Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

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238 Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867 strength at forty-five hundred, an overestimate of 50 percent. Nevertheless, Blunt moved across the Arkansas River on 16 July with, as he reported, “less than 3,000 men, mostly Indians and negroes.” The next morning, Union cavalry encountered the enemy pickets and drove them to where the Confederate main force was waiting near Honey Springs, some twenty miles south of Fort Gibson. 23 Blunt halted his men behind a ridge about half a mile from the enemy position and allowed them time to eat while he reconnoitered. Afterward, he formed the force in two columns, the 1st Kansas Colored and a white regiment, the 2d Colorado Infantry, in one brigade under Colonel Williams’ command, and the 6th Kansas Cavalry and 3d Indian Home Guards in another brigade. In order to conceal their strength from the Confederates more effectively, the two brigades advanced in column—twenty-five or thirty men wide and about twenty ranks deep—rather than on a broad front. When they had covered about half the distance and were a quarter-mile from the enemy, they moved from column into line of battle. Blunt noticed that their front was at least as long as that of the Confederates. 24 Williams’ two regiments advanced until they were about forty paces from the woods where the enemy waited. So close were the two sides that his command to fire may have been mistaken by the Confederates as coming from one of their own officers. The two volleys came at once. Williams fell, wounded in the face, chest, and hands. The second-in-command, Lt. Col. John Bowles, was at the right of the brigade line and did not learn of Williams’ wounding for some time. Meanwhile, the 1st Kansas Colored stood its ground and, when Bowles finally took command, stopped a Confederate charge with three volleys and chased the survivors through a cornfield. Union cavalry continued the pursuit past blazing supply warehouses two miles to the south set alight by the retreating enemy. The federal troops slept on the battlefield that night. The Confederates withdrew south toward the Canadian River. 25 The 1st Kansas Colored’s attack at Honey Springs marked the first time in the war that black soldiers in regimental strength had carried out a successful offensive operation against Confederate troops. The regiment sustained thirty-two casualties, half again as many as the 2d Colorado. General Blunt voiced the same sort of approval, mingled with surprise and relief, that other Union commanders expressed throughout the war. The difference was that Blunt, unlike General Banks at Port Hudson a few weeks earlier, had been present and had seen what he described. The 1st Kansas Colored, he reported, had “particularly distinguished itself; they fought like veterans, and preserved their line unbroken throughout the engagement.” 26 Blunt’s victory at Honey Springs allowed his Army of the Frontier to move southeast down the Arkansas River. On 1 September, it occupied Fort Smith, an antebellum military post that had given its name to the westernmost town in Arkansas. Nine days later, General Steele’s force, operating from Helena, entered Little Rock. Union armies had gained control of the major towns along the Arkansas River, but Confederates, uniformed and guerrilla, still moved freely through large 23 OR, ser. 1, vol. 22, pt. 1, pp. 447 (“less than”), 458, and pt. 2, p. 1078 (“much more”). 24 Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 447–48. 25 Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 448, 450; NA M594, roll 213, 79th USCI. 26 OR, ser. 1, vol. 22, pt. 1, pp. 448 (quotation), 449.
Artists’ representations of static scenes tended to stay closer to the truth than their depictions of battles. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper image and photograph show the Union outpost at Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1865.
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FREEDOM BY THE SWORD THE U.S. COLOR
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ARMY HISTORICAL SERIES FREEDOM BY T
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ARMY HISTORICAL SERIES Reina J. Pen
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No. Page 4. Along the Mississippi R
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x Page Swampy woods near Petersburg
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The Author William A. Dobak receive
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off-duty behavior, a book about bla
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Daoust, and John G. Saint, descenda
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Chapter 1 Mustering In—Federal Po
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Mustering In—Federal Policy on Em
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Chapter 2 The South Atlantic Coast
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The South Atlantic Coast, 1861-1863
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60 Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. C
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SOUTH CAROLINA A R K A N S A S Sava
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100 Freedom by the Sword: The U.S.
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Chapter 5 Southern Louisiana and th
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Southern Louisiana and the Gulf Coa
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Chapter 6 The Mississippi River and
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The Mississippi River and its Tribu
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Table 1—Black Regiments Organized
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Middle Tennessee, Alabama, and Geor
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Chapter 10 North Carolina and Virgi
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North Carolina and Virginia, 1861-1
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Chapter 11 Virginia, May-October 18
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Virginia, May-October 1864 337 of b
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Virginia, May-October 1864 339 Much
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Virginia, May-October 1864 341 sixt
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Virginia, May-October 1864 343 to c
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Virginia, May-October 1864 345 Disp
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Virginia, May-October 1864 347 Many
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Virginia, May-October 1864 349 some
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Virginia, May-October 1864 351 This
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Virginia, May-October 1864 353 ers
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Virginia, May-October 1864 355 not
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Virginia, May-October 1864 357 move
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Virginia, May-October 1864 359 & ba
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Virginia, May-October 1864 361 thei
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Virginia, May-October 1864 363 with
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Virginia, May-October 1864 365 The
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Virginia, May-October 1864 367 any
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Virginia, May-October 1864 369 proa
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Virginia, May-October 1864 371 ence
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Virginia, May-October 1864 373 Mary
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Virginia, May-October 1864 375 Terr
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Virginia, May-October 1864 377 rest
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Chapter 12 Kentucky, North Carolina
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Chapter 13 South Texas, 1864-1867 W
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South Texas, 1864-1867 427 Brownsvi
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South Texas, 1864-1867 429 a year e
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South Texas, 1864-1867 431 Magruder
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South Texas, 1864-1867 433 the retr
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South Texas, 1864-1867 435 water wh
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South Texas, 1864-1867 437 cleared
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South Texas, 1864-1867 439 ther nor
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South Texas, 1864-1867 441 supposed
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South Texas, 1864-1867 443 a set of
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Table 4—General Weitzel’s Ranki
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South Texas, 1864-1867 447 way, bes
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South Texas, 1864-1867 449 Palm tre
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South Texas, 1864-1867 451 ists eva
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South Texas, 1864-1867 453 were to
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Chapter 14 Reconstruction, 1865-186
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CC uu mm bb RR erland erland ugh ep
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 459 the q
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 463 corn.
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 465 way t
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 467 The 1
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 469 us ex
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 471 ana l
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 473 gone
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Table 5—Muster-out Dates of Black
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 477 honor
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 479 thori
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 487 towns
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Reconstruction, 1865-1867 495 depar
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Chapter 15 Conclusion Although the
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Conclusion 499 than twelve thousand
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Conclusion 501 Americans on the pat
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Conclusion 503 railroad constructio
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Index 539 Brown, 1st Lt. Matthew C.
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Index 541 Fleetwood, Sgt. Maj. Chri
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Index 547 Rickard, Capt. James H.,
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Index 549 X, 70, 345, 369-70, 373,
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Index 551 64th USCI (7th Louisiana)
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Index 553 345, 354-55, 358, 367, 36
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