Confederate States of America" wrote to the Seminole Chief from the
Creek Agency, asking that he should meet him at that place with six of
his best men fully authorized to treat with him. He also asked for a
body of Seminole warriors, & promised as "good perhaps better treaty"
than their old one. His letter was backed up by one from Washburn
(formerly Seminole Ag't) who gave a glowing description of treason,
representing to the Indians that the U. S. could never pay one dollar
of the moneys due them, that European Nations were committed to the
cause of the Rebels, and entreated, prayed, almost commanded them to
take the step so essential to their political salvation. This Washburn
had once been engaged in a money transaction with two of the Chiefs
which swindled the nation out of many thousands of dollars, and while
they came near losing their heads in the operation, he escaped, &
still enjoys great personal popularity with the tribe. No man knows
better how to approach Indians. He was born among them of missionary
parents, & like all southern men, who regret their northern parentage,
he is the most rabid of violent traitors. The day after these letters
were rec'd the Chief (John Jumper) spent at my house. He felt true to
the treaties, & said that all his people were with the Government,
but, the Forts west were in possession of its enemies, their Agent
would give them no information on the subject, & he feared that his
country would be overrun, if he did not yield.
I told him plainly that Government was shamefully misrepresented, that
the treaties bound him to all the states alike, that the U. S. could
not fall with all the Army & Navy at her disposal, & that should the
South ever succeed in gaining her own independence the free States
would fight till not a man, woman or child was left, before yielding
one inch of Territory to the rebels. The war being entered into not so
much either for or against slavery in the states, as to protect the
Constitutional rights of Government in the Territories. The Chief told
me that all the full Indians everywhere were with the Gov't, that he
did not wish to fight, nor did his people, they had hoped to be left
to themselves untill the whites settled their quarrels, his people had
enough of war in Florida, & were now anxious for peace. He would
however go to the Creek Agency & tell Capt. Pike & Ben McCulloch their
determination. I believe the object of Pike in drawing the Seminoles
to the Creek country was that he could thus bring Creek influence to
bear upon them. When Pike's letter came, the Bearer sent word to the
Chief to meet him ten miles below, where they were read, but this
caution did not keep them out of sight, as the Chief immediately
brought them to me, to whom as clerk they should have come at first,
but a "white man" was declared to be the adviser of the Seminoles, for
whom a black jack limb would soon suffice. I knew it dangerous to
await the arrival of my ranger friends, & with my wife I left on
horseback, traveling in a Kickapoo trail, coming in above the Creek
country, as they had seceded--I was questioned a good deal in the
Cherokee Nation, but not interfered with as I was personally
acquainted with their leading half breeds, and my wife being fortunate
enough to have a Virginia birth and a brother in Missouri.
When within a half hour's travel of the Neosho River, my shot gun was
taken by a company of men, organized that day--the 2d after Seymour
was killed--they said "to clean out Kansas Jay hawkers."
The influence of Capt. Pike the Rebel Commissioner is second to no
man's among the Southern Indians & I fear that he may succeed in his
intrigues with the other tribes, the Creeks, Chickasaws, & Choctaws
having already gone. The Cherokees refuse to go as a Nation, & no one
is a firmer friend to the Union than John Ross, their Chief, but
traitors are scheming, and the half breeds in favor of the South, want
an army to come in, in which event they promise to be "forced in" to
the Arms of Jeff. Davis, & the select crowd of traitors at Montgomery.
There are many true & loyal men even among the half breeds, some of
the Judges of their courts I know to be so, while all the full blood
element is with the Gov't.
The half breeds belong to the K. G. C. a society whose sole object is
to increase & defend slavery and the full bloods have--not to be
outdone--got up a secret organization called the "pins" which meets
among mountains, connecting business with Ball-playing, and this is
understood to be in favor of Gov't, at least when a half breed at
Webers falls raised a secession flag, the "pins" turned out to haul it
down & were only stopped by a superior force, they retired swearing
that "it should yet be done & its raiser killed" and now Sir, let me
say a word in behalf of the full Indians who make up in devotion to
our Gov't what they lack in knowledge.
I sometimes hear rejoicing on the part of Northern people, that these
tribes are seceding, because they say such violation of their treaties
will lose them their lands, whose beauty & fertility have long been
admired by western farmers. I have been twelve years among these
tribes & I know the full bloods to be loyal to the Gov't. That Gov't
is bound by treaties to protect these nations, to keep up Forts for
that purpose. The forts are deserted, the soldiers are gone. The
Agents are either resigned or, working under "confederate"
commissions. The Indians are told that the old Gov't is bankrupt, that
it must die, that England & France will help the South, That they are
southern Indians & own slaves, & have interests only with & in the
south, That the war is waged by the North for the sole purpose of
killing slavery, & stealing the Indian lands etc. etc. What have the
Indians with which to disprove this? The "Confederate" Gov't is
represented there by an army & Commissioners, but the United States
have not been heard from for six months. Every battle is believed to
be against the old Gov't & those who control the news know in what
shape it should go to have influence. The Seminole Agent, Col.
Rutherford, has never lifted his finger to give information or advice
to the Indians under his charge--He said before Mr. Lincoln took his
seat as President that he would not receive a reappointment from him,
but would serve until it should come, which means that his love of
money would enable him to make an occasional visit to the Agency
buildings, but his fear for & sympathy with Ark. rebels, would keep
him from doing anything to endanger their interests. A proper officer
could have kept the Seminoles from sending a delegation to Capt. Pike,
as well as in the Creek country one could have kept the Creeks loyal.
That there has been the most culpable neglect on the part of its
officers to the interests of the Genl Gov't needs no
demonstration--The cry has been: "More favorable treaties can now be
made with the South than after the war, as it will show that the
Indians are at heart with the South"--No doubt is allowed to be felt
as to the issue of the war. The agents who hold Commissions from Mr.
Lincoln & go to Montgomery to have Jeff. Davis endorse them, show a
faith in the issue, that is not lost upon the Indians.
A Capt. Brown of the Chickasaw tribe was commanding at Arbuckle, in
the absence of Col. McKing who was at Tishimingo where the legislature
was in session. He informed me that the Texans would not come over
until the Choctaws & Chickasaws had given them to understand that "it
would be all right"--At the time these nations did not wish to invite
them, it would have been too palpable a violation of treaties, tho'
they took command of the Fort, whether under their national
authorities, or the "Confederate" I do not know which.
Letters now in possession of the Seminole Chief will prove much herein
stated. I told the chief to preserve those letters & all others which
he might receive of a like nature....--General Files, _Southern
Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348.
[123] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 513.
[124] --_Ibid._, 515-516.
[125] The order was one of the many, dictated by the policy of "no
coercion," that issued in the last days of Buchanan's administration and
the first of Lincoln's. A few of them, affecting or designed to affect the
frontier, may as well be listed in chronological order. On the thirteenth
of February, an abandonment of Fort Smith was ordered [_Official Records_,
first ser., vol. i, 654]. The citizens protested and the order was
countermanded [_ibid._, 655]. On the fifteenth of the same month, General
Scott ordered, in the event of secession, all United States troops from
Texas, via Fort Belknap and the Indian country, to Fort Leavenworth
[_ibid._, 589]. On the eighteenth of March, a similar abandonment of
Arkansas and the Indian country was arranged for [_ibid._, 667].
[126] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, pp. 626, 628,
629.
[127] General Twiggs was then waiting to be relieved of his command,
having personally requested to be relieved, his sense of embarrassment
being strong and his unwillingness to take responsibility, extreme. Robert
E. Lee, brevet colonel, Second United States Cavalry, was relieved from
duty in Texas and ordered to repair to Washington, by orders of February
4, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 586].
[128] Commissioners of some sort had been sent to the Indians even before
this. They do not seem to have been, in any sense, agents of Texas,
indeed, the ones particularly in mind were from Arkansas; but Texas may
have taken her cue from their appointment. Their presence in the Indian
country is sufficiently attested by the following correspondence:
I have been informed today that persons purporting to act in the
capacity of Commissioners are now visiting the Indian nations on our
frontier--preparatory to forming an alliance with them to furnish them
with arms and munitions of war, in violation of subsisting treaties
and the laws of the United States. Occupying the position I do as a
Civil officer of the Government in discharge of my duty as well as
instructions, It is my duty to make inquiry and report such a state of
facts as may exist in relation to the same. And having no authentic
information in relation to this matter other than public rumor, I have
believed it my duty to address you knowing that if such projects are
in embryo or consummation that they cannot escape your vigilance; and
that from you I shall be informed of the same, that, they may be
communicated from a reliable official source to the authorities at
Washington for their action.--JOHN B. OGDEN, United States
commissioner, to John Ross, dated Van Buren, February 15, 1861 [Indian
Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, O32].
I have received your communication of the 15th inst.--stating that you
have been informed that persons purporting to act in the capacity of
commissioners are now visiting the Indian Nations on the frontier
preparatory to forming an alliance....
It is currently rumored in the Country that Mr. R. J. Cowart--the U.
S. Agent--is officially advocating the secession policy of the
Southern States and that he is endeavoring to influence the Cherokees
to take sides and act in concert with the seceded States--At the same
time uttering words of denunciation against all the distinguished
Patriots who are exerting their efforts, to devise measures of
reconciliation in Congress as well as those in the Peace Convention at
Washington for the Preservation of the Union.
Mr. Cowart brought out with him from the State of Georgia a man
named--Solomon--who is a notorious drunken brawling disunionist. He is
strolling about Tahlequah under the permission of the socalled "U. S.
Agent"--and is creating strife & getting into difficulties with
citizens of the Nation--a perfect nuisance to the peace and good order
of society.
The conduct and general deportment of this man, also of the Agent
being in direct violation of the laws and Treaties of the United
States--they should be removed out of the Cherokee Country.
For further information as to such facts relating to the subjects of
your enquiry, I have to refer you at present to Mr. W. P. Ross for
what he may be in possession of....--JOHN ROSS to John B. Ogden,
February 28, 1861 [Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee,
1859-1865_, O32].
[129] _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 322.
[130] Tenney, W. J. _Military and Naval History of the Rebellion in the
United States_, 134.
[131] Letter to the Alabama commissioner, J. M. Calhoun, January 7, 1861
[_Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 74].
[132] "Report of a Committee of the Convention, being an address to the
people of Texas, March 30, 1861."--_Ibid._, 199.
[133] _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 322-325.
[134] Leeper to Greenwood, February 12, 1861 [General Files, _Wichita,
1860-1861_, L373].
[135] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 656.
[136] --_Ibid._
[137] --_Ibid._, 660.
[138] --_Ibid._, 648.
[139] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 656.
[140] The Indian Office protested against a reduction of the forts because
of treaty guaranties to the Indians [Dole to Smith, April 30, 1861, Indian
Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, p. 152].
[141] Townsend to Emory, March 21, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser.,
vol. i, 659].
[142] Same to same, _ibid._, 660.
[143] Emory to Townsend, April 2, 1861 [_ibid._, 660].
[144] At the time, when it was intended to remove all the troops from Fort
Cobb for purposes of concentration farther south and nearer to the source
of danger, instructions were issued that the Reserve Indians, whose
peculiar protection Fort Cobb was, might remove within the limits of Fort
Washita; but the Choctaws and the Chickasaws objected and, in deference to
their wishes, Emory suspended the permission [_Official Records_, first
ser., vol. i, 663], his excuse being that Fort Cobb was not to be
abandoned anyway. The contractors, Johnson and Grimes, whom Superintendent
Rector had so much favored, had a good deal to do with the forming of this
decision. They told Emory that the Reserve Indians were not free to move;
for they had no means and that they were "hutted and planting at Fort
Cobb." Quite naturally the food contractors did not wish the Indians to be
taken out of their reach within the limits of a military reservation.
[145] Matthew Leeper was very insistent. He not only wrote letters to
Emory arguing his case but travelled from his agency to Fort Smith to
interview him.
[146] Emory refused to grant the appeal of Major Sackett and Captain
Prince not to abandon Fort Arbuckle [_Official Records_, first ser., vol.
i, 666].
[147] This circumstance ought not, however, to be cited to the prejudice
of Colonel Emory; for it was while he was yet at Fort Smith that he
manifested some of the spirit that inspired Robert E. Lee, who, by the
way, was in command of the 2nd regiment of United States cavalry and had
been stationed, like Emory, in Texas, and who, whether he believed in the
doctrine of secession or not, put, as many another high-minded Southerner
did, the state before the nation in matters of pride, of allegiance, and
of personal honor. Such men as Lee belonged to quite another class from
what the self-seeking politicians did who, in isolated cases at least,
engineered the secession movement from hope of gain. Many of the Indian
agents and employees belonged to this latter class. Emory was unlike Lee
in the final result; for he did not ultimately conclude to go with his
state. It was he who later on commanded, as a Union brigadier-general, the
defences of New Orleans.
[148] See Appendix B, _Leeper Papers_.
[149] Very early, as has already been commented upon, the Texans bethought
them of securing the Indian alliance. Additional evidence is to be found
in such a request as Henry E. McCulloch made of Secretary Walker, on the
occasion of his brother Ben's having passed over to him the charge
originally conferred upon himself of raising a regiment of mounted troops
for the defence of the frontier. Henry E. McCulloch requested Secretary
Walker to permit him
To use some of the friendly Indians in the Indian Territory, if I can
procure their services, in my scouting parties and expeditions against
the hostile Indians. These people can be made of great service to us,
and can be used without any great expense to the
Government.--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 618.
[150] Letter of Carruth, July 11, 1861.
[151] As proof that the Texans regarded the Choctaws and the Chickasaws as
friends, the two following letters may be cited:
A letter from John Hemphill and W. S. Oldham, two of the representatives
from Texas in the Provisional Congress, to Secretary Walker, March 30,
1861, outlining a scheme of defence for Texas in which the admission was
made that, from the southwest corner of Arkansas to Preston on the Red
River, Texas needed no defense as her neighbors on that side were, "the
highly-civilized and agricultural tribes of Choctaws and Chickasaws, who
are in friendship with Texas and the Confederate States."--_Official
Records_, first ser., vol. i, 619.
A letter from E. Kirby Smith, major, Artillery, Confederate States of
America, to Walker, April 20, 1861, to the effect that,
In considering the defense of the line of the western frontier of
Texas our relations with the civilized Indians north of Red River are
of the utmost importance. Numbering some eight thousand rifles, they
form a strong barrier on the north, forcing the line of operations of
an invading army westward into a region impracticable to the passage
of large bodies of troops. Regarding them as our allies, which their
natural affinities make them, the line of the western frontier reduces
itself to the country between the Rio Grande and Red River.--_Official
Records_, first ser., vol. i, 628.
[152] Between Fort Washita and Fort Arbuckle, Colonel Emory was overtaken
by William W. Averell, second lieutenant, Regiment Mounted Rifles, with
additional despatches from Townsend, ordering him, upon their receipt,
immediately to repair to Fort Leavenworth, "with all the troops in the
Indian country west of Arkansas" [_ibid._, 667]. Lieutenant Averell's own
account of his experiences on the journey between Washington City and Fort
Washita, the hardships, difficulties, and delays, also the frenzied
excitement of the Arkansas people over the prospect of secession, forms an
interesting narrative [_ibid._, vol. liii, supplement, 488, 493-496].
[153] Black Beaver had served creditably as United States interpreter for
the Wichitas and recently Leeper had turned to him for help in allaying
their fears [Leeper to Rector, dated Wichita Agency, March 28, 1861,
_Leeper Papers_]. For services rendered on this expedition northward to
Fort Leavenworth [Letter of W. S. Robertson, September 30, 1861, General
Files, _Southern Superintendency_, _1859-1862_, R1615], Black Beaver
brought a claim against the United States [E. S. Parker to J. D. Cox, July
1, 1869, Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 18, pp. 417-418; and same to
same, April 25, 1870, _ibid._, no. 19, p. 321]. Evidently Black Beaver
served also in the Mexican War. He was then head of a company of mounted
volunteers, Shawnees and Delawares [George W. Manypenny to Drew, August 8,
1854], which had been called and mustered into the service by Harney [P.
Clayton, 2nd auditor, to A. K. Parris, 2nd comptroller, October 26, 1850].
[154] Emory to Townsend, May 19, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser.,
vol. i, 648].
[155] Captain S. T. Benning to Walker, May 14, 1861 [_Official Records_,
first ser., vol. i, 653.]
[156] --_Ibid._
[157] Leeper to Rector, January 13, 1862 [_Leeper Papers_].
[158] A note, communicated by X. B. Debray, aide-de-camp to the Governor
of Texas, to Walker and dated, Richmond, August 28, 1861, says,
The governor of Texas being convinced that the integrity of the soil
of Texas greatly depends upon the success of the Southern cause in
Missouri, and moved by an appeal to the people of Arkansas and Texas
(published at the beginning of July by General Ben. McCulloch) ordered
on the 25th ultimo the raising and concentration on Red River of 3,000
mounted men, besides the regiment commanded by Col. W. C. Young, which
has been occupying for several months Forts Arbuckle, Cobb, and
Washita, under authority of Texas, and at the request of the Chickasaw
Indians.--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iv, 98.
[159] House _Journal_, Arkansas, 1861, p. 304.
[160] _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 4.
[161] _Confederate Military Hillary_, vol. x, 7.
[162] Two letters found among the _Fort Smith Papers_ may serve, in a
measure, to illustrate the point:
LITTLE ROCK, ARKS, Jan{y} 6, 1861.
DR THAD: I received your letter a few days ago.... I am thankful that
there are a few righteous men left and particularly gratified that you
and Henry Lewis are true and faithful to the South.
I will endeavor to keep you posted so that you may hold your own with
the Union savers--in sober truth the question is not whether the Union
ought or can be saved but whether Arkansas shall go with the North or
adhere to the South. Neither Fishback or anybody can preserve the
Union--it now becomes us as wise men to put our house in order for the
impending crisis. I wrote to Porter last night--the Senate have not
passed the Convention bill and will not in anything like a right
shape....
BEN T. DU VAL.
[Addressed to Capt. M. T. Tatum, Greenwood, Arks.].
LITTLE ROCK ARK, January 7th 1861.
DEAR THAD. I enclose you a copy of the printed bill now before our
House to arm and equip the Militia of this State and to appropriate
100,000$ for that purpose.... We have passed a bill through the House
appropriating five hundred dollars to Porter to cover his losses to
some extent in money which he has paid out in recovering fugitives, it
ought to have been a good deal more, but I never worked harder for
anything in my life to get what we did. I think it will pass the
Senate. The news from South Carolina indicate a Tea party at
Charleston before many days. From the general signs of the times I
think a Compromise will be effect between the North and the South and
the _Union saved_. The Convention bill has not passed the Senate yet
but will in a few days I think. Give my respects to the boys generally
Your obt Servt
JOHN T. LONDON
[Addressed to Capt. M. T. Tatum, Greenwood, Sebastian County,
Arkansas.]
[163] An interesting series of telegrams has a bearing upon that event.
February 1, 1861
J. J. GREEN, WILLIAM WALKER, Van Buren, Ark.:
Not possible to leave here. Southern confederacy certain. Arkansas
must save her children by joining it. Write by mail to-day.
JOHNSON and HINDMAN,
_Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, 617.
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861.
JOHN POPE, ESQ., Little Rock, Ark.:
For God's sake do not complicate matters by an attack. It will be
premature and do incalculable injury. We cannot justify it. The
reasons that existed elsewhere for seizure do not exist with us.
ALBERT PIKE, R. W. JOHNSON.
--_Ibid._, vol. i, 682.
U. S. SENATE, WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861.
HIS EXCELLENCY H. M. RECTOR, Little Rock, Ark.:
The motives which impelled capture of forts in other States do not
exist in ours. It is all premature. We implore you prevent attack on
arsenal if Totten resists.
R. W. JOHNSON, W. K. SEBASTIAN.
--_Ibid._, 681.
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861.
R. H. JOHNSON, JAMES B. JOHNSON, Little Rock:
Southern States which captured forts were in the act of seceding, were
threatened with troops, and their ports and commerce endangered. Not
so with us. If Totten resists, for God's sake deliberate and go stop
the assault.
R. W. JOHNSON.
--_Ibid._, 681-682.
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861.
GOVERNOR RECTOR, Little Rock, Ark.:
For God's sake allow no attack to be made on Fort Totten.
A. RUST.
--_Ibid._, vol. liii, supplement, 617.
February 7, 1861.
E. BURGEVIN, Little Rock:
For God's sake do not attack the arsenal. It can do no good and will
be productive of great harm.
C. B. JOHNSON.
--_Ibid._
LITTLE ROCK, February 8, 1861.
C. B. JOHNSON, Washington:
Spoke too late, like Irishman who swallowed egg. Arsenal in hands of
Governor.
EDMUND BURGEVIN.
_Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, 617.