The Battle of Massard Prairie - July 27, 1864

Massard Prairie Battlefield Park

The 27th of this month will mark the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, which took place in 1864 at Fort Smith.

The battle was an overwhelming Confederate victory and resulted in the death, wounding or capture of 151 Union soldiers from the 6th Kansas Cavalry and the capture of a large amount of arms, ammunition and other supplies from that regiment. The Confederates lost 33 killed, wounded or missing in the battle.

News of the cavalry fight was widely reported in both North and South during the weeks and months after the battle. Over the next week I will post some of the accounts that appeared in the newspapers of both sides.

The following is from the October 5, 1864, issue of the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle and Sentinel which in turn was quoting the Meridian (Mississippi) Clarion:

An account is given of a brilliant little victory that was gained early in August by a party of Choctaw and Texas troops, all under Gen. Gano. The fighting took place five miles S.E. of Fort SMith, in Mesard Prairie. The Lincolnite forces consisting of the "Kansas Sixth" and the so-called home guards. The first had long been a "crack" regiment, alike noted for its ferocity, fanaticism and brutality. Gen. Gano divided his Texans into two bodies, while the Choctaws formed a third. One held in person on the center, whilst the others executed a flanking movement on either hand.

Advancing to the summit of an eminence where Yankee balls were whizzing all around him, Col. Folsom prevailed on his Choctaws to accompany him over a broad space to the face of the enemy. The other bodies charged simultaneously, and the robbers finding themselves previously assailed in front and on both flanks, commenced a skedaddle from the rear, whilst others fought with desperation, until assured of quarters, when they surrendered. - Many of our men clubbed with their guns and dealt stunning blows; several guns were in this way broken. One hundred and twenty-seven were captured and about sixty killed. The pursuit was kept up to within two miles of Ft. Smith. The number of the enemy's wounded could not be ascertained. Our men obtained a rich booty - 200 Sharp's rifles, 400 revolvers, hundreds of excellent saddles, a considerable number of over coats and many other things.

The Battle of Massard Prairie and a subsequent attack against the outer defenses of Fort Smith forced the Federals to pull most of their troops into the line of rifle pits and batteries that surrounded the city. This opened the door for the successful Confederate crossing of the Arkansas River that led to the stunning victory at Cabin Creek in what is now Oklahoma. The Cabin Creek fight resulted in one of the greatest supply captures of the entire Civil War.

To learn more about the Battle of Massard Prairie, please consider my book on the topic. It is also available in Amazon Kindle format. You can read more about the battle at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasCW4.

Massard Prairie & The Attack on Fort Smith - Concluded

The Battle of Massard Prairie and the related attack on Fort Smith a few days later achieved remarkable results for small encounters.

In addition to killing or wounding around 40 Union soldiers, the Confederates also captured around 120 more. The Federal garrison at Fort Smith had been deprived of the equivalent of two full companies of trained and battle-hardened cavalry. At Massard Prairie, Gano's men also took away 200 Sharps rifles, 400 revolvers, horses, camp equipment and more. During the demonstration on Fort Smith four days later they captured another $200,000 worth of Union supplies, a herd of cattle, horses and more.

As impressive as these results were for small actions, they opened the door for something much more dramatic - the Cabin Creek raid.

General Thayer's monthly report conjectured that Cooper's goal had been "to hold this force here and also to make raids between here and (Fort) Gibson." He was more right than he knew. The attacks drove most of the Federals into the works of the Fort Smith and just two weeks later Gano and Watie struck north across the Arkansas River, wiped out a Union force protecting a hay-cutting party, and then drove north toward the supply road connecting Fort Gibson with the Federal posts in Kansas.

On September 19, 1864, they stunned a major Union supply train of 300 wagons and 1,800 horses and mules at Cabin Creek in the Cherokee Nation. Scattering and destroying what they couldn't carry away, the Confederates returned to headquarters with 130 wagons loaded with supplies and 740 mules. It was one of the greatest supply captures of the Civil War and resulted in the passage of commendations to Gano, Watie and their men by the Confederate Congress in Richmond.

Combined with the captures at Fort Smith, in just three weeks the Confederate forces had inflicted more than $2,000,000 in damage to the Union war effort in the West. By any measure, it was a dramatic accomplishment that began on July 27, 1864, with the Battle of Massard Prairie.

Please click here to learn more about the Battle of Massard Prairie and also consider the book, The Battle of Massard Prairie, available through www.amazon.com.