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.]