Battle Of Honey Springs Essay

The Battle of Honey Springs which is also sometimes called the Battle of Elk Creek was the largest hostile encounter in the Indian Territory during the Civil War. The battle took place in McIntosh County about four and one half miles northeast of Checotah and about fifteen miles south of Muskogee in what was known as Creek Nation which is located in eastern Oklahoma. The engagement took place on Friday the 17th of July 1863. Between the 1st Division, Army of the Frontier, commanded by Major General James G. Blunt and the Confederate Indian Brigade commanded by Brigadier General Douglas H. Cooper.

A few years before the Battle of Honey Springs began the Federal Forces pulled troops out of the Indian Territory to send reinforcements east

Cabell with roughly 3,000 soldiers and additional artillery was in route to Honey Springs to support Brigadier General Douglas H. Cooper in his planned attack on Fort Gibson to push the Federal Forces out of the Indian Nation. Due to Federal spies and Confederate deserters that continued to inform Colonel Phillips of the attack on Fort Gibson. He rushed troops and supplies to prepare for an attack on Brigadier General Cooper Confederate Forces at Honey Springs. In preparation to attack the Confederate Forces Major General Blunt became ill with a serve fever which put him in bed rest. Yet while still extremely ill he decided to push forward on the attack of Honey Springs. Many flat boats were built to transport his forces across the Arkansas River. On the night of the 15th of July Major General Blunt took a small force consisting of 250 cavalry men and four pieces of artillery. With this small force he pushed the Confederate Pickets downstream. Which at this point Maj. Gen. Blunt ordered the rest of his forces to cross the river which brought his total forces to roughly 3,000 Soldiers. By 10:00 P.M. on the 16th of July all Federal Forces had crossed the river. The Federal Soldiers were armed with late model Springfield rifles and twelve pieces of artillery. Which consisted of six big 12 pound Napoleons, two smaller 6 pounders, and four of the 12 pounder Mountain Howitzers. During the night with rain coming

Directly after the Federal Artillery located one of the Confederate Artillery pieces and destroyed it. This empowered the Confederate Mountain Rifle which was used to return fire with great accuracy and long range this enabled them to pick off some Federal Officers. Confederates continued to hold their positions under the thick trees for over two hours while being rapidly fired upon by the Federal dismounted Cavalry. Confederates dealt with many issues to include gunpowder issues and having unarmed men fighting up close and in hand to hand combat. The First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment led by Colonel Williams successfully captured the Confederate Artillery Battery. This was a huge turn in the battle for the Federal Forces. Shortly after a Federal Indian Guard Regiment moved in front of the Federal Forces front lines and were instructed to fall back into position. The Confederates thought the Federal Forces were retreating so they were ordered to purse. But they were met only by a deadly volley of rifle fire. At this point the Confederate Colors fell many of times. Finally realizing they could no longer hold their position the Confederates fell back crossing the bridge trying to still defend their position and losing many Confederate soldiers. They were order to retreat to Honey Springs were they held their