Battle of Honey Springs

The stretch of ground south of Muskogee, where Elk Creek flows through the low hills, was the site of the largest battle ever fought in what is now Oklahoma. On July seventeenth, eighteen sixty-three, roughly nine thousand soldiers clashed at Honey Springs Depot, and when the shooting stopped, the course of the Civil War in Indian Territory was essentially decided.

The Five Tribes were divided in their loyalties. The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole nations had been pressured into confederacies with both sides, and many individual citizens chose differently from their tribal governments. Some fought for the Confederacy because they owned enslaved people and feared abolition. Some fought for the Union because they distrusted Confederate promises or opposed slavery. The resulting conflict tore communities and families apart in ways that took generations to mend.

At Honey Springs, Union General James Blunt led a force that included a remarkable mix: Colorado, Kansas and Wisconsin troops, Cherokee and Creek soldiers fighting for the North, and the First Kansas Colored Infantry, one of the first African American regiments to see major combat in the Civil War. They faced Confederate General Douglas Cooper's Indian Brigade, supported by Texas cavalry.

Blunt attacked on a hot July day. His plan worked almost perfectly. The Confederate ammunition, which had been stored in damp conditions, misfired at a critical moment. Union pressure drove the Confederates from the field within hours. The victory gave the Union control of Indian Territory north of the Arkansas River and opened a path to Fort Smith in Arkansas.

The First Kansas Colored Infantry distinguished itself at Honey Springs, fighting in the center of the line and holding ground under heavy fire. For those men, who were frequently told by white officers that Black soldiers could not fight, the battle at Honey Springs was evidence that they could.