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.]