Pryor, Oklahoma: My Gateway to Border War Sites

Recently, I was visiting with a new acquaintance that told me about the various Civil War sites within a day’s drive of their town in an Eastern state. Rather than being struck with envy, I told them about all the Civil War era sites within day trip range of Pryor, Oklahoma, the town that I live in. They were impressed and surprised; actually, so was I because I had never catalogued all the Border War sites within easy day trip range of my home. When I moved to Pryor, Oklahoma, a number of years ago, I had no idea what a great location it is in regard to Civil War places.

Below is a list of places relating to the Civil War era within day trip range of my home. The qualifications that I set for inclusion in the list were 1) the site had to have a strong connection to the Civil War era, 2) the location had to be either a national or a state park, 3) the site had to be within manageable day trip range. Actually, all of the places listed, except for the Mine Creek Battlefield and Marais des Cygnes, are no more than 2 ½ hours away from Pryor one way. The Mine Creek Battlefield is almost beyond my limits for a day trip, but since I did actually visit it and Fort Scott in one day, I have included it.

Arkansas:

Fort Smith National Historic Site

Pea Ridge National Military Park

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park

Kansas:

Fort Scott National Historic Site

Mine Creek Battlefield State Historic Site

Missouri:

Wilson’s Creek NationalBattlefield

Oklahoma:

Cabin Creek Battlefield

Fort Gibson State Historic Park

Honey Springs Battlefield

The ones that I have listed are the places that I have actually visited. Here are three sites that I’m looking forward to visiting:

Kansas:

Marais des Cygnes State Historic Site

Missouri:

Battle of Carthage State Historic Site

Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site

Twelve Civil War era sites within a day trip of my home—pretty respectable I think!

Benjamin Franklin Tracy and Alaska

My recent posting on the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah was actually written in anticipation of an Alaskan cruise. Last week, I traveled aboard Holland America’s Oosterdam for a seven-day cruise; ports of call were Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria (British Columbia). This was my first time to go on a cruise as well as my first visit to Alaska. It was a grand week with one of the highlights being a cruise along Tracy Arm

Fjord. The accompanying photographs are typical views along Tracy Arm showing its towering mountains, numerous waterfalls, and floating chunks of blue glacier ice. The ship cruised along Tracy Arm until we got a good view of the Sawyer glaciers at the end of it—spectacular! At times, our location guide provided commentary about the sights along Tracy Arm, and I was surprised to hear that Tracy Arm was named for a Civil War officer. Of course, I had to investigate.

Tracy Arm was named for Benjamin Franklin Tracy, a New Yorker and a friend of William H. Seward’s. As far as I know Tracy never visited Alaska, but apparently his close connection to Seward was enough for someone to name Tracy Arm Fjord in his honor. Tracy commanded the 109^th New York Infantry for part of the war and then became commander of the Elmira prisoner of war camp. He earned the Medal of Honor in 1895 for heroic actions at the battle of the Wilderness. His life was dedicated to public service, but he was best known for his tenure as Secretary of the Navy and his efforts to create a modern navy. The New York State UnifiedCourt System website has an excellent fuller biography of Tracy that details many of his contributions. 

Journal Updates

I just returned from a vacation, so I’ll do just a short posting for now. The June 2013 issues of Civil War History and The Journal of the Civil War Era have recently been published, and both included an article related to Missouri. Matthew C. Hulbert’s article “How to Remember ‘This Damnable Guerrilla Warfare’: Four Vignettes from Civil War Missouri” appears in Civil War History, and The Journal of the Civil War Era features “Lincoln’s Grasp of War: Hard War and the Politics of Neutrality and Slavery in the Western Border States, 1861-1862” by Christopher Phillips.

It Doesn't Get Any More Trans-Mississippi Than This

In spite of my great love for sea novels, I have not delved much into Civil War naval history. It is a fascinating area, though, and I was reminded of this when I recently read “The Shenandoah” by “An Officer Thereof” in volume five of Histories Of The Several Regiments and Battalions From North Carolina In The Great War 1861-65 (1901).

Built in England and christened the Sea King in 1863, the vessel was purchased by the Confederacy and renamed the Shenandoah. This cruiser embarked on an amazing odyssey around the world that has been recounted in several books. After the war ended, but with the crew of the Shenandoah unaware of this fact, the vessel cruised along the Aleutian Islands and into the Bering Sea capturing several Yankee whalers. True, Alaska was not yet part of the United States, but it makes for a great trans-Mississippi tale. Here is an account of a part of the cruise from “The Shenandoah”:

“The Shenandoah continued as far north as the mouth of Chijinsk Bay, but being forced away by the ice she stole along the coast of Siberia on her still hunt amid frequent storms and great danger from floating ice. On 14 June [1865] no ships having been sighted, [James I.] Waddell changed his course toward the Aleutian Islands, entered Behring [sic] Sea on the next day and almost immediately fell in with a couple of New Bedford whalers. One of them, the William Thompson, was the largest out of New England, and valued at $60,000. These ships were burned.

The following day five vessels were sighted near an ice floe. The Confederates hoisted the American flag, bore down upon them, and order the nearest, the Milo, of New Bedford, to produce her ship’s papers. Her captain complied, but was enraged to find himself thus entrapped. He declared the war was over. Waddell demanded documentary evidence, which the captain could not produce. His vessel was seized and the Shenandoah started after the companion ships with the usual result. For several days following the Shenandoah had things all her own way and the prizes were frequent and valuable. She struck fleet after fleet of whaling ships, only to consign them and their contents to the flames. On 29 June, alone, five ships, valued collectively at $160,000, were destroyed and a day or two later she reached the climax of her career, burning within eleven hours eleven ships, worth in the aggregate nearly $500,000….

Her depredations were at an end, for early in August she spoke the English bark Barracouta…and from her received New York papers which gave conclusive evidence of the end of the war…and imparted to Commander Waddell the more personally interesting information that the United States government had sent six gun-boats on his track to the Arctic regions to ‘catch the pirates and hang them on sight.’

Upon receipt of the news Commander Waddell put sixty men to work painting a 16-foot belt of white around the vessel, stowed the guns below the deck, trimmed her as a merchantmen and made Liverpool…

On 5 November, 1865, the Shenandoah entered St. George’s channel, having sailed 22,000 miles without seeing land….

She had visited every ocean except the Antarctic, covering a distance of 58,000 statute miles. The last gun in defense of the South was fired in the Arctic ocean from her deck on 22 June, 1865.” (pp. 348-349)

The First Indian Home Guards Regiment: "I am much embarrassed..."

It is entertaining to read assessments of Civil War regiments contemporary to that time. Civil War regiments were a varied lot, and it was rare to have one that served well during their entire service. For example, the First Indian Home Guards, a unit comprised of refugee Creek and Seminole Indians from the Indian Territory, had served well at a skirmish at Locust Grove (3 July 1862) and during the Prairie Grove campaign, but their behavior in camp was another matter. The following is an assessment written on 19 January 1863 by Colonel William A. Phillips, the obviously frustrated commander of the Union Indian Brigade:

“The regiment did some service in June and July [1862]; it became badly demoralized for want of sufficient and competent officers; partially broke up in August; was collected in October, and had white first lieutenants mustered, under General Blunt’s order. Some 300 or 400 of the regiment, who had gone to Leroy [Kansas] in August, and who had refused to leave it, got down with the train just at the time the Army of the Frontier was rebrigaded. The regiment has drilled very little; are indifferently informed as to their duties.

These Creeks are about equal in scale of intelligence to the Delawares of Kansas; they are inferior to the Cherokees. They are now in bad shape, get out their details slowly, sometimes desert a post, or a party when sent on duty; yet I would be lacking in my duty to them or the Government if I failed to say that, with one or two good field officers, military men, and two, or even three, company officers, they could be made very effective. No party of them should be sent without a competent officer. Their own officers are, with few exceptions, useless, but there are one or two men of influence amongst the captains, brave fighters in the field, and of influence not to be overlooked. This Creek regiment gives me much more concern than either of the others….

Nothing but active steps to supply necessary orders can save the First Indian Regiment from utter demoralization. My orders to drill are disregarded. As I compel the regiments to draw on consolidated provision returns, I have difficulty in getting reports from them. I am much embarrassed, as arresting all the officers of a regiment is not to be thought of, and permitting it to run loose has a bad effect on the rest. I earnestly desire instructions and necessary authority to myself or some others. In the mean time I shall do the best I can” (Official Records, vol. 22, pt. 2, 57-58).