Visiting Honey Springs

Today I visited the Civil War site of the Battle of Honey Springs.

On July 16, 1863 approximately 3,000 Union troops under the command of Gen. James Blunt began march from Ft. Gibson in Indian Territory to Honey Springs Depot, about 25 miles to the south. There, 6,000 Confederates under Gen. Douglas Cooper were waiting.

Apparently, the Yankees passed near the place of my boyhood home in the countryside outside of Oktaha. We lived near the old Texas Road and south of Chimney Rock were Blunt's men encountered Confederate pickets along their way. I well recall my brother discovering a 3-inch civil war cannonball in the mud of our front yard one day following a long series of summer rains.

Despite their inferior numbers at Honey Springs, the Union gained an important victory there on July 17, 1863. This was the largest battle fought in Indian Territory, and it involved large numbers of African American and Native American fighters on each side.

Pictured here is a monument at the battle site commemorating the involvement of many soldiers from the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma.