you his warmest sympathy in behalf of +your oppressed people, and his desire and determination to do all +that may be in his power to correct existing evils and ameliorate the +condition of the loyal Cherokees. The Gen'l feels proud to know that a +large portion of your people, actuated by a high spirit of patriotism, +have shown themselves steadfast and unyielding in their allegiance to +our Government notwithstanding the bitter hardships and cruel ruthless +outrages to which they have been subjected. + +"It is hoped that the time is not very far distant, when your people +may again proudly walk their own soil, exalted in the feeling, perhaps +with the consciousness that our cruel and cowardly foe has been +adequately punished and humiliated. + +"Your communication has been ford. to Lt Gen'l Holmes with the urgent +request that immediate steps be taken to bring your people fully +within the pale of civilized warfare. + +"It is hoped that there may be no delay in a matter so vitally +important. + +"We are looking daily for the arrival of Boats from below with corn, +tis the wish of the Gen'l that the necessitous Indians sh'd be +supplied from this place. Boats w'd be sent farther up the river, were +we otherwise circumstanced. As it is the Boats have necessarily to run +the gauntlet of the enemy--The Gen'l however hopes to be able to keep +the River free to navigation until a sufficient supply of corn to +carry us through the winter can be accumulated at this place. + +"You will receive notice of the arrival of corn so that it may +be conveyed to the Indians needing it."--CROSBY to Stand Watie, +commanding First Cherokee Regiment, February 16, 1863, Ibid., +pp. 91-93. + +(b) + +"I am directed by Gen'l Steele to say that a delegation from the +Creeks have visited him since your departure and a full discussion has +been had of such matters as they are interested in. + +"They brought with them a letter from the Principal Chief Moty Kennard +asking that the Cattle taken from the refugee Creeks be turned over to +the use of the loyal people of the nation. The Gen. Com'dg has ordered +a disposition of these Cattle to be made in accordance with the wishes +of the chief. If necessary please give such instructions as will +attain this object. (cont.)] + +instructions from Richmond so he dealt with the natives as best he +could.[744] Small-pox became epidemic + +[Footnote 743: (cont.) No Boats yet. Will endeavor to send one up the +river should more than one arrive."--Crosby to D.H. Cooper, February +19, 1863, Ibid., p. 97. + +(c) + +"I enclose, herewith, a letter from the agent of the Seminoles. You +will see from that letter the danger we are in from neglecting the +wants of the Indians. I have never had one cent of money pertaining +to the Indian superintendency, nor have I received any copies of +treaties, nor anything else that would give me an insight into the +affairs of that Department. I wrote, soon after my arrival at this +place, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs but have received +no reply. If you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of the +superintendent who has been lately appointed I hope you will urge +upon him the necessity of coming at once and attending to these +matters."--STEELE to Anderson, April 6, 1863, Ibid., 180. + +(d) + +"I have today received a long letter from the Chief of the Osages, +which I enclose for your perusal. Maj. Dorn came in from Texas a few +days since, and has, I understand, gone down to Little Rock on the +steamer 'Tahlequah.' It is certainly represented that a portion of +the funds in his hands is in specie. Please have the latter surely +delivered. Please return Black Dog's letter unless you wish to forward +it."--STEELE to Holmes, May 16, 1863, Ibid., 249. + +(e) + +"Letters, received today, indicate a great necessity for your presence +with the tribe for whom you are Agent. I wish you, therefore, to visit +them, and relieve the discontent, as far as the means in your hands +will permit. The Osage Chief, 'Black Dog,' now acting as 1st Chief, +claims that certain money has been turned over to you for certain +purposes, for which they have received nothing."--STEELE to A.J. Dorn, +May 16, 1863, Ibid., 249.] + +[Footnote 744: "Your letter of May 6th, with letter of Black Dog +enclosed, has been received and the enclosure forwarded to Lieut. Gen. +Holmes for his information. The General Com'dg desires me to express +his regrets that the affairs of the Osage and Seminole tribes should +be in such a deplorable condition, but he is almost powerless, at +present, to remedy the evils you so justly complain of. He has written +again and again to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Richmond +requesting instructions in the discharge of his duties as ex-officio +Superintendent of Indian Affairs, but not a word has ever been +received in reply to his reiterated requests, owing probably to the +difficulty of communication between this point and the Capital. He has +also requested that funds be sent him to liquidate the just demands of +our Indian Allies, but from the same cause his requests have met with +no response. You must readily appreciate the difficulties under which +Gen. Steele necessarily labors. In fact his action is completely +paralized by the want of instructions and funds. In connection with +this he has been compelled to exert every faculty in defending the +line of the Arkansas River against an enemy, vastly his superior in +arms, numbers, artillery and everything that adds to the efficiency of +an army, and consequently has not been able to pay (cont.)] + +among his men,[745] as among Phillips's--and from like causes. + +Then General Steele had difficulty in getting his men and the right +kind of men together. Lawless Arkansans were unduly desirous of +joining the Indian regiments, thinking that discipline there would be +lax enough to suit their requirements.[746] Miscellaneous conscripting +by ex-officers of Arkansan troops gave much cause for annoyance[747] +as did also Cooper's unauthorized commissioning of officers to a +regiment made + +[Footnote 744: (cont.) that attention to the business of the +superintendency that he would under other circumstances. + +"It was stated, some time ago, in the newspapers, that a +superintendent had been appointed in Richmond, and the General Com'dg +has been anxiously expecting his arrival for several weeks. He +earnestly hopes that the superintendent may soon reach the field of +his labors, provided with instructions, funds and everything necessary +to the discharge of his important duties. + +"Major Dorn, the Agent for the Osages, was here, a few days ago, but +he is now in Little Rock. The General has written to him, requiring +him to come up immediately, visit the tribe for which he is the Agent +and relieve their necessities as far as the means in his hands will +permit. + +"The General has been offically informed that Major D. has in his +possession, for the use of the Osages twenty odd thousand dollars. + +"I have to apologize, on the part of Gen'l Steele, for the various +letters which have been received from you, and which still remain +unanswered, but his excuse must be that, in the absence of proper +instructions etc. he was really unable to answer your questions or +comply with your requests, and he cannot make promises that there is +not, at least, a _very strong probability_ of his being able +to fulfil. Too much harm has already been occasioned in the Indian +Country by reckless promises, and he considers it better, in every +point of view, to deal openly and frankly with the Indians than to +hold out expectations that are certain not to be realized. + +"It is not possible, however, to say in a letter what could be so much +better said in a personal interview, and the Gen'l therefore, desires +me to say that as soon as your duties will admit of your absence, he +will be happy to see and converse with you fully and freely at his +Head Quarters" [Ibid., no. 268, pp. 27-29]. + +On this same subject, see also Steele to Wigfall, April 15, 1863, +_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 819-821.] + +[Footnote 745: _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 220.] + +[Footnote 746: Steele to Anderson, May 9, 1863, Ibid., +233-234.] + +[Footnote 747: Same to same, March 1, and 3, 1863, Ibid., +112-113, 113-114.] + +out of odd battalions and independent companies.[748] Cooper, in fact, +seemed bent upon tantalizing Steele and many of the Indians were +behind him.[749] Colonel Tandy Walker was especially his supporter. +Cooper had been Walker's choice for department commander[750] and +continued so, in spite of all Steele's honest attempts to propitiate +him and in spite of his promise to use every exertion to satisfy +Choctaw needs generally.[751] To Tandy Walker Steele entrusted the +business of recruiting anew among the Choctaws.[752] + +[Footnote 748: Steele to Anderson, February 13, 1863, _Confederate +Records_, chap 2, no. 270, p. 89.] + +[Footnote 749: It was not true, apparently, that the Chickasaws were +dissatisfied with Cooper. See the evidence furnished by themselves, +_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1116-1117.] + +[Footnote 750: _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 134, +_footnote_.] + +[Footnote 751: Steele to Tandy Walker, February 25, 1863, +_Confederate Records_, chap. 2; no. 270, p. 109.] + +[Footnote 752: Crosby to Walker, March 11, 1863, Ibid., p. +136. Steele thought that the Indians might as well be employed in a +military way since they were more than likely to be a public charge. +To Colonel Anderson he wrote, March 22, 1863 [Ibid., p. 155], +"I forward the above copy of a letter from Gen'l Cooper for Gen'l +Holmes' information. I purpose if not otherwise directed to call out +all the available force of the Nations within the conscript age.... +They have to be fed and might as well be organized and put into a +position to be useful." From the correspondence of Steele, it would +seem that there was some trouble over Walker's promotion. April 10, +Steele wrote again to Anderson on the subject of Indian enrollment in +the ranks and referred to the other matter. + +"The enclosed copy of some articles in the Treaty between the C.S. +Govt and the Choctaws with remarks by Gen'l Cooper are submitted for +the consideration of the Lt. Gen'l. + +"It appears that Col. Walker was recommended to fill the vacancy made +by the promotion of Col. Cooper, the right being given by the treaty +to appoint to the office of Col., the other offices being filled by +election, and that at the time, the enemy were at Van Buren. Col. +Walker being at the convenient point was put upon duty by Col. Cooper +and has since been recognized by several acts of my own, not however +with a full knowledge of the circumstances. That under instructions +from Gen'l Hindman a Regt was being organized which it was expected +would be commanded by Col. Folsom, the whole of which appears to be a +very good arrangement. The necessity that exists of feeding nearly all +the Indians would seem to present an (cont.)] + +Furloughs and desertions were the bane of Steele's existence.[753] In +these respects Alexander's brigade, + +[Footnote 752: (cont.) additional reason for having them in service. +Companies are also being organized from the Reserve Indians, with the +view to replace white troops with them who are now engaged protecting +the frontier from the incursions of the wild tribes. Moreover the +enemy's forces being composed partially of Indians, the troops would +be effective against them, when they might not be against other +troops..." [Ibid., pp. 186-187]. Appointments, as well as +promotions, within the Indian service caused Steele much perplexity. +See Steele to Anderson, April 13, 1863, Ibid., pp. 190-191.] + +[Footnote 753: Steele thought it desirable to arrest all men, at +large, who were subject to military duty under the conscript act, +unless they could produce evidence "of a right to remain off duty" +[Crosby to Colonel Newton, January 12, 1863, Ibid., p. 32]. +Presumably whole companies were deserting their posts [Crosby to +Cooper, February 1, 1863, Ibid., pp. 66-67]. It was suggested +that some deserters should be permitted to organize against jayhawkers +as, under sanction from Holmes, had been the case with deserters +in the Magazine Mountains [Steele to Anderson, February 1, 1863, +Ibid., p. 67]. When word came that the Federals were about to +organize militia in northwestern Arkansas, Steele ordered that +all persons, subject to military duty, who should fail to enroll +themselves before February 6, should be treated as bushwhackers [same +to same, February 3, 1863, Ibid., pp. 69-70]. Colonel Charles +DeMorse, whose Texas regiment had been ordered, February 15, to report +to Cooper [Crosby to DeMorse, February 15, 1863, Ibid.,], asked +to be allowed to make an expedition against the wild tribes. Some two +hundred fifty citizens would be more than glad to accompany it. Steele +was indignant and Duval, at his direction, wrote thus to Cooper, April +19: "... Now if these men were so anxious to march three or four +hundred miles to _find_ the enemy, they could certainly be +induced to take up arms _temporarily_ in defence of their +immediate homes" [Ibid., p. 203]. It was not that Steele +objected to expeditions against the wild tribes but he was disgusted +with the lack of patriotism and military enthusiasm among the Texans +and Arkansans. Colonel W.P. Lane's regiment of Texas Partizan Rangers +was another that had to be chided for its dilatoriness [Ibid., +pp. 168-169, 199, 234]. Deficient means of transportation was +oftentimes the excuse given for failure to appear but Steele's +complaint to Anderson, April 10 [Ibid., 185-186], was very much +more to the point. He wrote, + +"... I find that men are kept back upon every pretext; that QrMasters +and Govt Agents or persons calling themselves such have detailed them +to drive teams hauling cotton to Mexico, and employed them about the +Gov't agencies. This cotton speculating mania is thus doing us great +injury besides taking away all the transportation in the country...." +Public feeling in Texas was on the side of deserters to a very great +extent and in one instance, at least, Steele was forced to defer to +it, "You will desist from the attempt to take the deserters from +Hart's Company or any other in northern Texas if the state of public +feeling is such that it cannot be done without (cont.)] + +within which Colonel Phillips had detected traitors to the Confederate +cause,[754] was, perhaps, the most incorrigible.[755] From department +headquarters came impassioned appeals[756] for activity and for +loyalty but + +[Footnote 753: (cont.) danger of producing a collision with the +people. The men are no doubt deserters, but we have no men to spare, +to enforce the arrest at the present time" [Steele to Captain +Randolph, July i, 1863, Ibid., p. 116. See also Steele to +Borland, July 1, 1863, Ibid., no. 268, p. 117]. When West's +Battery was ordered to report at Fort Smith it was discovered going +in the opposite direction [Steele to J.E. Harrison, April 25, 1863, +Ibid., no. 270, p. 213; Duval to Harrison, May 1, 1863, +Ibid., p. 221; Steele to Anderson, May 9, 1863, Ibid., +p. 233; Steele to Cooper, May 11 1863, Ibid., pp. 237-238]. + +One expedition to the plains that Steele distinctly encouraged was +that organized by Captain Wells [Steele to Cooper, March 16, 1863, +Ibid., pp. 145-146]. It was designed that Wells's command +should operate on the western frontier of Kansas and intercept +trains on the Santa Fé trail [Steele to Anderson, April 17, 1863, +Ibid., p. 197].] + +[Footnote 754: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, p. 62.] + +[Footnote 755: For correspondence with Alexander objecting to further +furloughing and urging the need of promptness, see _Confederate +Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, pp. 121-122, 163-164, 170, 178-179, +210-211.] + +[Footnote 756: The following are illustrations: + +"... Every exertion is being made and the Gen'l feels confident that +the means will be attained of embarking in an early spring campaign. +It only remains for the officers and men to come forward to duty in +a spirit of willingness and cheerfulness to render the result of +operations in the Dept (or beyond it as the case may be) not only +successful but to add fresh renown to the soldiers whom he has the +honor to command ..."--CROSBY to Talliaferro, February 24, 1863, +_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, pp. 105-106. + +"The Commanding Gen'l would be gratified to grant the within petition +were it compatible with the interests of the service and the cause +which petitioners 'Hold dearer than life.' He is fully aware of the +many urgent reasons which a number of officers and men have for +visiting their homes, providing for their families, etc., etc. + +"The Enemy conscious of his superior strength is constantly +threatening the small force that now holds him in check on the line +of the Arkansas river. Speight's Brigade was sent to their present +position--not because they were not needed here--but for the reason +that it was an utter impossibility to subsist it in this region. + +"Every consideration of patriotism and duty imperiously demands the +presence of every officer and soldier belonging to this command. The +season of active operations is at hand. The enemy in our front is +actively employed in accumulating supplies and transportation and in +massing, drilling, and disciplining his troops. His advance cannot be +expected to be long (cont.)] + +without telling or lasting effect. The Confederate service in Indian +Territory was honeycombed with fraud and corruption.[757] Wastrels, +desperadoes, scamps of every sort luxuriated at Indian expense. It was +no wonder that false muster rolls had to be guarded against.[758] +The Texans showed throughout so great an aversion to the giving of +themselves or of their worldly goods[759] to the salvation of the +country that + +[Footnote 756: (cont.) delayed. This enemy is made up of Kansas +Jayhawkers, 'Pin Indians,' and Traitors from Missouri, Arkansas and +Texas. The ruin, devastation, oppression, and tyranny that has marked +his progress has no parallel in history. The last official Report from +your Brigade shews a sad state of weakness. Were the enemy informed on +this point _our line of defence would soon be transferred from the +Arkansas to Red river_. In the name of God, our country and all +that is near and dear to us, let us discard from our minds every other +consideration than that of a firm, fixed, and manly determination to +do our duty and our whole duty to our country in her hour of peril and +need. The season is propitious for an advance. Let not supineness, +indifference and a lack of enthusiasm in a just and holy cause, compel +a retreat Texas is the great Commissary Depot west of the Mississippi. +The enemy must be kept as far from her rich fields and countless +herds, as possible. Let us cheerfully, harmoniously, and in a +spirit of manly sacrifice bend every energy mental and physical to +preparations for a forward movement. The foregoing reasons for a +refusal to grant leave of absence will serve as an answer in all +similar cases and will be disseminated among the officers and men of +the Brigade by the Commanders thereof."--CROSBY, by command of Steele, +March 20, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, pp. +151-152.] + +[Footnote 757: J.A. Scales to Adair, April 12, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 821-822.] + +[Footnote 758: _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 224.] + +[Footnote 759: Holmes, as early as March, warned Steele that he would +have to get his supplies soon from Texas. It would not be possible to +draw them much longer from the Arkansas River. He was told to prepare +to get them in Texas "at all hazard," which instruction was construed +by Steele to mean, "take it, if you cant buy it" [Ibid., +145-146]. It was probably the prospect of having to use force or +compulsion that made Steele so interested, late in May, in finding +out definitely whether Hindman's acts in Arkansas had really been +legalized [Steele to Blair, May 22, 1863, Ibid., 34]. +Appreciating that it was matter of vital concern that the grain crop +in northern Texas should be harvested, Steele was at a loss to know +how to deal with petitions that solicited furloughs for the purpose +[Steele to Anderson, May 4, 1863, Ibid., 227; Duval to Cabell, +May 7, 1863, Ibid., 230-231]. Perhaps, it was a concession +to some such need that induced him, in June, to permit seven day +furloughs [Duval to Cooper, June 27, 1863, Ibid., no. 268, p. +100].] + +Steele in despair cried out, "... it does appear as if the Texas +troops on this frontier were determined to tarnish the proud fame that +Texans have won in other fields."[760] The Arkansans were no better +and no worse. The most fitting employment for many, the whole length +and breadth of Steele's department, was the mere "ferreting out of +jayhawkers and deserters."[761] + +The Trans-Mississippi departmental change, effected in January, was of +short duration, so short that it could never surely have been intended +to be anything but transitional. In February the parts were re-united +and Kirby Smith put in command of the whole,[762] President Davis +explaining, not very candidly, that no dissatisfaction with Holmes was +thereby implied.[763] Smith was the ranking officer and entitled to +the first consideration. Moreover, Holmes had once implored that a +substitute for himself be sent out. As a matter of fact, Holmes had +become too much entangled with Hindman, too much identified with all +that Arkansans objected to in Hindman,[764] his intolerance, his +arrogance, his illegalities, for him to be retained longer, with +complacency, in chief command. Hindman and he were largely to blame +for the necessity[765] of suspending the privilege of the writ of +_habeas corpus_ in Arkansas and the adjacent Indian country, +which had just been done. Strong + +[Footnote 760: Steele to Alexander, April 23, 1863, _Confederate +Records_, no. 270, pp. 210-211.] + +[Footnote 761: Duval to Colonel John King, June 30, 1863, +Ibid., no. 268, p. 110.] + +[Footnote 762: Livermore, _Story of the Civil War_, part iii, +book i, p. 255.] + +[Footnote 763: Davis to Holmes, February 26, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 849-850.] + +[Footnote 764: Davis to Holmes, January 28, 1863, Ibid., +846-847.] + +[Footnote 765: The necessity was exceedingly great. Take, for +instance, the situation at Fort Smith, where the citizens themselves +asked for the establishment of martial law in order that lives and +property might be reasonably secure [Crosby to Mayor Joseph Bennett, +January 10, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, pp. +33-34].] + +political pressure was exerted in Richmond[766] and the Arkansas +delegation in Congress demanded Hindman's recall,[767] Holmes's +displacement, and Kirby Smith's appointment. The loss of that historic +fort, Arkansas Post,[768] also a tardy appreciation of the economic +value of the Arkansas Valley and, incidentally, of the entire +Trans-Mississippi Department,[769] had really determined matters; but, +fortunately, the supersedure of Holmes by Smith did not affect the +position of Steele. + +Steele divined that the Federals would naturally make an early attempt +to occupy in force the country north of the Arkansas River and beyond +it to the southward in what had hitherto been a strictly Confederate +stronghold. It was his intention to forestall them. The two Cherokee +regiments constituted, for some little time, his best available troops +and them he kept in almost constant motion.[770] His great reliance, +and well it might be, was upon Stand Watie, whom he had + +[Footnote 766: Davis to Garland, March 28, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 861-863; Davis to the Arkansas +delegation, March 30, 1863, Ibid., 863-865.] + +[Footnote 767: Hindman was not immediately recalled; but he soon +manifested an unwillingness to continue under Holmes [Ibid., +848]. He had very pronounced opinions about some of his associates. +Price he thought of as a breeder of factions and Holmes as an honest +man but unsystematic. In the summer, he actually asked for an +assignment to Indian Territory [Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, +895].] + +[Footnote 768: Livermore, _Story of the Civil War_, part iii, +book i, 85. Davis would fain have believed that so great a disaster +had not befallen the Confederate arms [Letter to Holmes, January 28, +1863, _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 847].] + +[Footnote 769: Perhaps, it is scarcely fair to intimate that the +Trans-Mississippi Department was regarded as unimportant at this +stage. It was only relatively so. In proof of that, see Davis to +Governor Flanagin, April 3, 1863, Ibid., 865-866; Davis to +Johnson, July 14, 1863, Ibid., 879-880. When Kirby Smith +tarried late in the assumption of his enlarged duties, Secretary +Seddon pointed out the increasingly great significance of them [Letter +to Smith, March 18, 1863, Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, pp. +802-803].] + +[Footnote 770: Steele to Cabell, April 18, 1863, _Confederate +Records_, no. 270, p. 199.] + +brought up betimes within convenient distance of Fort Smith[771] and +with whom, in April, Phillips's men had two successful encounters, on +the fourteenth[772] and the twenty-fifth. The one of the twenty-fifth +was at Webber's Falls and especially noteworthy, since, as a Federal +victory, it prevented a convening of the secessionist Cherokee +Council,[773] for which, so important did he deem it, Steele had +planned an extra protection.[774] The completeness of the Federal +victory was marred by the loss of Dr. Gillpatrick,[775] who had so +excellently served the ends of diplomacy between the Indian Expedition +and John Ross. + +Through May and June, engagements, petty in themselves but +contributing each its mite to ultimate success or failure, occupied +detachments of the opposing Indian forces with considerable +frequency.[776] Two, devised by Cooper, those of the fourteenth[777] +and twentieth[778] of May may be said to characterize the entire + +[Footnote 771: "You will order Colonel Stand Watie to move his +command down the Ark. River to some point in the vicinity of Fort +Smith."--CROSBY to Cooper, February 14, 1863, Ibid., p. 90.] + +[Footnote 772: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 37.] + +[Footnote 773: Phillips to Curtis, April 26, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 314-315; Britton, _Civil War on the +Border_, vol. ii, 40-41. Mrs. Anderson, in her _Life of General +Stand Watie_, denies categorically that the meeting of the council +was interrupted on this occasion [p. 22] and cites the recollections +of "living veterans" in proof.] + +[Footnote 774: "I am directed by the General Com'dg to say that he +deems it advisable that you should move your Hd. Qrs. higher up the +river, say in the vicinity of Webber's Falls or Pheasant Bluff. He is +desirous that you should be somewhere near the Council when that +body meets, so that any attempt of the enemy to interfere with their +deliberations may be thwarted by you."--DUVAL to Cooper, April 22, +1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 209.] + +[Footnote 775: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 42.] + +[Footnote 776:--Ibid., vol. ii, chapters vi and vii.] + +[Footnote 777: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 469.] + +[Footnote 778:--Ibid., vol. xxii, part i, 337-338; +_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 34.] + +series and were nothing but fruitless demonstrations to seize the +Federal grazing herds. A brilliant cavalry raid, undertaken by Stand +Watie and for the same purpose, a little later, was slightly more +successful;[779] but even its fair showing was reversed in the +subsequent skirmish at Greenleaf Prairie, June 16.[780] To the +northward, something more serious was happening, since actions, having +their impetus in Arkansas,[781] were endangering Phillips's line of +communication with Fort Scott, his base and his depot of supplies. In +reality, Phillips was hard pressed and no one knew better than he how +precarious his situation was. Among his minor troubles was the refusal +of his Creeks to charge in the engagement of May 20. + +The refusal of the Creeks to charge was not, however, indicative of +any widespread disaffection.[782] So + +[Footnote 779: Anderson, 20-21. Interestingly enough, about this time +Cooper reported that he could get plenty of beef where he was and at a +comparatively low price, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, +pp. 60-61.] + +[Footnote 780: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 348-352.] + +[Footnote 781: Not all got their impetus there. The following letter +although not sent, contains internal evidence that Cooper was +concocting some of them: + +"I learn unofficially that Gen'l Cooper, having received notice of the +approach of a train of supplies for Gibson, was about crossing the +Arkansas with the largest part of his force, to intercept it. It is +reported that the train would have been in 15 miles of Gibson last +night. If Gen'l Cooper succeeds Phillips will leave soon, if not he +will probably remain some time longer. Be prepared to move in case he +leaves."--STEELE to Cabell, June 24, 1863, _Confederate Records_, +chap. 2, no. 268, p. 96.] + +[Footnote 782: The following letter shows the nature of the Creek +disaffection: + +DEAR GREAT FATHER: Sir, The wicked rebellion in the United States has +caused a division in the Nation. Some of our many loving leaders have +joined the rebels merely for speculation and consequently divided our +people and that brought ruin in our Nation. They had help near and +ours was far so that our ruin was sure. We saw this plain beforehand. +Therefore we concluded to go to you our great father, remembering the +treaty that you have made with us long ago in which you promised us +protection. This was the cause that made us to go and meet you in your +white house about eighteen months ago and there laid our complaint +before you, as a weaker brother wronged of his rights by a stronger +brother and you promised us your protection; but before we got back to +our people they were (cont.)] + +honorably had Phillips been conducting himself with reference to +Indian affairs, so promptly and generously had he discharged his +obligations to the refugees who had been harbored at Neosho--they had +all returned now from exile[783]--so successfully had he everywhere +encountered the foe that the Indians, far and wide, were beginning to +look to him for succor,[784] many of them to + +[Footnote 782: (cont.) made to leave their humble and peaceful home +and also all their property and traveled towards north in the woods +without roads not only that but they were followed, so that they had +to fight three battles so as to keep their families from being taken +away from them. In the last fight they were overpowered by a superior +force so they had to get away the best way they can and most every +thing they had was taken away from them ... Now this was the way we +left our country and this was the condition of our people when we +entered within the bounds of the State of Kansas ... + +Now Great Father you have promised to help us in clearing out our +country so that we could bring back our families to their homes and +moreover we have enlisted as home guards to defend our country and it +will be twelve months in a few weeks ... but there is nothing done as +yet in our country. We have spent our time in the states of Mo. and +Arks. and in the Cherokee Nation. We are here in Ft. Gibson over a +month. Our enemies are just across the river and our pickets and +theirs are fighting most every day ... + +There is only three regts. of Indians and a few whites are here. Our +enemy are gathering fast from all sides ... + +A soldier's rights we know but little but it seems to us that our +rations are getting shorter all the time but that may be on account +of the teams for it have to be hauled a great ways.--CREEKS to the +President of the United States, May 16, 1863, Office of Indian +Affairs, General Files, _Creek_, 1860-1869, O 6 of 1863.] + +[Footnote 783: Britton's account of the return of the Cherokee exiles +is recommended for perusal. It could scarcely be excelled. See, +_Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 34-37.] + +[Footnote 784: Certain proceedings of Carruth and Martin would seem to +suggest that they were endeavoring to reap the reward of Phillips's +labors, by negotiating, somewhat prematurely, for an inter-tribal +council. Coffin may have endorsed it, but Dole had not [Dole to +Coffin, July 8, 1863, Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 71, p. +116]. The pretext for calling such a council lay in fairly recent +doings of the wild tribes. The subjoined letters and extracts of +letters will elucidate the subject: February 7, Coffin reported to +Dole [General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1863-1864] that +the wild Indians had been raiding on the Verdigris and Fall Rivers +into the Creek and Cherokee countries, "jayhawking property," and +bringing it into Kansas and selling it to the settlers. Some of the +cattle obtained in this way had been (cont.)] + +wonder, whether in joining the Confederacy, they had not made a +terrible mistake, a miscalculation beyond all remedying. + +To the Confederates, tragically enough, the Indian's tale of woe and +of regret had a different meaning. The + +[Footnote 784: (cont.) sold by a settler to the contractor and fed to +the Indians. Jim Ned's band of wild Delawares, returning from such a +jayhawking expedition, had stolen some Osage ponies and had become +involved in a fight in which two Delawares had been killed [Coffin to +Dole, February 12, 1863, ibid., _Neosho_, C 73 of 1863]. Coffin +prevailed upon Jim Ned to stop the jayhawking excursions; inasmuch +as "Considerable bad feeling exists on the part of the Cherokees in +consequence of the bringing up ... a great many cattle, ponies, and +mules, which they allege belong to the Cherokee refugees ..." [Coffin +to Dole, February 24, 1863, Indian Office General Files, _Southern +Superintendency_, 1863-1864]. + +Feelings of hostility continued to exist, notwithstanding, between the +civilized and uncivilized red men and "aided materially the emissaries +of the Rebellion in fomenting discords and warlike raids upon whites +as well as Indians ..." [Coffin to Dole, June 25, 1863, Ibid., +C 325]. It was under such circumstances that Carruth took it upon +himself to arrange an inter-tribal council. This is his report +[Carruth to Coffin, June 17, 1863, Ibid.,]. His action was +seconded by Martin [Martin to Coffin, June 18, 1863, Ibid.,]: + +"I left Belmont (the temporary Wichita agency) May 26th to hold a +Council with the Indians of the Wichita Agency, who have not as yet +reached Kansas ... I found ... upon reaching Fall River ... that the +Wichitas alone had sent over 100 men. We reached the Ark. River May +31st. After having been compelled to purchase some provisions for the +number of people, who have come, that were not provided for. The next +day we were joined by the Kickapoos and Sacs, and here I was informed +by the Kickapoos, that no runner had gone through to the Cadoes and +Comanches from them, as we had heard at Belmont, yet I learned, that +these tribes were then camped at the Big Bend, some sixty miles above +and waiting at this point: I sent three Wichitas--among them the +Chief--some Ionies, Wacoes, and Tawa Kuwus through to them calling on +their Chiefs to come and have a 'talk.' + +"They reached us on the 8th of June, and after furnishing the presents +I had taken to them all the different tribes were called to Council. +Present were, Arapahoes, Lipans, Comanches, Kioways, Sac and Foxes, +Kickapoos and Cadoes besides the Indians who went out with me. + +"All of them are true to the Government of the United States, but some +are at war with each other. I proposed to them to make peace with all +the tribes friendly to our Government, so that their 'Great Father' +might view all of them alike. + +"To this they agreed, and a Council was called to which the Osages, +Potawatomies, Shians, Sac and Foxes, in fact all the tribes at +variance, are (cont.)] + +tale had been told many times of late and every time with a new +emphasis upon that part of it that recounted delusion and betrayal. +For quite a while now the Indians had been feeling themselves +neglected. Steele was aware of the fact but helpless. When told of +treaty rights he had to plead ignorance; for he had never seen the +treaties and had no official knowledge of their contents. He was +exercising the functions of superintendent _ex officio_, not +because the post had ever been specifically conferred upon him or +instructions sent, but because he had come to his command to find it, +in nearly every aspect, Indian and no agent or superintendent at hand +to take charge [785] of affairs that were + +[Footnote 784: (cont.) to be invited, to hold a grand peace Council +near the mouth of the Little Arkansas River within six weeks. +Meanwhile they are to send runners to notify these tribes to gather on +the Arkansas, sixty miles above, that they may be within reach of our +call when we get to the Council ground. Subsistence will have to be +provided for at least 10000 Indians at that time. They will expect +something from the Government to convince them of its power to carry +through its promises. Some of the Cadoes and Comanches connected with +this Agency, after coming to the Arkansas, returned to Fort Cobb. +These will all come back to this Council. Their desire is to be +subsisted on the Little Arkansas, some 70 miles from Emporia until the +war closes. + +"They argue like this, 'The Government once sent us our provisions to +Fort Cobb over 300 miles from Fort Smith. We do not want to live near +the whites, because of troubles between them and us in regard to +ponies, timber, fields, green corn, etc. Our subsistence can be hauled +to the mouth of the Little Arkansas, easier by far, than it was +formerly from Fort Smith, and by being at this point we shall be +removed from the abodes of the whites, so they cannot steal our +ponies, nor can our people trouble them.' + +"I believe they are right. I have had more trouble the past winter in +settling difficulties between the Indians and whites on account of +trades, stolen horses, broken fences, etc. than from all other causes +combined. + +"I cannot get all the Indians of this Agency together this side of the +Little Arkansas. That point will be near enough the Texan frontier for +the Indians to go home easily when the war closes. It is on the direct +route to Fort Cobb. They are opposed to going via Fort Gibson ..."] + +[Footnote 785: Without legislating on the subject, and without +intending it, the Confederacy had virtually put into effect, a +recommendation of Hindman's that "The superintendencies, agencies, +etc., should be abolished, and a purely military establishment +substituted ..." [_Official Records_, vol. xiii, p. 51.].] + +ordinarily not strictly within the range of military cognizance. + +General Steele, like many another, was inclined to think that the red +men greatly over-estimated their own importance; for they failed to +"see and understand how small a portion of the field"[786] they really +occupied. To Steele, it was not Indian Territory that was valuable but +Texas. For him the Indian country, barren by reason of the drouth, +denuded of its live stock, a prey to jayhawker, famine, and +pestilence, did nothing more than measure the distance between the +Federals and the rich Texan grain-fields, from whence he fondly hoped +an inexhaustible supply of flour[787] for the Confederates was to +come. In short, the great and wonderful expanse that had been given to +the Indian for a perpetual home was a mere buffer. + +But it was a buffer, throbbing with life, and that was something +Steele dared not ignore and could not if he would. With such +a consciousness, when the secessionist Cherokees were making +arrangements for their council at Webber's Falls in April, he hastened +to propitiate them ahead of time by addressing them "through the +medium of their wants" for he feared what might be their action[788] +should they assemble with a + +[Footnote 786: Steele to Wigfall, April 15, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 820.] + +[Footnote 787: Steele's letter books furnish much evidence on +this score. A large portion has been published in the _Official +Records_. During the period covered by this chapter, he was drawing +his supply of flour from Riddle's Station, "on the Fort Smith and +Boggy Road" [_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 252] +in charge of which was Captain Hardin of Bass's Texas Cavalry. He +expected to draw from Arkansas likewise [Steele to Major S.J. Lee, +June 9, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, pp. 70-71; +Duval to Hardin, June 16, 1863, Ibid., p. 81; Steele to Lee, +June 17, 1863, Ibid., pp. 87-88].] + +[Footnote 788: "Enclosed please find a letter to Col. Adair, and +a note from him forwarding it. I send it for the consideration of +General Holmes. The (cont.)] + +grievance[789] against the Confederacy in their hearts. Protection +against the oncoming enemy and relief from want were the things the +Indians craved, so, short though his own supplies were, Steele had to +make provision for the helpless and indigent natives, the feeding +of whom became a fruitful and constantly increasing source of +embarrassment.[790] + +Just and generous as General Steele endeavored to + +[Footnote 788: (cont.) subject is one of grave importance. If a +regiment of infantry could be spared to take post at this place and +General Cabell could be permitted to include it in his command, I +would go more into the nation and would be able soon to give the +required protection. The troops from Red River have been ordered up +and should be some distance on the way before this. I fear the meeting +of the Cherokee Council which takes place on the 20th ... unless more +troops arrive before they act."--STEELE to Anderson, April 15, 1863, +_Confederate Records_, no. 270, p. 194. + +This was not the first time Steele had expressed a wish to go into the +Nation. March 20th, when writing to Anderson [Ibid., p. 150], +he had thought it of "paramount importance" that he visit all parts of +his command. Concerning his apprehension about the prospective work of +the Cherokee Council, he wrote quite candidly to Wigfall [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 821].] + +[Footnote 789: The letter to Colonel W.P. Adair, written by one of his +adjutants, J.A. Scales, April 12, 1863 [Ibid., 821-822], is a +creditable presentation of the Cherokee grievance.] + +[Footnote 790: Steele here presents certain phases of the +embarrassment, + +"... The matter of feeding destitute Indians has been all through a +vexatious one, the greatest trouble being to find in each neighborhood +a reliable person to receive the quota for that neighborhood. These +people seem more indifferent to the wants of others than any I have +seen; they are not willing to do the least thing to assist in helping +their own people who are destitute. I have, in many instances, been +unable to get wagons to haul the flour given them. I have incurred +a great responsibility in using army rations in this way and to the +extent that I have. I have endeavored to give to all destitute and to +sell at cost to those who are able to purchase. In this matter the +Nation has been more favored than the adjacent States. I am told by +Mr. Boudinot that a bill was passed by the Cherokee Council, taking +the matter into their own hands. I hope it is so. In which case I +shall cease issuing to others who have not, like them, been driven +from their homes. Dr. Walker was appointed to superintend this matter, +some system being necessary to prevent the same persons from drawing +from different commissaries ..."--STEELE to D.H. Cooper, June 15, +1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, pp. 80-81.] + +be in the matter of attention to Indian necessities, his efforts were +unappreciated largely because of evil influences at work to undermine +him and to advance Douglas H. Cooper. Steele had his points of +vulnerability, his inability to check the Federal advance and his +remoteness from the scene of action, his headquarters being at Fort +Smith. Connected with the second point and charged against him were +all the bad practices of those men who, in their political or military +control of Indian Territory, had allowed Arkansas to be their chief +concern. Such practices became the foundation stone of a general +Indian dissatisfaction and, concomitantry, Douglas H. Cooper, of +insatiable ambition, posed as the exponent of the idea that the safety +of Indian Territory was an end in itself. + +The kind of separate military organization that constituted Steele's +command was not enough for the Indians. Seemingly, they desired the +restoration of the old Pike department, but not such as it had been in +the days of the controversy with Hindman but such as it always was in +Pike's imagination. The Creeks were among the first to declare that +this was their desire. They addressed[791] themselves to President +Davis[792] and + +[Footnote 791: Mory Kanard and Echo Harjo to President Davis, May 18, +1863, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1118-1119.] + +[Footnote 792: Davis, in his message of January 12, 1863 [Richardson, +_Messages and Papers of the Confederacy_, vol. i, 295] had +revealed an acquaintance with some Indian dissatisfaction but +intimated that it had been dispelled, it having arisen "from a +misapprehension of the intentions of the Government ..." It was +undoubtedly to allay apprehension on the part of the Indians that +Miles, in the house of Representatives, offered the following +resolution, February 17, 1863: + +"_Resolved_, That the Government of the Confederate States has +witnessed with feelings of no ordinary gratification the loyalty and +good faith of the larger portion of its Indian allies west of the +State of Arkansas. + +"_Resolved further_, That no effort of the Confederate Government +shall be spared to protect them fully in all their rights and to +assist them in defending their country against the encroachments +of all enemies." [_Journal of the Congress of the Confederate +States_, vol. vi, 113].] + +boldly said that their country had "been treated as a mere appendage +of Arkansas, where needy politicians and _protégés_ of Arkansas +members of Congress must be quartered." The Seminoles followed +suit,[793] although in a congratulatory way, after a rumor had reached +them that the Creek request for a separate department of Indian +Territory was about to be granted. The rumor was false and in +June Tandy Walker, on behalf of the Choctaws, reopened the whole +subject.[794] A few days earlier, the Cherokees had filed their +complaint but it was of a different character, more fundamental, more +gravely portentous. + +The Cherokee complaint took the form of a deliberate charge of +contemplated bad faith on the part of the Confederate government. E.C. +Boudinot, the Cherokee delegate in the Southern Congress, had recently +returned from Richmond, empowered to submit a certain proposal to his +constituents. The text of the proposal does not appear in the records +but its nature,[795] after account be taken of some exaggeration +attributable to the extreme of indignation, can be inferred from the +formal protest[796] against it, which was drawn up at Prairie Springs +in the Cherokee Nation about fifteen miles from Fort Gibson on the +twenty-first of June and signed by Samuel M. Taylor, acting assistant +chief, John Spears of the Executive Council, and Alexander Foreman, +president of the convention. To all intents and purposes the Cherokees +were asked, in return for some paltry offices chiefly military, to +institute a sort of system of military land grants. White people were +to be induced to enlist in their behalf and were then to + +[Footnote 793: June 6, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part +ii, 1120.] + +[Footnote 794: June 24, 1863, Ibid., 1122-1123.] + +[Footnote 795: Steele's letter to Kirby Smith, June 24, 1863 +[Ibid., 883-884], gives some hint of its nature also.] + +[Footnote 796:--Ibid., 1120-1122.] + +be allowed to settle, on equal terms with the Cherokees, within the +Cherokee country. The proposal, as construed by Taylor and his +party, was nothing more or less than a suggestion that the Cherokees +surrender their nationality, their political integrity, the one thing +above everything else that they had sought to preserve when they +entered into an active alliance with the Confederate States. So sordid +was the bargain proposed, so unequal, that the thought obtrudes +itself that a base advantage was about to be taken of the Cherokee +necessities and that the objectors were justified in insinuating that +Boudinot and his political friends were to be the chief beneficiaries. +The Cherokee country was already practically lost to the Confederacy. +Might it not be advisable to distribute the tribal lands, secure +individual holdings, while vested rights might still accrue; for, +should bad come to worse, private parties could with more chance +of success prosecute a claim than could a commonalty, which in its +national or corporate capacity had committed treason and thereby +forfeited its rights. One part of the Cherokee protest merits +quotation here. Its noble indignation ought to have been proof enough +for anybody. + + ... We were present when the treaty was made, were a party to it, + and rejoiced when it was done. In that treaty our rights to + our country as a Nation were guaranteed to us forever, and the + Confederate States promised to protect us in them. We enlisted + under the banner of those States, and have fought in defense of + our country under that treaty and for the rights of the South for + nearly two years. We have been driven from our homes, and suffered + severe hardships, privations, and losses, and now we are informed, + when brighter prospects are before us, that you think it best for + us to give part of our lands to our white friends; that, to defend + our country and keep troops for our protection, we must raise and + enlist them from + + our own territory, and that it is actually necessary that they are + citizens of our country to enable us to keep them with us. To do + this would be the end of our national existence and the ruin of + our people. Two things above all others we hold most dear, our + nationality and the welfare of our people. Had the war been our + own, there would have been justice in the proposition, but it is + that of another nation. We are allies, assisting in establishing + the rights and independence of another nation. We, therefore, in + justice to ourselves and our people, cannot agree to give a part + of our domain as an inducement to citizens of another Government + to fight their own battles and for their own country; besides, it + would open a door to admit as citizens of our Nation the worst + class of citizens of the Confederate States ... + + + + +XII. INDIAN TERRITORY IN 1863, JULY TO DECEMBER INCLUSIVE + + +Independence Day, 1863, witnessed climacteric scenes in the war +dramas, east and west. The Federal victories of Gettysburg and +Vicksburg, all-decisive in the history of the great American conflict, +when considered in its entirety, had each its measure of immediate +and local importance. The loss of all control of the Mississippi +navigation meant for the Confederacy its practical splitting in twain +and the isolation of its western part. For the Arkansas frontier and +for the Missouri border generally, it promised, since western commands +would now recover their men and resume their normal size, increased +Federal aggressiveness or the end of suspended. Initial preparation +for such renewed aggressiveness was contemporary with the fall of +Vicksburg and lay in the failure of the Confederate attack upon +Helena, an attack that had been projected for the making of a +diversion only. The failure compelled Holmes to draw his forces back +to Little Rock. + +Confederate operations in Indian Territory through May and June had +been, as already described, confined to sporadic demonstrations +against Federal herds and Federal supply trains, all having for their +main object the dislodgment of Phillips from Fort Gibson. What proved +to be their culmination and the demonstration most energetically +conducted occurred at Cabin Creek,[797] while far away Vicksburg was +falling and + +[Footnote 797: For an official report of the action at Cabin Creek, +see _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 378-382. While, as +things eventuated, it was an endeavor (cont.)] + +Gettysburg was being fought. A commissary train from Fort Scott was +expected. It was to come down, escorted by Colonel Williams who was +in command of the negro troops that Blunt had stationed at Baxter +Springs. To meet the train and to reinforce Williams, Phillips +despatched Major Foreman from Fort Gibson. Cooper had learned of the +coming of the train and had made his plans to seize it in a fashion +now customary.[798] The plans were quite elaborate and involved the +coöperation[799] of Cabell's Arkansas brigade,[800] which was to come +from across the line and proceed down the east side of the Grand +River. Thither also, Cooper sent a + +[Footnote 797: (cont.) to cut off the supply train, there was +throughout the possibility that it might also result in heading off +Blunt, who was known to be on his way to Fort Gibson [Steele to +Cooper, June 29, 1863; Duval to Cooper, June 29, 1863; Duval to +Cabell, June 29, 1863].] + +[Footnote 798: Steele to Cabell, June 25, 1863 [_Confederate +Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 97; _Official Records_, vol. +xxii, part ii, 885].] + +[Footnote 799: Steele to Cabell, June 29, 1863 [_Confederate +Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 105; _Official Records_, vol. +xxii, part ii, 893-894].] + +[Footnote 800: Of W.L. Cabell, the _Confederate Military +History_, vol. x, has this to say: "Maj. W.L. Cabell, who had been +sent to inspect the accounts of quartermasters in the department, +having well acquitted himself of this duty, was, in March 1863, +commissioned brigadier-general and requested to collect absentees from +the service in northwestern Arkansas. Given Carroll's and Monroe's +regiments, he was directed to perfect such organizations as he could +..." He collected his brigade with great rapidity and it soon numbered +about four thousand men. Even, in April, Steele was placing much +reliance upon it, although he wished to keep its relation to him a +secret. He wrote to Cooper to that effect. + +"Who will be in command of the Choctaws when you leave? Will they be +sufficient to picket and scout on the other side of the river far +enough to give notice of any advance of the enemy down the river? I do +not wish it to be generally known that Cabell's forces are under my +command, but prefer the enemy should think them a separate command; +for this reason I do not send these troops west until there is a +necessity for it; in the meantime the other troops can be brought +into position, where if we can get sufficient ammunition all can be +concentrated. I cannot direct positively, not having the intimate +knowledge of the country, but you should be in a position which would +enable you to move either down the Ark. River or on to the road +leading from Boggy Depot to Gibson as circumstances may indicate. +Let me hear from you frequently."--STEELE to Cooper, April 28, 1863, +_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, pp. 217-218.] + +part of his own brigade and at the same time ordered another part +under Stand Watie to go to Cabin Creek and to take such position on +its south bank as to command the crossing. It was a time when the +rivers were all in flood, a circumstance that greatly affected the +outcome since it prevented the forces on the east side of the Grand +from coming to Stand Watie's support. As Foreman proceeded northward +to effect a junction with Williams, he detached some Cherokees from +the Third Indian, under Lieutenant Luke F. Parsons, to reconnoitre. In +that way he became apprised of Watie's whereabouts and enabled to put +himself on his guard. The commissary train, in due time, reached +Cabin Creek and, after some slight delay caused, not by Stand +Watie's interposition, but by the high waters, crossed. Federals +and Confederates then collided in a somewhat disjointed but lengthy +engagement with the result that Stand Watie retired and the train, +nothing the worse for the hold-up, moved on without further +molestation to Fort Gibson.[801] + +The action at Cabin Creek, July 1 to 3, was the last attempt of any +size for the time being to capture Federal supplies en route. The +tables were thenceforth turned and the Confederates compelled to keep +a close + +[Footnote 801: In describing what appears to be the action at Cabin +Creek, Steele refers to "bad conduct of the Creeks," and holds it +partly responsible for the failure [_Official Records_, vol. +xxii, part ii, 910]. It is possible that he had in mind, however, a +slightly earlier encounter, the same that he described, adversely +to D.N. McIntosh's abilities as a commander, in his general report +[Ibid., part i, 32]. Steele had little faith in the Indian +brigade and frankly admitted that he expected it in large measure, +to "dissolve," if the Confederates were to be forced to fall back at +Cabin Creek [Steele to Blair, July 1, 1863, _Official Records_, +vol. xxii, part ii, 902]. Nevertheless, he anticipated a victory for +his arms there [Steele to Blair, July 3, 1863, Ibid., 903]. +From his general report, it might be thought that Stand Watie +disappointed him at this time, as later; but the Confederate failure +was most certainly mainly attributable to the high waters, which +prevented the union of their expeditionary forces [Steele to Blair, +July 5, 1863, Ibid., 905].] + +watch on their own depots and trains. Up to date, since his first +arrival at Fort Gibson, Colonel Phillips had been necessarily on the +defensive because of the fewness of his men. Subsequent to the Cabin +Creek affair came a change, incident to events and conditions farther +east. The eleventh of July brought General Blunt, commander of the +District of the Frontier, to Fort Gibson. His coming was a surprise, +as has already been casually remarked, but it was most timely. There +was no longer any reason whatsoever why offensive action should not +be the main thing on the Federal docket in Indian Territory, as +elsewhere. + +To protect its own supplies and to recuperate, the strength of +the Confederate Indian brigade was directed toward Red River, +notwithstanding that Steele had still the hope of dislodging the +Federals north of the Arkansas.[802] His difficulties[803] were no +less legion than before, but he thought it might be possible to +accomplish the end desired by invading Kansas,[804] a plan that seemed +very feasible after S.P. Bankhead assumed command of the Northern +Sub-District of Texas.[805] Steele himself had "neither the artillery +nor the kind of force necessary to take a place" fortified as was +Gibson; but to the westward of the Federal stronghold Bankhead might +move. He might attack Fort Scott, Blunt's headquarters but greatly +weakened now, and possibly also some small posts in southwest +Missouri, replenishing his resources from time to time in the fertile +and well settled Neosho River Valley. Again + +[Footnote 802: Steele took umbrage at a published statement of Pike +that seemed to doubt this and to intimate that the line of the +Arkansas had been definitely abandoned [Steele to Pike, July 13, 1863, +_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 925].] + +[Footnote 803: For new aspects of his difficulties, see Steele to +Boggs, chief of staff, July 7, 1863, Ibid., 909-911.] + +[Footnote 804:--Ibid., p. 910.] + +[Footnote 805: Steele to Bankhead, July 11, 1863, Ibid., +921-922.] + +local selfishness rose to the surface[806] and Bankhead, surmising +Steele's weakness and that he would almost inevitably have to fall +back, perhaps vacating Indian Territory altogether, became alarmed for +the safety of Texas.[807] + +Steele's recognition and admission of material incapacity for taking +Fort Gibson in no wise deterred him from attempting it. The idea was, +that Cooper should encamp at a point within the Creek Nation, fronting +Fort Gibson, and that Cabell should join him there with a view +to their making a combined attack.[808] As entertained, the idea +neglected to give due weight to the fact that Cabell's men were in no +trim for immediate action,[809] notwithstanding that concerted action +was the only thing likely to induce success. Blunt, with + +[Footnote 806: Arkansas betrayed similar selfishness. President +Davis's rejoinder to a protest from Flanagin against a tendency to +ignore the claims of the West struck a singularly high note. Admitting +certain errors of the past, he prayed for the generous coöperation of +the future; for "it is to the future, not to the past, that we must +address ourselves, and I wish to assure you, though I hope it is +unnecessary, that no effort shall be spared to promote the defense of +the Trans-Mississippi Department, and to develop its resources so +as to meet the exigencies of the present struggle" [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 932]. Five days afterwards, Governor +Reynolds, in commending Secretary Seddon for a very able ministry, +expressed confidence that his gubernatorial colleagues in Arkansas, +Texas, and Louisiana would, with himself, "act in no sectional or +separatist spirit." It was saying a good deal, considering how strong +the drift of popular opinion had been and was to be in the contrary +direction. However, in August, the four governors appealed +collectively to their constituents and to "the Allied Indian Nations," +proving, if proof were needed, that they personally were sincere +[Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 892-894; Moore's _Rebellion +Record_, vol. vii, 406-407].] + +[Footnote 807: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 922.] + +[Footnote 808: The plans for such concerted action were made as early +as July 8 [Steele to Cooper, July 8, 1863, _Official Records_, +vol. xxii, part ii, 911-912]. Cabell was instructed to take position +between Webber's Falls and Fort Gibson [Duval to Cabell, July 10, +1863, Ibid., 916-917] and more specifically, two days before +the battle, "within 15 or 20 miles of Gibson and this side of where +Gen. Cooper is now encamped on Elk Creek" [Steele to Cabell, July 15, +1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 145].] + +[Footnote 809: Steele knew of the deficiencies in their equipment, +however, and of their exhausted state (cont.)] + +scouts out in all directions and with spies in the very camps of his +foes, soon obtained an inkling of the Confederate plan and resolved +to dispose of Cooper before Cabell could arrive from Arkansas.[810] +Cooper's position was on Elk Creek, not far from present +Muskogee,[811] and near Honey Springs on the seventeenth of July the +two armies met, Blunt forcing the engagement, having made a night +march in order to do it. The Indians of both sides[812] were on hand, +in force, the First and Second Home Guards, being dismounted as +infantry and thus fighting for once as they had been mustered in. Of +the Confederate, or Cooper, brigade Stand Watie, the ever reliable, +commanded the First and Second Cherokee, D.N. McIntosh, the First +and Second Creek, and Tandy Walker, the regiment of Choctaws and +Chickasaws. The odds were all against Cooper from the start and, in +ways that Steele had not specified, the material equipment proved +itself inadequate indeed. Much of the ammunition was worthless.[813] +Nevertheless, Cooper stubbornly contested every inch of the ground and +finally gave way only when large numbers of his Indians, knowing their +guns to be absolutely useless to them, became disheartened and then +demoralized. In confusion, they led the van in + +[Footnote 809: (cont.) [Duval to W.H. Scott, Commanding Post at +Clarksville, Ark., July 8, 1863, _Confederate Records_, p. 133; +Steele to Blair, July 10, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, +part ii, 917; same to same, July 13, 1863, Ibid., 925].] + +[Footnote 810: See Blunt's official report, dated July 26, 1863 +[Ibid., part i, 447-448].] + +[Footnote 811: Anderson, _Life of General Stand Watie_, 21.] + +[Footnote 812: With respect to the number of white troops engaged on +the Federal side there seems some discrepancy between Blunt's report +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 448] and Phisterer's +statistics [_Statistical Record_, 145].] + +[Footnote 813: See Cooper's report, dated August 12, 1863 [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 457-461]. The following references are +to letters that substantiate, in whole or in part, what Cooper said in +condemnation of the ammunition: Duval to Du Bose, dated Camp Prairie +Springs, C.N., July 27, 1863 [_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. +268, p. 159]; Steele to Blair, dated Camp Imochiah, August 9, 1863 +[Ibid., 185-187; _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, +961].] + +flight across the Canadian; but enough of those more self-contained +went thither in an easterly or southeasterly direction so as to create +the impression among their enemies that they were retiring to meet the +expected reinforcements from Fort Smith.[814] + +But the reinforcements were yet far away. Indeed, it was not until +all was over and a day too late that Cabell came up. A tragic sight +confronted him; but his own march had been so dismal, so inauspicious +that everything unfortunate that had happened seemed but a part of +one huge catastrophe. He had come by the "old Pacific mail route, +the bridges of which, in some places, were still standing in the +uninhabited prairies."[815] The forsaken land broke the morale of his +men--they had never been enthusiastic in the cause, some of them were +conscripted unionists, forsooth, and they deserted his ranks by the +score, by whole companies. The remnant pushed on and, in the far +distance, heard the roaring of the cannon. Then, coming nearer, they +caught a first glimpse of Blunt's victorious columns; but those +columns were already retiring, it being their intention to recross to +the Fort Gibson side of the Arkansas. "Moving over the open, rolling +prairies,"[816] Nature's vast meadows, their numbers seemed great +indeed and Cabell made no attempt to pursue or to court further +conflict. The near view of the battle-field dismayed[817] him; for +its gruesome records all too surely told him of another Confederate +defeat. + +[Footnote 814: Cooper intended to create such an impression +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 460] and he did +[Schofield to McNeil, July 26, 1863, Ibid., part ii, 399-400].] + +[Footnote 815: _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 199.] + +[Footnote 816: Ibid., 200.] + +[Footnote 817: Cabell might well be dismayed. Steele had done his +best to hurry him up. A letter of July 15 was particularly urgent +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 933].] + +In the fortunes of the Southern Indians, the Battle of Honey Springs +was a decisive event. Fought and lost in the country of the Creeks, it +was bound to have upon them a psychological effect disastrous to the +steady maintenance of their alliance with the Confederacy, so also +with the other great tribes; but more of that anon. In a military +way, it was no less significant than in a political; for it was the +beginning of a vigorously offensive campaign, conducted by General +Blunt, that never ended until the Federals were in occupation of Fort +Smith and Fort Smith was at the very door of the Choctaw country. No +Indian tribe, at the outset of the war, had more completely gone over +to the South than had the Choctaw. It had influenced the others but +had already come to rue the day that had seen its own first defection. +Furthermore, the date of the Confederate rout at Honey Springs marked +the beginning of a period during which dissatisfaction with General +Steele steadily crystallized. + +Within six weeks after the Battle of Honey Springs, the Federals were +in possession of Fort Smith, which was not surprising considering +the happenings of the intervening days. The miscalculations that had +eventuated in the routing of Cooper had brought Steele to the decision +of taking the field in person; for there was just a chance that he +might succeed where his subordinates, with less at stake than he, had +failed. Especially might he take his chances on winning if he could +count upon help from Bankhead to whom he had again made application, +nothing deterred by his previous ill-fortune. + +It was not, by any means, Steele's intention to attempt the reduction +of Fort Gibson;[818] for, with such artillery + +[Footnote 818: Steele to Blair, July 22, 1863 [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 940-941].] + +as he had, the mere idea of such an undertaking would be preposterous. +The defensive would have to be, for some time to come, his leading +role; but he did hope to be able to harry his enemy, somewhat, +to entice him away from his fortifications and to make those +fortifications of little worth by cutting off his supplies. Another +commissary train would be coming down from Fort Scott via Baxter +Springs about the first of August.[819] For it, then, Steele would lie +in wait. + +When all was in readiness, Fort Smith was vacated, not abandoned; +inasmuch as a regiment under Morgan of Cabell's brigade was left in +charge, but it was relinquished as department headquarters. Steele +then took up his march for Cooper's old battle-ground on Elk Creek. +There he planned to mass his forces and to challenge an attack. He +went by way of Prairie Springs[820] and lingered there a little while, +then moved on to Honey Springs, where was better grazing.[821] He felt +obliged thus to make his stand in the Creek country; for the Creeks +were getting fractious and it was essential for his purposes that they +be mollified and held in check. Furthermore, it was incumbent upon him +not to expose his "depots in the direction of Texas."[822] + +As the summer days passed, Cabell and Cooper drew into his vicinity +but no Bankhead, notwithstanding that Magruder had ordered him to +hurry to Steele's + +[Footnote 819: Steele to Bankhead, July 22, 1863 [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 940]] + +[Footnote 820: Duval to A.S. Morgan, July 18, 1863 [Ibid., +933]; Steele to Blair, July 22, 1863 [Ibid., 940-941].] + +[Footnote 821: Steele arrived at Prairie Springs on the twenty-fourth +[Steele to Blair, July 26, 1863, Ibid., 948] and moved to Honey +Springs two days later [same to same, July 29, 1863, Ibid., +950-951]. On August 7, his camp was at Soda Springs, whither he had +gone "for convenience of water and grass" [same to same, August 7, +1863, Ibid., 956].] + +[Footnote 822:--Ibid., 951.] + +support.[823] Bankhead had not the slightest idea of doing anything +that would put Texas in jeopardy. In northern Texas sympathy for the +Federal cause, or "rottenness" as the Confederates described it, was +rife.[824] It would be suicidal to take the home force too far away. +Moreover, it was Bankhead's firm conviction that Steele would never be +able to maintain himself so near to Fort Gibson, so he would continue +where he was and decide what to do when time for real action +came.[825] It would be hazarding a good deal to amalgamate his +command,[826] half of which would soon be well disciplined, with +Steele's, which, in some of its parts, was known not to be. + +As a matter of fact, Steele's command was worse than undisciplined. It +was permeated through and through with defection in its most virulent +form, a predicament not wholly unforeseen. The Choctaws had pretty +well dispersed, the Creeks were sullen, and Cabell's brigade of +Arkansans was actually disintegrating. The prospect of fighting +indefinitely in the Indian country had no attractions for men who were +not in the Confederate service for pure love of the cause. Day by day +desertions[827] took place until the number became alarming and, what +was worse, in some cases, the officers were in collusion with the +men in delinquency. Cabell himself was not above suspicion.[828] To +prevent the spread of + +[Footnote 823: By August third, Bankhead had not been heard from at +all [Steele to Blair, August 3, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. +xxii, part ii, 953]. The following communications throw some light +upon Bankhead's movements [Ibid., 948, 956, 963].] + +[Footnote 824: Crosby to G.M. Bryan, August 30, 1863, Ibid., +984.] + +[Footnote 825: Bankhead to E.P. Turner, August 13, 1863, Ibid., +965-966.] + +[Footnote 826: Bankhead to Boggs, August 10, 1863, Ibid., 966.] + +[Footnote 827: There is an abundance of material in the _Confederate +Records_ on the subject of desertions in the West. Note +particularly pp. 167, 168, 173-174, 192-193, 198, 204-205 of chap. +2, no. 268. Note, also, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, +956.] + +[Footnote 828: Duval to Cabell, August 17, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii 969-970.] + +contagion among the Indians, his troops were moved to more and more +isolated camps[829] across the Canadian[830] and, finally, back in the +direction of Fort Smith. Ostensibly they were moved to the Arkansas +line to protect Fort Smith; for Steele knew well that his present hold +upon that place was of the frailest. It might be threatened at any +moment from the direction of Cassville and Morgan had been instructed, +in the event of an attack in prospect, to cross the boundary line and +proceed along the Boggy road towards Riddle's station.[831] Steele was +evidently not going to make any desperate effort to hold the place +that for so long had been the seat of the Confederate control over the +Southern Indians. + +All this time, General Blunt had been patrolling the Arkansas for some +thirty miles or so of its course[832] and had been thoroughly +well aware of the assembling of Steele's forces, likewise of the +disaffection of the Indians, with which, by the way, he had had quite +a little to do. Not knowing exactly what Steele's intentions might be +but surmising that he was meditating an attack, he resolved to assume +the offensive himself.[833] The full significance of his resolution +can be fully appreciated only by the noting of the fact that, +subsequent to the Battle of Honey Springs, he had been instructed by +General Schofield, his superior officer, not only not to advance +but to fall back. To obey the order was inconceivable and Blunt had +deliberately disobeyed it.[834] It was now his determination to do +more. Fortunately, Schofield had recently changed his mind; for word +had + +[Footnote 829: _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 202.] + +[Footnote 830: Steele to Scott, August 7, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 957.] + +[Footnote 831: Steele to Morgan, August, 1863, Ibid., 951; +August 8, 1863, Ibid., 957.] + +[Footnote 832: Steele to Blair, August 7, 1863, Ibid., 956.] + +[Footnote 833: Blunt to Schofield, July 30, 1863, Ibid., 411.] + +[Footnote 834: Blunt to Lincoln, September 24, 1863, Ibid., +vol. liii, supplement, 572.] + +come to him that Congress had decided to relieve Kansas of her Indian +encumbrance by compassing the removal of all her tribes, indigenous +and immigrant, to Indian Territory. It mattered not that the former +had a title to their present holdings by ancient occupation and long +continued possession and the latter a title in perpetuity, guaranteed +by the treaty-making power under the United States constitution. All +the tribes were to be ousted from the soil of the state that had been +saved to freedom; but it would be first necessary to secure the Indian +Territory and the men of the Kansas tribes were to be organized as +soldiers to secure it. It is difficult to imagine a more ironical +proceeding. The Indians were to be induced to fight for the recovery +of a section of the country that would make possible their own +banishment. Blunt strenuously objected, not because he was averse +to ridding Kansas of the Indians, but because he had no faith in an +Indian soldiery. Said he, + + There are several reasons why I do not think such a policy + practicable or advisable. It would take several months under the + most favorable circumstances to organize and put into the field + the Indians referred to, even were they ready and willing to + enlist, of which fact I am not advised, but presume they would be + very slow to enlist; besides my experience thus far with Indian + soldiers has convinced me that they are of little service to the + Government compared with other soldiers. The Cherokees, who are + far superior in every respect to the Kansas Indians, did very good + service while they had a specific object in view--the possession + and occupation of their own country; having accomplished that, + they have become greatly demoralized and nearly worthless as + troops. I would earnestly recommend that (as the best policy + the Government can pursue with these Indian regiments) they be + mustered out of service some time during the coming winter, and + put to work raising their subsistence, with a few white troops + stationed among them for their protection. + + I would not exchange one regiment of negro troops for ten + regiments of Indians, and they can be obtained in abundance + whenever Texas is reached. + + In ten days from this date, if I have the success I expect, the + Indian Territory south of the Arkansas River will be in our + possession ...[835] + +Blunt's mind was made up. He was determined to go forward with the +force he already had. Ill-health[836] retarded his movements a trifle; +but on the twenty-second of August, two days after the massacre by +guerrillas had occurred at Lawrence, he crossed the Arkansas. He was +at length accepting General Steele's challenge but poor Steele was +quite unprepared for a duel of any sort. If Blunt distrusted the +Indians, how very much more did he and with greater reason! With +insufficient guns and ammunition, with no troops, white or red, upon +whom he could confidently rely, and with no certainty of help from +any quarter, he was compelled to adopt a Fabian policy, and he moved +slowly backward, inviting yet never stopping to accept a full and +regular engagement. Out of the Creek country he went and into the +Choctaw.[837] At Perryville, on the road[838] to + +[Footnote 835: Blunt to Schofield, August 22, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 465.] + +[Footnote 836:--Ibid., 466. There seems to have been a good +deal of sickness at Fort Gibson and some mortality, of which +report was duly made to Steele [Ibid., 956; _Confederate +Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, pp. 192-193].] + +[Footnote 837: Steele had crossed the line between the Creeks and +Choctaws, however, before Blunt crossed the Arkansas. On August +sixteenth, he had his camp on Longtown Creek and was sending a +detachment out as far south as within about ten miles of Boggy Depot +[_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 968]. A few days +later, he made his camp on Brooken Creek, a little to the eastward +[Ibid., 972]. By that time, Steele was evidently quite +reconciled to the thought that Fort Smith might at any moment be +attacked and, perhaps, in such force that it would be needless to +attempt to defend it. Cabell was to move to a safe distance, in the +neighborhood of Scullyville, from whence, should there be reasonable +prospect of success, he might send out reënforcements. In the event of +almost certain failure, he was to draw off betimes in the direction of +Riddle's station, where flour was stored [Ibid.,].] + +[Footnote 838: On the subject of roads and highways in Indian +Territory, see Ibid., (cont.)] + +Texas, his men did have a small skirmish with Blunt's and at both +Perryville and North Fork, Blunt destroyed some of his stores.[839] +At North Fork, Steele had established a general hospital, which now +passed from his control. + +Following the unsuccessful skirmish at Perryville, the evening of +August 25, Steele was "pushed rapidly down the country,"[840] so +observed the wary Bankhead to whom fresh orders to assist Steele had +been communicated.[841] Boggy Depot to the Texan commander seemed the +proper place to defend[842] and near there he now waited; but Steele +on East Boggy, full sixty miles from Red River and from comparative +safety, begged him to come forward to Middle Boggy, a battle was +surely impending.[843] No battle occurred, notwithstanding; for Blunt +had given up the pursuit. He had come to know that not all of Steele's +command was ahead of him,[844] that McIntosh with the Creeks had gone +west within the Creek country, the Creeks having refused to leave +it,[845] and that Cabell had gone east, + +[Footnote 838: (cont.) vol. xxxiv, part ii, 859; vol. xii, part ii, +997; Sheridan, _Memoirs_, vol. ii, 340.] + +[Footnote 839: Blunt to Schofield, August 27, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part i. 597-598; Steele to Snead, September 8, +1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 223.] + +[Footnote 840: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 983.] + +[Footnote 841: W.T. Carrington to Bankhead, August 22, 1863, +Ibid., 975.] + +[Footnote 842: Bankhead to Turner, August 23, 1863, Ibid., 977. +Near Boggy Depot, "the Fort Gibson and Fort Smith roads" forked. At +Boggy Depot, moreover, were "all the stores of the Indian Department." +With Boggy Depot in the hands of the enemy, Bankhead's whole front +would be uncovered [Bankhead to Turner August 20, 1863, Ibid., +972].] + +[Footnote 843: Duval to Bankhead and other commanders, August 27, +1863, Ibid., 981.] + +[Footnote 844: Blunt to Schofield, August 27, 1863, Ibid., part +i, 597. He thought, however, that Stand Watie was with Steele but he +was not. He was absent on a scout [Steele to Boggs, August 30, 1863, +Ibid., part ii, 984].] + +[Footnote 845: Steele to Snead, September 11, 1863, Ibid., part +ii, 1012.] + +towards Fort Smith.[846] It was Fort Smith that now engaged Blunt's +attention and thither he directed his steps, Colonel W.F. Cloud[847] +of the Second Kansas Cavalry, who, acting under orders from General +McNeil,[848] had coöperated with him at Perryville, being sent on in +advance. Fort Smith surrendered with ease, not a blow being struck in +her defence;[849] but there was Cabell yet to be dealt with. + +Steele's conduct, his adoption of the Fabian policy, severely +criticized in some quarters, in Indian Territory, in Arkansas, in +Texas, had yet been condoned and, indeed, approved[850] by General +Kirby Smith, the + +[Footnote 846: Cabell's brigade, as already indicated, had had to be +sent back "to avoid the contagion of demoralization." [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 983; Steele to Snead, September 11, +1863, Ibid., 1012].] + +[Footnote 847: Cloud had arrived at Fort Gibson, August 21 [Cloud to +McNeil, August 22, 1863, Ibid., 466].] + +[Footnote 848: John McNeil was commanding the District of Southwestern +Missouri. The orders originated with Schofield [Ibid., part i, +15].] + +[Footnote 849: Cabell had taken a position on the Poteau. Steele had +been much averse to his running the risk of having himself shut up in +Fort Smith [Steele to Cabell, September 1, 1863, Ibid., part +ii, 987].] + +[Footnote 850: "The general commanding is satisfied that the Fabian +policy is the true one to adopt when not well satisfied that +circumstances warrant a different course..." [G.M. Bryan to Steele, +September 8, 1863, Ibid., 999]. Smith believed in "abandoning +a part to save the whole" [Letter to General R. Taylor, September 3, +1863, Ibid., 989]; but President Davis and men of the states +interested had impressed it upon him that that would never do. It must +have been with some idea of justifying Steele's procedure in mind that +Smith wrote to Stand Watie, September 8th [Ibid., 999-1000]. +Watie had lodged a complaint with him, August 9th, against the +Confederate subordination of the Indian interests. To that Smith +replied in words that must have made a powerful appeal to the Cherokee +chief, who had already, in fact on the selfsame day that he wrote to +Smith, made an equally powerful one to his own tribe and to other +tribes. Watie's appeal will be taken up later, the noble sounding part +of Smith's may as well find a place for quotation here. + +"I know that your people have cause for complaint. Their sufferings +and the apparent ill-faith of our Government would naturally produce +dissatisfaction. That your patriotic band of followers deserve the +thanks of our Government I know. They have won the respect and esteem +of our people (cont.)] + +person most competent to judge fairly; because he possessed a full +comprehension of the situation in Steele's command. Smith knew and +others might have known that the situation had been largely created by +envy, hatred, and malice, by corruption in high places, by peculation +in low, by desertions in white regiments and by defection in Indian. + +The Confederate government was not unaware of the increasing +dissatisfaction among its Indian allies. It had innumerable sources of +information, the chief of which and, perhaps, not the most reliable or +the least factional, were the tribal delegates[851] in Congress. Late + +[Footnote 850: (cont.) by their steadfast loyalty and heroic bravery. +Tell them to remain true; encourage them in their despondency; bid +them struggle on through the dark gloom which now envelops our +affairs, and bid them remember the insurmountable difficulties with +which our Government has been surrounded; that she has never been +untrue to her engagements, though some of her agents may have been +remiss and even criminally negligent. Our cause is the same--a just +and holy one; we must stand and struggle on together, till that just +and good Providence, who always supports the right, crowns our efforts +with success. I can make you no definite promises. I have your +interest at heart, and will endeavor faithfully and honestly to +support you in your efforts and in those of your people to redeem +their homes from an oppressor's rule... + +"What might have been done and has not is with the past; it is +needless to comment upon it, and I can only assure you that I feel the +importance of your country to our cause..." + +That Smith was no more sincere than other white men had been, when +addressing Indians, goes almost without saying. It was necessary to +pacify Stand Watie and promises would no longer suffice. Candor was a +better means to the end sought. Had Smith only not so very recently +had his interview with the governors of the southwestern states, his +tone might not have been so conciliatory. In anticipation of that +interview and in advance of it, for it might come too late, some +Arkansans, with R.W. Johnson among them, had impressed it upon +Governor Flanagin that both Arkansas and Indian Territory were +necessary to the Confederacy. In their communication, appeared these +fatal admissions, fatal to any claim of disinterestedness: + +"Negro slavery exists in the Indian Territory, and is profitable +and desirable there, affording a practical issue of the right of +expansion, for which the war began..." [July 25, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 945].] + +[Footnote 851: Only two of the tribes, entitled to a delegate in the +Confederate Congress, seem to have availed themselves of the privilege +in 1863, the (cont.)] + +in May, Commissioner Scott[852] set out upon a tour of inspection, +similar to the one he had made during the days of the Pike regime. On +his way through Arkansas, he stopped at Little Rock to consult with +General Holmes and to get his bearings before venturing again among +the tribes; but Holmes was ill, too ill to attend to business,[853] +and no interview with him was likely to be deemed advisable for some +time to come. Scott had, therefore, to resume his journey without +instructions or advice from the district commander, not regrettable +from some points of view since it enabled + +[Footnote 851: (cont.) Cherokee and the Choctaw, which may account +for the persistence with which, in one form or another, a measure for +filling vacancies in the Indian representation came up for discussion +or for reference [See _Journal_, vols. iii, vi]. It became law in +January, 1864 [Ibid., vol. iii, 521]. A companion measure, for +the regulation of Indian elections, had a like bearing. It became law +earlier, in May, 1863 [Ibid., 420, vi, 459]. In the _Official +Records_, fourth ser. vol. in, 1189, _footnote o_, the +statement is made that the name of Elias C. Boudinot appeared first on +the roll, January 8, 1864; but it must be erroneous, since Boudinot, +as the delegate from the Cherokee Nation, was very active in Congress +all through the year 1863. His colleague from the Choctaw Nation +was Robert M. Jones. On December 10, when Indian affairs had become +exceedingly critical, Representative Hanly moved that one of the +Indian delegates should be requested to attend the sessions of the +Committee on Indian Affairs (_Journal_, vol. vi, 520). This +proposition eventually developed into something very much more +important, + +"_Resolved_, First, That each Delegate from the several Indian +nations with whom treaties have been made and concluded by the +Confederate States of America shall have and be entitled to a seat +upon the floor of this House, may propose and introduce measures being +for the benefit of his particular nation, and be heard in respect +and regard thereto, or other matters in which his nation may be +particularly interested. + +"Second. That, furthermore, it shall be the duty of the Speaker of +this House to appoint one Delegate from one of the Indian nations upon +the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Delegate so appointed shall +have and possess all the rights and privileges of other members of +such committee, except the right to vote on questions pending before +such committee"--_Journal_, vol. vi, 529. The Speaker appointed +Boudinot to the position thus created.] + +[Footnote 852: In February, upon the nomination of President Davis and +the recommendation of Secretary Seddon, Scott had been appointed to +the position of full commissioner [Ibid., vol. iii, 69].] + +[Footnote 853: During the illness of Holmes, which was protracted, +Price commanded in the District of Arkansas.] + +him to approach his difficult and delicate task with an open mind and +with no preconceived notions derived from Holmes's prejudices. + +Scott entered the Indian Territory in July and was at once beset +with complaints and solicitations, individual and tribal. On his own +account, he made not a few discoveries. On the eighth of August he +reported[854] to Holmes upon things that have already been considered +here, defective powder, deficient artillery, and the like; but not a +word did he say about the Cooper[855] and Boudinot intrigues. It +was too early to commit himself on matters so personal and yet so +fundamental. The Indians were not so reticent. The evil influence +that Cooper had over them, due largely to the fact that he professed +himself to be interested in Indian Territory to the exclusion of +all other parts of the country, was beginning to find expression in +various communications to President Davis and others in authority. +Just how far Stand Watie was privy to Cooper's schemes and in sympathy +with them, it is impossible to say. Boudinot was Cooper's able +coadjutor, fellow conspirator, while Boudinot and Watie were relatives +and friends. + +Watie's energies, especially his intellectual, were apparently being +exerted in directions far removed from the realm of selfish and petty +intrigue. He was a man of vision, of deep penetration likewise, and he +was a patriot. Personal ambition was not his besetting sin. If he +had only had real military ability and the qualities that make for +discipline and for genuine leadership + +[Footnote 854: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1097.] + +[Footnote 855: On August 14, Cooper complained to Smith that Steele +had been given the place that rightfully should have been his +[Ibid., 987]. Smith looked into the matter and made his reply, +strictly non-partisan, September 1st [Ibid., 1037]. The +authorities at Richmond declared against Cooper's claims and +pretensions, yet, in no wise, did he abandon them.] + +among men, he might have accomplished great things for Indian +Territory and for the Confederacy. Almost simultaneously with the +forwarding of Scott's first report to Holmes, he personally made +reports[856] and issued appeals,[857] some of which, because of their +grasp, because of their earnestness, and because of their spirit of +noble self-reliance, call for very special mention. Watie's purpose in +making and in issuing them was evidently nothing more and nothing less +than to dispel despondency and to arouse to action. + +Watie's appeal may have had the effect designed but it was an effect +doomed to be counteracted almost at once. Blunt's offensive had more +of menace to the Creeks and their southern neighbors than had Steele's +defensive of hope. The amnesty to deserters,[858] that issued under +authority from Richmond on the twenty-sixth of August, even though +conditional upon a return to duty, was a confession of weakness and +it availed little when the Choctaws protested against the failure to +supply them with arms and ammunition, proper in quality and quantity, +for Smith to tell them that such things, intended to meet +treaty requirements but diverted, had been lost in the fall of +Vicksburg.[859] Had not white men been always singularly adept at +making excuses for breaking their promises to red? + +In September, when everything seemed very dark for the Confederacy on +the southwestern front, desperate efforts were made to rally anew the +Indians. + +[Footnote 856: Watie's report to Scott, August 8, 1863 [_Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1104-1105] was full of very just +criticism, but not at all factional.] + +[Footnote 857: The appeal to the Creeks, through their governor, is to +be found in _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1105-1106, +and that to the Choctaws and Chickasaws, Ibid., 1106-1107.] + +[Footnote 858:--Ibid., 980.] + +[Footnote 859: Smith to Principal Chief, Choctaw Nation, August 13, +1863, Ibid., 967; Bryan to Hon. R.M. Jones, September 19, 1863, +Ibid., 1021.] + +Proposals[860] from Blunt were known to have reached both the Creeks +and the Choctaws and were being considered, by the one, more or less +secretly and, by the other, in open council. Israel G. Vore,[861] +who had become the agent of the Creeks and whose influence was +considerable, was called upon to neutralize the Federal advances. In a +more official way, Commissioner Scott worked with the Choctaws, among +whom there was still a strong element loyal to the Confederacy, loyal +enough, at all events, to recruit for a new regiment to fight in its +cause. + +Nothing was more likely to bring reassurance to the Indians than +military activity; but military activity of any account was obviously +out of the question unless some combination of commands could be +devised, such a combination, for example, as Magruder had in mind when +he proposed that the forces of Steele, Cooper, Bankhead, and Cabell +should coöperate to recover Forts Smith and Gibson, something more +easily said than done. It was no sooner said than brigade transfers +rendered it quite impracticable, Cabell and Bankhead both being needed +to give support to Price. In charge now of the Northern Sub-district +of Texas was Henry E. McCulloch. From him Steele felt he had a right +to expect coöperation, since their commands were + +[Footnote 860: Steele to Snead, September 11, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1013; Bankhead to Steele, September +15, 1863, Ibid., 1016.] + +[Footnote 861: In the spring of 1863, Vore was engaged in disbursing +funds, more particularly, in paying the Indian troops [Steele to +Anderson, April 17, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. +270, pp. 197-198]. In November, 1862, the Creeks had requested that +Vore be made their agent and the appointment was conferred upon him +the following May [Scott to Seddon, December 12, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1095]. The Creeks were inclined to +be displeased at the delay, especially as they later had no reason +to regret their choice [Moty Kanard to Davis, August 17, 1863. +Ibid., 1107]. It was Cooper, apparently, who suggested sending +up Vore to have him work upon the Creeks [Ibid., 1000].] + +territorially in conjunction, and to consult with him he journeyed to +Bonham.[862] + +Viewed in the light of subsequent events, the journey was productive +of more evil than good. With Steele absent, the command in Indian +Territory devolved upon Cooper[863] and Cooper employed the occasion +to ingratiate himself with the Indians, to increase his influence with +them, and to undermine the man who he still insisted had supplanted +him. When Steele returned from Texas he noticed very evident signs of +insubordination. There were times when he found it almost impossible +to locate Cooper within the limits of the command or to keep in touch +with him. Cooper was displaying great activity, was making plans +to recover Fort Smith, and conducting himself generally in a very +independent way. October had, however, brought a change in the status +of Fort Smith; for General Smith had completely detached the commands +of Indian Territory and Arkansas from each other.[864] It was not to +Holmes that Steele reported thenceforth but to Smith direct. Taken in +connection with the need that soon arose, on account of the chaos in +northern Texas, for McCulloch[865] to become absorbed in home affairs, +the + +[Footnote 862 His destination was apparently to be Shreveport, the +department headquarters [Crosby to Bankhead, September 23, 1863. +_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268. p. 251].] + +[Footnote 863: Cooper's headquarters, in the interval, were to be at +Fort Washita [Ibid.,], where a company of Bass's regiment had +been placed in garrison [Duval to Cooper, July 15, 1863, Ibid., +p. 145].] + +[Footnote 864: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1045.] + +[Footnote 865: McCulloch was being greatly embarrassed by the rapid +spread of unionist sentiment and by desertions from his army. The +expedient of furloughing was restarted to. To his credit, be it said, +that no embarrassments, no dawning of the idea that he was fighting +in a failing cause, could make him forget the ordinary dictates of +humanity. His scornful repudiation of Quantrill and his methods was +characteristic of the man. For that repudiation, see, particularly, +McCulloch to Turner, October 22, 1863, Ibid., vol. xxvi. part +ii, 348.] + +separation from Arkansas left Indian Territory stranded. + +Fort Smith, moreover, was about to become Blunt's headquarters and it +was while he was engaged in transferring his effects from Fort Scott +to that place that the massacre of Baxter Springs occurred, Blunt +arriving upon the scene too late to prevent the murderous surprise +having its full effect. The Baxter Springs massacre was another +guerrilla outrage, perpetrated by Quantrill and his band[866] who, +their bloody work accomplished at the Federal outpost, passed on down +through the Cherokee Nation, killing outright whatever Indians or +negroes they fell in with. It was their boast that they never burdened +themselves with prisoners. The gang crossed the Arkansas about +eighteen miles above Fort Gibson[867] and arrived at Cooper's camp on +the Canadian, October twelfth.[868] + +Scarcely had Blunt established his headquarters at Fort Smith, +when political influences long hostile to him, Schofield at their +head,[869] had accumulated force + +[Footnote 866: Quantrill's bold dash from the Missouri to the Canadian +had been projected in a spirit of bravado, deviltry, and downright +savagery, and had undoubtedly been incited by the execution of Ewing's +notorious order, _Number Eleven_ [_Official Records_, +vol. xxii, part ii, 473]. That order, as modified by Schofield, had +authorized the depopulating of those counties of Missouri, Jackson, +Cass, Bates, and a part of Vernon, where the guerrillas were believed +to have their chief recruiting stations and where secessionist feeling +had always been dominant. It was at once retaliatory and precautionary +and on a par with the instructions for the removal of the Acadians on +the eve of the breaking out of the French and Indian War. The +banished Missourians have, however, as yet found no Longfellow +to sentimentalize over them or to idealize, in a story of +_Evangeline_, their misfortunes and their character. History has +been spared the consequent and inevitable distortion.] + +[Footnote 867: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 224.] + +[Footnote 868: Quantrill to Price, October 13, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 700-701.] + +[Footnote 869: In the matter of domestic politics in Kansas, +particularly as they were shaped by the excitement over the guerrilla +outrages, Schofield belonged to the party of _Moderates_, "Paw +Paws" as its members were called in derision, (cont.)] + +sufficient to effect his removal. He was relieved, under Schofield's +orders of October 19, and Brigadier-general John McNeil then assumed +command of the District of the Frontier.[870] Colonel Phillips +continued in charge at Fort Gibson,[871] his presence being somewhat +of a reassurance to the Cherokees, who, appreciating Blunt's energetic +administration, regretted his recall.[872] + +Had the Federal Cherokees been authoritatively apprised of the real +situation in the Indian Territory farther south, they need never have +been anxious as to the safety of Fort Gibson. Steele's situation was +peculiarly complex. As private personage and as commander he elicits +commiseration. Small and incapable was his force,[873] intriguing and +intractable were his + +[Footnote 869: (cont.) and Blunt, like Lane, Wilder, and others, to +that of the _Extremists_, or _Radicals_. Of the Extremists +the "Red Legs" were the active wing, those who indulged in retaliatory +and provocative outrages. Schofield's animosity against Blunt, to +some extent richly deserved, amounted almost to a persecution. He +instituted an investigation of the District of the Frontier and it was +upon the basis of the findings of the committee of investigation that +he ordered Blunt's retirement [Schofield to Townsend, October 3, 1863, +_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 595-597; Blunt to Curtis, +November 30, 1864, Ibid., vol. xli, part iv, 727-729]. For +evidence of continued animosity see the correspondence of Champion +Vaughan, Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, 738, 742.] + +[Footnote 870: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 666.] + +[Footnote 871: For the condition and movements of the Indian +Brigade from November 20, 1863, to December 20, 1863, see _Daily +Conservative_, January 3, 1864.] + +[Footnote 872: The resolutions, commendatory of his work, to which +Blunt refers in his letter to Curtis of November 30, were passed by +the Cherokee National Council, October 20, 1863. The text of them +is to be found, as also Chief Christie's letter of transmittal, in +_Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 790-791.] + +[Footnote 873: Steele reported that on October first he had +"Seminoles, 106; Chickasaws, 208; Creeks, 305; Choctaws, 1,024; +Choctaw militia, 200, and whites, 999" [_Official Records_, vol. +xxii, part i, 34]. Concerning the condition of his entire command, +the best understanding can be obtained from the inspection report of +Smith's assistant inspector-general, W.C. Schaumburg, [Ibid., +part ii, 1049-1053], October 26, 1863. Schaumburg exhibits conditions +as simply deplorable, Indians poorly mounted, ignorant of drill, +destitute of suitable (cont.)] + +subordinates. Of the white force Magruder[874] was doing his utmost to +deprive him, and of the Indian Steele found it next to impossible to +keep account. Insignificant as it was, it was yet scattered here, +there, and everywhere,[875] Cooper conniving at its desultory +dispersion. Instead of strengthening his superior's hands, Cooper was, +in fact, steadily weakening them and all for his own advancement. He +disparaged Steele's work, discredited it with the Indians,[876] and, +whenever possible, allowed a false construction to be put upon his +acts. In connection with the movements of the white troops, is a +case in point to be found. Rumor had it that Bankhead's brigade, now +Gano's,[877] was to be called away for coast defence. Cooper knew +perfectly well that such was not Steele's intention and yet he +suffered + +[Footnote 873: (cont.) arms; posts dilapidated; and prominent +tribesmen, like Colonel Tandy Walker, indulging in petty graft, +drawing government rations for members of their families and for their +negro slaves. McCulloch was also of the opinion that conditions in +Indian Territory were pretty bad [_Official Records_, vol. +xxii, part i, 1065], and that the red men were absolutely unreliable +[Ibid., vol. xxvi, part ii, 378].] + +[Footnote 874: For Magruder's insolent and overbearing attitude +towards Steele, see his correspondence in Ibid., part ii. +Magruder wanted Indian Territory attached to the District of Texas [p. +295] and was much disgusted that Gano's brigade was beyond his reach; +inasmuch as Smith himself had placed it in Indian Territory and Steele +could retain it there if he so pleased [pp. 349, 369, 371].] + +[Footnote 875: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1063, +1065, 1076, 1109.] + +[Footnote 876: Cooper's influence was greatest with the Choctaws and +Chickasaws. The Choctaw wavering of which there were numerous signs +[Ibid., 1019, 1024], the disposition of the Choctaw Council +towards neutrality [Ibid., 1042, 1046], which Scott was called +upon to check [Ibid., 1030-1031], and the Choctaw complaint +about the absence or inadequacy of arms [Ibid., 1021] were all +made the most of, in order to accentuate Steele's incapacity for +his task. October 7, the Chickasaw Legislature petitioned for +the elevation of Cooper to the full command in Indian Territory +[Ibid., 1123-1124]. It was, of course, a covert attack upon +Steele.] + +[Footnote 877: Dissatisfaction with Bankhead on the part of his men +had been the chief cause of the transfer to Richard M. Gano. Steele +had a good deal of trouble with Gano's brigade as also with Bass's +regiment [See _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, nos. 267, 268].] + +the Indians to believe that it was; in order that they might with +impunity charge Steele with having violated their treaty pledges.[878] +To nothing did they hold so rigidly as to the promise that white +troops were always to support Indian. + +In the role of Indian superintendent ex officio, Steele had no fewer +difficulties and perplexities than in that of military chief. The +feeding of indigents was a problem not easily solved, if solvable. +In the absence of legislative provision, Hindman had instituted the +questionable practice of furnishing relief to civilians at the cost of +the army commissary and no other course had ever been deemed expedient +by his successors. In July, 1863, Steele had ordered[879] practically +all distribution agencies to be abolished, his reason being that only +refugees,[880] Indians out of their own country, ought, in the +season of ripened and ripening crops, to need subsistence and such +subsistence, being limited in amount and derived altogether from +the army supply, could be most economically handled by the regular +commissaries. As winter approached and the necessity for feeding on a +large scale became again pronounced, + +[Footnote 878: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1063-1064, +1064-1065.] + +[Footnote 879: "I am instructed by the Gen. Com'dg to direct that +you issue an order abolishing all agencies in the Indian country for +feeding 'Indigents.' + +"It is thought that the crops now coming in will be sufficient to +support these people without any further drain upon Govt supplies. + +"What little issues are absolutely necessary will be made by +post commissaries."--DUVAL to Lee, July 1, 1863, _Confederate +Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 119.] + +[Footnote 880: "I beg leave to recommend to your favorable +consideration the accompanying letter from the Hon. E.C. Boudinot. The +necessity of feeding not only the refugees, but to some extent during +the winter the other Indians, has been recognized by all commanders, +the drouth of last year having cut the crops very short. As the crops +are now maturing I have in a great measure discontinued the issue +except to refugee Cherokees and Osages, both of whom are out of their +own country ..."--STEELE to Smith, July 13, 1863, Ibid., pp. +142-143.] + +he was disposed to keep the whole matter still under army regulations +so as to "avoid increasing competition."[881] The army exchequer could +be subsequently reimbursed when specific appropriations for Indians +should be made. Supplies of clothing had naturally to be otherwise +provided for and for those he contracted[882] in northern Texas. +Steele's whole policy with regard to the indigents was subjected to +the severest criticism;[883] for it was based upon the idea that to be +forewarned is to be forearmed. Disappointed speculators and grafters +were chief among his critics and, in spite of all his precautions, +they outwitted him. Peculation appeared on every hand, white sharpers +abounded, and Indians, relatively affluent, subsisted at government +expense. + +Another source of embarrassment was developed by the application of +war measures, primarily intended for the states only, to the Indian +country. Indian property was impressed[884] as occasion arose. Very + +[Footnote 881: Steele to Scott, August 7, 1863, _Confederate +Records_, pp. 179-180.] + +[Footnote 882: Steele to Bryan, November 9, 1863, _Confederate +Records_, chap. 2, no. 267, p. 31. The Reserve Indians had +all along been fed by contract [Steele to Scott, August 7, 1863, +Ibid., no. 268, pp. 179-180]. In the fall, Steele renewed the +contract with Johnson and Grimes [Steele to S.A. Roberts, November 15, +1863, Ibid., no. 267, p. 37] and detailed men from his command, +from Martin's regiment, to assist in its execution [Steele to +McCulloch, November 22, 1863, Ibid., p. 41].] + +[Footnote 883: The Creeks were particularly dissatisfied. They claimed +that food and raiment had been promised them, but the source of the +promises Steele was powerless to determine [Steele to Vore, November +20, 1863, Ibid., p. 39]. Indian soldiers on leave seemed to +expect their usual allowances and Cooper, although disclaiming that +he had any desire to "pander to the prejudices" of the natives, was +always to be found on their side in any contention with Steele. To all +appearances, the Indians had Cooper's support, in demanding all the +privileges and profits of regular troops and "all the latitude +of irregular, or partisan" [Steele to Cooper, November 24, 1863, +Ibid., pp. 44-45].] + +[Footnote 884: Concerning the request of Steele that cotton and teams +be ordered exempt from impressment, see Steele to Bryan, November +9, 1863. _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 267, p. 31. The +Choctaws had considerable cotton and the question was what was to be +done with it in case of an advance of (cont.)] + +frequently was this the case in the matter of transportation +facilities, in that also of negro labor. It was Steele's opinion that +the impressment law and the grain tithe law were not operative as +against the Indians[885] but his necessities forced the practice, +and execution by the army, under his orders, only intensified Indian +opposition to him. + +Indian opposition to Steele in tangible form took two directions, +one of which, the advancement of Douglas H. Cooper, has already been +frequently referred to. The other was the advancement of Stand Watie. +During the summer, Stand Watie, as chief of the Confederate Cherokees, +had authorized the formation of a Cherokee brigade,[886] the object +being, the dislodgment of the Federals from Fort Gibson and their +consequent retirement from the Cherokee country. The brigade had not +materialized; but all Stand Watie's subsequent efforts were directed +towards the accomplishment of its patriotic object. Love of country +best explains his whole military endeavor. The enemy in the Cherokee +country he harassed, the enemy elsewhere, he left for others to deal +with. Generally speaking, in consequence, the autumn months of 1863 +found Watie hovering around the Arkansas, the Cherokees and their +neighbors with him, while Cooper, almost equally particularistic +because the Choctaws and Chickasaws were his main support, concerned +himself with plans for the recovery of Fort Smith. + +[Footnote 884: (cont.) the enemy. Was it to be burnt and the owners +were they to be indemnified [Steele to Anderson, December 9, 1863, +_Confederate Records_, p. 68]? Steele peremptorily forbade +confiscation of Indian property and discouraged any interference "with +the duties of agents, or with the National Council or government of +the tribes" [Steele to Captain J.L. Randolph, enrolling officer, July +7, 1863, Ibid., no. 268, p. 132].] + +[Footnote 885: Crosby to A.S. Cabell, October 6, 1863, Ibid., +no. 267, p. 2.] + +[Footnote 886: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1103.] + +The fervid patriotism of one leader and the overweening personal +ambition of the other divided the Indians, then, into two camps and it +was but natural that the idea should soon evolve that Indian interests +could be best subserved by the formation of two distinct +Indian brigades. To this idea General Smith, when appealed to, +subscribed;[887] but General Steele was dubious about the propriety of +putting Stand Watie in charge of one of the brigades. "He appears to +exercise," said Steele, "no restraint over his men in keeping them +together, and his requisitions upon the depots seem to be made with +utter disregard of the numbers present or even on his rolls."[888] +General Smith conceived it would be possible, by organizing the +Indians into their own brigades and satisfying them that way, to draw +off the white contingent and make of it a separate brigade, still +operating, however, within the Indian country. To Cooper, the thought +of a separate white brigade was most unwelcome. The Indians could be +an effective force only in close conjunction with white troops. The +separation of whites and Indians would inevitably mean, although not +at present intended, the isolation of the latter and, perhaps, their +ultimate abandonment. + +The various proposals and counter-proposals all converged in an +opposition to Steele. His presence in the Indian country seemed to +block the advancement of everybody. Cooper resented his authority +over himself and Stand Watie interpreted his waiting policy as due to +inertness and ineptitude. So small a hold did the Federals really have +on the Indian country that if Steele would only exert himself it could +easily be + +[Footnote 887: _Official Records_, vol. 22, part ii, 1055-1056.] + +[Footnote 888:--Ibid., 1065.] + +broken. But Steele was neither aggressive nor venturesome. His task +was truly beyond him. Discouraged, he asked to be relieved and he +was relieved, Brigadier-general Samuel B. Maxey being chosen as his +successor.[889] Again Cooper had been passed over, notwithstanding +that his Indian friends had done everything they could for him. They +had made allegations against Steele; in order that a major-generalship +might be secured for Cooper and brigadier-generalships for some of +themselves.[890] Boudinot was believed by Steele to be at the bottom +of the whole scheme; but it had been in process of concoction for a +long time and Steele had few friends. General Smith was the stanchest +of that few and even Holmes[891] was not among them. + +Obviously, with things in such a chaotic state, military operations +in the Indian country, during the autumn and early winter were almost +negligible.[892] Steele expected that the Federals would attempt a +drive from Fort Smith to the Red River and he collected what forces he +could for that contingency. Little reliance was to be placed upon the +Cherokees since they were intent upon recovering Fort Gibson; but the +Choctaws through whose country the hostile force would proceed, were +the drive made, aroused themselves as in the first days of the war. +They recruited their regiments anew + +[Footnote 889: Special Orders, no. 214, December 11, 1863, _Official +Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1094.] + +[Footnote 890: Steele to S. Cooper, December 19, 1863, Ibid., +1100-1101.] + +[Footnote 891: Boudinot to Davis, December 21, 1863, Ibid., +1103.] + +[Footnote 892: Steele contended that between the very natural fear +that the Indians entertained that the white troops were going to be +withdrawn from their country and Magruder's determination to get those +same white troops, it was impossible to make any move upon military +principles [Steele to Anderson, November 9, 1863, Ibid., +1064-1065]. Steele refused to recognize Magruder's right to interfere +with his command [Steele to Cooper, November 8, 1863, Ibid., +1063-1064].] + +and they organized a militia; but the drive was never made.[893] + +The only military activity anywhere was in the Cherokee country and it +was almost too insignificant for mention. Towards the end of November, +the Federal force there was greatly reduced in numbers, the white and +negro contingents being called away to Fort Smith.[894] The Indian +Home Guards under Phillips were alone in occupation. With a detachment +of the Third Indian, Watie had one lone skirmish, although about one +half of Phillips's brigade was out scouting. The skirmish occurred +on Barren Fork, a tributary of the Illinois, on the eighteenth of +December.[895] Late in November, Watie had planned a daring cavalry +raid into the Neosho Valley.[896] The skirmish on Barren Fork arrested +him in his course somewhat; but, as the Federals, satisfied with a +rather petty success, did not pursue him, he went on and succeeded in +entering southwest Missouri. The raid did little damage and was only +another of the disjointed individual undertakings that Steele deplored +but that the Confederates were being more and more compelled to make. + +[Footnote 893: Steele to Gov. Samuel Garland, Nov. 30, 1863, +_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1082. Col. McCurtain +of the Choctaw militia reported to Cooper that he expected to have +fifteen hundred Choctaws assembled by December first [Steele to Cano, +December 2, 1863, Ibid., 1085]. The Second Choctaw regiment +continued scattered and out of ammunition [Steele to Cooper, December +22, 1863, Ibid., 1109]. The Seminole battalion was ordered to +report to Bourland for frontier defence [Duval to Cooper, December 20, +1863, Ibid., 1102].] + +[Footnote 894: Britton, _Civil War on the Borde_, vol. ii, 236.] + +[Footnote 895: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 781-782.] + +[Footnote 896:--Ibid., part ii, 722, 746, 752.] + + + + +XIII. ASPECTS, CHIEFLY MILITARY, 1864-1865 + + +The assignment of General Maxey to the command of Indian Territory +invigorated Confederate administration north of the Red River, the +only part of the country in undisputed occupancy. Close upon the +assumption of his new duties, came a project[897] for sweeping +reforms, involving army reorganization, camps of instruction for the +Indian soldiery, a more general enlistment, virtually conscription, of +Indians--this upon the theory that "Whosoever is not for us is against +us"--the selection of more competent and reliable staff officers, and +the adoption of such a plan of offensive operations as would mean the +retaking of Forts Smith and Gibson.[898] To Maxey, thoroughly familiar +with the geography of the region, the surrender of those two places +appeared as a gross error in military technique; for the Arkansas +River was a natural line of defence, the Red was not. "If the Indian +Territory gives way," argued he, "the granary of the Trans-Mississippi +Department, the breadstuffs, and beef of this and the Arkansas army +are gone, the left flank of Holmes' army is turned, and with it not +only the meat and bread, but the salt and iron of what is left of the +Trans-Mississippi Department."[899] + +[Footnote 897: Maxey to Anderson, January 12, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 856-858.] + +[Footnote 898: To this list might be added the proper fitting out of +the troops, which was one of the first things that Maxey called to +Smith's attention [Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, 1112-1113].] + +[Footnote 899: This idea met with Smith's full approval [Ibid., +vol. xxxiv, part ii, 918].] + +Army reorganization was an immense proposition and was bound to be a +difficult undertaking under the most favorable of auspices, yet it +stood as fundamental to everything else. Upon what lines ought it to +proceed? One possibility was, the formation of the two brigades, with +Stand Watie and Cooper individually in command, which had already been +suggested to General Smith and favored by him; but which had recently +been found incompatible with his latest recommendation that all the +Indian troops should be commanded, _in toto_, by Cooper.[900] One +feature of great importance in its favor it had in that it did not +ostensibly run counter to the Indian understanding of their treaties +that white troops should be always associated with Indian in the +guaranteed protection of the Indian country, which was all very well +but scarcely enough to balance an insuperable objection, which Cooper, +when consulted, pointed out.[901] The Indians had a strong aversion +to any military consolidation that involved the elimination of their +separate tribal characters. They had allied themselves with the +Confederacy as nations and as nations they wished to fight. Moreover, +due regard ought always to be given, argued Cooper, to their tribal +prejudices, their preferences, call them what one will, and to their +historical neighborhood alliances. Choctaws and Chickasaws might well +stay together and Creeks and Seminoles; but woe betide the contrivance +that should attempt the amalgamation of Choctaws and Cherokees. + +[Footnote 900: This is given upon the authority of Maxey [_Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 857]. It seems slightly at variance +with Smith's own official statements. Smith would appear to have +entertained a deep distrust of Cooper, whose promotion he did not +regard as either "wise or necessary" [Ibid., vol. xxii, part +ii, 1102].] + +[Footnote 901: Cooper to T.M. Scott, January, 1864 [Ibid., vol. +xxxiv, part ii, 859-862].] + +[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF MONTHLY INSPECTION REPORT OF THE FIRST +CREEK REGIMENT OF MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS.] + +It seems a little strange that the Indians should so emphasize their +national individualism at this particular time, inasmuch as six of +them, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Caddo, +professing to be still in strict alliance with the Southern States, +had formed an Indian confederacy, had collectively re-asserted their +allegiance, pledged their continued support, and made reciprocal +demands. All these things they had done in a joint, or general, +council, which had been held at Armstrong Academy the previous +November. Resolutions of the council, embodying the collective pledges +and demands, were even at this very moment under consideration by +President Davis and were having not a little to do with his attitude +toward the whole Maxey programme. + +In the matter of army reorganization, Smith was prepared to concede +to Maxey a large discretion.[902] The brigading that would most +comfortably fit in with the nationalistic feelings of the Indians and, +at the same time, accord, in spirit, with treaty obligations and also +make it possible for Cooper to have a supreme command of the Indian +forces in the field was that which Cooper himself advocated, the same +that Boudinot took occasion, at this juncture, to urge upon President +Davis.[903] It was a plan for three distinct Indian brigades, a +Cherokee, a Creek-Seminole, and a Choctaw-Chickasaw. Maxey thought "it +would be a fine recruiting order,"[904] yet, notwithstanding, he gave +his + +[Footnote 902: _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 917.] + +[Footnote 903: Boudinot to Davis, January 4, 1864 [Ibid., vol. +liii, supplement, 920-921]. Boudinot also suggested other things, some +good, some bad. He suggested, for instance, that Indian Territory be +attached to Missouri and Price put in command. Seddon doubted if Price +would care for the place [Ibid., 921].] + +[Footnote 904:--Ibid., vol. xxxiv, part ii, 858.] + +preference for the two brigade plan.[905] The promotion of Cooper, +implicit in the three brigade plan, was not at all pleasing to General +Smith; for he thought of it as reflecting upon Steele, whom he loyally +described as having "labored conscientiously and faithfully in +the discharge of his duties."[906] With Steele removed from the +scene[907]--and he was soon removed for he had been retained in the +Indian country only that Maxey might have for a brief season the +benefit of his experience[908]--the case was altered and Boudinot +again pressed his point,[909] obtaining, finally, the assurance of +the War Department that so soon as the number of Indian regiments +justified the organization of three brigades they should be +formed.[910] + +The formation of brigades was only one of the Indian demands that had +emanated from the general council. Another was, the establishment of +Indian Territory as a military department, an arrangement altogether +inadvisable and for better reasons than the one reason that Davis +offered when he addressed the united nations through their principal +chiefs on the twenty-second of February.[911] Davis's reason was that + +[Footnote 905: Maxey to Smith, January 15, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 875.] + +[Footnote 906:--Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, 1101-1102.] + +[Footnote 907:--Ibid., vol. xxxiv, part ii, 845, 848.] + +[Footnote 908: So Smith explained [Ibid., 845], when Steele +objected to staying in the Indian Territory in a subordinate capacity +[Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, 1108]. Steele was transferred to +the District of Texas [Ibid., vol. xxxiv, part ii, 961]. The +withdrawal of Steele left Cooper the ranking officer and the person on +whom such a command, if created, would fall [Ibid., vol. liii, +supplement, 968-969].] + +[Footnote 909: Boudinot to Davis, February 11, 1864, Ibid., +968.] + +[Footnote 910: Seddon to Davis, February 22, 1864, Ibid., +968-969.] + +[Footnote 911: Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the +Confederacy_, vol. i, 477-479; _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, +part iii, 824-825. Davis addressed the chiefs and not the delegation +that had brought the resolutions [Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, +1030-1031]. John Jumper, Seminole principal chief, was a member of the +delegation.] + +as a separate department Indian Territory could not count upon the +protection of the forces belonging to the Trans-Mississippi Department +that was assured to her while she remained one of its integral parts. +A distinct military district she should certainly be. + +When Davis wrote, the ambition of Cooper had, in a measure, been +satisfied; for he had been put in command of all "the Indian troops in +the Trans-Mississippi Department on the borders of Arkansas."[912] It +was by no means all he wanted or all that he felt himself entitled to +and he soon let it be known that such was the state of affairs. He +tried to presume upon the fact that his commission as superintendent +of Indian affairs had issued from the government, although never +actually delivered to him, and, in virtue of it, he was in military +command.[913] The quietus came from General Smith, who informed Cooper +that his new command and he himself were under Maxey.[914] + +It was hoped that prospective Indian brigades would be a powerful +incentive to Indian enlistment and so they proved. Moreover, much +was expected in that direction from the reassembling of the general +council at Armstrong Academy, and much had to be; for the times were +critical. Maxey's position was not likely to be a sinecure. As a +friend wrote him, + + Northern Texas and the Indian Department have been neglected + so long that they have become the most difficult and the most + responsible commands in the Trans-Mississippi Department. I + tremble for you. A great name is in store for you or you fall into + the rank of failures; the latter may be your + +[Footnote 912: _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 848; +Special Orders of the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, 1864, +_Confederate Records_, no. 7, p. 15.] + +[Footnote 913: Cooper to Davis, February 29, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 1007.] + +[Footnote 914:--Ibid., 1008.] + + fate, and might be the fate of any man, even after an entire and + perfect devotion of all one's time and talent, for want of + the proper means. In military matters these things are never + considered. Success is the only criterion--a good rule, upon the + whole, though in many instances it works great injustice. Good + and deserving men fall, and accidental heroes rise in the scale, + kicking their less fortunate brothers from the platform.[915] + +With a view to strengthening the Indian alliance and accomplishing +all that was necessary to make it effective, Commissioner Scott was +ordered by Seddon to attend the meeting of the general council.[916] +Unfortunately, he did not arrive at Armstrong Academy in time, most +unfortunately, in fact, since he was expected to bring funds with +him and funds were sadly needed. Maxey attended and delivered an +address[917] that rallied the Indians in spite of themselves. In +council meeting they had many things to consider, whether or no they +should insist upon confining their operations henceforth to their own +country. Some were for making a raid into Kansas, some for forming an +alliance with the Indians of the Plains,[918] who, during this year +of 1864, were to prove a veritable thorn in the flesh to Kansas and +Colorado.[919] As regarded some of the work of the general council, +Samuel Garland, the principal chief of the Choctaws, proved a huge +stumbling block, + +[Footnote 915: S.A. Roberts to Maxey, February 1, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 936-937.] + +[Footnote 916: Seddon to Scott, January 6, 1864, Ibid., +828-829.] + +[Footnote 917: Moty Kanard, late principal chief of the Creek +Nation, spoke of it as a _noble_ address and begged for a copy +[Ibid., 960].] + +[Footnote 918: Vore to Maxey, January 29, 1864, Ibid., 928; +Maxey to Anderson, February 9, 1864, Ibid., 958; same to same, +February 7, 1864, Ibid., vol. liii, supplement, 963-966.] + +[Footnote 919: Inasmuch as the alliance with the Indians of the Plains +was never fully consummated and inasmuch as these Indians harassed and +devastated the frontier states for reasons quite foreign to the causes +of the Civil War, the subject of their depredations and outrages is +not considered as within the scope of the present volume.] + +and Cooper was forced, so he said, to "put the members of the grand +council to work on" him.[920] It was Cooper's wish, evidently, that +the council would "insist under the Indian compact that all Choctaw +troops shall be put at once in the field as regular Confederate troops +for the redemption and defense of the whole Indian Territory." The +obstinacy of the Choctaw principal chief had to be overcome in order +"to bring out the Third Choctaw Regiment speedily and on the proper +basis." In general, the council reiterated its recommendations of +November previous and so Boudinot informed President Davis,[921] it +being with him the opportunity he coveted of urging, as already noted, +the promotion of Cooper to a major-generalship. + +In January and so anterior to most of the foregoing incidents, the +shaking of the political dice in Washington, D.C., had brought again +into existence the old Department of Kansas, Curtis in command.[922] +Its limits were peculiar for they included Indian Territory[923] and +the military post of Fort Smith as well as Kansas and the territories +of Nebraska and Colorado. The status of Fort Smith was a question for +the future to decide; but, in the meantime, it was to be a bone of +contention between Curtis and his colleague, Frederick Steele, in +command of the sister Department of + +[Footnote 920: Cooper to Maxey, February, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 959. The report reached Phillips +that the Choctaws wanted a confederacy quite independent of the +southern [Ibid., part i, 107].] + +[Footnote 921: Although Davis's address of February 22 could well, +in point of chronology, have been an answer to the applications and +recommendations of the second session of the general council, it +has been dealt with in connection with those of the first session, +notwithstanding that Boudinot made his appeal less than a fortnight +before Davis wrote. In his address, Davis specifically mentioned the +work of the first session and made no reference whatsoever to that of +the second.] + +[Footnote 922: _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 10.] + +[Footnote 923: Ewing wanted the command of Indian Territory, +Ibid., 89.] + +Arkansas; for Steele had control over all Federal forces within the +political and geographical boundaries of the state that gave the name +to his department except the Fort Smith garrison.[924] The termination +of Schofield's career in Missouri[925] was another result of political +dice-throwing, so also was the call for Blunt to repair to the +national capital for a conference.[926] + +But politics had nothing whatever to do with an event more notable +still. With the first of February began one of the most remarkable +expeditions that had yet been undertaken in the Indian country. It +was an expedition conducted by Colonel William A. Phillips and it was +remarkable because, while it professed to have for its object the +cleaning out of Indian Territory,[927] its incidents were as much +diplomatic and pacific as military. Its course was only feebly +obstructed and might have been extended into northern Texas had +Moonlight of the Fourteenth Kansas Cavalry chosen to coöperate.[928] +As it was, the course was southward almost to Fort Washita. +Phillips carried with him copies of President Lincoln's Amnesty +Proclamation[929] and he distributed them freely. His interpretation +of the proclamation was his own and perhaps not strictly warranted by +the phraseology but justice and generosity debarred his seeing why +magnanimity and forgiveness should not be extended betimes to the poor +deluded red man as much as to the deliberately rebellious white. To +various prominent chiefs + +[Footnote 924: _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 167, +187.] + +[Footnote 925:--Ibid., 188.] + +[Footnote 926: Lane, Wilder, and Dole, requested that Blunt be +summoned to Washington [Ibid., 52].] + +[Footnote 927: See Phillips's address to his soldiers, January 30, +1864, Ibid., 190.] + +[Footnote 928: Phillips to Curtis, February 16, 1864, Ibid., +part i, 106-108.] + +[Footnote 929: Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the +Presidents_, vol. vi, 213-215.] + +of secessionist persuasion he sent messages of encouragement and +good-will.[930] More sanguine than circumstances really justified, he +returned to report that, for some of the tribes at least, the war was +virtually over.[931] What his peace mission may have accomplished, the +future would reveal; but there was no doubting what his raid had done. +It had produced consternation among the weaker elements. The Creeks, +the Seminoles, and the Chickasaws had widely dispersed, some into the +fastnesses of the mountains. Only the Choctaws continued obdurate +and defiant. It was strange that Phillips should have arrived at +conclusions so sweeping; for his course[932] had led him within +hearing range of the general council in session at Armstrong Academy +and there the division of sentiment was not so much along tribal lines +as along individual. Strong personalities triumphed; for, as Maxey so +truly divined, the Indian nations were after all aristocracies. The +minority really ruled. At Armstrong Academy, in spite of tendencies +toward an isolation that, in effect, would have been neutrality and, +on the part of a few, toward a definite retracing of steps, the +southern Indians renewed their pledges of loyalty to the Confederacy. +Phillips's olive branch was in their hands and they threw it aside. +Months before they might have been secured for the North but not now. +For them the hour of wavering was past. Maxey's vigor was stimulating. + +[Footnote 930: To Governor Colbert of the Chickasaw Nation +[_Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part i, 109-110], to the Council +of the Choctaw Nation [Ibid., 110], to John Jumper of the +Seminole Nation [Ibid., 111], to McIntosh, possibly D.N. +[Ibid., part ii, 997]. For Maxey's comments upon Phillips and +his letters, see Maxey to Smith, February 26, 1864, Ibid., +994-997.] + +[Footnote 931: Phillips to Curtis, February 24, 1864, Ibid., +part i, 108-109.] + +[Footnote 932: For the itinerary of the course, see Ibid., +111-112.] + +The explanation of Phillips's whole proceeding during the month of +February is to be found in his genuine friendship for the Indian, +which eventually profited him much, it is true, but, from this time +henceforth, was lifelong. He stood in somewhat of a contrast to Blunt, +whom General Steele thought unprincipled[933] and who in Southern +parlance was "an old land speculator,"[934] and to Curtis, who was +soon to show himself, as far as the Indians were concerned, in his +true colors. While Phillips was absent from Fort Gibson, Curtis +arrived there. He was making a reconnoissance of his command and, as +he passed over one reservation after another, he doubtless coveted the +Indian land for white settlement and justified to himself a scheme +of forfeiture as a way of penalizing the red men for their +defection.[935] Phillips was not encouraged to repeat his peace +mission. + +Blunt's journey to Washington had results, complimentary and +gratifying to his vanity because publicly vindicatory. On the +twenty-seventh of February he was restored to his old command or, to +be exact, ordered "to resume command of so much of the District of the +Frontier as is included within the boundaries of the Department of +Kansas."[936] His headquarters were at Fort Smith and immediately +began the controversy between him and Thayer, although scornfully +unacknowledged by Thayer, as to the status of Fort Smith. Thayer +refused to admit that there could be any issue[937] between them for +the law in the case was clear. What Blunt and Curtis really wanted was +to get hold of the + +[Footnote 933: F. Steele to S. Breck, March 27, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 751.] + +[Footnote 934: T.M. Scott to Maxey, April 12, 1864, Ibid., part +iii, 762.] + +[Footnote 935: This matter is very much generalized here for the +reason that it properly belongs in the volume on reconstruction that +is yet to come.] + +[Footnote 936: February 23, 1864, _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, +part ii, 408.] + +[Footnote 937: John M. Thayer to Charles A. Dana, March 15, 1864, +Ibid., 617.] + +western counties of Arkansas[938] so as to round out the Department of +Kansas. To them it was absurd that Fort Smith should be within their +jurisdiction and its environs within Steele and Thayer's. The upshot +of the quarrel was, the reorganization of the frontier departments on +the seventeenth of April which gave Fort Smith and Indian Territory to +the Department of Arkansas[939] and sent Blunt back to Leavenworth. +His removal from Fort Smith, especially as Curtis had intended, had +no change in department limits been made, to transfer Blunt's +headquarters to Fort Gibson,[940] was an immense relief to Phillips. +Blunt and Phillips had long since ceased to have harmonious views with +respect to Indian Territory. During his short term of power, Blunt had +managed so to deplete Phillips's forces that two of the three Indian +regiments were practically all that now remained to him since one, the +Second Indian Home Guards, had been permanently stationed at Mackey's +Salt Works on the plea that its colonel, John Ritchie, was Phillips's +ranking officer and it was not expedient that he and Phillips "should +operate together."[941] Blunt had detached also a part of the Third +Indian and had placed it at Scullyville as an outpost to Fort Smith. +There were to be no more advances southward for Phillips.[942] Instead +of making them he was to occupy himself with the completion of the +fortifications at Fort Gibson.[943] + +[Footnote 938: Thayer to Grant, March 11, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 566.] + +[Footnote 939:--Ibid., part iii, 192, 196.] + +[Footnote 940:--Ibid., part ii, 651. Blunt would have preferred +Scullyville [Ibid., part iii, 13].] + +[Footnote 941: Blunt to Curtis, March 30, 1864, Ibid., part ii, +791.] + +[Footnote 942: Blunt to Phillips, April 3, 1864, Ibid., part +iii, 32; Phillips to Curtis, April 5, 1864, Ibid., 52-53.] + +[Footnote 943: Curtis had ordered the completion of the fortifications +which might be taken to imply that he too was not favoring a forward +policy.] + +Among the southern Indians, Maxey's reconstruction policy was all this +time having its effect. It was revitalizing the Indian alliance with +the Confederacy, but army conditions were yet a long way from being +satisfactory. In March Price relieved Holmes in command of the +District of Arkansas.[944] A vigorous campaign was in prospect and +Price asked for all the help the department commander could afford +him. The District of Indian Territory had forces and of all the +disposable Price asked the loan. Maxey, unlike his predecessors, was +more than willing to coöperate but one difficulty, which he would fain +have ignored himself--for he was not an Albert Pike--he was compelled +to report. The Indians had to be free, absolutely free, to go or to +stay.[945] The choice of coöperating was theirs but theirs also the +power to refuse to coöperate, if they so desired, and no questions +asked. The day had passed when Arkansans or Texans could decide the +matter arbitrarily. Watie was expected to prefer to continue the +irregular warfare that he and Adair, his colonel of scouts, had so +successfully been waging for a goodly time now. Formerly, they +had waged it to Steele's great annoyance;[946] but Maxey felt no +repugnance to the services of Quantrill, so, of course, had nothing to +say in disparagement of the work of Watie. It was the kind of work, he +frankly admitted he thought the Indians best adapted to. The Choctaws +under Tandy Walker were found quite willing to cross the line and +they did excellent service in the Camden campaign, which, both in the +cannonade near Prairie d'Ane on the thirteenth of April and in the +Battle of Poison Spring on the + +[Footnote 944: _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 1034, +1036.] + +[Footnote 945: Maxey to Smith, April 3, 1864, Ibid., part iii, +728-729.] + +[Footnote 946: For Steele's opposition to Adair's predatory movements, +see _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, nos. 267, 268.] + +eighteenth of April, offered a thorough test of what Indians could do +when well disciplined, well officered, and well considered. The Indian +reinforcement of Marmaduke was ungrudgingly given and ungrudgingly +commended.[947] The Camden campaign was short and, when about over, +Maxey was released from duty with Price's army. His own district +demanded attention[948] and the Indians recrossed the line. + +Price's call for help had come before Maxey had taken more than the +most preliminary of steps towards the reorganization of his forces and +not much was he able to do until near the end of June. Two brigades +had been formed without difficulty and Cooper had secured his +division; but after that had come protracted delay. The nature of the +delay made it a not altogether bad thing since the days that passed +were days of stirring events. In the case of Stand Watie's First +Brigade no less than of Tandy Walker's Second were the events +distinguished by measurable success. The Indians were generally +in high good humor; for even small successes, when coupled with +appreciation of effort expended, will produce that. One adventure of +Watie's, most timely and a little out of the ordinary, had been very +exhilarating. It was the seizure of a supply boat on the Arkansas at +Pheasant Bluff, not far from the mouth of the Canadian up which the +boat was towed until its commissary stores had been extracted. The +boat was the Williams, bound for Fort Gibson.[949] + +[Footnote 947: Williamson to Maxey, April 28, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xxxiv, part i, 845.] + +[Footnote 948: It had not been Smith's intention that he should go +out of his own district, where his services were indispensable, until +Price's need should be found to be really urgent [Boggs to Maxey, +April 12, 1864, Ibid., part iii, 760-761].] + +[Footnote 949: --Ibid., part i, 1011-1013; part iv, 686-687.] + +It was under the inspiration of such recent victories that the +southern Indians took up for consideration the matter of reënlistment, +the expiration "of the present term of service" being near at hand. +Parts of the Second Brigade took action first and, on the twenty-third +of June, the First Choctaw Regiment unanimously reenlisted for the +war. Cooper was present at the meeting "by previous request."[950] +Resolutions[951] were drawn up and adopted that reflected the new +enthusiasm. Other Choctaw regiments were to be prevailed upon to +follow suit and the leading men of the tribe, inclusive of Chief +Garland who was not present, were to be informed that the First +Choctaw demanded of them, in their legislative and administrative +capacities "such co-operation as will force all able-bodied free +citizens of the Choctaw Nation, between the ages of eighteen and +forty-five years, and fitted for military service, to at once join the +army and aid in the common defense of the Choctaw Nation, and give +such other coöperation to the Confederate military authorities as will +effectually relieve our country from Federal rule and ruin." + +The First Brigade was not behindhand except in point of time by a few +days. All Cherokee military units were summoned to Watie's camp +on Limestone Prairie.[952] The assemblage began its work on the +twenty-seventh of June, made it short and decisive and indicated it in +a single resolution: + + Whereas, the final issue of the present struggle between the North + and South involves the destiny of the Indian Territory alike with + that of the Confederate States: Therefore, + + _Resolved_, That we, the Cherokee Troops, C.S. Army, do + +[Footnote 950: _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part iv, 694.] + +[Footnote 951: --Ibid., 695.] + +[Footnote 952: Stand Watie to Cooper, June 27, 1864, Ibid., +part i, 1013.] + + unanimously re-enlist as soldiers for the war, be it long or + short.[953] + +No action was taken on the policy of conscription; but, in July, the +Cherokee National Council met and, to it, Chief Watie proposed the +enactment of a conscription law.[954] + +As a corollary to reorganization, the three brigade plan was now put +tentatively into operation. It was, in truth, "a fine recruiting +order," and Commissioner Scott, when making his annual rounds in +August, was able to report to Secretary Seddon, + + It is proposed to organize them into three brigades, to be called + the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek Brigades; the Cherokee Brigade, + composed of Cherokees, Chickasaws, and Osages, has already been + organized; the Creek Brigade, composed of Creeks and Seminoles, is + about being so, and the Choctaws anticipate no difficulty in + being able to raise the number of men required to complete the + organization of the Choctaw Brigade.[955] + +Behind all this virility was General Maxey. Without him, it is safe to +say, the war for the Indians would have ended in the preceding winter. +In military achievements, others might equal or excel him but in +rulings[956] that endeared him to the Indians and in + +[Footnote 953: _Official Records_, vol. xli, part ii, 1013.] + +[Footnote 954: --Ibid., 1046-1047. The general council of the +confederated tribes had recommended an increase in the armed force of +Indian Territory and that it was felt could best be obtained, in these +days of wavering faith, only by conscription. The general council +was expected to meet again, July 20, at Chouteau's Trading House +[Ibid., 1047]. In October, the Chickasaws resorted to +conscription. For the text of the conscription act, see Ibid., +vol. liii, supplement, 1024-1025.] + +[Footnote 955:--Ibid., vol. xli, part ii, 1078. For additional +facts concerning the progress of reorganization, see Portlock to +Marston, August 5, 1864, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 259, +p. 37; Portlock to Captain E. Walworth, August 27, 1864, Ibid., +pp. 42-43.] + +[Footnote 956: The most significant of Maxey's rulings was that on +official precedence. His position was that no race or color line +should be drawn in determining (cont.)] + +propaganda work he had no peer. At Fort Towson, his headquarters, +he had set up a printing press, from which issued many and many a +document, the purpose of each and every one the same. The following +quotation from one of Maxey's letters illustrates the purpose and, at +the same time, exhibits the methods and the temper of the man behind +it. The matter he was discussing when writing was the Camden campaign, +in connection with which, he said, + + ... In the address of General Smith the soldiers of Arkansas, + Missouri, Texas, and Louisiana are specially named. The soldiers + from this Territory bore an humbler part in the campaign, and + although they did not do a great deal, yet a fair share of the + killed, wounded, captured, and captured property and cannon can be + credited to them. I had a number of General Smith's address struck + off for circulation here, and knowing the omission would be + noticed and felt, I inserted after Louisiana, "and of the + Indian Territory," which I hope will not meet General Smith's + disapproval. + + I would suggest that want of transportation in this Territory will + cripple movements very much.... + + During my absence General Cooper urged General McCulloch to help + him in this particular; General M. replies he can do "absolutely + nothing." I am not disposed to complain about anything, but I do + think this thing ought to be understood and regulated. Supplies + of breadstuffs and forage, as well as clothing, sugar, etc., all + having to be drawn from beyond the limits of this Territory, a + more than ordinary supply of transportation is necessary. To that + for the troops must be added that made necessary by the destitute + thrown on the hands of the Government and who must be taken care + of. I do not expect General Smith to investigate and study the + peculiar + +[Footnote 956: (cont.) the relative rank of officers [Maxey to Cooper, +June 29, 1864, _Official Records_, vol. xxxiv, part iv, 698-699] +and he held that Confederate law recognized no distinction between +Indian and white officers of the same rank. Charles de Morse, a Texan, +with whom General Steele had had several differences, took great +exception to Maxey's decision. Race prejudice was strong in him. Had +there been many like him, the Indians, with any sense of dignity, +could never have continued long identified with the Confederate cause. +For De Morse's letter of protest, see Ibid., 699-700.] + + characteristics of command here so closely as I have. He hasn't + the time, nor is it necessary. In my opinion no effort should be + spared to hold this country. Its loss would work a more permanent + injury than the loss of any State in the Confederacy. States can + be recovered--the Indian Territory, once gone, never. Whites, when + exiled by a cruel foe, find friends amongst their race; Indians + have nowhere to go. Let the enemy once occupy the country to Red + River and the Indians give way to despair. I doubt whether many of + the highest officials in our Government have ever closely studied + this subject. It is the great barrier to the empire State of the + South from her foe now and in peace. Let Federalism reach the Red + River, the effects will not stop there. The doctrine of _uti + possidetis_ may yet play an important part. + + I believe from what I have heard that Mr. Davis has a fair + knowledge of this subject, and I think from conversations with + General Smith he has, but his whole time being occupied with his + immense department--an empire--I trust he will pardon me when I + say that no effort of commissaries, quartermasters, or anybody + else should be spared to hold this country, and I only regret that + it has not fallen into abler hands than mine....[957] + +Military reorganization[958] for the Indian troops had, in reality, +come too late. Confederate warfare all along the frontier, in the +summer and autumn of 1864, was little more than a series of raids, +of which Price's Missouri was the greatest. For raiding, the best of +organization was never needed. Watie, Shelby, Price were all men of +the same stamp. Watie was the greatest of Indian raiders and his mere +name became almost as much of a terror as Quantrill's with which it +was frequently found associated, rightly or wrongly. Around Fort Smith +in July and farther north in August the Indian raided to good effect. +Usually, when he raided in the upper part of his own country, Federal + +[Footnote 957: Maxey to Boggs, May 11, 1864, _Official Records_, +vol. xxxiv, part iii, 820.] + +[Footnote 958: For progress reached in reorganization by October, +see orders issued by direction of Maxey, Ibid., vol. liii, +supplement, 1023.] + +supply trains were his objective, but not always. The refugees were +coming back from Kansas and their new home beginnings were mercilessly +preyed upon by their Confederate fellow tribesmen, who felt for the +owners a vindictive hatred that knew no relenting. + +Watie's last great raid was another Cabin Creek affair that reversed +the failure of two years before. It occurred in September and was +undertaken by Watie and Gano together, the former waiving rank in +favor of the latter for the time being.[959] A brilliant thing, it +was, so Maxey, and Smith's adjutant after him, reported.[960] The +booty taken was great in amount and as much as possible of it utilized +on the spot. Maxey regretted that the Choctaws were not on hand +also to be fitted out with much-needed clothing.[961] It was in +contemplation that Watie should make a raid into Kansas to serve as +a diversion, while Price was raiding Missouri.[962] The Kansans had +probably much to be thankful for that circumstances hindered his +penetrating far, since, at Cabin Creek, some of his men, becoming +intoxicated, committed horrible excesses and "slaughtered +indiscriminately."[963] + +Had the force at Fort Gibson been at all adequate to the needs of the +country it was supposed to defend, such raids as Watie's would have +been an utter impossibility. Thanks to Federal indifference and +mismanagement, however, the safety of Indian Territory was + +[Footnote 959: Cooper to T.M. Scott, October 1, 1864, _Official +Records_, vol. xli, part i, 783; Watie to T.B. Heiston, October 3, +1864, Ibid., 785.] + +[Footnote 960:--Ibid., 793, 794. Cooper described it "as +brilliant as any one of the war" [Ibid., 783] and Maxey +confessed that he had long thought that movements of the raiding kind +were the most valuable for his district [Ibid., 777].] + +[Footnote 961: Maxey to Boggs, October 9, 1864, Ibid., part +iii, 990.] + +[Footnote 962: Cooper to Bell, October 6, 1864, Ibid., +982-984.] + +[Footnote 963: Curtis Johnson to W.H. Morris, September 20, 1864 +[Ibid., part i, 774].] + +of less consequence now than it had been before. The incorporation +with the Department of Arkansas and the consequent separation from +that of Kansas had been anything but a wise move. The relations of the +Indian country with the state in which its exiles had found refuge +were necessarily of the closest and particularly so at this time when +their return from exile was under way and almost over. For reasons +not exactly creditable to the government, when all was known, Colonel +Phillips had been removed from command at Fort Gibson. At the time of +Watie's raid, Colonel C.W. Adams was the incumbent of the post; but, +following it, came Colonel S.H. Wattles[964] and things went rapidly +from bad to worse. The grossest corruption prevailed and, in the +midst of plenty, there was positive want. Throughout the winter, +cattle-driving was indulged in, army men, government agents, and +civilians all participating. It was only the ex-refugee that faced +starvation. All other folk grew rich. Exploitation had succeeded +neglect and Indian Territory presented the spectacle of one of the +greatest scandals of the time; but its full story is not for recital +here. + +Great as Maxey's services to Indian Territory had been and yet were, +he was not without his traducers and Cooper was chief among them, his +overweening + +[Footnote 964: _Official Records_, vol. xli, part iii, 301. +Wattles was not at Fort Gibson a month before he was told to be +prepared to move even his Indian Brigade to Fort Smith [Ibid., +part iv, 130]. The necessity for executing the order never arose, +although all the winter there was talk off and on of abandoning Fort +Gibson entirely, sometimes also there was talk of abandoning Fort +Smith. So weak had the two places been for a long time that Cooper +insisted there was no good reason why the Confederates should not +attempt to seize them. It is interesting that Thayer notified Wattles +to be prepared to move just when there was the greatest prospect of a +Confederate Indian raid into Kansas.] + +ambition being still unsatisfied. In November, at a meeting of the +general council for the confederated tribes, Maxey spoke[965] in his +own defence and spoke eloquently; for his cause was righteous. General +Smith was his friend[966] in the sense that he had been Steele's; +but there soon came a time when even the department commander was +powerless to defend him further. Early in 1865, Cooper journeyed to +Richmond.[967] What he did there can be inferred from the fact that +orders were soon issued for him to relieve Maxey.[968] He assumed +command of the district he had so long coveted and had sacrificed +honor to get, March first,[969] General Smith disapproving of the +whole procedure. "The change," said he, "has not the concurrence of my +judgment, and I believe will not result beneficially."[970] + +But Smith was mistaken in his prognostications. The change was not +just but it did work beneficially. Cooper knew how to manage the +Indians, none better, and the time was fast approaching when they +would need managing, if ever. As the absolute certainty of Confederate +defeat gradually dawned upon them, they became almost desperate. +They had to be handled very carefully lest they break out beyond all +restraint.[971] + +[Footnote 965: _Official Records_, vol. xli, part iv, 1035-1037; +vol. liii, supplement, 1027.] + +[Footnote 966: In July, 1864, orders issued from Richmond for the +retirement of Maxey and the elevation of Cooper [Ibid., part +ii, 1019]; but Smith held them in abeyance [Ibid., part +iii, 971]; for he believed that Maxey's "removal, besides being an +injustice to him, would be a misfortune to the department." The +suppression of the orders failed to meet the approval of the +authorities at Richmond and some time subsequent to the first of +October Smith was informed that the orders were "imperative and must +be carried into effect" [Ibid.,].] + +[Footnote 967: _Official Records_, vol. xlviii, part i, 1382.] + +[Footnote 968:--Ibid., 1403.] + +[Footnote 969:--Ibid., 1408.] + +[Footnote 970:--Ibid.] + +[Footnote 971: The evidence for this is chiefly in Cooper's own letter +book. One published letter is especially valuable in this connection. +It is from Cooper (cont.)] + +Phillips was again in charge of their northern compatriots[972] and, +at Fort Gibson, he, too, was handling Indians carefully. It was in a +final desperate sort of a way that a league with the Indians of the +Plains was again considered advisable and held for debate at the +coming meeting of the general council. To effect it, when decided +upon, the services of Albert Pike were solicited.[973] No other could +be trusted as he. Apparently he never served or agreed to serve[974] +and no alliance was needed; for the war was at an end. On the +twenty-sixth of May, General E. Kirby Smith entered into a convention +with Major-general E.R.S. Canby, commanding the Military Division +of West Mississippi, by which he agreed to surrender the +Trans-Mississippi Department and everything appertaining to it.[975] +The Indians had made an alliance with the Southern Confederacy in +vain. The promises of Pike, of Cooper, and of many another government +agent had all come to naught. + +[Footnote 971: (cont.) confidentially to Anderson, May 15, 1865. +_Official Records_, vol. xlviii, part ii, 1306.] + +[Footnote 972: For Phillips's own account of his reinstallment, +see his letter to Herron, January 16, 1865, Ibid., part i, +542-543.] + +[Footnote 973: Smith to Pike, April 8, 1864, Ibid., part ii, +1266-1269. It was necessary to have someone else beside Throckmorton, +who was a Texan, serve; because the Indians of the Plains had a deep +distrust of Texas and of all Texans [Smith to Cooper, April 8, 1864, +Ibid., 1270-1271; and Smith to Throckmorton, April 8, 1864, +Ibid., 1271-1272].] + +[Footnote 974: Smith issued him a commission however. See +Ibid., 1266.] + +[Footnote 975:--Ibid., 604-606.] + + + + +APPENDIX + + + LITTLE ROCK,[976] + December 30, 1862. + +SIR: My letters, in respectful terms, addressed to your Adjutant +General, when I re-assumed command of the Indian Country, late in +October, have not been fortunate enough to be honored with a reply. +This will reach you through another medium, and so that others besides +yourself shall know its contents. I am no longer an officer under +you, but a private citizen, and _free_, so far as any citizen of +Arkansas can call himself free while he lives in this State; and +I will see whether you are as impervious to _all_ other +considerations, as you are to all sense of courtesy and justice. + +You were sent out to Arkansas with certain _positive_ orders, +which you were _immediately_ to enforce. You _knew_ +that "Gen Hindman never was the commanding General of the Trans. +Mississippi Department," and was not sent there by the War Department; +and that, _therefore_ and _of course_, all his orders were +illegal, for want of power. You _knew_ that he never had any +right to interfere with my command in the Department of Indian +Territory, to take away my troops and ordnance, or to send me +_any_ orders whatever; and that _therefore_ I was +_wholly_ in the right, in all my controversy with him. You +_knew_, also, that in stripping the Indian Country of troops, +artillery, arms and ammunition, he had been guilty of multiplied +outrages, contrary to the will and policy of the President, forbidden +by the Secretary of War for the future, and hostile to the interests +of the Confederacy. + +I had been advised by the Secretary of War, on the 14th of July, +before _you_ were unfortunately thought of [in] connection with +the Trans. Mississippi Department, that Gen. Magruder was assigned to +the command of it; and that although I would be under his command, +it was not doubted that my relations with him would be pleasant and +harmonious, and that I would have such latitude in command of the +Indian country, as might be necessary for me to + +[Footnote 976: Scottish Rite Temple, Pike _Papers_.] + +act to the best advantage in its defence. And by the same letter I was +advised, that it was regretted I had met with so many embarrassments +in procuring supplies; and that an order had been issued from the +Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, to prevent the pursuing of +such courses as I had complained of, in the seizure of what I had +procured; and the Secretary said it was to be hoped that neither I nor +any other officer would hereafter have cause to complain of supplies +being diverted from their legitimate destination. And that Gen. +Magruder might fully understand my position, &c., a copy of my letter +of 8th June, to General Hindman, stating in detail the plundering +process to which the Indian Service had before then been subjected, +was furnished to the former officer. Three several copies of this +letter were sent me, that it might be certain to reach me. + +I do not repeat the substance of that letter, for _your_ benefit. +You have known it, no doubt, ever since you left Richmond. You told me +in August, that the War Department was fully informed in regard to the +matters between myself and Generals Van Dorn and Hindman. You spoke +it in the way of a taunt, and as if the Department justified them +and condemned me. You _meant_ me so to understand it. You are a +_very_ ingenious person; inasmuch as you _knew_ the exact +contrary to be true. When I afterwards received the Secretary's +letter, I remembered your remark, and did not doubt, and do not now +doubt, that when you were substituted for Gen. Magruder, you received +the same instructions that had been given _him_ and were yourself +furnished with a copy of the same letter, for the same purpose. + +At all events, you were sent out to put an end to his outrages, and to +avert, if you could, the mischiefs about to spring from them. But when +you reached Little Rock, you found him there, and you found that the +troops, artillery, ammunition and stores that had reached and were on +their way there from the Indian Country, under his unrighteous orders, +_and which it was your duty to restore to me_, were too valuable +to be parted with, if that could be in any way avoided. Probably you +foresaw that you might, by and by need to seize money and supplies +procured by me. Twenty-six pieces of artillery, a supply of fixed +ammunition and other trifles, on hand, with $1,350,000 in money, and +over 6,000 suits of clothing in prospect, were the bait Hindman had to +tempt you withal; and for it you + +sold your soul, as Faust sold his to Mephistopheles. Your Lieutenant +became your master; you found it convenient to believe his version +of every thing, and to justify him in every thing, and you ended in +making all his devilments your own, and adopting the whole infernal +spawn and brood, with additions of your own to the family. + +You told me in August, that you had been prepared to judge me +favorably, until you read my address to the Indians on resigning my +command, but after that, you could not judge me fairly. I did not in +the least doubt the _fact_; but I did _not_ believe the +_reason_. What, moreover, had _you_ to _judge_ in +regard to _me_? You were not sent to _judge_ any body. +Hindman was the criminal you _were_ to operate upon. + +And, if you were sent, or had otherwise any right, to judge _me_, +you administered the sort of justice that is in vogue in hell. Before +you _saw me, you heard him_. You adopted all his views, and never +asked me a question in regard to our controversy, or as to my own +action, or the condition of things in the Indian Country. I had been +infamously and assiduously slandered, from the moment when I began to +resist his illegal, impolitic and outrageous attempts to deprive the +Indian Department of every thing, to make it a mere appanage of, and +appendix to, North-Western Arkansas, to take the Indians again out +of their own country, and to compel me to unite in that insane and +miserable "expedition into Missouri," which was projected and planned +by Folly, mis-managed and misconducted by Imbecility and ended, as I +knew it would, in disaster and disgrace. Lies of all varieties were +ingeniously and laboriously invented at and about Head Quarters, and +despatches, by special and _fit_ agents, to be industriously +circulated throughout the Indian Country and Texas, as well as +Arkansas. The Indians were told that I had carried away into Texas the +gold and silver belonging to _them_; while the Texans were made +to believe that I was paying _their_ moneys to the Indians. It +was reported, in Bonham, Texas, by officers sent from Hindman's Head +Quarters, that I was defaulter to the amount of $125,000 and at last +there crawled out from the sewer under the throne, and sneaked about +the Indian Country and Texas, the damnable lie, that an Indian had +been taken, bearing letters from me to the Northern Indians, or, to +the enemy in Kansas; or, as another version had it, from Gen. James H. +Lane to me; and + +three months ago it was whispered about that I was a member of the +secret disloyal organization in Northern Texas. Such lies could have +been counted by scores. Most of them are dead and rotten; but some +still live, by means of assiduous nursing. And all these lies, and +more either you or Hindman sent to the President at Richmond. + +I say, sir, you never _inquired_ into _any_ thing. You +never wished to _hear_ any thing, whatever from _me_. You +disobeyed the orders with which you were sent as a public curse and +calamity into Arkansas, as if the State were not already sufficiently +infested by Hindman. Is it true that he has lately, upon his single +order, and without the ceremony of even a _mock_ trial, caused +three men "suspected of disloyalty" to be shot; and that, two of them +being proven to him to be true Southern men, he sent a reprieve, +which, either setting out too late, or lagging on the way, reached the +scene of murder after their blood had bathed the desecrated soil of +Arkansas? It has come to me so, from officers direct from Fort Smith. +At any rate, he has put to death nine or ten persons, without any +legal trial. Who is _he_, that he should do these things in this +nineteenth century? And who are _you_, sir, that you should +suffer, and by suffering, _approve_ and adopt them? How many +_more_ murders will suffice to awaken public vengeance? + +Was the Star Chamber any worse than Hindman's Military Commissions, +that are ordered to preserve no records? Were the _Lettres de +Cachet_ of Louis XV, any greater outrage on the personal liberty of +_French subjects_, than Hindman's arrests and committal to the +Penitentiary of _suspected_ persons? Was Tristan l'Hermite any +more the minister of tyranny, than his Provost Marshals? or Caligula, +Caesar Borgia or Colonel Kirke any more cruel and remorseless than he, +that you have sustained all his acts, and made all his atrocities your +own? Take care, sir! You are not so high, that you may not be reached +by the arm of justice. The President is above you both, and God is +above him, and _sometimes_ interferes in human affairs. + +Unless the late Secretary of War, through the President, sent an +official falsehood to the Congress of the Confederate States, you +were sent to Arkansas with _positive_ and _unconditional_ +instructions, that, if Gen. Hindman _had_ declared Martial Law in +Arkansas, and adopted oppressive police regulations under it, _you +should rescind the_ + +_declarations of Martial Law, and the Regulations adopted to carry +it into effect_. You have not done so. You have not only _not_ +rescinded _any_ thing; but you have, by a General Order, long +ago, continued in force all orders of General Hindman, not specially +revoked by you. That order could have no retroactive effect, to make +_his_ orders _to have been valid_ in the _past_. It +could only put them in force for the _future_; and you thereby +made them _your_ orders, as fully as if you had re-issued them. +In so doing, you became the enemy of your country, if not of the Human +race, and outlawed yourself. + +You have _yourself_ established a tariff of prices exclusively on +articles produced by the farmers, including the sweet potatoes raised +by old women and superannuated negroes. You leave the Jews and +extortioners, some of the former of whom go about in uniforms, +claiming to be _officers_ and your agents to charge these same +venders of produce, whatever infamous prices they please for wares +they need to purchase with the pittances received according to your +scale of prices, for the vegetables that supply your and other tables. + +You pretend, I learn, that the President gave you discretionary power, +in regard to Martial Law, and the Regulations in question. I do not +believe it; for, if he did, then he and the Secretary intentionally +deceived Congress by the equivalent of a lie. Do you pretend that the +President paltered with Congress in a double sense? I put you face +to face. Is it _your_ act, in _defiance_ of orders, that +continues Martial Law in force in Arkansas, stifles freedom of speech, +muzzles the Press, tramples on all the rights at once of the People of +that State, and makes the State itself only a congregation of Helots, +incompetent to be represented in Congress? Is it merely a contest +between you and Phelps, _which_ of the two shall be Military +Governor? If it _is_ your act, then justice ought at once to be +done upon you, lest the President, winking at the outrage, and not +stripping from your back your uniform of Lieutenant General, should +deserve to be impeached, as your accomplice. + +Or, do you dare assert that it is _his_ act, because he gave you +discretionary power on the subject, after informing Congress that +Hindman never was Commanding General of the Department, and that you +had been ordered to rescind his declaration of Martial Law,--nay, +after publicly proclaiming that _no_ General had any power to +declare Martial Law? All the Confederacy thanked and applauded + +him for so striking at the root of an immense outrage and abuse and +an unexpected public course; but if he has authorized or sanctions +_your_ course, he is unworthy longer to be President. If he has +not, you have defied his orders and justified men in judging yourself +authorized and him guilty; and so you are unworthy longer to be +General. + +When I saw you in August, you were greatly exercised on the subject of +my printed address to the Indians, publication of which in Little Rock +you had suppressed, _as if it could do any harm in Arkansas_. You +suppressed it, because it exposed those whose acts were losing the +Indian Country. You wanted to keep what had been taken from _me_, +and to escape damnation for the probable _consequences_ of the +acts, the _profit_ of which you were reluctant to part with. I do +not wonder the letter troubled you; for it told _the truth_, and +condemned and denounced in advance _more_ unjustifiable courses +of conduct that you were about to pursue. + +You pretended that it had produced a great "ferment" among the +Indians; and that even many of the Chickasaws had in consequence +of it, left the service. It had produced _no_ ferment, and +_none_ of the Chickasaws had left us. On the contrary, the +Indians were quieted by it, the Creeks re-organized, in numbers, two +regiments, and the Chickasaws five companies. That was its purpose, +and such was its effect. + +But to _you_, its enormity consisted in its exposure of the +conduct of two Major Generals. I told the Indians _plainly_, that +it was not _my_ fault or the fault of the Government, but of +these two Generals, that moneys, clothing, arms and ammunition, +procured for them, had not reached them; that troops raised for +service among them had never entered their country; and that, finally, +troops, artillery and ammunition were carried out of it. This +censure of my _superiors_, in vindication of the President and +Government, shocked your tender sensibilities. You were ready to +follow in their footsteps, and already _had_ the plunder; and you +told me that "the act of the officer was the act of the Government." +Did you really _mean_, that the Indians should have been led or +left to suppose that these acts were the acts of the Government? +That would have been _almost_ as great an infamy, as it was to +_take_ the supplies, and so give them cause and reason to believe +the robbery the act of the Government, _and thus excite them to +revolt_. Moreover, when I told you that the act of + +the officer was _not_, in the case in question, the act of the +Government; that, if I had permitted the Indians to suppose so, +they would long have left us; and that, to quiet them, I had been +compelled, for three months and more than a hundred times, to explain +to them what had become of their supplies, and how and by whom +they have been seized, you admitted that "that was right for local +explanation." As there could be no objection to telling all, what I +had often told part, that _they_ might tell the rest; and as it +was no more a crime to _print_ than to _say_ it; I have +the right to believe and I _do_ believe that your _real_ +objection to its publication was that it exposed _to our own people +the actual_ conduct of other Generals, and the _intended_ +conduct of yourself. Have _you_ left the Indians to believe that +the late seizure and appropriation, by _yourself_, of their +clothing and moneys, is the act of the Government? If you have, you +ought to be shot as a Traitor, for provoking them to revolt, and +giving aid and comfort to the enemy. + +But you told me, that when you first read my letter, you held up your +hands, and exclaimed, "What! is the man a Traitor?" And you said that +not one of my friends in Little Rock, and I had, you said, a great +many, pretended to justify the letter. You have never found a friend +of mine, or an indifferent person, silly enough to think, like you, +that it savored of treason. It is only rarely one meets a man so +scantily furnished with sense as to misunderstand and pervert what is +written in plain English. I was vindicating myself, and still more +the Government, and persuading the Indians to remain loyal, +notwithstanding the wrongs they had endured. I, too, was an officer; +and _my_ acts _had_ been the acts of the Government. +_My_ promises to them were _its_ promises. The procuring of +supplies by _me_, was _its_ act; and when, reaching or not +reaching the frontier, the supplies were like the unlucky traveler, +who journeyed from Jerusalem to Jericho, _then_ the Government +_ceased_ to act, and unlicensed outrage took its place. And, +further, _my_ act was the act of the Government, when I told the +Indians _why_ they had not received their supplies and money, and +vindicated that Government at the expense of those who were guilty of +the act; and who having done it and reaped the profit, should not be +heard to object that all the world should know what they did, nor be +allowed to escape the responsibility of _all_ the consequences. + +If to tell the Indians that other Generals had wrongfully stopped + +their supplies, in any degree _resembled_ Treason, that could +only be so, because it _was_ treason to _do_ the act. It +cannot be wrong to make known what it was right and proper to do. The +truth is, that the acts done were outrages, which it was desirable for +the doers to conceal from the Indians. I refused to become a party to +those outrages, by concealing them. I would not agree in advance to +be _silent_, when _you_ should repeat and improve on those +outrages, and consummate what had been so felicitously begun. + +I do not doubt that there are assassins wearing uniforms, who are +knaves enough to _pretend_ to read my letter as you do, and to +see in it the desire of a disappointed man to be revenged, even by the +ruin of his country. Power always has its pimps and catamites. These +would no doubt gladly have made my letter the means of murdering me +by that devilish engine of Military despotism, a Military commission, +that is _ordered_ to preserve no records. You, I think really +look upon it with alarm. It is, no doubt, _very_ desirable to +_you_, that the blame of losing the Indian Country, which, if not +already a fact accomplished, is a fact inevitable, should be made to +fall upon me. You, as the pliant and useful implement of Gen. Hindman, +are the cause of this loss; and you know I can prove it. You and he +have left nothing _undone_, that _could_ be done, to lose +it. And you may rest assured, that whether I live or die, you shall +not escape one jot or tittle of the deep damnation to which you are +richly entitled for causing a loss so irretrievable, so astounding, so +unnecessary and so _fatal_, and one which it will be impossible +to excuse as owing to ignorance and stupidity. No degree of +_these_ misfortunes, can be pleaded in bar of judgment. +_You_ will have _forced_ the Indians to go to the North for +protection. _You_ will have _given away_ their country to +the enemy. _You_ will have turned their arms against us. You will +have done this by disobeying the orders of your Government, continuing +the courses it condemned, and to put an end to which it sent you out +here; by falsifying its pledges and promises, taking for others' uses +the moneys which it sent out to pay the Indians, robbing them of the +clothing sent by it to cover their nakedness, and thus thrusting aside +all the considerations of common honesty, of justice, of humanity, and +even of policy, expediency and common sense. + +When Mr. C.B. Johnson agreed, in September to loan your Quartermaster +at Little Rock, $350,000 of the money he was + +conveying to Major Quesenbury, the Quartermaster of the Department of +Indian Territory, _you promised_ him that it should be repaid to +Major Quesenbury as soon as you should receive funds, and before he +would have disposed of the remaining million. _You got the money by +means of that promise; and you did not keep the promise_. On the +contrary, by an order that reached Fort Smith three hours before Mr. +Johnson did, you compelled Major Quesenbury, the moment he received +the money, to turn every dollar of it, over to a _Commissary_ at +Fort Smith; _and it was used to supply the needs of Gen. Hindman's +troops_; when the Seminoles, fourteen months in the service have +never been paid a dollar; and the Chickasaw and Choctaw Battalion, and +Chilly McIntosh's Creeks, each corps a year and more in the service, +have received only $45,000 each, and no clothing. Was this violation +of your promise, the act of the Government? + +To replace the clothing I had procured for the Indians in December, +1861, and which, with near 1,000 tents, fell into the hands of the +troops of Generals Price and Van Dorn, I sent an agent, in June, to +Richmond, who went to Georgia, and there procured some 6,500 suits, +with about 3,000 shirts and 3,000 pairs of drawers, and some two or +three hundred tents. These supplies were at Monroe early in September; +and the Indians were informed that they and the moneys had been +procured and were on the way. The good news went all over their +country, as if on the wings of the wind; and universal content and +rejoicing were the consequences. + +The clothing reached Fort Smith; and its issue to Gen. Hindman's +people commenced immediately. I sent a Quartermaster for it and he was +retained there. If _any_ of it has ever reached the Indians, it +has been only recently, and but a small portion of it. + +You pretend to believe that the Indians were in a "ferment" and +discontented; and you took this very opportune occasion to stop all +the moneys due their troops and for debts in their country and take +and appropriate to the use of other troops the clothing promised +to and procured for _them_. The clothing and the money were +_theirs_; and you were in possession of an order from the +War Department, forbidding you to divert any supplies from their +legitimate destination; an order which was issued, _as you knew_, +in consequence of _my_ complaints, and to prevent moneys and +supplies for the _Indians_ being stopped: _and yet you stopped +all_. + +You borrow part of the money, and then seize the rest, like a +_genteel_ highwayman, who first borrows all he can of a traveler, +on promise of punctual re-payment; and then claps a pistol to his +head, and orders him to "stand and deliver" the rest. And you did even +more than this. + +For you promised the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, when he +was at Little Rock, about the 1st of October, on his way to the Indian +Country, to give the Indians assurances of the good faith of the +Government--_you promised him_, I say, _that the clothing in +question should go to the Indians_. He told the Chickasaws and +Seminoles, at least, of this promise. You broke it. You did _not_ +send them the clothing. You placed the Commissioner and the Government +in an admirable attitude before the Indians; and the consequence has +been, I understand, the disbanding of the Chickasaws, and the failure +of the Seminole troops to re-organize. The consequence will be far +more serious yet. Indians cannot be deceived, and promises made them +shamelessly broken, with impunity. + +While _you_ were thus stopping their clothing, and robbing the +half-naked Indians to clothe other troops, the Federals were sending +home the Choctaws whom they had taken prisoners, after clothing +them comfortably and putting money in their pockets. No one need be +astonished, when _all_ the Indians shall have turned their arms +against us. + +Why did you and Gen. Hindman not procure by your own exertions what +you need for your troops? He reached Little Rock on the 31st of May. +You came here in August. I sent my agents to Richmond, for money and +clothing, in June and July. I never asked either of _you_ for +_any_ thing. I could procure for _my_ command all I wanted. +You and he were Major Generals; I, only a Brigadier; and Brigadiers +are plenty as blackberries in season. It is to be supposed that if I +could procure money, clothing and supplies for _Indians_, you and +he could do so for white troops. Both of you come blundering out +to Arkansas with nothing, and supply yourselves with what _I_ +procure. Some officers would be ashamed _so_ to supply +deficiencies caused by their own want of foresight, energy or sense. + +_You_ do not even know you need an Engineer, until one of mine +comes by, with $20,000 in his hands for Engineer Service in the + +Indian Territory, some of which belongs to _me_ for advances +made, and with stationery and instruments procured by _me_, for +_my_ Department, in Richmond, a year ago; and _then_ you +find out that there are such things as Engineers, and that you need +one; and you seize on Engineer, money, and stationery. You even take, +notwithstanding Paragraph VI, of General Orders No. 50, the stationery +procured by me for the Adjutant General's Office of my Department, by +purchase in Richmond in December, 1861; for the want of which I had +been compelled to permit my own private stock to be used for months. + +I no longer wonder that you do these things. When you told me that you +could not judge me fairly, because I told the Indians that others had +done them injustice, you confessed much more than you intended. It +was a pregnant sentence you uttered. By it you judged and convicted +yourself, and pronounced _your own sentence_, when you uttered +_it_. + +The Federal authorities were proposing to the Indians _at the very +time when you stopped their clothing and money_, that, if they +would return to the old Union, they should not be asked to take up +arms, their annuities should be paid them in money, the negroes taken +from them be restored, all losses and damage sustained by them be paid +for, and they be allowed to retain, as so much clear profit, what had +been paid them by the Confederate States. It was a liberal offer and +a great temptation, to come at the moment when you and Hindman were +felicitously completing your operations, and when there were no +breadstuffs in their country, and they and their women and children +were starving and half-naked. You chose an admirable opportunity to +rob, to disappoint, to outrage and exasperate them, and make your own +Government fraudulent and contemptible in their eyes. If any human +action _can_ deserve it, the hounds of hell ought to hunt your +soul and Hindman's for it through all eternity. + +Instead of co-operating with the Federal authorities, and doing all +that he and you _could_ do to induce the Indians to listen to +and accept their propositions, _he_ had better have expelled the +enemy from Arkansas or "have perished in the attempt;" and you +had better have marched on Helena, before its fortifications were +finished, and purged the eastern part of the State of the enemy's +presence. If you had succeeded as admirably in that, as you have in +losing + +the Indian Country, you would have merited the eternal gratitude of +Arkansas, instead of its execrations; and the laurel, instead of a +halter. I said that you and your Lieutenant had left _nothing_ +undone. I repeat it. Take another _small_ example. Until I left +the command, at the end of July, the Indian troops had regularly had +their half rations of coffee. As soon as I was got rid of, an order +from Gen. Hindman took all the remaining coffee, some 3,000 lbs., +to Fort Smith. Even in this small matter, he could not forego an +opportunity of injuring and disappointing them. + +You asked me, in August, what was the need of any white troops at all, +in the Indian Country; and you said that the few mounted troops, I +had, if kept in the Northern part of the Cherokee Country, would have +been enough to repel any Federal force that ever would have entered +it. As you and Hindman never allowed any ammunition procured by me, to +reach the Indian Country, if you could prevent it, whether I obtained +it at Richmond or Corinth, or in Texas, and as you approve of his +course in taking out of that country all that was to be found in it, I +am entitled to suppose that you regarded ammunition for the Indians +as little necessary, as troops to protect them in conformity to the +pledge of honor of the Government. One thing, however, is to be said +to the credit of your next in command. When he has ordered anything +to be seized, he has never denied having done so, or tried to cast +responsibility on an inferior. After you had written to me that you +had ordered Col. Darnell to seize, at Dallas, Texas, ammunition +furnished by me, you denied to him, I understand, that you had given +the order. Is it so? and _did_ he refuse to trust the order in +your hands, or even to let you see it, but would show it to Gen. +McCulloch? + +Probably you know by this time, if you are capable of learning +_any_ thing, whether any white troops are needed in the Indian +Country. The brilliant result of Gen. Hindman's profound calculations +and masterly strategy, and of his long-contemplated invasion of +Missouri, is before the country; and the disgraceful rout at Fort +Wayne, with the manoeuvres and results on the Arkansas, are pregnant +commentaries on the abuse lavished on me, for not taking "the line of +the Arkansas," or making Head Quarters on Spring River, with a force +too small to effect any thing any where. + +I have not spoken of your Martial Law and Provost Marshals + +in the Indian Country, and your seizure of salt-works there, or, in +detail, of your seizure of ammunition procured by me in Texas, and on +its way to the Indian troops, of the withdrawal of all white troops +and artillery from their country, of the retention for other troops +of the mountain howitzers procured by me for Col. Waitie, and the +ammunition sent me, for them and for small arms, from Richmond. This +letter is but a part of the indictment I will prefer bye and bye, when +the laws are no longer silent, and the constitution and even public +opinion no longer lie paralyzed under the brutal heel of +Military Power; and when the results of your _im_policy and +_mis_management shall have been fully developed. + +But I have a word or two to say as to myself. From the time when I +entered the Indian Country, in May, 1861, to make Treaties, until the +beginning of June, 1862, when Gen. Hindman, in the plentitude of his +self-conceit and folly, assumed absolute control of the Military and +other affairs of the Department of Indian Territory, and commenced +plundering it of troops, artillery and ammunition, dictating Military +operations, and making the Indian country an appanage of Northwestern +Arkansas, there was profound peace throughout its whole extent. Even +with the wild Camanches and Kiowas, I had secured friendly relations. +An unarmed man could travel in safety and alone, from Kansas to Red +River, and from the Arkansas line to the Wichita Mountains. The Texan +frontier had not been as perfectly undisturbed for years. We had +fifty-five hundred Indians in service, under arms, and they were as +loyal as our own people, little as had been done by any one save +myself to keep them so, and much as had been done by others to +alienate them. They referred all their difficulties to me for +decision, and looked to me alone to see justice done them and the +faith of Treaties preserved. + +Most of the time without moneys (those sent out to that Department +generally failing to reach it) I had managed to keep the white and +Indian troops better fed than any other portion of the troops of +the Confederacy any where. I had 26 pieces of artillery, two of the +batteries as perfectly equipped and well manned as any, any where. I +had on hand and on the way, an ample supply of ammunition, after +being once plundered. While in command, _I had procured, first and +last_, 36,000 pounds of rifle and cannon powder. If you would like +to know, sir, how I effected this, in the face + +of all manner of discouragements and difficulties, it is no secret. My +disbursing officers can tell you who supplied them with funds for many +weeks, and whose means purchased horses for the artillery. Ask the +Chickasaws and Seminoles who purchased the only shoes they had +received--four hundred pairs, at five dollars each, procured and paid +for by _me_, in Bonham, and which I sent up to them after I was +taken "in personal custody" in November. + +_You_ dare pretend, sir, that _I_ might be disloyal, or +even in thought couple the word Treason with _my_ name. What +_peculiar_ merit is it in _you_ to serve on our side in this +war? You were bred a soldier, and your only chance for distinction +lay in obtaining promotion in the army, and in the army of the +Confederacy. You _were_ Major, or something of the sort, in the +old army, and you _are_ a Lieutenant General. Your reward I +think, for what you have done or not done, is sufficient. + +I was a private citizen, over fifty years of age, and neither needing +nor desiring military rank or civil honors. I accepted the office of +Commissioner, at the President's _solicitation_. I took that of +Brigadier General, with all the odium that I knew would follow it, and +fall on me as the Leader of a force of Indians, knowing there would be +little glory to be reaped, and wanting no promotion, simply and solely +to see _my_ pledges to the Indians carried out, to keep them +loyal to us, to save their country to the Confederacy, and to preserve +the Western frontier of Arkansas and the Northern frontier of Texas +from devastation and desolation. + +What has been my _reward_? All my efforts have been rendered +nugatory, and my attempts even to _collect_ and _form_ an +army frustrated, by the continual plundering of my supplies and means +by other Generals, and your and their deliberate efforts to disgust +and alienate the Indians. Once before this, an armed force was sent to +arrest me. You all disobeyed the President's orders, and treated me as +a criminal for endeavoring to have them carried out. The whole +country swarms with slanders against me; and at last, because I felt +constrained reluctantly to re-assume command, after learning that the +President would not accept my resignation, I am taken from Tishomingo +to Washington, a prisoner, under an armed guard, it having been deemed +necessary, for the sake of effect, to send two hundred and fifty men +into the Indian Country to arrest me. _The Senatorial election was +at hand_. + +I had, unaided and alone, _secured_ to the Confederacy a +magnificent country, equal in extent, fertility, beauty and resources +to any of our States--nay, superior to any. I had secured the means, +in men and arms, of keeping it. I knew how only it could be defended. +I asked no aid of any of you. I only asked to be let alone. Verily, I +have my reward also, as Hastings had his, for winning India for the +British Empire. + +It is _your_ day _now_. You sit above the laws and domineer +over the constitution. "Order reigns in Warsaw." But bye and bye, +there will be a _just_ jury empannelled, who will hear _all_ +the testimony and decide impartially--no less a jury than the People +of the Confederate States; and for their verdict as to myself, I and +my children will be content to wait; as also for the sure and stern +sentence and universal malediction, that will fall like a great wave +of God's just anger on you and the murderous miscreant by whose malign +promptings you are making yourself accursed. + +Whether I am respectfully yours, you will be able to determine from +the contents of this letter. + +ALBERT PIKE, _Citizen of Arkansas_. +THEOPHILUS H. HOLMES, Major General &c. + + + + +SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +I. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SOURCES. + +ABEL, ANNIE HELOISE, editor. The official correspondence of James S. +Calhoun (Washington, D.C., 1915). + +AMERICAN ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA, 1861-1865 (New York). + +BISHOP, ALBERT WEBB. Loyalty on the frontier, or sketches of union men +of the southwest (St. Louis, 1863). + +CENTRAL SUPERINTENDENCY RECORDS. The Central Superintendency, +embracing much of the territory included in the old St. Louis +Superintendency, was established in 1851 under an act of congress, +approved February 27 of that year.[977] Its headquarters were at St. +Louis from the date of its founding to 1859,[978] at St. Joseph +from that time to July, 1865,[979] at Atchison, from July, 1865 to +1869,[980] and at Lawrence, from 1869 to 1878. + +In February of 1878, J.H. Hammond, who was then in charge of the +superintendency, reported upon its records to the Commissioner of +Indian Affairs.[981] He spoke of the existence of "eight cases +containing _Books, Records, Papers_," and he enclosed with +his report schedules of the contents of certain boxes labelled +A,B,C,D,E,F,H,L. Of Box A, the schedule appertaining gave this +information: "Old Records, Files, Memoranda, etc., Miscellaneous +Papers accumulated prior to 1869, when Enoch Hoag became +Sup'tCent.Sup'tcy." More particularly, Box A contained "One Bundle Old +Treaties of various years, three (bundles) of Agency Accounts," and, +for the period of 1830-1833, it contained "One Bundle Ancient Maps," +and one of "Old Bills and Papers." + +The collection as a whole, undoubtedly sent into the United States +Indian Office as Hammond reported upon it, has long since been +irretrievably broken up and its parts distributed. Knowing this the + +[Footnote 977: 9 _United States Statutes at Large_, p. 586, sec. +2; Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 44, p. 259.] + +[Footnote 978: Greenwood to Robinson, November 21, 1859, Ibid., +no. 62, p. 272.] + +[Footnote 979: Dole to Murphy, June 23, 1865, Ibid., no. 77, p. +341.] + +[Footnote 980: Parker to Hoag, May 26, 1869, Ibid., no. 90, p. +202.] + +[Footnote 981: Dr. William Nicholson, who succeeded Enoch Hoag as +superintendent, was ordered to deliver the records to Hammond [Hoyt +to Nicholson, telegram, January 15, 1878, Office of Indian Affairs, +_Correspondence of the Civilization Division_]. Hammond forwarded +the records to Washington, D.C., February 11, 1878.] + +investigator is fain to deplore the advent of "efficiency" methods +into the government service. Such efficiency, when interpreted by the +ordinary clerk, has ever meant confusion where once was order and a +dislocation that can never be made good. From the break-up, in the +instance under consideration, the following books have been recovered: + + Letter Book, July 25, 1853 to May 10, 1861. + " November 1, 1859 to February 5, 1863. + " February, 1863. + " "Letters to Commissioner of Indian Affairs," May 23, 1855 + to October 31, 1859. + " "Letters to Commissioner," "Records," February 14, 1863 + to June 6, 1868. + " "District of Nebraska, Letters to Commissioner," June 6, + 1868 to April 10, 1871. + " April 12, 1871 to February 21, 1874. + " "Letters to Commissioner," February 21, 1874 to October + 22, 1875. + " "Letters to Commissioner," October 25, 1875 to January + 31, 1876. + " "Letters to Agents," October 4, 1858 to December 12, 1867. + " "Letters Sent to Agents, District of Nebraska," December + 12, 1867 to August 22, 1871. + +Account Book of Central Superintendency, being Abstract of +Disbursements, 1853 to 1865. + +CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. "Jefferson Davis Papers." + +These papers, miscellaneous in character and now located in the +Archives Division of the Adjutant General's Office of the United +States War Department, seem to have belonged personally to President +Davis or to have been retained by him. Among them is Albert Pike's +Report of the Indian negotiations conducted by him in 1861. + +---- Journal of the Congress, 1861-1865. + +United States Senate _Executive Documents_, 58th congress, second +session, no. 234. + +Private Laws of the Confederate States of America, First Congress +(Richmond, 1862). + +Private Laws of the Confederate States of America, Second Congress +(Richmond, 1864). + +Provisional and Permanent Constitutions of the Confederate States and +Acts and Resolutions of the First Session of the Provisional Congress +(Richmond, 1861). + +Public Laws of the Confederate States of America, 1863-1864 (Richmond, +1864). + +Statutes at Large of the Confederate States of America, First +Congress, edited by J.M. Matthews (Richmond, 1862). + +Statutes at Large of the Provisional Government of the Confederate +States of America from February 8, 1861 to February 18, 1862, together +with the Constitution for the Provisional Government and the Permanent +Constitution of the Confederate States, and the + +Treaties Concluded by the Confederate States with the Indian Tribes, +edited by J.M. Matthews (Richmond, 1864). + +Statutes at Large of the Confederate States, commencing First Session +of the First Congress and including First Session of the Second +Congress, edited by J.M. Matthews (Richmond, 1864). + +Statutes at Large of the Confederate States of America, Second +Congress (Richmond, 1864). + +CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. Papers of the Adjutant and Inspector +General's Office. + +Special Orders (Richmond, 1862). + +General Orders, January, 1862 to December, 1863 (Columbia, 1863). + +General Orders for 1863 (Richmond, 1864). + +Special Orders (Richmond, 1864). + +General Orders, January 1, to June 30, 1864, compiled by R.C. +Gilchrist (Columbia, 1864). + +---- "Pickett Papers." + +State papers of the Southern Confederacy now lodged in the Library +of Congress. Had Pike continued to prosecute his mission under the +auspices of the State Department, these papers would undoubtedly have +contained much of value for the present work, but as it is they yield +only an occasional document and that of very incidental importance. +The papers used were found in packages 81, 86, 88, 93, 95, 106, 107, +109, 113, 118. The "Pickett Papers" were originally in the hands of +Secretary Benjamin. After coming into the possession of the United +States government, they were at first confided to the care of the +Treasury Department and were handed over later, by direction of the +president, to the Library of Congress. The fact of their being in the +charge of the Treasury Department explains the circumstance of its +possession of the original treaty made by Pike with the Comanches, and +the fact that that manuscript turned up long after the main body of +"Pickett Papers" had been transferred to the Congressional Library +suggests the possibility that detached Confederate records may yet +repose in the recesses of the Treasury archives. Between the dates of +their consignment and their transfer, they must have become to some +degree disintegrated. The War Department borrowed some of the Pickett +Papers for inclusion in the _Official Records of the War of the +Rebellion_. + +---- Records, or Archives. + +Among these, which are to-day in the War Department in charge of the +Chief Clerk of the Adjutant-general's Office, are the following: + +Chap. 2, no. 258, Letter Book, Brig. Gen. D.H. Cooper, C.S.A., Ex +officio Indian Agent, etc., May 10-27, 1865 (File Mark, W. 236). + +It is a mere fragment. Its wrapper bears the following endorsement: +War Department, Archive Office, Chap. 2, No. 258. + +Chap. 2, no. 270, Letter Book, Col. and Brig. Gen. Win. Steele's +command. + +The contents are, + +a. A few letters dealing with Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, March to +July, 1862, pp. 7-22. These letters emanated from the + +authority of William Steele, Colonel of the Seventh Regiment of Texas +Mounted Volunteers. + +b. Letters dealing with matters in the Department of Indian Territory, +January 8, 1863 to May 18, 1863, pp. 27-254. Pages 1-6, 23-26, and 47 +and 48 are missing. + +The list of the whole, as given, is, + +Letters Sent--Col. and Brig. Gen. Wm. Steele's command--Mch. 7, 1862 +to May 18, 1863, viz., + +1. 7th Regt Texas M. Vols. Mch. 7 to June 20/62 + +2. Dept. New Mexico, June 24/62 + +3. Forces of Arizona, July 12, 1862. + +4. Dept of Indian Territory, Jan. 8-12, 1863 + +5. 1st Div. 1st. Corps Trans-Miss. Dept., Jan. 13-20, 1863. + +6. Dept. of Indian Territory, Jan. 21 to May 18, 1863. + +Chap. 2, no. 268, Letters Sent, Department of Indian Territory, from +May 19, 1863 to September 27, 1863. + +This is another William Steele letter book, but is not quite complete. +In point of time covered, it succeeds no. 270 and is itself succeeded +by no. 267. + +Chap. 2, no. 267, Letters Sent, September 28, 1863 to June 17, 1864. + +Pages 3 to 6, inclusive, are missing and there are no letters after +page 119. + +Chap. 2, no. 259, Inspector General's Letters and Reports, from April +23, 1864, to May 15, 1865. + +The cover has this as title: Letter Book A: Insp't Gen'l's +Office--Dis't of Indian Ter'y From April 23rd, 1864 to May 15, 1865. +On the inside of the front cover, appears this in pencil: "Received +from Gen'l M.J. Wright, Oct. 16/79." Some pages at the beginning of +the book have been cut out. Between pages 145 and 196, are reports, +variously signed, some by E.E. Portlock, some by N.W. Battle, and some +by James Patteson. + +Chap. 2, no. 260, District of the Indian Territory, Inspector +General's Letter Book, April 23, 1864 to January 7, 1865. + +"Received from Gen'l M.J. Wright, Oct. 16/79." From a comparison of +nos. 259 and 260, it is seen that no. 259 is a rough letter and report +book and that no. 260 is a finished product. The 1864 material in no. +259 is duplicated by that in no. 260. + +Chap. 7, no. 36. Indian Treaties. + +Chap. 7, no. 48. Regulations adopted by the War Department, on the +15th of April 1862, for carrying into effect the Acts of Congress of +the Confederate States, Relating to Indian Affairs, etc. (Richmond, +1862). + +On page 1, is to be found, "Regulations for Carrying into effect, the +Act of Congress of the Confederate States, approved May 21, 1861, +entitled An Act for the protection of certain Indian Tribes, and of +other Acts relating to Indian Affairs." + +FORT SMITH PAPERS. See Abel, _The American Indian as Slaveholder and +Secessionist_, p. 361. + +GREELEY, HORACE. The American conflict (Hartford, 1864-1867), 2 vols. + +INDIAN BRIGADE, Inspection Reports of, for 1864 and 1865. These were +loaned for perusal by Luke F. Parsons, who was brigade inspector under +Colonel William A. Phillips. + +KAPPLER, CHARLES J., compiler and editor. Indian Affairs: Laws and +Treaties. United States Senate Documents, 58th congress, second +session, no. 319, 2 vols. Supplementary volume, United States Senate +Documents, 62nd congress, second session, no. 719. + +LEEPER PAPERS. See Abel, _The American Indian as Slaveholder and +Secessionist_, pp. 360, 362. + +LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Complete Works, edited by John G. Nicolay and John +Hay (New York, 1890), 10 vols. + +MCPHERSON, EDWARD. Political History of the United States of America +during the Great Rebellion (Washington, D.C., 1864). + +MISSIONARY HERALD, containing the proceeding of the American Board for +Foreign Missions (Boston), vols. 56, 57, 60. + +MOORE, FRANK, editor. Rebellion Record: Diary of American Events (New +York, 1868), 11 vols. and a supplementary volume for 1861-1864. + +PHILLIPS, WILLIAM ADDISON. Conquest of Kansas by Missouri and her +allies (Boston, 1856). + +"PIKE PAPERS." On subjects other than Indian, extant manuscripts +written and received by Albert Pike are exceedingly numerous. One +collection of his personal papers is in the possession of Mr. Fred +Allsopp of Little Rock; but the largest proportion of those of more +general interest, as also of more special, is in the Scottish Rite +Temple, Washington, D.C., under the care of Mr. W.L. Boyden. Three +things only deserve particular mention; viz., + +a. Autobiography of General Albert Pike. A bound typewritten +manuscript, "from stenographic notes, furnished by himself." + +b. Confederate States, a/c's with. These papers are in a small +file-box and are chiefly receipts from John Crawford, Matthew Leefer, +Douglas H. Cooper, John Jumper, and + +others for money advanced to them and vouchers for purchases made by +Pike. There are three personal letters in the box: D.H. Cooper to +Pike, July 28, 1873; William Quesenbury to Pike, August 10, 1873; +William Quesenbury to Pike, August 11, 1873. All three letters have +to do with a certain $5000 seemingly unaccounted for, a subject in +controversy between Pike and Cooper, reflecting upon the latter's +integrity. One of the papers is an itemized account of the money Pike +expended for the Indians, money "placed in his hands to be disbursed +among the Indian Tribes under Treaty stipulations in January, A.D. +1862." It contains an enclosure, the receipt signed by Edward Cross, +depositary, showing that Pike restored to the Confederate Treasury the +unexpended balance, $19,263 10/100 specie, $49,980 55/100, treasury +notes. The receipt is dated Little Rock, March 13, 1863. + +c. Choctaw Case. Two packages of papers come under this heading. One +is of manuscript matter mainly, the other of printed matter solely. +In the latter is the _Memorial of P.P. Pitchlynn_, House +Miscellaneous Documents, no. 89, 43d congress, first session, and on +it Pike has inscribed, "Written by me, Albert Pike." + +RICHARDSON, JAMES D., editor. Compilation of the messages and +papers of the Confederacy, including the diplomatic correspondence +(Nashville, 1905), 2 vols. + +---- Compilation of the messages and papers of the presidents, +1789-1897 (Washington, 1896-1899), 10 vols. + +United States of America. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Reports_, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865. + +---- Congressional Globe, 37th and 38th congresses, 1861-1865. + +---- Department of the Interior, Files. + +The files run in two distinct series. One series has its material +arranged in boxes, the other, in bundles. The former comprises letters +from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs only, and has been examined to +the extent here given, + + No. 9, January 1, 1861 to December 1, 1861. + " 10, December 1, 1861 to November 1, 1862. + " 11, November 1, 1862 to July 1, 1863. + " 12, July 1, 1863 to June 15, 1864. + " 13, June 15, 1864 to April 1, 1865. + +The latter were difficult of discovery. After an exhausting search, +however, they were located on a top-most shelf, under the roof, in +the file-room off from the gallery in the Patent Office building. +The bundles are small and each is bandaged as were the Indian Office +files, originally. The bandage, or wrapper, is labelled according to +the contents. For example, one bundle is labelled, "No. 1, 1849-1864, +War;" another, "No. 24, 1852-1868, Exec." In the first are letters +from the War Department, in the second, from the White House. Some of +the letters are from a + +given department by reference only. A great number of the bundles have +nothing but a number to distinguish them, + + No. 53, January to June, 1865. + " 54, July to August, 1865. + " 55, September to December, 1865. + " 56, January to December, 1866. + +United States of America. Department of the Interior, Letter Books, +"Records of Letters Sent." + + No. 3, July 22, 1857 to January 3, 1862. + " 4, January 3, 1862 to June 30, 1864. + " 5. July 1, 1864 to December 12, 1865. + " 6, December 14, 1865 to September 22, 1865. + +---- Department of the Interior, Letter Press Books, "Letters, Indian +Affairs." + + No. 3, August 20, 1858 to March 5, 1862. + " 4, March 5, 1862 to July 1, 1863. + " 5. July 1, 1863 to June 22, 1864. + " 6, June 22, 1864 to April 11, 1865. + +Department of the Interior, Register Books, "Register of Letters +Received," Corresponding to the two series of files, are two series +of registers. One series is a register of letters received from the +Indian Office and each volume is labelled "Commissioner of Indian +Affairs." The particular volume used for the present work covers the +period from December 5, 1860 to January 6, 1866. It will be found +cited as "D," that being a designation given to it by Mr. Rapp, the +person at present in charge of the records. The second series is a +register of letters received from persons other than the Commissioner +of Indian Affairs. Each volume is labelled, "Indians." + + "Indians," No. 3, January 8, 1856 to October 27, 1861. + '' 4, January 2, 1862 to December 27, 1865. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, Consolidated Files. During the last few +years and since the time when most of this investigation was made, the +various files of the Indian Office have been consolidated and, in many +cases, hopelessly muddled. It has been thought best to refer in the +text, wherever possible, to the old separate files, inasmuch as all +letter books and registers were kept with the separate filing in view. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, + +General Files. + +Central Superintendency, boxes 1860-1862, 1863-1868; Southern +Superintendency, boxes 1859-1862, 1863-1864, 1865, 1866; Cherokee, +1859-1865, 1865-1867, 1867-1869, 1869-1870; Chickasaw, 1854-1868; +Choctaw, 1859-1866; Creek, 1860-1869; Delaware, 1855-1861, 1862-1866; +Kansas, 1855-1862, 1863-1868; Kickapoo, 1855-1865; Kiowa, 1864-1868; +Miscellaneous, 1858-1863, 1864-1867, 1868-1869; Osage River, +1855-1862, 1863-1867; + +Otoe, 1856-1862, 1863-1869; Ottawa, 1863-1872; Pottawatomie, +1855-1861, 1862-1865; Sac and Fox, 1862-1866; Seminole, 1858-1869; +Wichita, 1860-1861, 1862-1871. + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Office of Indian Affairs, Irregularly-Shaped +Papers. + +This was a collection made for the convenience of the Indian Office. + +The name itself is a sufficient explanation. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, John Ross Papers. + +These were evidently part of the evidence furnished at the Fort Smith +Council, 1865. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, Land Files. + +Central Superintendency, box 10, 1852-1869; Southern Superintendency, +1855-1870; Cherokee, box 21, 1850-1869; Choctaw, box 38, 1846-1873; +Creek, box 45, 1846-1873; Dead Letters, box 51; Freedmen in Indian +Territory, 2 boxes; Indian Talks, Councils, &c., box 3, 1856-1864, box +4, 1865-1866; Kansas, box 80, 1863-1865; Kickapoo, box 86, 1857-1868; +Miscellaneous, box 103, 1860-1870; Neosho, box 117, 1833-1865; New +York, box 130, 1860-1874; Osage, box 143, 1831-1873; Osage River, box +146, 1860-1866; Shawnee, box 190, 1860-1865; Special Cases, box 111, +"Invasion of Indian Territory by White Settlers;" Treaties, box 2, +1853-1863, box 3, 1864-1866. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, Special Files. + + No. 87, "Claims of Loyal Seminoles." + " 106, "Claims of Delawares for Depredations, 1863." + " 134, "Claims of Choctaws and Chickasaws." + " 142, " " " " " + " 201, "Southern Refugees." + " 284, "Claims of Creeks." + +Kansas, box 78, 1860-1861, box 79, 1862; Otoe, box 153, 1856-1876; +Ottawa, box 155, 1863-1873; Pawnee, box 156, 1859-1877; Pottawatomie, +box 163, 1855-1865; Sac and Fox, box 177, 1860-1864, box 178, +1865-1868; Shawnee Deeds and Papers, box 195; Subsistence Indian +Prisoners, one box; Wyandott, box 242, 1836-1863, and many other +file boxes, with dates of the period under investigation, have been +examined but have yielded practically nothing of interest for the +subject. + +Special Cases are quite distinct from Special Files. There are in all +two hundred three of the former and three hundred three of the latter. +There is in the Indian Office a small manuscript index to the Special +Cases and a folio index to the Special Files. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs. Letter Books (letters sent). See Abel, +_The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist_, pp. +363-364. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs. Letters Registered (abstract of letters +received), ibid., p. 364. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, Miscellaneous Records, vol. viii, +April, 1852 to July, 1861; vol. ix, July, 1861 to January 22, 1887. + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Office of Indian Affairs. Parker Letter +Book. Letters to E.S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and +others, 1869 to 1870. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs. _Report Books_, Reports of the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior. See +Abel, _The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist_, p. +365. + +UNITED STATES SENATE, Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the +War, 37th congress, third session, no. 108 (1863), 3 vols.; 38th +congress, second session, no. 142 (1865), 3 vols. and Supplemental +Report (1866), 2 vols. + +---- Committee Reports, no. 278, 36th congress, first session, being +testimony before a Select Committee of the Senate, appointed to +inquire into the Harper's Ferry affair. + +---- WAR DEPARTMENT. + +Aside from the _Confederate Records_, which are not regular War +Department files, papers have been examined there for the Civil War +period, although not by any means exhaustively. Enough were examined, +however, to show reason for disparaging somewhat the work of the +editors of the _Official Records_. Apparently, the editors, half +of them northern sympathizers and half of them southern, proceeded +upon a principle of selection that necessitated exchanging courtesies +of omission. + +WAR OF THE REBELLION. Compilation of the official records of the Union +and Confederate armies (Washington), 129 serial volumes and an index +volume. + +The volumes used extensively in the present work were, _first +series_, volumes iii, viii, xiii, xxii, parts 1 and 2, xxvi, part +2, xxxiv, parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, xli, parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, xlviii, +parts 1 and 2, liii, supplement; _fourth series_, volume iii. + +II. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES + +ABEL, ANNIE HELOISE. American Indian as slaveholder and secessionist +(Cleveland, 1915). + +---- History of events resulting in Indian consolidation west of the +Mississippi. + +American Historical Association _Report_, 1906, 233-450. + +---- Indian reservations in Kansas and the extinguishment of their +titles. + +Kansas Historical Society _Collections_, vol. viii, 72-109. + +ANDERSON, MRS. MABEL WASHBOURNE. Life of General Stand Watie (Pryor, +Oklahoma, 1915), pamphlet. + +BADEAU, ADAM. Military history of U.S. Grant (New York, 1868), 3 vols. + +BARTLES, WILLIAM LEWIS. Massacre of Confederates by Osage Indians in +1863. + +Kansas Historical Society _Collections_, vol. iii, 62-66. + +Biographical Congressional Directory, 1774-1903. + +House Documents, 57th congress, second session, no. 458 (Washington, +D.C., 1903). + +BLACKMAR, FRANK W. Life of Charles Robinson (Topeka, 1902). + +BLAINE, JAMES G. Twenty years of Congress, 1860-1880 (Norwich, +Connecticut, 1884-1886), 2 vols. + +BOGGS, GENERAL WILLIAM ROBERTSON, C.S.A. Military reminiscences +(Durham, North Carolina, 1913). + +BORLAND, WILLIAM P. General Jo. O. Shelby. + +Missouri _Historical Review_, vol. vii, 10-19. + +BOUTWELL, GEORGE SEWALL. Reminiscences of sixty years in public +affairs (New York, 1902), 2 vols. + +BOYDEN, WILLIAM L. The character of Albert Pike as gleaned from his +correspondence. + +_New Age Magazine_, March 1915, pp. 108-111. + +BRADFORD, GAMALIEL. Confederate portraits. + +"Judah P. Benjamin," _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1913; "Alexander +H. Stephens," Ibid., July, 1913; "Robert Toombs," Ibid., +August, 1913. + +BRITTON, WILEY. Memoirs of the rebellion on the border, 1863 (Chicago, +1882). + +---- The Civil War on the border (New York, 1899), 2 vols. + +BROTHERHEAD, WILLIAM. General Frémont and the injustice done him. + +Yale University Library of American Pamphlets, vol. 22. + +CAPERS, HENRY D. 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With the border ruffians: memoirs of the far west, +1852-1868, edited by E.W. Williams (London, 1908). + +WILSON, CALVIN D. Negroes who owned slaves (_Popular Science +Monthly_, vol. lxxxi, no. 5, 483-494). + +WILSON, HILL P. John Brown: soldier of fortune (Lawrence, 1913). + +WOODBURN, JAMES ALBERT. Life of Thaddeus Stevens (Indianapolis, 1913). + +WRIGHT, MARCUS J. General officers of the Confederate army (New York, +1911). + + + + +INDEX + +Abbott, James B: 204, _footnote_, 236, _footnote_ + +Abel, Annie Heloise: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 14, 57, +75, 85, 172, 183, 190, 226, 241, 260 + +Absentee Shawnees: 205, _footnote_ + +Acadians: removal of, 304, _footnote_ + +Adair, W. P: 268, _footnote_, 277, _footnote_, 326 and +_footnote_ + +Adams, C. W: 333 + +Ah-pi-noh-to-me: 108, _footnote_ + +Aldrich, Cyrus: 225, _footnote_, 229, _footnote_ + +Alexander, A. M: 267, _footnote_ + +Allen's Battery: 146 + +Allen County (Kans.): 82, _footnote_ + +Aluktustenuke: 94, _footnote_, 108, _footnote_ + +Amnesty Proclamation: 322 + +Anderson, Mrs. Mabel Washbourne: work cited in _footnotes_ on +pages 127, 130, 138, 194, 197, 271, 272, 288 + +Anderson, S. S: 265, _footnote_ + +Arapahoes: 274, _footnote_ + +Arizona Territory: 61-62 + +Arkadelphia (Ark.): 261 + +Arkansans: circulate malicious stories about Pike, 160, +_footnote_; lawless, 264; unable to decide arbitrarily about +Indian movements, 326 + +Arkansas: regards McCulloch as defender, 15; Van Dora's requisition +for troops, 25; Federals occupy northern, 34; Pike to call for aid, +36; attack from direction of, expected, 48; left in miserable plight +by Van Dorn, 128; army men exploited Pike's command, 150; R.W. Johnson +serves as delegate from, 175; R.W. Johnson becomes senator from in the +First Congress, 176; Thomas B. Hanly, representative from, introduces +bill for establishment of Indian superintendency, 176; disagreeable +experiences of Indians in, 177; Pike recommends separation of Indian +Territory from both Texas and, 179; unsafe to leave interests of +Indian Territory subordinated to those of, 246; political squabbles +in, 249, _footnote_; Indian Home Guards not intended for use in, +259; privilege of writ of _habeas corpus_ suspended, 269; Blunt +and Curtis want possession of western counties, 325 + +Arkansas and Red River Superintendency: 181; territorial limits, 177; +officials, 177-178; restrictions upon Indians and white men, 178; +Pike recommends organization, 179; Cooper seeks appointment as +superintendent, 179 + +Arkansas Military Board: 15, 16 + +Arkansas Post (Ark.): loss of, 270 + +Arkansas River: mentioned, 165, 192, 194, 216, 268, _footnote_, +272, _footnote_, 295; Pike's headquarters near junction with +Verdigris, 22; Pike to call troops to prevent descent, 36; Indian +refugees reach, 85; Indians flee across, 135; Campbell to examine +alleged position of enemy south, 136; Federals in possession of +country north of, 198; Stand Watie and Cooper pushed below, 220; +Phillips to hold line of, 251; Schofield desires control of entire +length of course, 260; Blunt patrolling, 293; Stand Watie to move +down, to vicinity of Fort Smith, + +271, _footnote_; Osages, Pottawatomies, Cheyennes, and others to +gather on, 274-275, _footnote_; natural line of defence, 315; +seizure of supply boat on, 327 + +Arkansas State Convention: 16 + +Arkansas Volunteers: 60, _footnote_ + +Armstrong Academy (Okla.): meeting of Indian General Council at, 317; +unfortunate delay of Scott in reaching, 320; Southern Indians renew +pledge of loyalty to Confederate States at, 323 + +Army of Frontier: under Blunt, 196; regiments of Indian Home Guards +part of, 196; encamps on old battlefield of Pea Ridge, 197; gradual +retrogression into Missouri, 219, _footnote_; District of Kansas +to be separated from, 248 + +Atchison and Pike's Peak Railway Company: 230 + +Atrocities: Pike charged with giving countenance to, 30-31, 31, +_footnote_; degree of Pike's responsibility for, 32; repudiated +by Cherokee National Council, 32-33; become subject of correspondence +between opposing generals, 33; charged against Indians at Battle +of Wilson's Creek, 34, _footnote_; forbidden by Van Dorn, 36; +guerrilla, 44; influenced Halleck regarding use of Indian soldiers, +102; at Battle of Newtonia, 195; Blunts army accused of, 248, +_footnote_; Stand Watie's men commit, 332 + + +Badeau, Adam: work cited, 96, _footnote_ + +Baldwin, A.H: 235, _footnote_ + +Bankhead, S.P: given command of Northern Sub-District of Texas, +286; Steele applies for assistance, 290; fails to appear, 291; +dissatisfaction with, 306, _footnote_ + +Barren Fork (Okla.): skirmish on, 312 + +Bartles, W.L: 237, _footnote_ + +Bass's Texas Cavalry: 276, _footnote_, 303, _footnote_, 306, +_footnote_ + +Bassett, Owen A: 123, _footnote_ + +Bates County (Mo.): 58, 304, _footnote_ + +Baxter Springs (Kans.): location, 121, 125, _footnote_; Weer +leaves Salomon and Doubleday at, 121; Indian encampment at, 125, 129; +negro regiment sent to, 259, 284; commissary train expected, 291; +massacre at, 304 + +Bayou Bernard: 163-164 + +Beauregard, Pierre G.T: devises plans for bringing Van Dorn east, 14, +_footnote_, 34; Hindman takes command under order of, 127, 186, +_footnote_, 190 + +Belmont (Kansas.): 274, _footnote_ + +Benge, Pickens: 132 + +Benjamin, Judah P: 22, 23, _footnote_, 24, _footnote_, 175, +_footnote_ + +Bennett, Joseph: 269, _footnote_ + +Bentonville (Ark.): 29, 216 + +Big Bend of Arkansas: 73, _footnote_, 274, _footnote_ + +Big Blue Reserve: 235, _footnote_ + +Big Hill Camp: 237, _footnote_ + +Big Mountain: 148, _footnote_ + +Billy Bowlegs: 68, _footnote_, 108, _footnote_, 228, +_footnote_ + +Biographical Congressional Directory: work cited, 59, _footnote_, +70, _footnote_ + +Bishop, Albert Webb: work cited, 219, _footnote_ + +Black Beaver Road: 67, _footnote_ + +Black Bob: 235, _footnote_, 236, _footnote_ + +Black Bob's Band: 204; to be distinguished from Absentee Shawnees, +204-205, _footnote_; lands raided by guerrillas, 205 + +Black Dog: 263, _footnote_ + +Blair, Francis P: 49 + +Blair, W.B: 290, _footnote_ + +Bleecker, Anthony: 41, _footnote_ + +Blue River (Okla.): 110 + +Blunt, James G: learns of designs of Drew's Cherokees, 33; avenges +burning of Humboldt, 53; succeeds Denver at Fort Scott, 98; in command +of reëstablished Department of Kansas, 106; reverses policy of Halleck +and Sturgis, 106-107 and _footnote_; promotion objected to, 107, +_footnote_; ideas on necessary equipment of Indian soldiers, 109; +Weer reports on subject of Cherokee relations, 136; forbids Weer to +make incursion into adjoining states, 139; orders white troops to +support Indian Brigade, 192-193; in charge of Army of Frontier, 196; +plans Second Indian Expedition, 196 and _footnotes_; promises to +return refugees to homes, 196, _footnote_, 203; opinion touching +profiteering, 208, 210-211; issue between, and Coffin, 210-211 and +_footnote_; promises return home to refugee Cherokees, 213; +vigorous policy, 218; achievements discounted by Schofield, 248, 249; +accusation of brutal murders and atrocities, 248, _footnote_; +makes headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, 249; wishes Phillips to +advance, 254, 257; advancement of Schofield obnoxious to, 260; +undertakes to go to Fort Gibson, 261, 286; in command of District of +Frontier, 286; victorious at Honey Springs, 288-289; decides to assume +offensive, 293; no faith in Indian soldiery, 294; transfers effects +from Fort Scott to Fort Smith, 304; relieved by McNeil, 305; summoned +to Washington for conference, 322 and _footnote_; restored to +command, 324; controversy with Thayer, 324 + +Bob Deer: 68, _footnote_ + +Boggs, W.R: 286, _footnote_ + +Boggy Depot (Okla.): 162, 284, 295, _footnote_, 296 and +_footnote_ + +Bogy, Lewis V: 235, _footnote_ + +Bonham (Texas): 302-303 + +Border Warfare: 16-17, 44 + +Boston Mountains: McCulloch and Price retreating towards, 26, +_footnote_; to push Confederate line northward of, 192 + +Boudinot, Elias C: Cherokee delegate in Confederate Congress, 180; +submits proposals to Cherokees, 279; active in Congress, 299, +_footnote_; coadjutor of Cooper and relative of Stand Watie, 300; +Steele forwards letter from, 307, _footnote_; Steele believes, +responsible for opposition, 311; urges plan of brigading upon +Davis, 317; suggests attaching Indian Territory to Missouri, 317, +_footnote_, 318, 321, _footnote_; reports to Davis, 321 + +Bourland, James: 312, _footnote_ + +Bowman, Charles S: 108 + +Branch, H.B: 48, _footnote_, 51, _footnote_, 74, +_footnote_, 116; charges against, 234, _footnote_ + +Breck, S: 324, _footnote_ + +Britton, Wiley: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 20, 22, 30, +35, 50, 51, 52, 55, 113, 118, 126, 131, 132, 146, 194, 196, 197, 198, +216, 218, 237, 249, 250, 257, 260, 271, 273 + +Brooken Creek (Okla.): 295, _footnote_ + +Brooks, William: 46, _footnote_, 47, _footnote_ + +Brown, E.B: 119, _footnote_, 127 + +Brown, John: 42, _footnote_ + +Browne, William M: 172, _footnote_ + +Bryan, G.M: 292, _footnote_ + +Buchanan, James: 41, 70, _footnote_ + +Buffalo Hump: 65, _footnote_ + +Burbank, Robert: 77, _footnote_ + +Bureau of Indian Affairs: created in Confederate War Dept, 172 and +_footnote_ + +Burlington (Kans.): 80 + +Burns, Robert: 26 + +Bushwhackers: 125, 236, _footnote_, 239, _footnote_, 260, +266, _footnote_ + +Buster, M.W: 194, _footnote_ + + +Cabell, A.S: 270, _footnote_ + +Cabell, W.L: 277, _footnote_, 284 and _footnote_, 287, 289, +292, 297 + +Cabin Creek (Okla.): 131, 283-286 and _footnote_, 332 + +Caddoes: reported loyal to U.S., 66, _footnote_; in First +Indian Expedition, 115, _footnote_; encamped at Big Bend, 274, +_footnote_ + +Calhoun, James S: 260, _footnote_ + +Camden Campaign (Ark.): 326-327 + +Cameron, Simon: 56, 60, _footnote_, 72 + +Camp Bowen: 219, _footnote_ + +Camp Imochiah: 288, _footnote_ + +Camp McIntosh: 112, 153 + +Camp Quapaw: 146 + +Camp Radziwintski (Radziminski?): 153 + +Camp Ross, 255 + +Camp Stephens: 32, 35 + +Campbell, A.B: 81 + +Campbell, W.T: sent to reconnoitre, 136; halts at Fort Gibson, 136 + +Canadian River: 129, 162, 164, 293, 327 + +Canby, E.R.S: 335 + +Cane Hill (Ark.): 28, _footnote_, 218 + +Cantonment Davis (Okla.): established as Pike's headquarters, 22; +Indians gather at, 27; Cooper at, 169; Cooper's force flee to, 198 + +Carey's Ferry (Okla.): 192 + +Carey's Ford (Okla.): 126 + +Carney, Thomas: 211, _footnote_; named as suitable commissioner, +233, _footnote_ + +Carr, Eugene A: 30, _footnote_ + +Carriage Point: 111, _footnote_ + +Carrington, W.T: 296, _footnote_ + +Carruth, E.H: teacher among Indians, 59, 64, _footnote_; furthers +plan for inter-tribal council, 69; suspected of stirring up Indian +refugees against Coffin, 87-88 and _footnote_; refugee Creeks +want as agent, 89; satisfied with appointment to Wichita Agency, 89; +sent on mission, 122 and _footnote_, 133; in Cherokee Nation, +195, _footnote_; disapproves of attempting return of refugees, +209; Martin and, arrange for inter-tribal council, 273-275, +_footnote_ + +Carter, J.C: 208, _footnote_ + +Cass County (Mo.): 304, _footnote_ + +Cassville (Mo.): 293 + +Century Company's War Book: work cited, 13, _footnote_ + +Central Superintendent: 116-117 + +Chapman, J.B: 222 and _footnote_, 229, _footnote_ + +Chap-Pia-Ke: 69, _footnote_ + +Charles Johnnycake: 64, _footnote_ + +Chatterton, Charles W: 214, _footnote_ + +Cherokee Brigade: 309 + +Cherokee country: 193, 194 + +Cherokee Delegate: 111, _footnote_, 180 + +Cherokee Expedition: 73, _footnote_ + +Cherokee Nation: 47, _footnote_, 74, _footnote_, 111, +_footnote_; Clarkson to take command of all forces within, 130; +future attitude under consideration, 133; Weer suggests resumption of +allegiance to U.S., 134; Weer proposes abolition of slavery by vote, +134, _footnote_; intention to remain true to Confederacy, 135; +cattle plentiful, 145; Hindman designs to stop operations of wandering +mercantile companies, 156; maintenance of order necessary, 192; +archives and treasury seized, 193; Carruth and Martin in, 195, +_footnote_; Delaware District of, 197; deplorable condition +of country, 217; Boudinot, delegate in Congress from, 299, +_footnote_; Quantrill and his band pass into, 304 + +Cherokee National Council: ratifies treaty with Confederacy, 28, +_footnote_; opposed to atrocities, 32-33; resolutions against +atrocities, 33; assemblies, 255-256, legislative work, 256-257; +Federal victory at + +Webber's Falls prevents convening, 271 and _footnote_; passage +of bill relative to feeding destitute Indians, 277, _footnote_; +adopts resolutions commendatory of Blunt's work, 305, _footnote_; +Stand Watie proposes enactment of conscription law, 329 + +Cherokee Neutral Lands (Kans.): 47, _footnote_, 53, 121, 125, +_footnote_; refugee Cherokees collect on, 213; refugees refuse +to vacate, 214; Pomeroy advocates confiscation of, 224; John Ross +and associates ready to consider retrocession of, 231-232 and +_footnote_ + +Cherokee Strip (Kans.): 79 + +Cherokee Treaty with Confederacy: ratified by National Council, 28, +_footnote_; Indians stipulated to fight in own fashion, 32 + +Cherokees: unwilling to have Indian Territory occupied by Confederate +troops, 15; civil war impending, 29; disturbances stirred up by bad +white men, 47, _footnote_, 48; effect of Federal defeat at +Wilson's Creek, 49; attitude towards secession, 63, _footnote_; +in First Indian Expedition, 115, _footnote_; driven from country, +116; flee across Arkansas River, 135; exasperated by Pike's retirement +to confines of Indian Territory, 159; outlawed, participate in Wichita +Agency tragedy, 183; demoralizing effect of Ross's departure, 193; +secessionist, call convention, 193; should be protected against +plundering, 195, _footnote_; refugee, on Drywood Creek, 209, +_footnote_, 213; repudiate alliance with Confederacy, 232; +approached by Steele through medium of necessities, 276; charge +Confederacy with bad faith, 279-281; asked to give military land +grants to white men in return for protection, 279-281; Blunt thinks +superior to Kansas tribes, 294; intent upon recovery of Fort Gibson, +311; troops pass resolution of reënlistment for war, 328-329 + +Chicago Tribune: 75, _footnote_ + +Chickasaw Battalion: 152, 155; Tonkawas to furnish guides for, 184, +_footnote_ + +Chickasaw Home Guards: 184, _footnote_ + +Chickasaw Legislature: 306, _footnote_, 329, _footnote_ + +Chickasaw Nation: Pike arrested at Tishomingo, 200; funds drawn upon +for support of John Ross and others, 215, _footnote_; Phillips +communicates with governor, 323, _footnote_ + +Chickasaws: discord within ranks, 29; attitude towards secession, +63, _footnote_; delegation of, and Creeks, and Kininola, +65, _footnote_; plundered by Osages and Comanches, 207, +_footnote_; refugee, given temporary home, 213; dissatisfied with +Cooper, 265, _footnote_; disperse, 323 + +Chiekies: 66, _footnote_ + +Chillicothe Band of Shawnees: 236, _footnote_ + +Chilton, W.P: 173, _footnote_ + +Chipman, N.P: 207, _footnote_ + +Chippewas: 212 + +Choctaw and Chickasaw Battalion: 25, 32 + +Choctaw Battalion: 152, 155 + +Choctaw Council: considers Blunt's proposals, 302; disposition towards +neutrality, 306, _footnote_; Phillips sends communication to, +323, _footnote_ + +Choctaw Militia: 311-312, 312, _footnote_ + +Choctaw Nation: Pike withdraws into, 110; Robert M. Jones, delegate +from, in Congress, 299, _footnote_; proposed conscription within, +328 + +Choctaws: discord bred by unscrupulous merchants, 29; attitude + +towards secession, 63, _footnote_; refugee, given temporary home, +213; waver in allegiance to South, 220; sounded by Phillips, 254; +little recruiting possible while Fort Smith is in Confederate hands, +258-259; Steele entrusts recruiting to Tandy Walker, 265; no tribe so +completely secessionist as, 290; protest against failure to supply +with arms and ammunition, 301; proposals from Blunt known to have +reached, 302; cotton, 308-309, _footnote_; bestir themselves +as in first days of war, 311; principal chief opposes projects of +Armstrong Academy council, 321; want confederacy separate and distinct +from Southern, 321, _footnote_; do excellent service in Camden +campaign, 326 + +Choo-Loo-Foe-Lop-Hah Choe: talk, 68, _footnote_; signature, 69, +_footnote_ + +Chouteau's Trading House: 329, _footnote_ + +Christie: 305, _footnote_ + +Chustenahlah (Okla.): 79 + +Cincinnati (Ark.): 28, 35 + +Cincinnati Gazette: 58, _footnote_, 88, _footnote_ + +Clarimore: 238, _footnote_ + +Clark, Charles T: 82, _footnote_ + +Clark, George W: 158 and _footnote_ + +Clark, Sidney: 104, _footnote_ + +Clarke, G.W: 22 + +Clarkson, J.J: assigned to supreme command in northern part of Indian +Territory, 129-130; applies for permission to intercept trains on +Santa Fé road, 129, _footnote_; at Locust Grove, 131; surprised +in camp, 131, _footnote_; made prisoner, 132; Pike's reference +to, 158; placed in Cherokee country, 159, _footnote_ + +Clarksville (Ark.): 287-288, _footnote_ + +Clay, Clement C: 176, _footnote_ + +Cloud, William F: 193, 297 + +Cochrane, John: 56-57 + +Coffee, J.T: 113 and _footnote_, 125 + +Coffin, O.S: letter, 82 and _footnote_ + +Coffin, S.D: 208 + +Coffin, William G: testifies to disturbances among Osages, 46, +_footnote_; pays visit to ruins of Humboldt, 54, _footnote_; +plans for inter-tribal council, 69; orders countermanded for +enlistment of Indians, 77; learns of refugees in Kansas, 80; compelled +by settlers to seek new abiding-place for refugees, 86; refugees lodge +complaint against, 87 and _footnote_; military enrollment of +Indians conducted under authority of Interior Department, 105 and +_footnote_; applies for new instructions regarding First Indian +Expedition, 105; dispute with Elder, 116-117, 207, _footnote_; +anxious to have Osage offer accepted by refugee Creeks, 207-208, +_footnote_; disapproves of Blunt's plan for early return of +refugees, 209; issue between Blunt and, 210-211; contract with +Stettaner Bros. approved by Dole, 211, _footnote_; urges removal +of refugees to Sac and Fox Agency, 212; visits refugee Cherokees on +Neutral Lands, 213; details Harlan and Proctor to care for refugee +Cherokees at Neosho, 214; drafts Osage treaty of cession, 229; +suggests location for Indian colonization, 233; would reward Osage +massacrers, 238, _footnote_; prevails upon Jim Ned to stop +jayhawking, 274, _footnote_ + +Colbert, Holmes: 207, _footnote_ + +Colbert, Winchester: 184, _footnote_ + +Coleman, Isaac: 209 + +Collamore, George W: career, 87, _footnote_; investigation into +condition of refugees, 87, _footnote_ + +Colorado Territory: likely to be menaced by Southern Indians, 61; +conditions in, 61, _footnote_; recruiting officers massacred by +Osages, + +238, _footnote_; political squabbles in, 249, _footnote_; +harassed by Indians of Plains, 320; made part of restored Department +of Kansas, 321 + +Comanches: Pike's negotiation with, 63, _footnote_, 65, +_footnote_, 173, _footnote_; peaceable and quiet, 112; this +side of Staked Plains friendly, 153; Osages and, plunder Chickasaws, +207, _footnote_; reported encamped at Big Bend, 274, +_footnote_ + +Confederates: disposition to over-estimate size of enemy, 30, +_footnote_; defeat at Pea Ridge decisive, 34; should concentrate +on saving country east of Mississippi, 34; retreat from Pea Ridge, 35; +possible to fraternize with Federals, 44; victorious at Drywood +Creek, 51-52; in vicinity of Neosho, 127; no forces at hand to resist +invasion of Indian Territory, 147; defeat at Locust Grove counted +against Pike, 161; Cherokee country abandoned to, 193; in possession +as far north as Moravian Mission, 194; victory at Newtonia, 194-195 +and _footnotes_; ill-success on Cowskin River and at Shirley's +Ford, 197; flee to Cantonment Davis, 198; officers massacred by +Osages, 237-238, _footnote_; grants to Indian Territory, 250; +foraging and scouting occupy, 253; distributing relief to indigents, +258 + +Congress, Confederate: authorizes Partisan Rangers, 112; Arkansas +delegates testify to Van Dorn's aversion for Indians, 148, +_footnote_; act of regulating intercourse with Indians, 169; act +for establishing Arkansas and Red River Superintendency, 177-178; +concedes rights and privileges to Indian delegates, 299, +_footnote_ + +Congress, United States: 71, 76, _footnote_, 86 and +_footnote_, 99; circumstances of refugees well-aired in, 209; +gives president discretionary power for relief of refugees, 209; +Osages memorialize for civil government, 229 and _footnote_; act +authorizing negotiations with Indian tribes, 231; decides to relieve +Kansas of Indian encumbrance, 294 + +Connelley, William E: work cited, 42 and _footnotes_ on pages 51, +101, 205, 239 + +Conway, Martin F: 72, _footnote_, 88, _footnote_, 107, +_footnote_ + +Cooley, D.N: 205, _footnote_ + +Cooper, Douglas H: colonel of First Regiment Choctaw and Chickasaw +Mounted Rifles, 25; communicates with Pike, 29, _footnote_; +objects to keeping Indians at home, 31, _footnote_; arrives at +Camp Stephens, 32, 35; protects baggage train on way to Elm Springs, +35; recommends Indians as guerrillas, 112; ordered to repair to +country north of Canadian River, 129, 154; orders Indian leaders to +report at Fort Davis, 137; regiment goes out of service, 153; views +on employment of Indians, 159 and _footnote_; Pike to hand over +command to, 162; transmits Pike's circular, 167, 169; orders arrest +of Pike, 169; calls for troops from all Indian nations, 174, +_footnote_; seeks to become superintendent of Indian affairs, +179; appointment withheld because of inebriety, 181; to attempt to +reënter southwest Missouri, 194; after Battle of Newtonia obliged to +fall back into Arkansas, 197; under orders from Rains, plans invasion +of Kansas, 197; defeated in Battle of Fort Wayne, 197-198; in +disgrace, 198; Steele preferred to, 246; not ranking officer of +Steele, 247, _footnote_, 300, _footnote_; force poorly +equipped, 248, _footnote_; + +apparently bent upon annoying Steele, 265; can get plenty of beef, +272; influences to advance, at expense of Steele, 278, 306 and +_footnote_; orders Stand Watie to take position at Cabin Creek, +284-285; ammunition worthless at Honey Springs, 288; Boudinot +and, intrigue together, 300; headquarters at Fort Washita, 303, +_footnote_; manifests great activity in own interests, 303; +Quantrill and band reach camp of, 304; plans recovery of Fort Smith, +309; opposed to idea of separating white auxiliary from Indian forces, +310; raises objection to two brigade idea, 316; Boudinot and, advise +formation of three distinct Indian brigades, 317; placed in command +of all Indian troops in Trans-Mississippi Department on borders of +Arkansas, 319; declared subordinate to Maxey, 319; begins work of +undermining Maxey, 333-334 + +Cooper, S: 29, _footnote_, 128, _footnote_ + +Corwin, David B: 144 + +Corwin, Robert S: 231, _footnote_ + +Cottonwood River (Kans.): 85, _footnote_ + +Cowskin Prairie (Mo. and Okla.): Stand Watie's engagement at, 113; +encampment on, 119, 120, _footnote_; affair at, erroneously +reported as Federal victory, 119, _footnote_; Round Grove on, +126; scouts called in at, 138 + +Cowskin River: 197 + +Crawford, John: 48, 214, _footnote_ + +Crawford, Samuel J: work cited, 101, _footnote_, 194, footnote, +197, _footnote_; at Battle of Fort Wayne, 197 + +Crawford Seminary: 46, 50 + +Creek and Seminole Battalion: 25 + +Creek Nation: 62, _footnote_, 111, _footnote_; Clarkson to +take command of all forces within, 130; Pike negotiates treaty with, +173, _footnote_ + +Creeks: delegation of, and Chickasaws and Kininola seek help at Leroy, +65, _footnote_; desert Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la, 76, _footnote_; +constitute main body of refugees in Kansas, 81; compose First Regiment +Indian Home Guards, 114 and _footnote_; company authorized by +Pike, 173, _footnote_; refugee, offered home by Osages, 207 and +_footnote_; refugee, given temporary home by Sacs and Foxes of +Mississippi, 213; unionist element attempts tribal re-organization, +228; views regarding accommodation of other Indians upon lands, 233; +Senate ratifies treaty with, 234; reject treaty, 235; Phillips sounds, +254; Phillips learns that defection has begun, 256; refuse to +charge, 272; nature and extent of disaffection among, 272-273 and +_footnote_; address Davis, 278; bad conduct complained of by +Steele, 285, _footnote_; inevitable effect of Battle of Honey +Springs upon, 290; Blunt's offensive and Steele's defensive, 301; +proposals of Blunt known to have reached, 302; disperse among +fastnesses of mountains, 323 + +Cross Timber Hollow (Ark.): 30, _footnote_ + +Currier, C.F: 67, _footnote_ + +Curtis, Samuel R: in charge of Southwestern District of Missouri, +26-27; estimate of number of troops contributed by Pike, 30, +_footnote_; instructed to report on Confederate use of Indians, +33, _footnote_; victory at Pea Ridge complete, 34; surmise with +respect to movements of Stand Watie and others, 120, _footnote_; +resents insinuations against military capacity of Blunt and Herron, +249; Lane opposed to Gamble, Schofield, and, 249, _footnote_; +regrets sacrifice of red men + +in white man's quarrel, 250; calls for Phillips to return, 259; +succeeded by Schofield, 260; in command of restored Department of +Kansas, 321; arrives at Fort Gibson, 324 + +Cutler, George A: council held at Leroy by, 62, _footnote_; at +Fort Leavenworth, 74, _footnote_; ordered by Lane to transfer +council to Fort Scott, 74, _footnote_; reports Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la +in distress, 76, _footnote_; refugees complain of treatment, +87; approves of early return of refugees, 209; calls Creek chiefs to +consider draft of treaty, 233 + + +Dana, Charles A: 126, _footnote_, 324, _footnote_ + +Danley, C.C: 15 + +Davis, Jefferson: work cited, 14, _footnote_; urged to send +second general officer out, 15-16; McCulloch's sacrifice of +Confederate interests in Missouri reported to, 18; unfavorable to +Price and to his method of fighting, 18-19; report of Pike submitted +to, 21; Cooper, in name of, orders Ross to issue proclamation calling +for fighting men, 137; correspondence with Pike, 167-168; recommends +creation of bureau of Indian affairs, 172; appoints Pike diplomatic +agent to Indian tribes, 173, _footnote_; signs bill for +establishment of southern superintendency, 176; Pike makes important +suggestions to, 179; offers explanation for non-payment of Indian +moneys, 179, _footnote_; inconsistentcy of, 187; refusal to +accept Pike's resignation, 190; orders adjutant-general to accept +Pike's resignation, 200; lack of candor in explaining matters to +Holmes, 269; Creeks address, 278; replies to protest from Flanagin, +287, _footnote_; opposed to surrendering part to save whole, 297, +_footnote_; considers resolutions of Armstrong Academy +council, 317; addresses Indians through principal chiefs, 318 and +_footnote_; objects making Indian Territory separate department, +318-319; knowledge of economic and strategic importance of Indian +Territory, 331 + +Davis, John S: 80, _footnote_ + +Davis, William P: 80, _footnote_ + +Dawson, C.L: 150, _footnote_, 152, 153, 154, _footnote_ + +Deitzler, George W: 97, _footnote_ + +Delahay, M.W: 222, _footnote_ + +Delaware Reservation (Kans.): location, 206; store of Carney and Co. +on, 211, _footnote_ + +Delawares: interview of Dole with, 77, _footnote_; in First +Indian Expedition, 113, _footnote_, 115, _footnote_; from +Cherokee country made refugees, 116, 206; wandering, implicated in +tragedy at Wichita Agency, 183; eager to enlist, 207; request +removal of Agent Johnson and Carney and Co. from reservation, 211, +_footnote_; wild, involved in serious trouble with Osages, 274, +_footnote_ + +Democratic Party: 47, _footnote_ + +De Morse, Charles: 266, _footnote_, 330, _footnote_ + +Denver, James W: career, 70; popular rejoicing over prospect of +recall, 72, _footnote_; learns of presence of refugees in Kansas, +80; assigned by Halleck to command of District of Kansas, 97; Lane +and Pomeroy protest against appointment, 97; later movements, 98 +and _footnote_; coöperates with Steele and Coffin to advance +preparations for First Indian Expedition, 102; removal from District +of Kansas inaugurated "Sturgis' military despotism," 104 + +Department no. 2: 19 + +Department of Arkansas: 322 + +Department of Indian Territory: Pike in command, 20; relation to +other military units, 21; Pike deplores absorption of, 151; Pike's +appointment displeasing to Elias Rector, 181, _footnote_; created +at suggestion from Pike, 189 + +Department of Kansas: Hunter in command, 27, 61, 70; consolidated with +Department of Missouri, 96; reëstablished, 106 and _footnote_; +Blunt assigned to command, 106, 118; restored, Curtis in command, 321 + +Department of Mississippi: 96, 105 + +Department of Missouri: Halleck in command, 27, 61; consolidated with +Department of Kansas, 96 + +Department of Mountain: 96 + +Department of Potomac: 96 + +Department of West: 27, 61 + +De Smet, Father: 234 + +De Soto (Kans.): 236, _footnote_ + +Dickey, M.C: 226 and _footnote_ + +District of Arkansas: Hindman in command, 192; Price in command during +illness of Holmes, 299, _footnote_; Price succeeds Holmes, 326 + +District of Frontier: Blunt in command, 286; McNeil relieves Blunt, +305; Schofield institutes investigation, 305, _footnote_ + +District of Kansas: Denver assigned to command of, 97; Sturgis +assigned to, 98; checks progress of First Indian Expedition, 105; +Schofield advises complete separation from Army of Frontier, 248; +re-constituted with headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, 249 + +District of Texas: 306, _footnote_, 318, _footnote_ + +Dole, R.W: 74, _footnote_, 114, _footnote_ + +Dole, William P: 53, _footnote_, 54, _footnote_; absent on +mission to West, 60; submits new evidence of serious state of affairs +among Indians, 61; authority of U.S. over Indians to be maintained, +61; Lane's plans appeal to, 72-73; disappointed over Stanton's +reversal of policy for use of Indian troops, 76; countermands orders +for enlistment of Indians, 77; warned that army supplies to refugees +to be discontinued, 83; Coffin and Ritchie apply for new instructions +regarding First Indian Expedition, 105-106; reports adversely upon +subject of Lane's motion, 223; motives considered, 225; submits +views on Pomeroy's project for concentration of tribes, 230, +_footnote_; undertakes mission to West, 234; treaties made by, +234 _et seq_.; detained by Delawares and by Quantrill's raid +upon Lawrence, 238-239 and _footnote_; negotiates with Osages at +Leroy, 239 and _footnote_; treaties impeachable, 241 + +Dorn, Andrew J: mentioned, 263, _footnote_, 264, _footnote_; +avowed secessionist, 47, _footnote_ + +Doubleday, Charles: 114, _footnote_; colonel of Second Ohio +Cavalry, 118; Weer to supersede, 119; proposes to attempt to reach +Fort Gibson, 119; desirous of checking Stand Watie, 119; indecisive +engagement on Cowskin Prairie, 119 and _footnote_; ordered not to +go into Indian Territory, 120; left at Baxter Springs by Weer, 121 + +Downing, Lewis: 231, _footnote_, 255, 256 + +Drew, John: dispersion of regiment, 24, 132; movements of men at Pea +Ridge, 32; finds refuge at Camp Stephens, 35; authorized to furlough +men, 111, _footnote_; regiment stationed in vicinity of Park +Hill, 111, _footnote_; desires + +Clarkson placed in Cherokee country, 159, _footnote_ + +Drywood Creek (Kans.): Federal defeat at, 51 and _footnote_; +Price breaks camp at, 52, _footnote_; fugitive Indians on, +195, _footnote_, 209, _footnote_; Cherokee camp raided by +guerrillas, 213-214 + +Du Bose, J.J: 288, _footnote_ + +Duval, B.G: 266, _footnote_ + +Dwight's Mission: 217 + + +East Boggy (Okla.): 296 + +Eaton, Rachel Caroline: work cited, 257, _footnote_ + +Echo Harjo: 278, _footnote_ + +Edgar County (Ill.): 84, _footnote_ + +Edwards, John Newman: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 14, 151, +194, 198 + +Elder, Peter P: 48, _footnote_, 204; makes Fort Scott +headquarters of Neosho Agency, 50; disputes with Coffin, 116-117, +207, _footnote_; prevails upon Ottawas to extend hospitality to +refugees, 213, _footnote_; suspicious of Coffin, 229 + +Elk Creek (Okla.): Kiowas select home on, 153; Cooper encamps on, 287, +_footnote_ + +Elkhorn Tavern (Ark.): 30 and _footnote_ + +Ellithorpe, A.C: 105, _footnote_, 115, _footnote_, 131, +_footnote_; with detachment at Vann's Ford, 144; disapproves +of attempting to return refugees at early date, 209-211 +and _footnote_; complains of Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la, 219, +_footnote_; opinion about Indian Home Guards, 251 + +Elm Springs (Ark.): 35 + +El Paso (Tex.): 48 + +Emancipation Proclamation: Frémont's, 57; Lincoln's, 234 + +Evansville (Ark.): 28 + +Ewing, Thomas: 304, _footnote_, 321, _footnote_ + +"Extremists": 305, _footnote_ + + +Fairhaven (Mass.): 31, _footnote_ + +Fall River (Kans.): 79, 81, 82, _footnote_, 84-85, 273, +_footnote_ + +False Wichita (Washita) River (Okla.): 153 + +Farnsworth, H.W: 205, _footnote_, 236, _footnote_ + +Fayetteville (Ark.): 28, _footnote_, 256; battle of, 218, +_footnote_ + +Federals: early encounter with, anticipated by Van Dorn, 20; expulsion +from Missouri planned by Van Dorn, 26; drive back Confederates under +McCulloch and Price, 26; disposition to over-estimate number of enemy, +30, _footnote_; attempt to recover battery seized by Indians +at Leetown, 31; in occupation of northern Arkansas, 34; defeat +at Wilson's Creek, 49; defeat at Drywood Creek, 51-52 and +_footnote_; showing unwonted vigor on northeastern border of +Cherokee country, 112, _footnote_; flight, 113, _footnote_; +Stand Watie on watch for, 130; defeat in Battle of Newtonia, 194-195 +and _footnotes_; direct efforts towards arresting Hindman's +progress, 218; grants to Indian Territory, 250; foraging and scouting, +253; in possession of Fort Smith, 290; Steele places drive from Fort +Smith to Red River, 311; fail to pursue Stand Watie, 312 + +First Choctaw Regiment: under Col. Sampson Folsom, 152; ordered to +Fort Gibson, 155; men unanimously reënlist for duration of war, 328; +demands, 328 + +First Creek Regiment: commanded by D.N. McIntosh, 25; men gather at +Cantonment Davis, 27; two hundred men gather at Camp Stephens, 32; +about to make extended scout westward, 112; under orders to advance up +Verdigris toward Santa Fé road, 152 + +First Indian Brigade: 327 + +First Indian Expedition: had beginnings in Lane's project, 41; revival +of interest in, 99; Denver, Steele, and Coffin coöperate to advance, +102; arms go forward to Leroy and Humboldt, 102; time propitious for, +103; policy of Sturgis not yet revealed, 103-104; Steele, Denver, and +Wright in dark regarding, 103, _footnote_; Steele issues order +against enlistment of Indians, 105; vigor restored by re-establishment +of Department of Kansas, 106; orders for resuming enlistment +of Indians, 106-107; organization proceeding apace, 113 and +_footnote_; outfit of Indians decidedly inferior, 117; Weer +appointed to command of, 117 and _footnote_; Doubleday proposed +for command of, 118; existence ignored by Missourians, 119, +_footnote_; destruction planned by Stand Watie and others, 120 +and _footnote_; Weer attempts to expedite movement, 121; special +agents accompany, 121-122 and _footnote_; component parts encamp +at Baxter Springs, 125; First Brigade put under Salomon, 125; Second +Brigade put under Judson, 125; advance enters Indian Territory +unmolested, 126; forward march and route, 126; Hindman proposes to +check progress, 129; march, 130; delicate position with respect to +U.S. Indian policy, 134; troubles begin, 138; supplies insufficient, +138; in original form brought to abrupt end, 143; Pike's depreciatory +opinion, 164 and _footnote_; Osages join conditionally, 207 and +_footnote_; Gillpatrick serves ends of diplomacy between John +Ross and, 271 + +First Kansas: 97, _footnote_ + +First Missouri Cavalry: 113 + +First Regiment Cherokee Mounted Rifles: commanded by John Drew, 25; +joins Pike at Smith's Mill, 28; movements and conduct at Pea Ridge, +32; iniquitous designs, 33; stationed in vicinity of Park Hill, 111, +_footnote_; defection after defeat at Locust Grove, 132 + +First Regiment Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles: commanded by +Cooper, 25; gathers at Camp Stephens, 32; goes out of service, 153; +two companies post themselves in upper part of Indian Territory, 155; +eight companies encamp near Fort McCulloch, 155; fights valiantly at +Battle of Newtonia, 194 + +Flanagin, Harris: 270, _footnote_, 287, _footnote_ + +Folsom, Sampson: 152, 155 + +Folsom, Simpson N: 152 + +Foreman, John A: 144, 284, 285 + +Formby, John: work cited, 19, _footnote_ + +Fort Arbuckle (Okla.): 15, 60, _footnote_, 184 and +_footnote_ + +Fort Blunt (Okla.): 260 + +Fort Cobb (Okla.): 15, 60, _footnote_, 112, 153, 275, +_footnote_; about to be abandoned by Texan volunteers, 173, +_footnote_; McKuska appointed to take charge of remaining +property, 174, _footnote_ + +Fort Davis (Okla.): Campbell discovers strong Confederate force at, +136; Cooper orders Indians to report at, 137; many of buildings +destroyed by order of Phillips, 220 and _footnote_, 254 + +Fort Gibson (Okla.): Pike's headquarters not far from, 22; Choctaw +troops guard road by Perryville towards, 112; Hindman orders Pike to +establish headquarters at, 128, _footnote_; Campbell halts +at, 136; Weer inclined to wander from straight road to, 139; +newly-fortified, given name of Fort Blunt, 260; Blunt undertakes to go +to, + +261; Cooper learns of approach of train of supplies for, 272, +_footnote_; Creeks obliged to stay at, 273, _footnote_; +Phillips despatches Foreman to reënforce Williams, 284; Steele's +equipment inadequate to taking of Fort Gibson, 286, 290-291; Phillips +continues in charge at, 305; Cherokees intent upon recovery, 311; +Phillips to complete fortifications at, 325; rapid changing of +commands at, 333, 335 + +Fort Larned (Kans.): 112, 152 + +Fort Leavenworth (Kans.): 73, _footnote_, 123, _footnote_; +protected, 45; Prince in charge at, 55; troops ordered to, 60, +_footnote_; Hunter stationed at, 69, _footnote_; arms for +Indian Expedition to be delivered at, 100 + +Fort Lincoln (Kans.): 52 + +Fort McCulloch (Okla.): constructed under Pike's direction, 110; Pike +to advance from, 119, _footnote_; Pike's force at, not to be +despised, 128; Cherokees exasperated by Pike's continued stay at, 159; +Pike departs from, 162 + +Fort Roe (Kans.): 80, 85 + +Fort Scott (Kans.): 213, 214; Lane at, 45, 51; chief Federal +stronghold in middle Southwest, 46; temporary headquarters for Neosho +Agency, 50; abandoned by Lane in anticipation of attack by Price, 52; +Indian council transferred to, 74, _footnote_; Blunt succeeds +Denver at, 98; tri-weekly post between St. Joseph and, 116; supply +train from, waited for, 126; Indians mustered in at, 132; Weer +cautioned against allowing communication to be cut off, 138-139; +Phillips's communication with, threatened, 272; Steele plans to take, +286 + +Fort Smith (Ark.): Drew's Cherokees marching from, to Fayetteville, +28, _footnote_; troops ordered withdrawn from, 60, +_footnote_; Choctaw troops watch road to, 112; indignation in, +against Pike, 158; martial law instituted in, 162, _footnote_; +attempt to make permanent headquarters for Arkansas and Red River +Superintendency, 176-177; plans to push Confederate line northward of, +192; conditions in and around, 247, 269, _footnote_; Phillips +despairs of Choctaw recruiting while in Confederate hands, 258-259; +Steele takes command at, 261; door of Choctaw country, 290; becomes +Blunt's headquarters, 304; Steele expects Federals to attempt a drive +from, to Red River, 311; included within restored Department of +Kansas, 321; dispute over jurisdiction of, 324; included within +re-organized Department of Arkansas, 325; Indian raids around, 331 + +Fort Smith _Papers_: work cited, 150, _footnote_ + +Fort Towson (Okla.): 330 + +Fort Washita (Okla.): 15, 60, _footnote_, 303, _footnote_ + +Fort Wayne (Okla.): in Delaware District of Cherokee Nation, 197; +battle of, October 22, 1862, 197, 211, 216, 249 + +Fort Wise (Colo.): 152 + +Foster, R.D: 47, _footnote_ + +Foster, Robert: 47, _footnote_ + +Foulke, William Dudley: work cited, 43, _footnote_ + +Fourteenth Kansas Cavalry: 322 + +Fourteenth Missouri State Militia: 113 + +Fourth Kansas Volunteers: 117, _footnote_ + +Franklin County (Kans.): 50, _footnote_ + +Frémont, John C: removal of, 13; sends out emergency call for men, 48; +failure to support Lyon, 49; no coördination of parts of army + +of, 56; emancipation proclamation, 57; put in charge of Department of +Mountain, 96 + +Frontier Guards: 45, _footnote_ + +Fuller, Perry: 88 and _footnote_, 211, _footnote_, 212, 233 + +Furnas, Robert W: 105, _footnote_; letter to Dole, 107-108; +becomes ranking officer in field, 143; made commander of Indian +Brigade, 144 + + +Gamble, Hamilton R: 119, _footnote_, 249, _footnote_, 260 + +Gano, Richard M: 306, _footnote_, 332 + +Gano's Brigade: 306, _footnote_ + +Garland, A.H: 148, _footnote_, 270, _footnote_ + +Garland, Samuel: 312, _footnote_, 321 + +Gillpatrick, Doctor: sent under flag of truce to Ross, 135; bearer of +verbal instructions, 193, 217, _footnote_; death, 271 + +Granby (Mo.): lead mines, 20; abandoned, 20, _footnote_; plan for +recovery, 194 + +Grand Falls: 47, _footnote_ + +Grand River (Okla.): 284; Cowskin Prairie on, 119; Second Indian Home +Guards to examine country, 126; Salomon places Indians as corps of +observation on, 142, 144; + +Grand Saline (Okla.): 112, 131, _footnote_, 139 + +Grayson County (Texas): 190 + +Great Father: 46, _footnote_, 240-241, _footnote_, 272-273, +_footnote_ + +Greene, Francis Vinton: work cited, 14, _footnote_ + +Greenleaf Prairie (Okla.): 272 + +Greeno, H.S: 136, 137 + +Greenwood, A.B: 222, _footnote_ + +Guerrillas: Indian approved by Pike, 22 and _footnote_, 112; not +present in Sherman's march, 44; Halleck interested in suppression of, +101; operations checked by Hindman in Indian Territory, 194; Quantrill +and, raid Black Bob lands and Olathe, 205; policy of Confederate +government towards, 205, _footnote_; attacks disturb Shawnees, +236, _footnote_; raid Cherokee refugee camp on Drywood Creek, +213-214; everywhere on Indian frontier, 260; perpetrate Baxter +Springs Massacre, 304; are recruiting stations in certain counties of +Missouri, 304, _footnote_ + + +Hadley, Jeremiah: 236, _footnote_ + +Halleck, Henry W: in command of Department of Missouri, 27; plans for +Denver, 71; disparaging remarks, 75, _footnote_; probable reason +for objecting to use of Indians in war, 75, _footnote_; in +charge of Department of Mississippi, 96; Lincoln's estimate of, 96; +instructed regarding First Indian Expedition, 100; opposed to arming +Indians, 101; interested in suppression of jayhawkers and guerrillas, +101; well rid of Kansas, 106, _footnote_; disregard of orders +respecting Indian Expedition, 109; calls for men, 259 + +Hallum, John: work cited, 149, _footnote_ + +Halpine, Charles G: 96 + +Hanly, Thomas B: 176 + +Hardin, Captain: 276, _footnote_ + +Harlan, David M: 232, _footnote_ + +Harlan, James: 214 and _footnote_ + +Harper's Ferry Investigating Committee: 226-227 + +Harrell, J.M: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 23, 149, 188, +190, 194, 249, 251, 284, 289 + +Harris, Cyrus: 63, _footnote_ + +Harris, John: 207, _footnote_ + +Harris, J.D: 152 + +Harrison, J.E: 267, _footnote_ + +Harrison, LaRue: 259 + +Harrisonville (Mo.): 55 + +Hart's Company: 266, _footnote_ + +Hart's Spies: 153 + +Hay, John: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 41, 45, 96 + +Hébert, Louis: 34 + +Helena (Ark.): 283 + +Henning, B.S: 207, _footnote_ + +Herndon, W.H: 214, _footnote_ + +Herron, Francis J: 249, 260 + +Heth, Henry: 19 + +Hindman, Thomas C: 119, _footnote_; appointment, 127, +_footnote_; assumes command of Trans-Mississippi District, 128, +186; disparagement of Pike's command, 128, _footnote_; orders +Pike's white auxiliary to move to Little Rock, 147; begins controversy +with Pike, 156; starts new attack upon Pike, 161; justification for +treatment of Pike, 162; impossible to be reconciled to Pike, 163; +withdraws approval of Pike's resignation, 169; placed in charge of +District of Arkansas, 192; appears in Tahlequah, 193; summoned by +Holmes, 194; instructed to let Pike go free, 200; resorts to save +expense, 247; recall demanded by Arkansas delegation, 270; associates +appraised by, 270, _footnote_; asks for assignment to Indian +Territory, 270, _footnote_; feeds indigents at cost of army +commissary, 307 + +Hitchcock, E.A: 98, _footnote_ + +Ho-go-bo-foh-yah: 82 + +Holmes, Theophilus H: 127, _footnote_, 166, _footnote_; +appointed to command of Trans-Mississippi Department, 187; develops +prejudice against Pike, 188; grants Pike leave of absence, 190; real +reasons for unfriendliness to Pike, 198-199; orders arrest of Pike, +199; forced to concede Indian claim to some consideration, 200; +command placed under supervision of Kirby Smith, 269; relations with +Hindman, 269; displacement demanded by Arkansas delegation, 270; Price +commands in District of Arkansas during illness, 299, _footnote_; +not friend of Steele, 311 + +Honey Springs (Ark.): 288 + +Horse Creek (Mo.): 145 + +Horton, Albert W: 230, _footnote_ + +Hoseca X Maria: 65, _footnote_ + +Hubbard, David: 172, _footnote_ + +Hudson's Crossing (Okla.): 126, 143 + +Humboldt (Kans.): 69, 79; proposed headquarters of Neosho Agency, 52; +sacked and burnt by marauders, 53; Coffin's account of burning of, 54, +_footnote_; Kansas Seventh ordered to give relief to refugees, +82, _footnote_; Kansas Tenth at, 82, _footnote_; Jennison +with First Kansas Cavalry at, 99, _footnote_ + +Hunter, David: falls back upon Sedalia and Rolla, 13, 26; in command +of Department of Kansas, 27, 65-66; Lane places men at disposal, 41, +_footnote_; guards White House, 45, _footnote_; appointment +distasteful to Lane, 66-69; stationed at Fort Leavenworth, 69, +_footnote_; orders relief of refugees, 73, _footnote_; +issues passes to Indian delegation, 73, _footnote_; interviewed +at Planter's House in St. Louis, 74, _footnote_; friction between +Lane and, 74-76; suggests mustering in of Kansas Indians, +74-75, _footnote_; Halleck's strictures upon command, 75, +_footnote_; sends relief to refugees, 81; warns that army +supplies to refugees must cease, 83; relieved from command, 96; +troubles mostly due to local politics, 97 + +Hutchinson, C.C: 55, _footnote_, 212, 213, _footnote_ + + +Illinois Creek: battle of, 218, _footnote_ + +Illinois River: 28, 312 + +Indian Alliance with Confederacy: conditioned by stress of + +circumstances, 134; Creeks and Choctaws disgusted with, 254; Cherokee +National Council revokes, 256; Indians fear mistake, 273-274; effect +of Battle of Honey Springs upon, 290; strengthened by formation of +Indian league, 317; revitalized by Maxey's reforms, 326 + +Indian Confederacy: formed by Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Seminoles +and Caddoes, 317; Choctaws want separate from Southern, 321, +_footnote_ + +Indian Brigade: formed, 144; scouting of component parts of, 145-146; +white troops ordered to support of, 192-193; Phillips given command, +249; integral parts, 249, 250, _footnote_; assigned service, 250; +regarded by Phillips as in sad state, 251 + +Indian Delegation: 62, _footnote_, 73, _footnote_, 74, +_footnote_; Dole interviewed in Leavenworth, 94; Osage wants +conference with Great Father, 240, _footnote_; Creek, confers +with Steele, 262, _footnote_; Davis disregards, 318 and +_footnote_ + +Indian Home Guards: _Fifth Regiment_, 219 and _footnote_; +_First Regiment_, Furnas, colonel commanding, 107, 143; muster +roll, 108-109, _footnote_; composed of Creeks and Seminoles, +114; ordered to take position in vicinity of Vann's Ford, 144; +demoralization, 145; component part of Phillips's Indian Brigade, 249; +composed mainly of Creeks, 251; fought dismounted at Honey Springs, +288; _Fourth Regiment_, 219 and _footnote_; _Second +Regiment_, 125; _Third Regiment_, formation, 132; Phillips +commissioned colonel of, 132; detachment at Fort Gibson, 144; +engagement, 163-164, 194, 197; component part of Phillips's Indian +Brigade, 249; largely Cherokee in composition, 252; innovations +introduced into, 252; part placed at Scullyville, 325 + +Indian Protectorate: 175 + +Indian Indigents: 247, 262, 307-308 and _footnote_ + +Indian Refugees: Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la and his men, 79; numbers justified +use of Indian soldiery, 79; numbers exaggerated, 81, 209 and +_footnote_; destitution, 81; Dr. Campbell ministers to needs, +81-82; Seventh Kansas gives relief, 82, _footnote_; Coffin +describes pitiable state, 82 and _footnote_; Snow furnishes +details of destitution of Seminole, 83, _footnote_; army supplies +to be discontinued, 83; Kile made special distributing agent, 84; +much-diseased, 85; hominy, chief food, 85, _footnote_; Neosho +Valley selected as suitable place for, 86; complain of treatment, +87; Collamore and Jones investigate condition, 87, _footnote_; +unwilling to remove to Sac and Fox reservation, 88 and +_footnote_; Creek request appointment of Carruth as agent, +89; manifest confidence in Lane's power, 94; unassuaged grief, 95; +subsistence becomes matter of serious moment, 99; Congress applies +Indian annuity money to support of, 99; want to assist in recovery of +Indian Territory, 99; to furnish troops for First Indian Expedition, +100; Halleck opposed to arming of, 101; Blunt advises early return to +own country, 136; numbers increase as result of Salomon's retrograde +movement, 146, _footnote_, 203; Blunt promises to restore to +homes, 196, 203; of Neosho Agency, 204-207 and _footnotes_; Creek +offered home by Osages, 207 and _footnote_; conditions among, +208; Cherokee on Drywood Creek, 209; distributed over Sac and Fox +Agency, + +212-213; collect on Neutral Lands, 213 and _footnote_; camp of +Cherokee raided by guerrillas, 213-214; Harland and Proctor to look +out for, at Neosho, 214; claim of Sacs and Foxes against Creek, 235, +_footnote_; Phillips's reasons for returning to homes, 258; at +Neosho returned to homes, 273 and _footnote_; cattle stolen, 274, +_footnote_; on return journey preyed upon by compatriots, 332 + +Indian Representation in Confederate Congress: 180, 279, 298-299, +_footnote_ + +Indian Soldiers (Confederate): as Home Guard, 23-24; as possible +guerrillas to prey upon Kansas, 23 and _footnote_; as corps of +observation, 25; refuse to move until paid, 27; conduct at Battle of +Pea Ridge, 30-33; not included in Van Dorn's scheme of things, 35; Van +Dorn orders return to own country, 35; order to cut off supplies from +Missouri and Kansas, 35-36; may be rewarded by Pike, 36; Pike's report +on activity, 112; Hindman's appraisement, 128, _footnote_; stigma +attaching to use, 148, _footnote_; organized in military way for +own protection, 159; do scouting, 163; Smith to raise and command +certain, 173, _footnote_; Pike to receive five companies from +Seminoles, 173, _footnote_; Leeper to enlist from Reserve tribes, +173-174, _footnote_; Cooper calls from all Indian nations, 174, +_footnote_; as Home Guard, 189; privations and desertions, 200; +threw away guns at Battle of Honey Springs, 288; recruiting, 317, 319; +results under best conditions, 326-327; consider reënlistment, 328; +recognition of services, 330 + +Indian Soldiers (Federal): feasibility of, 50, 57; Frémont and +Robinson not in favor of, 57; Hunter suggests making, out of Kansas +tribes, 74-75, _footnote_; Stanton refuses to employ, 76 and +_footnote_; use justified, 79; economy, 99; to form larger part +of First Indian Expedition, 100; Halleck opposed to, 101, 102; +Dole instructs officers to report at Fort Leavenworth, 102, +_footnote_; necessary equipment, 109; final preparations, 121; +appearance, 123 and _footnote_; excellent for scouting, 125; at +Locust Grove, 131, _footnote_; accused of outrages committed by +white men, 135, _footnote_; do scouting, 163; tribute of praise +for, 195, _footnote_; made part of Army of Frontier, 196; +diverted to service in Missouri, 196; desertions, 203 and +_footnote_; do well at Cane Hill and Prairie Grove, 218-219; +disposed to take leave of absence, 252; to help secure Indian +Territory, 294; negro regiment compared with Indian, 295 + +Indian Springs (Ga.): treaty, 255, _footnote_ + +Indian Territory: McCulloch expected to secure, 15; included within +Trans-Mississippi District, 20; troops of, 25; Pike to endeavour to +maintain, 36; attack, from, expected, 48; Frémont calls for aid, 48; +situation delicate, 59-60; left destitute of protection, 60; Hunter's +suggestion, 75, _footnote_; first refugees from, 79; "home," 93; +early return promised, 94; expeditions to recover, projected, 95 and +_footnote_; refugees want to recover, 99; Stand Watie returns +into, 113; Carruth and Martin to take note of conditions in, 122 and +_footnote_; Pike's force for defence of, exclusively, 129; Indian +Brigade holding its own there, 146; Pike's Indian force ordered to +northern + +border, 148; Pike attempts justification of retirement to southern +part, 151; Pike declares Indian officers peers of white, 158-159; +defence regarded by Pike as chief duty, 159; strategic importance not +unappreciated by Confederate government, 171; attached for judicial +purposes to western district of Arkansas, 177; Confederate government +fails to carry out promise, 177, _footnote_; Pike advises +complete separation of, 179; Scott to investigate conditions in, 181; +Pike returns to, 190; included within District of Arkansas, 192; +guerrilla warfare in, suppressed, 194; Federals in undisputed +possession of, 198; Holmes exploiting, 199; Indian alliance valuable, +201; Absentee Shawnees expelled from, 205, _footnote_; Blunt +advises speedy return of refugees, 209; Confederates plan recovery, +218; Lane introduces resolution for adding, to Kansas, 223; Dole +objects to regular territorial form of government in, 223; Kansas +tribes willing to exchange lands for homes in, 227; project for +concentration of tribes in, 230, _footnote_; negotiations for +removal of Kansas tribes to, 231; depletion of resources, 245, 247; +organized as separate military command, 245 and _footnote_; +troops to be all unmounted, 247; advertised as lost to Confederate +cause, 250; conception of responsibility to, 253; Phillips's plans +for recovery not at present practicable, 257; strategic importance +unappreciated by Halleck and Curtis, 259; Curtis to take consequences +of giving up 259; privilege of writ of _habeas corpus_ suspended +in, 269; Hindman asks for assignment to, 270, _footnote_; is mere +buffer, 276; Cooper poses as friend of, 278, 300; Creeks complaint to +Davis, 279; Confederate operations confined to attacks upon supply +trains, 283; removal of all Kansas Indians to, 294; roads and +highways in, 295-296, _footnote_; necessary to Confederacy, 298, +_footnote_; Scott enters, 300; command devolved upon Cooper, 303; +made distinct from Arkansas, 303; Magruder wants attached to District +of Texas, 306, _footnote_; war measures applied to, 308-309; +Maxey in command of, 311; Indian Home Guards only Federal forces +in, 312; granary of Trans-Mississippi Department, 315; Boudinot's +suggestions regarding, 317, _footnote_; council requests be made +separate department, 318; Davis objects, 318-319; included within +restored Department of Kansas, 321; Phillips starts upon expedition +through, 322; Price asks for loan of troops from, 326; strategic +importance of, 331; scandalous performances in, 333 + +Indian Trust Funds: 173-174 + +Indians of Plains: regarding alliance with, 320, 335; harass Kansas +and Colorado, 320 and _footnote_, 335 + +Interior Department: 73, _footnote_, 105 and _footnote_; +profiteering among employees, 208; Lane and Wilder make request, 230, +_footnote_ + +Inter-tribal Council: at Leroy, 62-69, _footnotes_; Lane's plans +for at headquarters, 69; Leroy selected as the place for, 69; +sessions of, 69-70; Hunter's plans for, at Fort Leavenworth, 70, +74, _footnote_; Lane orders transfer to Fort Scott, 74, +_footnote_; at Belmont, 237, _footnote_; at Armstrong +Academy, 317, 320, 323 + +Iola (Kans.): 88, _footnote_; Doubleday concentrates near, 120, +_footnote_; Osages advance as far as, 207 _footnote_ + +Ionies: 274, _footnote_ + +Iowas: 77, _footnote_ + +Ironeyes: 115, _footnote_ + +Iroquois: 79 + + +Jackson, Claiborne: 16, 17, 50, _footnote_ + +Jackson County (Mo.): 304, _footnote_ + +Jacksonport (Ark.): 25 + +Jan-neh: 109, _footnote_ + +Jayhawkers: 41, _footnote_, 97, 101, 251, 266, 268, +_footnote_, 269, 273, _footnote_ + +Jayhawking Expedition: 73, _footnote_ 274, _footnote_ + +Jennison, C.R: 50, _footnote_, 52, _footnote_ 99, +_footnote_, 104, _footnote_ + +Jewell, Lewis R: 131 + +Jim Ned: 274, _footnote_ + +Jim Pockmark: 65, _footnote_ + +John Jumper: in command of Creek and Seminole Battalion, 25; on side +of Confederacy, 62, _footnote_; ordered to take Fort Larned, 112; +Seminole Battalion in motion toward Salt Plains, 152; honour conferred +upon, by Provisional Congress, 174, _footnote_; renegade members +from Seminole Battalion of, involved in tragedy at Wichita Agency, +183; loyal to Pike, 200; member of delegation to Davis, 318, +_footnote_; Phillips sends communication to, 323, _footnote_ + +John Ross _Papers_: work cited, 28, _footnote_ + +Johnson and Grimes: 308, _footnote_ + +Johnson, F: 207 and _footnote_, 211 + +Johnson, Robert W: 24, _footnote_, 25, _footnote_, 175, 176 + +Johnson County (Kans.): 204, 235, _footnote_ + +Johnston, Albert Sidney: 14, _footnote_, 19 and _footnote_, +26 + +Joint Committee on Conduct of War: 33, 33, _footnote_ + +Jones, Evan: 64, _footnote_, 73, _footnote_; investigates +conditions among refugees, 87, _footnote_; accompanies Weer, 121; +entrusted with confidential message to John Ross, 121-122; pleads for +justice to Indians, 225 and _footnote_; offers to negotiate about +Neutral Lands, 231 + +Jones, J.T: 213, _footnote_ + +Jones, Robert M: 180 and _footnote_ + +Jon-neh: 108, _footnote_ + +Jordan, A.M: 214, _footnote_ + +Jordan, Thomas: 128, _footnote_ + +Journal of the Confederate Congress: work cited in _footnotes_ on +pages 172, 173, 174, 175, 278 + +Judson, William R: 134; in charge of Second Brigade of First Indian +Expedition, 125 + + +Kansans: fighting methods, 17, 44; implacable and dreaded foes of +Missouri, 18; fears attack from direction of Indian Territory, 48; +profiteering among, 208; covet Indian lands, 221, 224 + +Kansas: Indians on predatory expeditions into, 23; Indians to form +battalion, 23, _footnote_; Indians to cut off supplies from, +35-36; bill for admission signed by Buchanan, 41; exposed to danger, +45; troops called to Missouri, 48; Price has no immediate intention of +invading, 52; Indian enlistment, 57; likely to be menaced by Southern +Indians, 61; Territory, 70; refugees afflicted sorely, 93; desire to +recover Indian Territory, 95; Halpine makes derogatory remarks about, +96; not desired in Halleck's command, 96, _footnote_; revolution +to have been expected, 104, _footnote_; Pike's Indians to +repel invasion of Indian Territory from, 148; Pike tries to prevent +cattle-driving to, 173, _footnote_; failure of corn crop in +southern part, 209; people want refugees removed from southern, 212; +refugees + +plundering in, 218; resolution for extending southern boundary, +223; proposition to confederate tribes of Nebraska and of, 227; +negotiations begun to relieve, of Indian encumbrance, 228; project +to concentrate tribes of, in Indian Territory, 230, _footnote_; +negotiations with tribes of, 231; political squabbles, 249, +_footnote_; Wells's command on western frontier, 267, +_footnote_; stolen property brought into, 273, _footnote_; +Steele plans to invade, 286; advisability of making raid considered, +320; Stand Watie contemplates an invasion, 332 Kansas Brigade: _See +Lane's Kansas Brigade_ Kansas Legislature: 42, 71, _footnote_, +225 Kansas Militia: 50, _footnote_ Kansas River: 206 Kansas +Seventh: 82, _footnote_ Kansas-Nebraska Bill: 17, 44 Kansas +Tenth: 82, _footnote_ Kaws: 226, 236 and _footnote_ Kaw +Agency (Kans.): 55, 205 Kechees (Keeches?): 115, _footnote_ +Ke-Had-A-Wah: 65, _footnote_ Keith, O.B: 230 Ketchum, W. Scott: +119, _footnote_ Kickapoos: reported almost unanimously loyal +to U.S, 66, _footnote_; in First Indian Expedition, 115, +_footnote_; implicated in tragedy at Wichita Agency, 183; +fraudulent negotiation with, 230 and _footnote_; confer with +Carruth, 274, _footnote_ Kile, William: special agent +to refugees, 84; refuses appointment as quartermaster, 115, +_footnote_; misunderstanding with Ritchie, 115, _footnote_; +estrangement between Coffin and, 208 and _footnote_; resignation, +208, _footnote_; advises speedy return of refugees, 209 +Killebrew, James: 50, _footnote_ King, John: 269, _footnote_ +Kininola: 65, _footnote_ Kiowas: 112; select home on Elk Creek, +153; friendly, 153, _footnote_; confer with Carruth, 274, +_footnote_ Knights of Golden Circle: 111, _footnote_ + + +Lane, H.S: 146, _footnote_ Lane, James Henry: character, 41, 56; +enthusiasm, 41, 49; influence with Lincoln, 41-42; elected senator +from Kansas, 42; accepts colonelcy and begins recruiting, 43; not to +be taken as type, 45; redoubles efforts for organizing brigade, 49; +empowered to recruit, 50; conceives idea of utilizing Indians, 50, 57; +abandons Fort Scott, 52; throws up breastworks at Fort Lincoln, 52; +proceeds to seek revenge in spite of Robinson's opposition, 55; burns +Osceola, 55; attitude towards slavery, 56; suggests re-organization +of military districts on frontier, 58; disconcerted by appointment of +Hunter, 66-69; plans for inter-tribal council, 69; Denver had measured +swords with, 70; control over Federal patronage in Kansas, 71; +nominated brigadier-general, 71; friction between Hunter and, 74-76; +instructed by anti-Coffin conspirators, 88, _footnote_; protests +to Lincoln against appointment of Denver, 97; succeeds in preventing +appointment of Denver, 98; responsible for Blunt's promotion, 107, +_footnote_; Phillips appointed on staff, 126, _footnote_; +endorses request of Agent Johnson, 207, _footnote_; introduces +resolution for extending southern boundary of Kansas, 223; denounces +Stevens as defaulter, 226, _footnote_; opposed to Gamble, +Schofield, and Curtis, 249, _footnote_; belongs to party of + +_Extremists_, 305, _footnote_; requests that Blunt be +summoned to Washington for conference, 322, _footnote_ + +Lane, W.P: 266, _footnote_ + +Lane's Kansas Brigade: 41, 43, 49, 51, 58, 59, 71; relation to +Hunter's command, 72 and _footnote_; marauding committed, 75, +_footnote_; prospective Indian element dispensed with, 77 + +Lawler, J.J: 204, _footnote_ + +Lawrence (Kans.): 62, _footnote_, 73, _footnote_; +Quantrill's raid upon, 238, _footnote_; Dole detained by raid +upon, 239 + +Lawrenceburg (Ind.): 43, _footnote_ + +Lawrence _Republican_: 58, _footnote_ + +Leased District (Okla.): 181-182, 198 + +Leavenworth _Daily Conservative_: 58, _footnote_ + +Lee, Robert E: 186, _footnote_, 187 + +Lee, R.W: 307, _footnote_ + +Leeper, Matthew: authorized to enlist men, 173, _footnote_; +departs for Texas, 183; murder, 183 + +Leetown (Ark.): 30, 31 + +Leroy (Kans.): 86, 229, 239 and _footnote_; arrangements for +keeping cattle, 54, _footnote_; Lane builds stockades, 55; +council held by Cutler at, 62, _footnote_; substituted for +Humboldt as place for council, 69; sessions of council, 69-70; Indian +Brigade left, for Humboldt, 115, _footnote_; Weer returns to, +121; some Quapaws at, 204, _footnote_; Osages at, 207; Blunt +thinks refugees not properly cared for, 215; Dole negotiates with +Osages at, 239 and _footnote_ + +Lexington (Mo.): 52, _footnote_, 55 + +Limestone Gap: 111, _footnote_ + +Limestone Prairie: 328 + +Lincoln, Abraham: 71, 72 and _footnote_, 211, _footnote_; +suggests Hunter's falling back, 13; calls for volunteers, 41; +approached by Phelps and Blair, 49; popularity asserted, 54, +_footnote_; fears Frémont's supineness, 56; Lane urged to seek +interview with, 58; appointment of Cameron mistake, 60; attention +solicited by Dole, 61; sickness in family, 76, _footnote_; +refugees appeal to, 87 and _footnote_; estimate of Halleck, 96; +protests to, against appointment of Denver, 97; wires Halleck to defer +assignment of Denver, 97-98; responsible for Blunt's promotion, +107, _footnote_; Ross to intercede with, 192, _footnote_; +inquires into practicability of occupying Cherokee country, 216; +selects Schofield to succeed Curtis, 260; Amnesty Proclamation +distributed among Indians, 322 + +Lindsay's Prairie: 216 + +Linn County (Kans.): 101, _footnote_ + +Lipans: 274, _footnote_ + +Little Arkansas River: 275, _footnote_ + +Little Bear: 240, _footnote_ + +Little Bear Band of Osages: 238, _footnote_ + +Little Blue River (Okla.): 151, _footnote_ + +Little Boggy (Okla.): 112 + +Little Osage River: 45, 52 + +Little Rock (Ark.): 36, 63, _footnote_, 190; Van Dorn assumes +command at, 25; Hindman assumes command at, 128; Hindman orders Pike +to move part of forces to, 147; Scott endeavours to interview Holmes +in, 299 + +Livermore, William Roscoe: work cited in _footnotes_ on 260, 269, +270 + +Locust Grove (Okla.): skirmish at, 33, 131-132; Clarkson's commissary +captured at, 138; defeat of Confederates at, counted heavily against +Pike, 161 + +Lo-ka-la-chi-ha-go: 109, _footnote_ + +Lo-ga-po-koh: 109, _footnote_ + +Long Tiger: 103, _footnote_ + +Longtown Creek (Okla.): 295, _footnote_ + +Louisiana: portion included within Trans-Mississippi District, +20; requisition upon, for troops, 25; portion included within +Trans-Mississippi Department, 192 and _footnote_; western, +detached from Trans-Mississippi Department, 246 + +Love, William DeLoss: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 118, 138 + +Lower Creeks: 62, _footnote_ + +Lyon, Nathaniel: work to be repeated, 14; insight into Indian +character, 48; death, 49 + + +McClellan, George B: 13, 75, _footnote_, 96 + +McClish, Fraser: 62, _footnote_ + +McCulloch, Ben: refuses to coöperate with Price, 14, 56; takes +position in Arkansas, 15; relations with leading Confederates +in Arkansas and Missouri, 16; little in common with Price, 17; +indifference towards Missouri, 18; proceeds to Richmond to discuss +matters in controversy, 19; driven back into northwestern Arkansas, +26; death, 31, 34; had approved of using Indians against Kansas, +31, _footnote_; commission from, found on John Matthews, 54, +_footnote_; had diverted Pike's supplies, 147-148 + +McCulloch, Henry E: in command of Northern Sub-district of Texas, 302; +opinion of conditions in Indian Territory, 306, _footnote_ + +McCurtain, J: 312, _footnote_ + +McDaniel, James: 231, _footnote_ + +McDonald, Hugh: 173, _footnote_ + +McGee's Residence: 47, _footnote_ + +McIntosh, Chilly: 25, 62, _footnote_, 152 + +McIntosh, D.N: colonel in command of First Creek Regiment, 25; arrives +at Camp Stephens, 32; under orders to advance up Verdigris toward +Santa Fé road, 152; conduct as commander, 285, _footnote_; +commanded First and Second Creek at Honey Springs, 288 + +McIntosh, James: 29, _footnote_; death, 31, 34; defeated +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la in Battle of Chustenahlah, 79 + +McIntosh, Unee: 62, _footnote_ + +McIntosh, William: 255, _footnote_ + +Mackey's Salt Works (Okla.): 325 + +McNeil, John: 297 and _footnote_, 305 + +Magazine Mountains: 266, _footnote_ + +Magruder, John Bankhead: to command Trans-Mississippi Department, +186; delay, 186, _footnote_; appointment, rescinded, 187; orders +Bankhead to Steele's assistance, 291-292; proposes consolidation of +commands for recovery of Forts Smith and Gibson, 302; tries to deprive +Steele of white force, 306, 311, _footnote_; wants Indian +Territory attached to Texas, 306, _footnote_ + +Manypenny, George W: 221 + +Marmaduke, John S: 251, 327 + +Marston, B.W: 329, _footnote_ + +Marque and Reprisal Law: 21 + +Martial Law: 162 and _footnote_ + +Martin, George W: work cited, 59, _footnote_ + +Martin, H.W: entrusted with mission by Coffin, 122 and +_footnote_, 133; opinion regarding refugees, 209, 217-218; +arrangements for inter-tribal council, 273, _footnote_ + +Martin's Regiment: 308, _footnote_ + +Marysville (Okla.): 112 + +Matthews, John: incensing Osages and Cherokees against U.S. +government, 47, _footnote_; death, 53 and _footnote_; had +commission from McCuIloch, 54, _footnote_ + +Maxey, Samuel B: assigned to command of Indian Territory, 311; project +for sweeping reforms, 315 and _footnote_; delivers address at +Armstrong Academy council, 320 + +and _footnote_; thinks Indians best adapted for irregular +warfare, 326; coöperates with Price willingly, 326-327; rulings, +329-330, _footnote_; sets up printing-press for propaganda work, +330; speaks in own defense, 334; superseded by Cooper, 334 + +Maysville (Ark.): 131, 197 + +Maremec River (Mo.): 27 + +Methodist Episcopal Church South: 236, _footnote_ + +Mexican War: 70; Roane's conduct in, criticised by Pike, 149 + +Mexico: Lane in, 42, _footnote_; teams hauling cotton to, 266, +_footnote_ + +Miamies: 77, _footnote_ + +Mico Hatki: 62, _footnote_, 64, _footnote_, 108, +_footnote_, 234 + +Middle Boggy (Okla.): 152, 296 + +Miles, W. Porcher: 278, _footnote_ + +Mills, James K.: 113 + +Mississippi River: 14, _footnote_, 26, _footnote_, 34, 268, +_footnote_ + +Missouri: 17, 173, _footnote_; decisive result of Battle of +Pea Ridge, 13; expected Confederacy to force situation for her, 18; +requisition upon, for troops, 25; relief planned by Van Dorn, 26, 34; +Indians to cut off supplies from, 35; fight for, on border, 43-44; +troops from Kansas called to, 48; Denver served in, 70; activity +of secessionists, 110; Payton, senator from, 176, _footnote_; +Hindman and others plan to reënter southwest, 194, 218; Delaware +Reservation not far distant from, 206; Martin refuses to consider +refugees living upon impoverished people of, 217-218; political +squabbles in, 249, _footnote_; Watie succeeds in entering +southwestern, 312; Boudinot suggests arrangements for, 317, +_footnote_ + +Missouri Commandery: work cited, 148, _footnote_ + +Missouri River: 53 + +Missouri State Guard: 17, 158 + +Missouri State Guards: Eighth Division, 130, _footnote_ + +Missourians: customary fighting methods during period of border +warfare, 17, 44; refugee, in Lane's Kansas Brigade, 51; inroads +resented by various tribes, 77, _footnote_; intent upon ignoring +First Indian Expedition, 119, _footnote_; battalion of, at Locust +Grove, 131 + +Mitchell, Robert B: appointment by Robinson, 46, _footnote_; +raises volunteers to go against Indians, 46, _footnote_; needed +by Halleck, 101 and _footnote_ + +Mix, Charles E: 52, _footnote_, 60, 208, _footnote_ + +"Moderates": 304, _footnote_ + +Mograin, Charles: 207, _footnote_, 241, _footnote_ + +Moneka: 46, _footnote_ + +Montgomery, James: 15 and _footnote_, 45, 53, _footnote_ + +Moonlight, Thomas: 322 + +Moore, Charles: 206, _footnote_ + +Moore, Frank: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 83, 84, 135, +184, 257, 287 + +Moore, Thomas O: 192, _footnote_ + +Moravian Mission: 194 + +Morgan, A.S: 291, _footnote_, 293 + +Morton, Oliver P: 43 and _footnote_ + +Moty Kennard: _footnotes_ on pages 62, 65, 262, 278, 302, 320 + +Mundy Durant: 235, _footnote_ + +Munsees: 212 + +Muskogee (Okla.): 288 + +Murrow, J.S: 162, _footnote_ + + +Napier's _Peninsular War_: Pike's study of, 163 + +Nebraska Territory: 227, 231 + +Neosho (Mo.): defeat of Federals at, 113; Ratliff despatched to, +127; Cherokee refugees removed from Drywood Creek to, 214, 217, 218; +refugees at, 257, _footnote_, 273 and _footnote_ + +Neosho Agency: headquarters, 46, 50, 52; tribes included within, 48; +in great confusion, 115-116; changes in location of, 116-117 + +Neosho Falls (Kans.): 213 + +Neosho Valley: suitable place for refugees, 86; refugees object to +leaving, 88; Steele plans to replenish resources from, 286; Stand +Watie makes daring cavalry raid into, 312 + +New Albany: 80, _footnote_ + +New England Relief Society: 87, _footnote_ + +New Mexico: 61, 113, 152, 238, _footnote_ + +Newton, Robert C: 266, _footnote_ + +Newton County (Mo.): 47, _footnote_ + +Newtonia (Mo.): battle of, 194-195 and _footnotes_ + +New York Indian Lands: 79; intruded upon by white squatters, 80, 85; +refugees upon, 79, 85; controversy over, 85, _footnote_; Dole +makes treaty concerning, 235-236 + +New York _Tribune_: 31, _footnote_, 126, _footnote_, +226 + +Nicolay, John G: 42, _footnote_ + +Nineteenth Regiment of Arkansas Volunteers: 150, _footnote_ + +Ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry: 119, _footnote_; Frederick +Salomon, colonel, 118; part attached to First Brigade of First Indian +Expedition, 126 + +North, The: 42, _footnote_, 171, 245; indifference towards West, +43; reconstruction measures in favor of, 228; Indian Territory came +too late into reckonings of, 250 + +North Fork of the Canadian (Okla.): 173, _footnote_ + +North Fork Village (Okla.): 173, _footnote_ + +Northern Sub-District of Texas: 286, 302 + + +Ock-tah-har-sas Harjo: 228, _footnote_; elected principal chief +by refugee Creeks, 89; addresses "Our Father," 233 + +Office of Indian Affairs: prompt action needed, 47, _footnote_; +approval sought, 52; appeal to War Department for restoration of +military force in Indian Territory, 60; Carruth, special agent of, +accompanies First Indian Expedition, 122 and _footnote_; +agents ignored by military men of First Indian Expedition, 133 and +_footnote_; profiteering among employees, 208; Wattles sent out +by, 226; not yet prepared to treat with John Ross for retrocession of +Neutral Lands, 231 + +Oh-Chen-Yah-Hoe-Lah: 69, _footnote_ + +Oke-Tah-hah-shah-haw Choe: talk, 66, _footnote_ + +Olathe (Kans.): 205 + +Old George: 203 + +Oldham, Williamson S: 157 and _footnote_, 176, _footnote_ + +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la: 24, 63, _footnote_, 73, _footnote_, +76 and _footnote_, 79; defeated by McIntosh in Battle of +Chustenahlah, 79; lodges complaint against Coffin, 87; friends oppose +election of Ock-tah-har-sas Harjo as principal chief, 89; interviews +Lane, 94; Coffin talks with, on subject of Indian Expedition, 102-103, +_footnote_; wants "wagons that shoot," 117; Creeks under, offered +home by Osages, 207 and _footnote_, 229; Ellithorpe complains of, +219, _footnote_; death, 234 + +Osage County (Kans.): 80 + +Osage Nation: 47, _footnote_ + +Osage Reservation (Kans.): exposed condition of, 55; refugees cross, +79; intruders upon, 222 and _footnote_; owners unwilling to cede +part of, 229-230 + +Osage River: 27 + +Osages: 252; bad white men interfering with, 46; disturbances + +among, 46, _footnote_, 47, _footnote_; Mitchell schemes to +negotiate treaty with, 47, _footnote_; offer assistance to +U.S., 49; John Matthews, trader among, 53, _footnote_; loyalty +asserted, 54, _footnote_; Coffin to coöperate with Elder in +negotiating with, 87-88, _footnote_; attempt to persuade +enlistment for First Indian Expedition, 115, 207; approached for +cession of lands, 116, 222; abandon Confederate cause, 121; +Weer promotes enlistment of, 121; service rendered by, 207, +_footnote_; offer home to Creeks, 207 and _footnote_, 229, +237-238; memorialize Congress, 229; disgusted with Coffin's draft +of treaty of cession, 229; Dole makes treaty with, 235, 239 and +_footnote_; massacre of Confederate officers, 237-238, +_footnote_; council of Great and Little, 237, _footnote_; +unfair advantage taken by representatives of U.S. government, 238; +terms of Dole's treaty with, 239, _footnote_; makes propositions +to Dole, 240-241, _footnote_; Dorn reported to have funds for, +264, _footnote_; Jim Ned's band involved in serious difficulties +with, 274, _footnote_; invited to inter-tribal council, 274-275, +_footnote_ + +Osceola (Mo.): Lane burns, 55 + +Ottawas: included within Sac and Fox Agency, 212; receive refugees +upon certain conditions, 212-213; extend further hospitality to +refugees, 213, _footnote_ + + +Pagy, A.T: 65, _footnote_ + +Park Hill (Okla.): Pike tarries at, 28; Drew's regiment stationed near +in, _footnote_; Greene sent with detachment to Tahlequah and, +136; Blunt's expeditionary force reaches, 193; Phillips has camp at, +258 + +Parke County (Ind.): 80, _footnote_ + +Parks, R.C: 113, _footnote_ + +Parks, Thomas J: 248, _footnote_ + +Parsons, Luke F: 285 + +Partisan Rangers: authorized by Confederate government, 112; W.P. +Lane's company of Texas, 266, _footnote_ + +Paschal Fish: 205, _footnote_, 236, _footnote_ + +Pascofa: 62, _footnote_ + +Patton, James: 47, _footnote_ + +Pawnee Fork: 112 + +"Paw Paws": 304, _footnote_ + +Payton, R.L.Y: 176, _footnote_ + +Pea-o-pop-i-cult: 65, _footnote_ + +Pearce, N. Bart: 16, 22, 156, 158 + +Pea Ridge (Ark.): 13, 29, 34, 36, 197 + +Pegg, Thomas: 256 + +Pelzer, Louis: work cited, 260, _footnote_ + +Peorias: 77, _footnote_ + +Perryville (Okla.): 112, 295-296 + +Pheasant Bluff (Okla.): 271, 327 + +Phelps, John S: 49, 199-200 + +Phil David: 68, _footnote_ + +Phillips, James A: 126, _footnote_ + +Phillips, William A: 126, 321; _footnote_; biographical sketch, +126, _footnote_; commissioned colonel of Third Indian, 132; +forces engage with those of Stand Watie, 163-164; Indians under, +fought well in Battle of Newtonia, 194, 195, _footnote_; +reconnoissances, 218; orders buildings at Fort Davis destroyed, 220, +_footnote_; given command of Indian Brigade by Blunt, +249; reports Indian Brigade in sad state, 251; large view of +responsibilities to Indian Territory, 253; makes overtures to Indians, +254; expostulates against delay in attempting recovery of Indian +Territory, 257; reasons for returning refugees, 258; moves over +border, 258; communication with Fort Scott threatened, 272; continues +in charge at Fort Gibson, 305; Indian Home + +Guards under, only Federal troops left in Indian Territory, 312; +undertakes extended expedition through Indian Territory, 322; gives +own interpretation to Lincoln's Amnesty Proclamation, 322-323; +differences between Blunt and, 325; removed from command at Fort +Gibson, 333; restored to command, 335 + +Phisterer, Frederick: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 30, 288 + +Piankeshaws: 77, _footnote_ + +Pickett Papers: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 171, 172, 175 + +Pike, Albert: 128; assigned to command of Department of Indian +Territory, 20; report submitted to Davis, 21; report to be found +in U.S. War Department, 21, _footnote_; makes headquarters at +Cantonment Davis, 22; anxious to save Indian Territory for South, +22-23; ordered to join Van Dorn with Indians, 27; becomes ranking +officer in field, 31; criticism in New York _Tribune_, 31, +_footnote_; authorizes Indian fighting at Pea Ridge, 32; rejoins +army at Cincinnati, 35; receives orders from Maury, 36; talk with +Comanches, 65, _footnote_; negotiations with Upper Creeks, 66, +_footnote_; negotiations with Seminoles, 68, _footnote_; +intrenches himself at Fort McCulloch, 110; report on Indian military +activity, 112; ordered to send more important of forces to Little +Rock, 147; protests against orders of May 31 and June 17, 154-156; +objects to appointment of Pearce, 156; reports grievances to Randolph, +156; Cherokees exasperated by stay at Fort McCulloch, 159; letter +to Stand Watie, 159, _footnote_; John Ross complains of, 160; +prepares resignation, 161; indites conciliatory letter to Hindman, +162-163; student of art of war, 163; publishes circular address to +Southern Indians, 165; effect of circular, 166 and _footnote_; +correspondence with Davis, 167-168; arrested by Cooper, 169; entered +upon diplomatic career as agent of Confederate State Department, +171-172 and _footnote_; exceeded instructions in assuming +financial obligations, 174, _footnote_; considers remuneration, +175, _footnote_; makes important recommendations to Davis, 179; +applies to Holmes for leave of absence, 190; resignation, 191 and +_footnote_; reënters Indian Territory, 198; rumors of conspiracy +with unionists in Texas, 199; arrested, 200; sums up grievances in +letter to Holmes, 201, Appendix; Kirby Smith attempts to reëmploy for +service among Indians of Plains, 201, 335; Steele takes umbrage at +published statement, 286, _footnote_ + +"Pins": 193, 268, _footnote_ + +Planter's House: 74, _footnote_, 94, _footnote_ + +Pocahontas (Ark.): 25 + +Poison Spring (Ark.): battle of, 326-327 + +Pomeroy, Samuel C: 41, _footnote_; elected senator from Kansas, +42; John Brown's opinion of, 42, _footnote_; endorses principle +underlying Frémont's emancipation proclamation, 56-57 instructed +by anti-Coffin conspirators, 88, _footnote_; protests against +appointment of Denver, 97; succeeds in preventing appointment +of Denver, 98; responsibility for Blunt's promotion, 107, +_footnote_; advocates confiscation of Cherokee Neutral Lands, +224; recommends concentration of tribes of West in Indian +Territory, 230, _footnote_; in company of Dole at Leroy, 239, +_footnote_ + +Pontiac: 31, _footnote_ + +Portlock, E.E: 329, _footnote_ + +Poteau River (Okla.): 297, _footnote_ + +Pottawatomies: 234 and _footnote_, 274-275, _footnote_ + +Prairie Creek (Ark.): 216 + +Prairie d'Ane (Ark.): 326 + +Prairie Grove (Ark.): battle of, 218 and _footnote_, 249 + +Prairie Springs: 279 + +Price, Sterling: 16, 17, 26, 29, 52, 55, 56, 127, _footnote_, +185, 317, _footnote_; tries to induce Quantrill and his men to +enter regular service, 205, _footnote_; Hindman's opinion +of, 270, _footnote_; commands in District of Arkansas, 299, +_footnote_, 326 + +Prince, William E: 55, 58 + +Proctor, A.G: 214, 234, _footnote_ + +Provisional Congress: refuses to confirm nomination of Heth, 19; +calls for information on McCulloch-Price controversy, 19; established +precedents of good faith in Indian relations, 172; resolution +authorizing Davis to send a commissioner to Indian nations, 172, +_footnote_, 173, _footnote_; work of, 173-175 and +_footnotes_; confers honour upon John Jumper, 174, +_footnote_; considerations of committees regarding Indian +superintendency, 175, 176 + +Pryor, Nathaniel: 145, _footnote_ + +Pryor Creek (Okla.): 142, 145 + + +Quantrill, W.C: 45; guerrillas raid Black Bob Lands and Olathe, 205; +raid upon Lawrence, 238, _footnote_, 239; work scorned and +repudiated by McCulloch, 303, _footnote_; perpetrates Baxter +Springs massacre, 304; movements, 304 and _footnote_; Maxey feels +no repugnance for services of, 326 + +Quapaw Agency: 53, _footnote_ + +Quapaw Nation: 46, 50, _footnote_ + +Quapaws: 48, in First Indian Expedition, 115, _footnote_; driven +into exile, 116 and _footnote_; become refugees or are drawn into +ranks of Federal army, 204; some, not _bona fide_ refugees, 204, +_footnote_; no longer in Second Regiment of Indian Home Guards, +252 + +Quapaw Strip (Kans.): 126 + +Quesenbury, William: 158, 248, _footnote_ + + +Rabb's Battery: 114, _footnote_ + +"Radicals": 305, _footnote_ + +Rains, James S: 125; makes Tahlequah headquarters of Eighth Division +Missouri State Guard, 130, _footnote_; to attempt to reënter +southwest Missouri, 194; Cooper acts under orders from, 197; in +disgrace, 198 + +Randolph, J.L: 267, _footnote_, 309, _footnote_ + +Randolph, George W: Pike makes complaint against Hindman, 156-158; +sympathy for Pike, 168; desires to terminate Magruder's delay, 186; +suggests that Price serve as second in command under Magruder, 186, +_footnote_; reassures Pike, 187, 189; instructions to Holmes, 189 + +Ratliff, Robert W: 121, _footnote_, 127 + +Rector, Elias: 175, 181, _footnote_ + +Rector, H.M: 185, _footnote_ + +"Red Legs": 305, _footnote_ + +Red River: 20, 36, 248, 311, 315 + +Reserve Indians: 112; Pike negotiates successfully with, 173, +_footnote_; volunteers authorized, 173-174, _footnote_; +disorders among, 182; uprising against and murder of Leeper undertaken +by, 182-183; Tonkawas almost exterminated by, 184; companies organized +among, 266, _footnote_; fed by contract, 308, _footnote_ + +Reynolds, Thomas C: 287, _footnote_ + +Richardson, James D; work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 21, 172, +278, 322 + +Richardson, John M: 113 + +Riddle's Station (Okla.): 276, _footnote_ 293, 295, +_footnote_ + +Ritchie, John: applies to Dole for new instructions, 106; appraisement +of, 106, _footnote_; dilatory in movements, 114, _footnote_; +disagreement with Kile, 115, _footnote_; slow in putting in +appearance at Humboldt, 115; commands Second Regiment Indian Home +Guards, 115; conducts prisoners to Fort Leavenworth, 144; allows +men to run amuck at Shirley's Ford, 197; dismissal from service +recommended, 197; Phillip's ranking officer, 325 + +Roane, J.S: Arkansas left in care of, 128, 149; asks forces of Pike, +149; conduct in Mexican War criticised by Pike, 149, _footnote_; +fights duel with Pike, 149, _footnote_; character, 199; arrests +Pike, 200 + +Roberts, S.A: 308, _footnote_, 320, _footnote_ + +Robertson, W.S: 225 and _footnote_ + +Robinson, Charles: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 15, 70, +97, 98, 226; appointment of Mitchell, 46, _footnote_; opposed +to Lane's plans for revenge, 55; approves of principle underlying +Frémont's proclamation, 56-57; opposed to enlistment of Indians, 57; +seeks aid of Prince, 58; responsible for Stanton's contesting of +Lane's seat, 59, _footnote_; Lane has no intention of obliging, +71, _footnote_; commissions for First Indian Expedition pouring +in, 123, _footnote_; calls for volunteers against guerrillas, +205, _footnote_; relations with Stevens, 226, _footnote_ + +Robinson, William: 62, _footnote_ + +Rocky Creek (Clear Creek): 184, _footnote_ + +Rolla (Mo.): 13, 26 + +Roman, Alfred: work cited, 14, _footnote_, 34, _footnote_ + +Roman Catholic Mission: 87, _footnote_, 121, 241, _footnote_ + +Rosengarten, Joseph George: work cited, 118, _footnote_ + +Ross, John: attitude of faction of, towards proposed Confederate +military occupation of Indian Territory, 15; communicates with Pike +on movements of Cherokee troops, 28, _footnote_; opposed to +secession, 63, _footnote_; reported to have host ready to +do service for U.S., 66, _footnote_; loyal to U.S., 74, +_footnote_; communication from Weer, 134 and _footnote_, +135; reply to Weer, 135-136; submits documents justifying his own +and tribal actions, 136; receives peremptory order from Cooper, 137; +arrested by Greeno, 137; suspected of collusion with captor, 137-138, +192; addresses himself to Hindman against Pike, 160; on mission to +Washington, 192 and _footnote_; formally deposed by convention +called by secessionist Cherokees, 193; receives monetary assistance, +214 and _footnote_; makes personal appeal to Lincoln to enable +refugees to be returned to homes, 215-216; and associates ready to +negotiate for retrocession of Neutral Lands, 231; Gillpatrick medium +of diplomatic intercourse between, and First Indian Expedition, 271 + +Ross, Mrs. W.P: work cited, 111, _footnote_ + +Ross, W.W: 234, _footnote_ + +Round Grove (Okla.): 126 + +Russell, O.F: 152-153 + + +Sac and Fox Agency (Kans.): 54, _footnote_, 114, _footnote_; +suggested removal of refugees to, 212; tribes included within, 212; +Osages repair to, to confer with Dole, 238 and _footnote_ + +Sacs and Foxes of Mississippi: encounter refugees from Indian + +Territory, 80; offer home to refugees, 86; reservation, 87; receive +Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, 213; scheme of building houses for, +226 and _footnote_; Dole makes treaty with, 235; claim against +Creek refugees, 235, _footnote_; some Sacs confer with Carruth, +274, _footnote_; invited to inter-tribal council, 274-275. +_footnote_ + +St. Francis River: 20 + +St. Joe (St. Joseph): 74, _footnote_, 116, 230 + +St Louis _Republican_: 75, _footnote_ + +Salomon, Frederick: colonel of Ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, +118; in command at Fort Scott, 118; left in command at Baxter Springs +by Weer, 121; in charge of First Brigade, First Indian Expedition, +125; instructions to, with respect to Indian policy of U.S. +government, 134; deplorable equipment of troops, 138; arrests Weer, +139; gives reasons arrest, 140-142; retrograde movement of, 142, 143, +147, 203; establishes himself at Camp Quapaw, 146; ordered by Blunt to +send troops to support of Indian Brigade, 192-193 + +Salt Plains: 152, 153 + +Sam Checote: 62, _footnote_ + +Santa Fé Trail: to intercept trains on, 129, _footnote_, 267, +_footnote_; Creek regiment to advance toward, 152 + +Scales, J.A: 268, _footnote_, 277, _footnote_ + +Schaumburg, W.C: 305, _footnote_ + +Schoenmaker, John: 241, _footnote_ + +Schofield, John M: 106, _footnote_, 119, _footnote_, 196, +248, 249 and _footnote_, 260, 261, 293, 304 and _footnote_ + +Schurz, Carl: 41 and _footnote_, 42, _footnote_ + +Scott, S.S: acting commissioner of Indian affairs, 172, +_footnote_; remarks of, 177, _footnote_; to investigate +conditions in Indian Territory, 181; hurries to Leased District, +184; asks Governor Colbert to harbor fugitive Tonkawas, 184, +_footnote_; sets out upon tour of inspection, 299; made full +commissioner, 299, _footnote_; reports to Holmes concerning +neglect of Indian Territory, 300; reports to Seddon prospects for +three Indian brigades, 329 + +Scott, T.M: 316, _footnote_ + +Scott, W.H: 287, _footnote_ + +Scott, Winfield S: 48, 56, 69, _footnote_ + +Scott County (Ark.): 20 + +Scullyville (Okla.): 155, 325, and _footnote_ + +Second Brigade, First Indian Expedition: put under Judson, 125 + +Second Choctaw Regiment: 312, _footnote_ + +Second Indian Brigade: 327 + +Second Indian Expedition: Carruth and Martin act in anticipation of, +133, _footnote_; Blunt making plans for, 196 and _footnote_, +208, _footnote_; Blunt discovers that Indians stipulate care of +families during absence, 215 + +Second Indiana Battery: 118, 125 + +Second Ohio Cavalry: 118, 119, _footnote_, 125-126 + +Second Regiment Cherokee Mounted Rifles: commanded by Stand Watie, 25; +joins Pike at Cincinnati, 28; takes position to observe enemy, 32; +guiltless of atrocities committed at Pea Ridge, 32; makes way to Camp +Stephens, 35; detail sent with ammunition to main army, 35; scouting +along northern line of Cherokee country, 112; desertions from, 145 + +Second Regiment Indian Home Guards: miscellaneous in composition, 114 +and _footnote_; men not yet mustered in, 121; fills up after +defeat of Confederates at Locust Grove, 132; Corwin takes + +command of, 144; engagement at Shirley's Ford, 197; component part of +Phillips's Indian Brigade, 249; Cherokee in composition, 252; fought +dismounted at Honey Springs, 288; stationed at Mackey's Salt Works, +325 + +Sedalia (Mo.): 13 + +Seddon, James A: 270, _footnote_, 299, _footnote_, 317, +_footnote_; instructs Scott to attend meeting of council at +Armstrong Academy, 320; Scott reports prospects of forming three +Indian brigades, 329 + +Seminole Battalion: 152, 312, _footnote_ + +Seminole Nation: 130 + +Seminoles (Confederate): Murrow, agent, 162, _footnote_; Pike +negotiates treaty with, 173, _footnote_; agree to furnish five +companies of mounted volunteers, 173, _footnote_; Creeks and, +want separate military department made of Indian Territory, 278-279; +disperse, 323 + +Seminoles (Federal or Unionist): Carruth teacher among, 59; +destitution of refugee, 83, _footnote_; in First Regiment Indian +Home Guards, 114 and _footnote_; attempt tribal reörganization, +228 + +Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (Confederate): Johnson's bill, 176; +members, 176, _footnote_ + +Senecas: 48, 204 and _footnote_ + +Seneca-Shawnees: refugees, 116, 204; object to Wyandot treaty, 237, +_footnote_ + +Shawnee Agency (Kans.): 236, _footnote_ + +Shawnee Reserve (Kans.): 205 and _footnote_ + +Shawnees: 48; loyal to U.S., 66, _footnote_; in First Indian +Expedition, 113, _footnote_; from Cherokee country made refugees, +116; implicated in tragedy at Wichita Agency, 183; Neosho Agency +Indians seek refuge among, 204; are depredated upon, 204, 205, +_footnote_; Dole makes treaty with, 235 + +Shelby, Jo: 45, 194, 200 + +Sheridan, Philip H: work cited, 296, _footnote_ + +Sherman (Tex.): 190 + +Sherman, William T: 44 + +Shians (Cheyennes): 274, _footnote_ + +Shirley's Ford (Mo.): 197 + +Shoal Creek (Mo.): 118, 120, _footnote_ + +Shoe-Nock-Me-Koe: 68, _footnote_ + +Shreveport (La.): 303, _footnote_ + +Sigel, Franz: 29 + +Simms, W.E: 176, _footnote_ + +Sixth Kansas Cavalry: 249 + +Slavery: 298, _footnote_ + +Smith, James M.C: 173, _footnote_ + +Smith, Caleb P: 60, _footnote_, 61, 99; authorizes expenditure of +funds for relief of refugees, 83 + +Smith, John: 62, _footnote_ + +Smith, E. Kirby: 317; seeks to reëmploy Pike for service among +Indians, 201, 335 and _footnote_; assigned to command, 269; +approves Steele's adoption of Fabian policy, 297; reply to Stand +Watie, 297-298, _footnote_; detaches command of Indian Territory +from that of Arkansas, 303; subscribes to idea of forming two Indian +brigades, 310; is stanchest of Steele's friends, 311; opposed to three +brigade plan and to promotion of Cooper implicit in it, 318; commends +work of Steele, 318; address emended by Maxey, 330; friend of +Maxey, 334; holds in abeyance orders for retirement of Maxey, 334, +_footnote_; enters into convention with Canby, 335 + +Smith's Mill: 28 + +Snead, Thomas L: work cited, 15, _footnote_, 296, _footnote_ + +Snow, George C: 80, _footnote_, 83, _footnote_ + +Soda Springs (Okla.): 291, _footnote_ + +South, The: indifference towards West, 43; love of home state, great +bulwark of, 187-188; Choctaws reported as wavering in allegiance to, +220; Indian Territory as separate military entity comes too late into +reckonings, 250 + +Southern Confederacy: decisive results of battle of Pea Ridge, 13; +expected by Missouri to force situation for her, 18; relation of +Indian Territory determined by treaties of alliance, 21; Pike's great +purpose to save Indian Territory for, 22-23; Weer suggests that +Cherokee Nation dissolve its alliance with, 134; management of Indian +affairs of, 149-150, 171; view of obligations towards Indians, +174, _footnote_; policy with respect to guerrillas, 205, +_footnote_; Wyandots refuse to throw in lot with, 206; Kansas +politicians want to punish Indians for going over to, 224; Cherokees +repudiate alliance with, 232; Indians losing faith in, 273-274; +charged with bad faith by Cherokees, 279-281; Indian devotion to, +re-asserted, 317; Indians pledge anew loyalty to, 323 + +Southern Expedition: 73 and _footnote_ + +Southern Indian Regiments: 24-25 + +Southern Superintendency (Confederate): establishment delayed by +prolongation of Pike's mission, 175; bill for establishment of, 176 + +Southern Superintendency (Federal): 117, _footnote_ + +Southwest, The: 46, 70 + +Southwestern District of Missouri: 26-27 + +Southwestern Division of District of Missouri: 127 + +Spavinaw Creek (Okla.): 130, 138 + +Spavinaw Hills (Okla.): 127 + +Spears, John: 279 + +Speer, John: 43, _footnote_ + +Speight, J.W: brigade of, 246, _footnote_, 267, _footnote_ + +Springfield (Mo.): 26, 51 + +Spring, Leverett: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 15, 52, 97 + +Spring River: 119, 126; Shirley's Ford on, 197 + +Staked Plains: 153 + +Stand Watie: 159, _footnote_; colonel of Second Regiment Cherokee +Mounted Rifles, 25; men in poor trim and undisciplined, 28; men take +position as corps of observation, 32; makes way to Camp Stephens, 35; +scouting, 112, 127; engagements, 112, 113, 119 and _footnote_; +encampment on Cowskin Prairie, 119; home of, 127; successful +skirmishing commented upon, 152; elected Principal Chief, 193; +Phillips compels, to re-cross Arkansas, 218; in command of First +Cherokee Regiment, 262, _footnote_; Steele's great reliance upon, +270; cavalry raids, 272, 312; forced to retire from Cabin Creek, 285; +commanded First and Second Cherokee at Honey Springs, 288; complaints +to Kirby Smith, 297, _footnote_; related to Boudinot, 300; makes +reports and appeals, 301; proposed advancement, 309; authorizes +formation of Cherokee Brigade, 309; Steele's appraisement of, 310; +skirmish at Barren Fork, 312; has command of First Indian Brigade, +327; all Cherokee military units summoned to camp on Limestone +Prairie, 328; name becomes source of terror, 331; last great raid of, +332 + +Stanton, Edwin M: 75, _footnote_, 76; refuses to countenance +use of Indians as soldiers, 76 and _footnote_; efficient +administration of, 96; deprecates interference in military affairs in +Kansas, 98 and _footnote_ + +Stanton, Frederick P: 59, 72, _footnote_ + +State Department (Confederate): 171, 172, _footnote_ + +State Rights: 18 + +Statutes at Large of Provisional Government: work cited, 174, +_footnote_ + +Stearns, Frank Preston: work cited, in _footnotes_ on pages 42, +87 + +Steele, Frederick: in command of Department of Arkansas, 322; argues +over military status of Fort Smith, 321-322 + +Steele, James: special agent, 100; infers Halleck unfavorable to +Indian expedition, 101; presents credentials at arsenal at Fort +Leavenworth, 101; Sac and Fox chiefs willing to abide by decision, +235, _footnote_ + +Steele, William: 247; to report to Holmes for duty, 245, +_footnote_; preferred to Cooper, 246; sends most of troops in +direction of Red River, 248; takes large view of responsibilities +to Indian Territory, 253; difficulties and embarrassments, 261-269; +appeal for loyalty to Confederate cause, 267-268, _footnote; ex +officio_ superintendent of Indian affairs, 275-276; regards Indian +Territory as buffer, 276; influences to undermine, 278; makes stand in +Creek country, 291; opposition to, 310; command in bad condition, 292; +crosses from Creek into Choctaw country, 295; journeys to Bonham +to consult with McCulloch, 302-303; command detached from that of +Arkansas, 303; size of force, 305, _footnote_; work discredited +and disparaged by Cooper, 306; policy and practice in matter of +feeding indigents and refugees, 307 and _footnote_; relieved of +command of Indian Territory, 311; Kirby Smith commends work, 318 + +Stettaner Bros: 211, _footnote_ + +Stevens, Robert S: 211, _footnote_, 212, 226 and _footnote_ + +Stevens, Thaddeus: 57, 60, _footnote_ + +Stidham, George W: 62, _footnote_, 173, _footnote_ + +Stockton's Hall: 58 and _footnote_ + +Sturgis, S.D: Lane ordered to coöperate with, 56; placed in command +of District of Kansas, 98; policy with respect to First Indian +Expedition, 103-104; opposed to idea of Indian expedition, 104; +military despotism, 104; forbids enlistment of Indians, 105; refusal +to reinstate Weer, 117, _footnote_ + +Sugar Creek (Ark.): 30, _footnote_ + +Sumner, E.V: 260, _footnote_ + +Susquehanna River: 232 + + +Tahlequah (Okla.): 132, 136; Rains makes headquarters, 130, +_footnote_; Hindman places white cavalry at, 192; Blunt's +expeditionary force seizes archives and treasury of Cherokee Nation, +193; Hindman appears in, 193; steamer, 263, _footnote_ + +Talliaferro (Taliaferro?), T.D: 267, _footnote_ + +Tandy Walker: supporter of Cooper, 265; recruits among Choctaws, 265; +appointment, 265, _footnote_; asks for establishment of Indian +Territory as separate military department, 279; commanded Regiment +of Choctaws and Chickasaws at Honey Springs, 288; indulging in petty +graft, 306, _footnote_; service of Choctaws under, in Camden +campaign, 326; has command of Second Indian Brigade, 327 + +Tawa Kuwus: 274, _footnote_ + +Taylor, N.G: 207, _footnote_ + +Taylor, R: 297, _footnote_ + +Taylor, Samuel M: 279 + +Tecumseh: 73, _footnote_ + +Te-Nah: 65, _footnote_ + +Tenth Kansas Infantry: 117, 118 + +Texans: assist Indians at Leetown + +engagement, 31; away fighting "the cold weather people," 65, +_footnote_; circulate malicious stories about Pike, 160, +_footnote_; disposition towards self-sacrifice, 268; not possible +to deal with Indians arbitrarily, 326 + +Texas: 179; requisition upon, for troops, 25; Pike to call for troops +from, 36; way to, likely to be blocked by Southern Indians, 61; Pike +wants to be near, 151; anti-Pike reports spreading through, 169; road +from Missouri to, 173, _footnote_; Oldham, senator from, +176, _footnote_; rumors current that Pike is conspiring with +unionists, in, 199; detached from Trans-Mississippi Department, +245-246; cotton speculation alluring men with ready money, +248, _footnote_; public feeling towards deserters, 266, +_footnote_; great commissary depot west of Mississippi, 268, +_footnote_; Bankhead becomes alarmed for safety of, 287, 292; +virtual chaos in, 303; Steele contracts for clothing in northern, 308 + +Thayer, John M: 324 and _footnote_ + +Thayer, William Roscoe: work cited in _footnotes_ on pages 41, +45, 96 + +Third Choctaw Regiment: 321 + +Thomas, L: 74-75, _footnote_, 100, 109, _footnote_ + +Throckmorton, James W: 335, _footnote_ + +Thurston's House: 54, _footnote_ + +Timiny Barnet: 62, _footnote_ + +Tishomingo (Okla.): 200 + +Toe-Lad-Ke: talk, 67, _footnote_; signature, 69, _footnote_ + +Tonkawas: negotiations with Pike, 182; about one-half of, butchered, +184; surviving, flee to Fort Arbuckle, 184 and _footnote_ + +Toombs, Robert: 171, _footnote_, 173, _footnote_ + +Totten, James: 197 + +Trans-Mississippi Department: 128, _footnote_, 149, 168, 186, +187, 192, 245-246, 269, 270 and _footnote_, 315, 318-319 + +Trans-Mississippi District of Department no. 2: 14, 19, 20, 25, 127, +_footnote_, 128, _footnote_, 190, 191 + +Treaties of Alliance: 21, 23 and _footnote_, 173 and +_footnote_ + +Trench, E.B: 215, _footnote_ + +Turner, E.P: 292, _footnote_ + +Turner, John W: 83 and _footnote_ + +Tus-te-nu-ke-ema-ela: 108, _footnote_ + +Tus-te-nuk-ke: 108, _footnote_ + + +Upper Creeks: 62, _footnote_ + +Usher, John P: 231, 239, _footnote_ + + +Van Buren (Ark.): 162, _footnote_, 177 + +Van Dorn, Earl: 14, _footnote_, 20, 25, 26, 34, 35, 36; +appointment, 19; failure to credit Indians in report, 31 and +_footnote_, 148; orders Indians to harass enemy on border of +own country, 35-36, 110; telegraphic request to Davis, 127, +_footnote_, 186; diverts and appropriates Pike's supplies, +147-148 and _footnote_; hopes Price will be successor, 185 + +Vann's Ford: 144 + +Vaughan, Champion: 305, _footnote_ + +Vaughn, Richard C: 218, _footnote_ + +Verdigris River: 76, 79, 80, 85, 142, 144, 145, 210-211, +_footnote_, 273, _footnote_; tributary of Arkansas, 22 + +Verdigris Valley: 79, 85 + +Vernon County (Mo.): 304, _footnote_ + +Vicksburg (Miss.): 188, _footnote_, 259, 260, 283, 301, +_footnote_ + +Villard, Henry: work cited, 45, _footnote_ + +Villard, Oswald Garrison: work cited, 226, _footnote_ + +Vore, Israel G: 302 and _footnote_ + + +Wakoes (Wacoes): 66, _footnote_; sent out as runners, 274, +_footnote_ + +Walker, L.P: 172, _footnote_ + +Walnut Creek (Kans.): 79, 85, 152, 205, _footnote_ + +Walnut Grove: 35 + +Walworth, E: 329, _footnote_ + +War Department (Confederate): 127, 172 and _footnote_, 186, 318 + +War Department (Federal): 60 and _footnote_, 73, _footnote_, +76, 99, 100 + +Warren (Tex.): 190 + +Warrensburg (Mo.): 58 + +Washington (George): 65, _footnote_ + +Washington Territory: 232 + +Wattles, Augustus: 46, _footnote_, 54, _footnote_, 57, +225-228 + +Wattles, Stephen H: 131, _footnote_, 333 and _footnote_ + +Weas: 77, _footnote_ + +Webber's Falls (Okla.): 216, 255, 260, 271, 276, 287, _footnote_ + +Weed, Thurlow: work cited, 60, _footnote_ + +Weer, William: 117 and _footnote_, 119, 120, 121, 130, 133; +ideas on Indian relations with U.S. government, 133, _footnote_; +communication with Ross, 134; proposes Cherokee Nation abolish +slavery by vote, 134, _footnote_; sends out two detachments to +reconnoitre, 136; joins Campbell at Fort Gibson, 136-137; faults and +failures, 139, 140-142; arrested by Salomon, 139; Ritchie's men run +amuck and attack their comrades in brigade of, 197 + +Welch, O.G: 29 + +Wells, J.W: 267, _footnote_ + +West, The: indifference towards, 43; character of war in, 44; +character of leaders, 45; criticism of Confederate management of +Indian affairs in, 149-150; establishment of Indian superintendency +left unsettled by Provisional Government, 174-175; Price submits plan +of operations for, 186, _footnote_; circumstances and +conditions concerning migrations of eastern tribes, 227; project for +concentrating tribes in Indian Territory, 230, _footnote_; keep +too many men needlessly in, 259; desertions, 292 and _footnote_ + +Western Military District: 43, 47, _footnote_ + +West's Battery: 267, _footnote_ + +Whistler, W: 69, _footnote_ + +White, George E: 157, _footnote_ + +White Auxiliary (Confederate): urged by Pike, 24 and _footnote_; +ordered to Little Rock, 129, 147; Kirby Smith thinks possible to +separate from Indian troops, 310 + +White Auxiliary (Federal): Dole's recommendation regarding, 99; +Stanton's instructions regarding, 100; not heard from, 102; orders +for, 109 and _footnote_; Indians ask for evidence of +existence, 118; composition, 118; comparison with Indians, 123 and +_footnote_; brigaded with Indian Home Guards, 125; retrograde +movement, 143, 203; Blunt orders Salomon to send to support of Indian +Brigade, 192-193, 203 + +White Chief: 68, _footnote_ + +White Cloud: 77, _footnote_ + +White Hair: 207, _footnote_, 238, _footnote_; principal +chief of Osages, 240, _footnote_ + +Whitney, H.C: 50, _footnote_, 52, _footnote_, 54, +_footnote_ + +Wichita Agency: 64, _footnote_; tragedy, 183-184; Belmont, +temporary, 274, _footnote_ + +Wichita Mountains: 153 + +Wigfall, Louis T: 264, _footnote_, 277, _footnote_ + +Wilder, A. Carter: 230, _footnote_, 322, _footnote_ + +Wilder, D.W: 58, _footnote_, 305, _footnote_ + +Willamette River: 232 + +Williams, James M: 284, 285 + +Williams, the: 327 + +Williamson, George: 327 + +Wilson, Hill P: work cited, 226, _footnote_ + +Wilson's Creek (Mo.): battle of, 34, _footnote_, 49 + +Wolcott, Edward: 83, _footnote_ + +Wolf Creek (Ark.): 135, 136, 145, 164 + +Wood, W.D: 218, _footnote_ + +Woodburn, James Albert: work cited, 57, _footnote_, 60, +_footnote_ + +Woodruff's Battery: 147, 150, 154 + +Wright, Marcus J: work cited, 19, _footnote_, 187, +_footnote_ + +Wyandot City (Kans.): 204, _footnote_ + +Wyandots: robbed by secessionist Indians, 206 and _footnote_; +escape into Kansas, 206; want to render military service, 206, +_footnote_; Dole's abortive treaty with, 236-237, _footnote_ + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Indian as Participant in +the Civil War, by Annie Heloise Abel + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12541 *** |