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.