The Confederate Seizure of Fort Smith, Arkansas
Confederate Seizure of Fort Smith, In-Depth
Captain Samuel D. Sturgis
A general at the time this
photograph was taken, Captain
Sturgis was the commanding
officer of Fort Smith at the
outbreak of the Civil War. He and
his two companies of U.S.
cavalry evacuated the post hours
before it was to be attacked by
state troops.
A general at the time this
photograph was taken, Captain
Sturgis was the commanding
officer of Fort Smith at the
outbreak of the Civil War. He and
his two companies of U.S.
cavalry evacuated the post hours
before it was to be attacked by
state troops.
By the time of the Civil War, Fort Smith was a long-established military post.
Originally constructed in 1817 as a frontier stockade to preserve peace between the
Cherokee and the Osage, the fort had evolved over time to become a key supply
depot for U.S. Army installations scattered across the Old West. As such, even
though it was of limited defensive or strategic value by 1861, it was a key point for
maintaining an active presence among the Indian Nations of what is now Oklahoma.
With the looming secession of Arkansas, Fort Smith became a point of interest for
both Federal forces and state volunteers. Without the steady flow of supplies through
the post, Federal authorities could not hope – at least temporarily – to maintain a
number of other forts scattered across present-day Oklahoma. The Arkansans
quickly realized this moved to stop supply shipments to Fort Smith shortly after they
took control of the U.S. Arsenal in Little Rock on February 8, 1861. Just one day
earlier the Choctaw Nation, which bordered Fort Smith, had declared its intent to cast
its fate with those of the Southern states.
The first serious interdiction of supplies bound for Fort Smith took place in early
February when the state took possession of supplies at Napoleon, Arkansas, that
were supposed to be heading west via Fort Smith:
…I am in receipt of a telegram from Captain Montgomery, A.Q.M. at Fort Smith, Ark.,
informing me that a considerable amount of ordnance stores (list herewith enclosed),
shipped by me on the 15th and 21st ultimo to Napoleon, Ark., en route for the posts
on the Arkansas River, have been seized by certain individuals pretending to act for
the State of Arkansas. As the State in question has passed no act of secession, or
announced her withdrawal from the Union, I would respectfully recommend that
orders be issued to my agents at Napoleon to take legal steps to recover the stores
lost.
The list enclosed with Major Justus McKinstry’s report included saddles and other
cavalry equipment, and 130,000 cartridges of various types. The material was not
returned to the Federal government.
Further difficulties took place in April, when the annual shipment of supplies for Fort
Smith was intercepted by state authorities and a year’s worth of material seized.
Captain W.S. Burns, U.S. Army, went down to Little Rock and Pine Bluff to learn more
about the situation and was shocked by what he found:
…I very soon discovered that the revolution was general. Troops were enrolling to
march on Fort Smith. The steamboat I came down on was chartered. When I arrived
at Pine Bluff, I found the Silver Lake, No. 2, tied up and strongly guarded. The crew
had left, the stores placed in different houses in town, and the steamboat was to
transport troops to Fort Smith.
I learned from Mr. Bell, the agent (I believe) of the governor, that he had instructions
to cause the stores to be sent to Little Rock, part of them to be used in the expedition
to Fort Smith, for which 5,000 troops were called out.
Burns recommended that supplies for the Indian Nations posts be immediately sent
from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, via Forts Scott, Gibson and Washita.
The state seizure of the supply boats heading for Fort Smith had an immediate
impact. Left in extremely precarious situation, Major (and future General) Samuel D.
Sturgis was left with little choice but to evacuate his post. Taking twenty wagons and
teams, he and his men left Fort Smith at 9 p.m. on April 23, 1861, bound for Fort
Washita. Behind he left the “ordinance sergeant, hospital steward, chief bugler, sick
and laundresses” who were to be moved to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, as soon
as possible:
The causes which induced me to evacuate the post I presume are known to the
department commander from general notoriety. After the supplies were cut off by the
State of Arkansas the post, of course, became untenable, and we could have
occupied it in any case but a few more days. One hour after we left, two boats arrived
with three hundred men and ten pieces of artillery. To have contended against this
force with two companies of cavalry, and that, too, while the entire population of the
surrounding country were ready at a moment’s warning to take up arms against us,
could only have resulted eventually in our being taken prisoners and the loss to the
Government of all the arms, horses, means of transportation, &c., at the post.
Other reports indicated that Sturgis had been forewarned that state troops were on
their way, with artillery, to seize the fort. Despite its size and comfort as a supply
depot, the fort would have been very difficult to defend. The stone wall originally
designed to protect the post had never been completed and due to its length would
have been impossible to man with only two companies of cavalry.
Captain Alexander Montgomery, assistant quartermaster, was left in command of the
fort and shortly reported that he had been taken as a prisoner of war by the Arkansas
volunteers:
About two hours after his (Sturgis’) departure a body of troops under the command of
Col. Solon Borland, aide-de-camp to his excellency the governor of the State of
Arkansas, accompanied by the adjutant-general of the State, arrived in steamers and
took possession of the post, making me a prisoner of war, under authority and by
direction of the governor of the State. Maj. R.C. Gatlin, Fifth Infantry, who happened to
be in the garrison at the time on a visit, was also made prisoner of war. On giving our
parole that we would not fight against the State of Arkansas or the Southern
Confederate States during the existing difficulties between the latter and the United
States, unless exchanged, we were permitted to go at large. The force under Colonel
Borland consisted of 235 men, rank and file, with battery of artillery. Colonel
Boreland demanded and has taken possession of all the public property at the post
and in its vicinity, inventories of which will be forwarded to the proper bureau.
The state occupation of Fort Smith and seizure of the westward-bound supplies set
off an immediate crisis in the Indian Nations. Forts Arbuckle, Cobb and Washita
were soon evacuated as well and volunteers from Texas flooded north to occupy the
region for the Confederacy. U.S. forces fell back toward Kansas, setting the stage for
the brutal confrontation that over the next few years would determine the fate of the
region. The Indian Nations themselves, as might be expected, were bitterly divided.
Large groups of warriors affiliated with each side and perhaps nowhere on the
continent was the Civil War as much a conflict of brother against brother as among
the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole of today’s Oklahoma.
Fort Smith itself would remain in Confederate hands until September 1, 1863, when
Federal troops returned – by way of the Indian Nations – and took permanent custody
of the fort. Ironically, Major Gatlin, who was taken as a prisoner of war by the
Arkansas troops at Fort Smith, soon resigned his commission and volunteered for
service with the Confederacy. He became a general and served in North Carolina.
Returning to Arkansas after the war, he is buried at Fort Smith National Cemetery.
Originally constructed in 1817 as a frontier stockade to preserve peace between the
Cherokee and the Osage, the fort had evolved over time to become a key supply
depot for U.S. Army installations scattered across the Old West. As such, even
though it was of limited defensive or strategic value by 1861, it was a key point for
maintaining an active presence among the Indian Nations of what is now Oklahoma.
With the looming secession of Arkansas, Fort Smith became a point of interest for
both Federal forces and state volunteers. Without the steady flow of supplies through
the post, Federal authorities could not hope – at least temporarily – to maintain a
number of other forts scattered across present-day Oklahoma. The Arkansans
quickly realized this moved to stop supply shipments to Fort Smith shortly after they
took control of the U.S. Arsenal in Little Rock on February 8, 1861. Just one day
earlier the Choctaw Nation, which bordered Fort Smith, had declared its intent to cast
its fate with those of the Southern states.
The first serious interdiction of supplies bound for Fort Smith took place in early
February when the state took possession of supplies at Napoleon, Arkansas, that
were supposed to be heading west via Fort Smith:
…I am in receipt of a telegram from Captain Montgomery, A.Q.M. at Fort Smith, Ark.,
informing me that a considerable amount of ordnance stores (list herewith enclosed),
shipped by me on the 15th and 21st ultimo to Napoleon, Ark., en route for the posts
on the Arkansas River, have been seized by certain individuals pretending to act for
the State of Arkansas. As the State in question has passed no act of secession, or
announced her withdrawal from the Union, I would respectfully recommend that
orders be issued to my agents at Napoleon to take legal steps to recover the stores
lost.
The list enclosed with Major Justus McKinstry’s report included saddles and other
cavalry equipment, and 130,000 cartridges of various types. The material was not
returned to the Federal government.
Further difficulties took place in April, when the annual shipment of supplies for Fort
Smith was intercepted by state authorities and a year’s worth of material seized.
Captain W.S. Burns, U.S. Army, went down to Little Rock and Pine Bluff to learn more
about the situation and was shocked by what he found:
…I very soon discovered that the revolution was general. Troops were enrolling to
march on Fort Smith. The steamboat I came down on was chartered. When I arrived
at Pine Bluff, I found the Silver Lake, No. 2, tied up and strongly guarded. The crew
had left, the stores placed in different houses in town, and the steamboat was to
transport troops to Fort Smith.
I learned from Mr. Bell, the agent (I believe) of the governor, that he had instructions
to cause the stores to be sent to Little Rock, part of them to be used in the expedition
to Fort Smith, for which 5,000 troops were called out.
Burns recommended that supplies for the Indian Nations posts be immediately sent
from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, via Forts Scott, Gibson and Washita.
The state seizure of the supply boats heading for Fort Smith had an immediate
impact. Left in extremely precarious situation, Major (and future General) Samuel D.
Sturgis was left with little choice but to evacuate his post. Taking twenty wagons and
teams, he and his men left Fort Smith at 9 p.m. on April 23, 1861, bound for Fort
Washita. Behind he left the “ordinance sergeant, hospital steward, chief bugler, sick
and laundresses” who were to be moved to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, as soon
as possible:
The causes which induced me to evacuate the post I presume are known to the
department commander from general notoriety. After the supplies were cut off by the
State of Arkansas the post, of course, became untenable, and we could have
occupied it in any case but a few more days. One hour after we left, two boats arrived
with three hundred men and ten pieces of artillery. To have contended against this
force with two companies of cavalry, and that, too, while the entire population of the
surrounding country were ready at a moment’s warning to take up arms against us,
could only have resulted eventually in our being taken prisoners and the loss to the
Government of all the arms, horses, means of transportation, &c., at the post.
Other reports indicated that Sturgis had been forewarned that state troops were on
their way, with artillery, to seize the fort. Despite its size and comfort as a supply
depot, the fort would have been very difficult to defend. The stone wall originally
designed to protect the post had never been completed and due to its length would
have been impossible to man with only two companies of cavalry.
Captain Alexander Montgomery, assistant quartermaster, was left in command of the
fort and shortly reported that he had been taken as a prisoner of war by the Arkansas
volunteers:
About two hours after his (Sturgis’) departure a body of troops under the command of
Col. Solon Borland, aide-de-camp to his excellency the governor of the State of
Arkansas, accompanied by the adjutant-general of the State, arrived in steamers and
took possession of the post, making me a prisoner of war, under authority and by
direction of the governor of the State. Maj. R.C. Gatlin, Fifth Infantry, who happened to
be in the garrison at the time on a visit, was also made prisoner of war. On giving our
parole that we would not fight against the State of Arkansas or the Southern
Confederate States during the existing difficulties between the latter and the United
States, unless exchanged, we were permitted to go at large. The force under Colonel
Borland consisted of 235 men, rank and file, with battery of artillery. Colonel
Boreland demanded and has taken possession of all the public property at the post
and in its vicinity, inventories of which will be forwarded to the proper bureau.
The state occupation of Fort Smith and seizure of the westward-bound supplies set
off an immediate crisis in the Indian Nations. Forts Arbuckle, Cobb and Washita
were soon evacuated as well and volunteers from Texas flooded north to occupy the
region for the Confederacy. U.S. forces fell back toward Kansas, setting the stage for
the brutal confrontation that over the next few years would determine the fate of the
region. The Indian Nations themselves, as might be expected, were bitterly divided.
Large groups of warriors affiliated with each side and perhaps nowhere on the
continent was the Civil War as much a conflict of brother against brother as among
the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole of today’s Oklahoma.
Fort Smith itself would remain in Confederate hands until September 1, 1863, when
Federal troops returned – by way of the Indian Nations – and took permanent custody
of the fort. Ironically, Major Gatlin, who was taken as a prisoner of war by the
Arkansas troops at Fort Smith, soon resigned his commission and volunteered for
service with the Confederacy. He became a general and served in North Carolina.
Returning to Arkansas after the war, he is buried at Fort Smith National Cemetery.
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The Battle of
Massard Prairie
Massard Prairie
by Dale Cox
The first full-length account of
the 1864 Confederate attack on
Fort Smith, Arkansas.
the 1864 Confederate attack on
Fort Smith, Arkansas.
$19.95
Proceeds benefit the Cane Hill Battlefield Driving Tour Project