Battle of Old Fort Wayne
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Old Fort Wayne (also known as Maysville, Beattie's Prairie, or Beaty’s Prairie) was an American Civil War
battle on October 22, 1862 in Delaware County
in what is now eastern Oklahoma
, a part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater.
Brig. Gen.
James G. Blunt
and his Cherokee
, Indiana
, and Kansas
troops from the First Division of the Army of the Frontier
attacked Col.
Douglas H. Cooper
and his Confederate command on Beatties Prairie near Old Fort Wayne at 7:00 a.m. on October 22, 1862. The Confederates put up stiff resistance for a half hour, but overwhelming numbers forced them to retire from the field in haste, leaving artillery
and equipage behind. This was a setback in the 1862 Confederate offensive that extended from the tidewater
in the East to the plains of the Indian Territory
of the West.
, for a planned raid into Missouri
. Concurrently, Douglas Cooper was to raid Kansas with his force of Choctaw
s, Chickasaw
s, and Lower Creeks. After weeks of recruiting to bolster their numbers, Cooper led his men through Indian Territory to Old Fort Wayne
, an abandoned pre-war Federal military garrison on the southern edge of the sprawling Beatties Prairie. He positioned pickets four miles (6 km) to the north in Maysville, a small village directly on the Arkansas - Indian Territory boundary (23 miles (37 km) west of Bentonville
). He was within supporting distance of John S. Marmaduke
's small 4,000-man force of mostly Texans
, which was positioned at Cross Hollows (near Lowell, Arkansas
).
The nearest Federal troops were from John Schofield
's Army of the Frontier, encamped at Pea Ridge, Arkansas
. Word had been received that Cooper, accompanied by Stand Watie
's two Cherokee
Indian Regiments, was at Maysville, and scouts reported his total force to be about 7,000 men. James Blunt's First Division was relatively small (3,500 men), but was better trained and equipped than many of the recently raised Confederate units. At 7 p.m. on October 20, Blunt departed camp with the Second and Third Brigades. His command consisted of the 2nd Kansas Cavalry
in the lead, followed by the 6th Kansas Cavalry
, 10th Kansas Infantry
and 11th Kansas Infantry
, the 1st and 3rd Cherokee Regiments, the 1st Kansas Battery
, 2nd Indiana Battery
, and four mountain howitzers. After a night march southward, he arrived in Bentonville shortly after sunrise and paused until 5 p.m. to wait for his cumbersome supply wagons to arrive. He was anxious to surprise the Confederates, who were unaware of his advance. After a forced march of 25 miles (40.2 km) westward late on October 21, he stopped his column at 2 a.m. and allowed most of his men to rest.
However, he pushed forward the 2nd Kansas Cavalry, which struck the Confederates at 5 a.m. at Maysville, while the balance of the division was sleeping, nearly seven miles back. After driving in the pickets at Maysville, the Union cavalry followed them three and one-half miles into the Indian Territory, where they encountered Cooper's main Confederate battleline, aligned along an east and west road, facing north, with a dense wood at their backs. Despite early Federal reports that he had as many as 7,000 men, Cooper in reality had roughly 1,500 men at his disposal, with Howell's Texas Battery of four artillery guns in the center of his three-quarter mile line. Blunt positioned howitzers in place to duel with the Confederate artillery, then deployed the 2nd Kansas, which soon pushed back Confederate skirmishers from a ridge fronting their main battleline. When the balance of Blunt's division arrived, he attacked, concentrating his men on the center of the thinly spread Confederate battleline. His howitzers silenced the lone enemy battery, and the Kansans and Cherokees opened a wide hole in Cooper's center. Within a half hour, much of Cooper's ill-trained force was in full retreat (minus their artillery), with Blunt in pursuit for nearly seven miles before halting. Blunt lost 14 men; Cooper approximately 150, including a reported 50 dead who were buried on the battlefield.
The Confederates retired nearly seventy miles to Fort Gibson
on the Arkansas River
. The Federals once again had undisputed possession of Indian Territory north of the Arkansas. For his decisive victory, Blunt was appointed major general
of volunteers.
The State of Arkansas erected a commemorative marker in Benton County
at the northwest corner of state routes 43 and 72 in Maysville.
- Brigadier General James G. Blunt
- Colonel Douglas Cooper
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
battle on October 22, 1862 in Delaware County
Delaware County, Oklahoma
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 37,077 and the newest population estimate is 45,000. Its county seat is Jay. The county was named for the Delaware Indians resettled in what was then Indian Territory in the 1830s. .Delaware County...
in what is now eastern Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, a part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater.
Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
James G. Blunt
James G. Blunt
James Gillpatrick Blunt was a physician and abolitionist who rose to Union major general during the American Civil War.-Early life & career:...
and his Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
troops from the First Division of the Army of the Frontier
Army of the Frontier
The Army of the Frontier was a Union army that served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War. It fought in several minor engagements in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Kansas...
attacked Col.
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Douglas H. Cooper
Douglas H. Cooper
Douglas Hancock Cooper was a politician, a soldier, an Indian Agent in what is now Oklahoma, and a Confederate general during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
and his Confederate command on Beatties Prairie near Old Fort Wayne at 7:00 a.m. on October 22, 1862. The Confederates put up stiff resistance for a half hour, but overwhelming numbers forced them to retire from the field in haste, leaving artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and equipage behind. This was a setback in the 1862 Confederate offensive that extended from the tidewater
Tidewater
Tidewater may refer to:*Tidewater , a geographic area of southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina*Tidewater , a company providing marine services to the offshore petroleum industry...
in the East to the plains of the Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
of the West.
Battle
In mid-July, the Confederates had started concentrating their forces at Fayetteville, ArkansasFayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
, for a planned raid into Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Concurrently, Douglas Cooper was to raid Kansas with his force of Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
s, Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
s, and Lower Creeks. After weeks of recruiting to bolster their numbers, Cooper led his men through Indian Territory to Old Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne (Indian Territory)
Fort Wayne was established 1839 in Indian Territory by Lt. Col. R.B. Mason of the 1st Dragoons. Named for Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne, it was intended as a link in the great line of forts protecting the American West...
, an abandoned pre-war Federal military garrison on the southern edge of the sprawling Beatties Prairie. He positioned pickets four miles (6 km) to the north in Maysville, a small village directly on the Arkansas - Indian Territory boundary (23 miles (37 km) west of Bentonville
Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville, Arkansas is a city in Northwest Bahamas, and county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States The population was 35,301 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area...
). He was within supporting distance of John S. Marmaduke
John S. Marmaduke
John Sappington Marmaduke was a career military man and a West Point graduate. He is known for his service as a Confederate Major general during the American Civil War...
's small 4,000-man force of mostly Texans
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, which was positioned at Cross Hollows (near Lowell, Arkansas
Lowell, Arkansas
Lowell is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 7,327. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area....
).
The nearest Federal troops were from John Schofield
John Schofield
John McAllister Schofield was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He later served as U.S. Secretary of War and Commanding General of the United States Army.-Early life:...
's Army of the Frontier, encamped at Pea Ridge, Arkansas
Pea Ridge, Arkansas
Pea Ridge is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The name Pea Ridge comes from a combination of the physical location of the original settlement of the town, across the crest of an Ozark Mountains ridge, and for the hog peanuts or turkey peas that had been originally cultivated by...
. Word had been received that Cooper, accompanied by Stand Watie
Stand Watie
Stand Watie , also known as Standhope Uwatie, Degataga , meaning “stand firm”), and Isaac S. Watie, was a leader of the Cherokee Nation and a brigadier general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
's two Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
Indian Regiments, was at Maysville, and scouts reported his total force to be about 7,000 men. James Blunt's First Division was relatively small (3,500 men), but was better trained and equipped than many of the recently raised Confederate units. At 7 p.m. on October 20, Blunt departed camp with the Second and Third Brigades. His command consisted of the 2nd Kansas Cavalry
2nd Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
The 2nd Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 2nd Kansas Cavalry was organized at Kansas City, Kansas beginning on November 8, 1861 but its designation was changed to 9th Kansas Infantry on February 4, 1862....
in the lead, followed by the 6th Kansas Cavalry
6th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
The 6th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 6th Kansas Cavalry was organized at Fort Scott, Kansas in July 1861. The regiment began as three companies of home guard infantry, followed quickly by five...
, 10th Kansas Infantry
10th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry
The 10th Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 10th Kansas Infantry was organized at Paola, Kansas by consolidating the 3rd Kansas Infantry and 4th Kansas Infantry, which had recruits, but were never...
and 11th Kansas Infantry
11th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry
The 11th Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 11th Kansas Infantry was organized at Camp Lyon near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from August 29 through September 14, 1862...
, the 1st and 3rd Cherokee Regiments, the 1st Kansas Battery
1st Independent Battery Kansas Light Artillery
1st Independent Battery Kansas Light Artillery was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The battery was organized at Mound City, Kansas and mustered in for a three years on July 24, 1861 under the command of Captain Thomas Moonlight.This unit was...
, 2nd Indiana Battery
2nd Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery
2nd Indiana Battery Light Artillery was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The battery was organized at Indianapolis, Indiana and mustered in for a three year enlistment on August 9, 1861 under the command of Captain John W. Rabb.The battery...
, and four mountain howitzers. After a night march southward, he arrived in Bentonville shortly after sunrise and paused until 5 p.m. to wait for his cumbersome supply wagons to arrive. He was anxious to surprise the Confederates, who were unaware of his advance. After a forced march of 25 miles (40.2 km) westward late on October 21, he stopped his column at 2 a.m. and allowed most of his men to rest.
However, he pushed forward the 2nd Kansas Cavalry, which struck the Confederates at 5 a.m. at Maysville, while the balance of the division was sleeping, nearly seven miles back. After driving in the pickets at Maysville, the Union cavalry followed them three and one-half miles into the Indian Territory, where they encountered Cooper's main Confederate battleline, aligned along an east and west road, facing north, with a dense wood at their backs. Despite early Federal reports that he had as many as 7,000 men, Cooper in reality had roughly 1,500 men at his disposal, with Howell's Texas Battery of four artillery guns in the center of his three-quarter mile line. Blunt positioned howitzers in place to duel with the Confederate artillery, then deployed the 2nd Kansas, which soon pushed back Confederate skirmishers from a ridge fronting their main battleline. When the balance of Blunt's division arrived, he attacked, concentrating his men on the center of the thinly spread Confederate battleline. His howitzers silenced the lone enemy battery, and the Kansans and Cherokees opened a wide hole in Cooper's center. Within a half hour, much of Cooper's ill-trained force was in full retreat (minus their artillery), with Blunt in pursuit for nearly seven miles before halting. Blunt lost 14 men; Cooper approximately 150, including a reported 50 dead who were buried on the battlefield.
The Confederates retired nearly seventy miles to Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson, now located in Oklahoma and designated Fort Gibson Historical Site, guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 until 1890...
on the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
. The Federals once again had undisputed possession of Indian Territory north of the Arkansas. For his decisive victory, Blunt was appointed major general
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
of volunteers.
The State of Arkansas erected a commemorative marker in Benton County
Benton County, Arkansas
Benton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, the population was 153,406. The U.S. Census Bureau 2010 population is 221,339. The county seat is Bentonville. Benton County was formed on 30 September 1836 and was named after Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S...
at the northwest corner of state routes 43 and 72 in Maysville.
Union
1st Division, Army of the FrontierArmy of the Frontier
The Army of the Frontier was a Union army that served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War. It fought in several minor engagements in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Kansas...
- Brigadier General James G. Blunt
- 1st Brigade (detachment)
- 11th Kansas Infantry11th Regiment Kansas Volunteer InfantryThe 11th Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 11th Kansas Infantry was organized at Camp Lyon near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from August 29 through September 14, 1862...
- 2nd Indian Home Guard
- 11th Kansas Infantry
- 2nd Brigade - Colonel William WeerWilliam WeerWilliam Weer was a lawyer, attorney general for Kansas and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War...
- 6th Kansas Cavalry6th Regiment Kansas Volunteer CavalryThe 6th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 6th Kansas Cavalry was organized at Fort Scott, Kansas in July 1861. The regiment began as three companies of home guard infantry, followed quickly by five...
- 3rd Indian Home Guard
- 10th Kansas Infantry10th Regiment Kansas Volunteer InfantryThe 10th Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 10th Kansas Infantry was organized at Paola, Kansas by consolidating the 3rd Kansas Infantry and 4th Kansas Infantry, which had recruits, but were never...
- 1st Kansas Battery
- 6th Kansas Cavalry
- 3rd Brigade - Colonel William F. CloudWilliam F. CloudWilliam F. Cloud was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War who participated in many battles in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.-Early life and career:...
- 2nd Kansas Cavalry2nd Regiment Kansas Volunteer CavalryThe 2nd Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 2nd Kansas Cavalry was organized at Kansas City, Kansas beginning on November 8, 1861 but its designation was changed to 9th Kansas Infantry on February 4, 1862....
- 2nd Indiana Light Artillery2nd Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery2nd Indiana Battery Light Artillery was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The battery was organized at Indianapolis, Indiana and mustered in for a three year enlistment on August 9, 1861 under the command of Captain John W. Rabb.The battery...
- 1st Indian Home Guard
- 2nd Kansas Cavalry
Confederate
1st Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps, Army of MississippiArmy of Mississippi
There were three organizations known as the Army of Mississippi in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. -Army of Mississippi :This army, at times known by the names Army of the West or Army of the...
- Colonel Douglas Cooper
-
- 1st Choctaw/Chickasaw Regiment - Colonel S. N. Folsom
- 2nd Cherokee Mounted Rifles --- Colonel Stand Watie
- 3rd Cherokee Regiment --- Colonel Phillips
- Buster’s Battalion
- Creek Battalion --- Lieutenant Colonel Chilly McIntosh
- Howell’s Texas Battery