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.