Honey Springs, Indian Territory

aka Elk's Creek / Shaw's Inn

Muskogee and McIntosh Counties, Oklahoma
July 17, 1863

Union and Confederate troops had frequently skirmished in the vicinity of Honey Springs Depot. The Union commander in the area, Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt, correctly surmised that Confederate forces, mostly Native American troops under the command of Brig. Gen. Douglas H. Cooper, were about to concentrate and would then attack his force at Fort Gibson. He decided to defeat the Confederates at Honey Springs Depot before they were joined by Brig. Gen. William Cabell's brigade of 1,600 men, advancing from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Blunt began crossing the swollen Arkansas River on July 15, 1863, and, by midnight on July 16-17, he had a force of 3,000 men, composed of whites, Native Americans, and African Americans, marching toward Honey Springs. Blunt skirmished with Rebel troops early on the morning of the 17th, and by mid-afternoon, full-scale fighting ensued. The Confederates had wet powder, causing misfires, and the problem intensified when rain began.  After repulsing one attack, Cooper pulled his forces back to south side of Elk's Creek to obtain new ammunition and dry powder. In the meantime, Cooper began to experience command problems, and he learned that Blunt was about to turn his left flank. The Confederate retreat began, and although Cooper fought a rearguard action, many of those troops counterattacked, failed, and fled. Any possibility of the Confederates taking Fort Gibson was gone. Following this battle, Union forces controlled Indian Territory, north of the Arkansas River.

Honey Springs was unique among Civil War battles, in that the number of African American and Native Americans engaged outnumbered the European Americans on either side.  The 1st Kansas Colored performed extremely well, essentially winning the engagement for the Union, but never received the recognition that other colored regiments that served in the east received.  One day after Honey Springs, the fabled 54th Massachusetts would make it historic unsuccessful assault against Ft. Wagner in South Carolina.  The 1st Kansas, which had held the center of the Union line, advanced to within fifty paces of the Confederate line and exchanged fire for some twenty minutes until the Confederates broke and ran. General Blunt wrote after the battle, "I never saw such fighting as was done by the Negro regiment....The question that negroes will fight is settled; besides they make better solders in every respect than any troops I have ever had under my command."  

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Muskogee and McIntosh Counties

Campaign: Operations to Control Indian Territory (1863)

Date(s): July17, 1863

Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt [US]; Brig. Gen. Douglas H. Cooper [CS]

Forces Engaged: District of the Frontier [US] 3,000; Indian Territory Command [CS] 5,700

Estimated Casualties: 716 total (US 79; CS 637)

Links:

The Battle of Honey Springs, Indian Territory - http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/mus-sites/LHF-bhs.htm

The Civil War in Indian Territory - http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/mus-sites/lLHF-cwt.htm

Designers:  David Kerns & Luciano Bassotti

This game is designed for BGC engine (Talonsoft Battleground Chickamauga); this package simply add a new module, and not affect the scenarios provided with the original game. 

The BGCUnits file is compatible with the original and other BGC mods.

SET UP

- Copy Units.bmp file into BGC main directory;

- Create a new folder into BGC main directory and name it Honey Springs;

- Copy all others files (except Units.bitmap file) into the Honey Springs folder.

Scenario Information:

Honey Springs Historical:

Union forces arrive in column on each side of the Texas Road at 10am ready to go into line formation.  Cooper's Texans and Indians have dug in north of Elk Creek guarding the bridge and key fords.  Fixed units at the lower ford and in reserve at Honey Springs become unfixed at approximate time as during the actual engagement.  The Confederate troops had a mixture of small arms and inferior powder that caked with the slightly moisture.  Additionally, many of the troops were without serviceable firearms.  Thus, the weapons type for the Confederates depicts this deficiency and the ammo depletion rate for the Confederates is high to simulate bad powder.  The battle lasts 12 turns. 

Honey Springs Alternative:

Same as above, but Cabell's Arkansas Brigade from Ft. Smith force marches to arrive at Honey Springs at 11:20am instead of meeting up with Cooper retreating troops southeast of Honey Springs at 4:00pm.

 Other files
  HPSOthers.zip (148 Kb)

Scenario Files
 HPSScen.zip (10 Kb)   

Unit File
 BGCUnits.zip (1,247 Kb)