Battle of Massard Prairie, Part Three - The Attack on Fort Smith

The stunning success of Gano's attack on the 6th Kansas Cavalry at Massard Prairie awakened the Confederates to the potential of additional attacks on the Union forces at Fort Smith.

Anxious to inflict additional damage, capture more supplies and create an opportunity for pro-secession families in the area to evacuate, the Southern commanders contemplated the situation and decided to try a second attack. Commanded in person by General Douglas H. Cooper, the Confederate troops moved up to Cedar Prairie on the Fort Towson Road due south of Fort Smith.

While Cooper believed that he might be able to break through the defenses of Fort Smith, he also recognized that doing so would result in severe casualties to his own command. Instead of attempting such an attack, he decided instead to send troops to demonstrate against the southern edges of Fort Smith from all directions. Gano was sent to occupy a position on the mountain overlooking Massard Prairie (today's Fianna Hills subdivision). From there he sent Lieutenant Colonel Jack McCurtain down onto the prairie with his force of Choctaw soldiers. McCurtain found the former camp of the 6th Kansas now abandoned, but did manage to captured a few horses, a drove of cattle and 11 Union soldiers.

At the same time, the 2nd Creek Regiment and a few Cherokee soldiers were sent up into the Poteau Bottom opposite the Poteau River from the main garrison of Fort Smith. Taking up positions along the bank, they fired across into the garrison, creating "great excitement and some consternation."

As these activities were underway, Cooper advanced up the Fort Towson (today's Towson Avenue) and State Line Roads toward the Federal positions along the south side of Fort Smith. The historic city had been enclosed with a semi-circular line of rifle pits that connected strong redoubts or forts placed on high points around the city. One of these, Battery Number Four, stood on the high hill near today's intersection of Towson and Dodson Avenues. Because the fort was manned by African American troops, the hill was described in Confederate reports as "Negro Hill." The photo above was taken from a position near the site of Battery Number 4 at the top of the hill looking south down Towson Avenue, the route by which part of Cooper's force attacked.

Advancing on the morning of July 31, 1864, Cooper's forces overran a Union picket camp about 4 1/2 miles south of town and continued to drive up the parallel roads toward Battery Number Four.

Led by Brigadier General Stand Watie, the Confederate advance struck hard and fast, quickly closing in on the Union lines. Overrunning a Union camp and driving the Federals to their entrenchments, Watie and his men fell back to the camp they had captured where they sat down and enjoyed a "plentiful dinner" just prepared by the Union soldiers. They also captured a vast supply of camp equipment and other supplies, the value of which was estimated by General Cooper to be in excess of $130,000.

To support the attack, Cooper ordered forward two batteries of light artillery to take position on a hill overlooking the camp captured by General Watie and facing the hill topped by Battery Number Four. Wells' Texas Battalion, the Choctaw Brigade and the 1st Creek Regiment were ordered forward to support the guns.

I'll continue with more on Cooper and Watie's attack on Fort Smith in the next post. You can always read more on the Battle of Massard Prairie by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Battle of Honey Springs, Oklahoma - Part Two

This photograph shows all that remains of what was once a massive system of earthworks built by the Union army in 1863 to protect their base at Fort Gibson.

Called Fort Blunt, after General Blunt, by the Federals, the extensive earthen walls surrounded an extensive post area adjacent to the old Fort Gibson that had been built by the U.S. Army prior to the Trail of Tears.

Most of the vast fortification no longer exists, but this small section of earthwork can still be seen at the Oklahoma Historical Society's Fort Gibson Historic Site. The surviving earthworks are located down the hill from the Visitor's Center and were once part of the southwest wall of the irregular fort.

General Blunt was here when he learned that Cooper's force had taken up a position at Honey Springs Depot on the Texas Road. Cooper was waiting for the arrival of additional forces from Fort Smith under General Cabell before moving north in a campaign against the Federals at Fort Blunt. Deciding to strike before the two Confederate generals could unite their forces, Blunt moved out from his fortifications.

As our series continues tomorrow, we will look at the Confederate position at Honey Springs Depot. As the week goes along, we will also be launching our full site on the Battle of Honey Springs at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/honeysprings1.

Battle of Honey Springs, Oklahoma - Part One

On July 17, 1863, Union and Confederate forces engaged in a fierce battle along Elk Creek, a sluggish stream that flows through the Creek or Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma.

Sometimes called the "Gettysburg of the West," the engagement is known today as the Battle of Honey Springs or Elk Creek and was a dramatic Union victory that changed the course of the war in the West.

The battle took place when Union General James Blunt, suffering with fever, learned that a Confederate army was assembling at Honey Springs Depot on the Texas Road near present-day Checotah. Then at Fort Gibson (called Fort Blunt by Union forces), Blunt decided to strike the General Douglas H. Cooper's gathering Confederate force before the Southern general could move against his own command.

The result was one of the more dramatic rapid campaigns of the Civil War. Blunt moved 3,000 men and 12 pieces of artillery across the swollen Arkansas River, drove back Confederate pickets and slammed into Cooper's main force at Elk Creek.

The battle was unique because the forces of both sides were multi-racial in nature. Blunt's command included white, Native American and African American soldiers, while Cooper's force included both white and Native American troops.

As our series continues tomorrow, we will begin to retrace the Honey Springs campaign with a look at Blunt's command post at Fort Gibson (Blunt).

Cooper's Expedition to Fort Smith - Part Ten

Cooper's expedition against Fort Smith had been more successful than anticipated in achieving its goals. In the engagements of July 27th and 31st, more than 100 Union soldiers had been taken prisoner and dozens more were either killed or wounded.

In addition, the Confederates had seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies, herds of cattle and horses, badly needed weaponry and literally driven the Union forces at Fort Smith into the fortifications of the town itself. Local pro-Southern families had been evacuated and Unionist families lost homes, property and - in at least one documented case - lives.

The inability of the Federals to secure their perimiters ended their use of Massard Prairie and adjacent grasslands to feed their herds of horses and cows. In short, Cooper had succeeded in confining the thousands of Federal troops at Fort Smith to their fortifications. This was to cause drastic consequences for the Union cause in the West over the next few weeks.

The expedition against Fort Smith was an important preliminary episode to the Second Cabin Creek expedition, a dramatic Confederate sweep up through what is now eastern Oklahoma that resulted in the capture of a massive Union supply train making its way from Kansas to Fort Gibson. Second Cabin Creek was one of the greatest and most successful feats of Southern arms during the war. Although it is little known today, it was one of the greatest supply seizures of the Civil War. It would not have been possible had not Cooper's expedition against Fort Smith been successful.

The Civil War in Fort Smith can be explored at several locations today. Among these are Fort Smith National Historic Site and the Fort Smith Museum of History in downtown Fort Smith and Massard Prairie Battlefield Park near the intersection of Red Pine and Morgan in the southeastern section of Fort Smith.

If you would like to learn more about the expedition, please consider picking up a copy of the book, The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas. It is now available in paperback at the Fort Smith Museum of History and at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Arkansas. You can also purchase the book online at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox.

Hardback copies are available for online order only by clicking here.

Cooper's Expedition to Fort Smith - Part Seven

Following the return of Gano and his men from the successful action at Massard Prairie, General Cooper began to consider the possibilities for a second move against Fort Smith.

Like the first attack, he did not intend for this action to involve an actual assault on the fortified city itself. His numbers were insufficient and the Federal position too strong for that. Instead, he hoped to once again snap up outlying Union units, capture supplies and create a diversion that would allow pro-Southern families in the area to evacuate under the protection of his troops.

The plan this time called for demonstrations against multiple points. Gano was ordered to sweep back down onto Massard Prairie to snap up any isolated units that might have moved back out. A second detachment, composed of Native American Confederate soldiers, was sent up the west bank of the Poteau to fire across into the garrison itself. Cooper then moved up with two columns on the main roads approaching Fort Smith from the south.

The famed Cherokee commander, Brigadier General Stand Watie, was now with the Confederates and he led the advance as the Southern troops moved up the Fort Towson and Line roads.

As our series continues in the next post, we will look at the action that resulted from this advance, remembered today as the Battle of Fort Smith. If you are interested in learning more, please consider my book The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks on Fort Smith, Arkansas. It is available for order online at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox and is also available in the gift shops at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Northwest Arkansas and at the Fort Smith Museum of History in Fort Smith.

Cooper's Expedition to Fort Smith - Part Six

As they fell back from their victory at Massard Prairie, Gano's men passed over the ridges and open prairie to the Devil's Backbone (seen here).

Still hoping to draw a Federal pursuing force into an ambush along the commanding ridge south of Fort Smith, Gano moved slowly, making sure the Federal cavalry under Col. Judson was able to clearly see his men.

The very rear of the Confederate column skirmished with the oncoming Union troops, but it really amounted to little more than a sporadic exchange of shots with no casualties reported.

The Union officers simply were too stunned by the defeat at Massard Prairie and too concerned about the possibility of further disaster to engage in a spirited pursuit. Before they approached close enough for Gano to launch his planned ambush, they turned back to Fort Smith. In subsequent reports, they blamed the condition of their mounts for their lack of more aggressive action.

Realizing that there would be no pursuit and no second battle, Gano crossed his men over the Devil's Backbone to James Fork, a branch of the Poteau River and camped near the river that night before returning back to the main base at the old Choctaw Council House.

The stunning success of the attack on the 6th Kansas battalion at Massard Prairie electrified the main camp and news traveled like lighting across the mountains and prairies to the headquarters of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department and from there on east where it was recounted in newspapers as far away as Augusta, Georgia, and Richmond, Virginia.

The victory led General Cooper to begin considering a second aggressive action against Fort Smith, a move by which he hoped to secure even greater results.

We will have more on that when our series continues. Until the next post, you can read more about the Battle of Massard Prairie and related events by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.