| Battle of Perryville (Indian Territory) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States (Union) |  CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| James G. Blunt | William Steele | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4,500 [1] | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 0 [1] | 49 [1] | ||||||
The Battle of Perryville took place during the American Civil War on August 23, 1863, in what is now Pittsburg County, Oklahoma.
Perryville was an important town and county seat of Tobucksy County, Choctaw Nation, in the Indian Territory, about halfway between Skullyville and Boggy Depot. [a] during the mid 19th Century. It was established as a trading post by James Perry, member of a Choctaw family, about 1838, [2] and was located at the crossing of the Texas Road and the California Road. The site is about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of McAlester, Oklahoma on U. S. Highway 69. A post office was established there on February 24, 1841. [3] It was notable as the site of the Colbert Institute, the Methodist School for Chickasaws, and the Battle of Perryville. [4] Perryville was a stage stop from about 1852 until the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (Katy) built a line through the area in 1872. [5] The community was burned after the battle and no structures survived. The retreating Confederate Army soldiers also dumped a quantity of salt into the community well to assure that the advancing Union forces could not use the site. [5]
After winning the encounter at Honey Springs, Major General James G. Blunt learned from scouting reports that Colonel Cooper and his Confederate forces had withdrawn to the Confederate supply depot at Perryville. Blunt, then at Fort Gibson, reassembled a force and led them to Perryville. Arriving there on August 23, 1863, he found that the Confederate commanders, Cooper and Watie, had already left for Boggy Depot. Only a rear guard, commanded by Brigadier General William Steele, remained at Perryville. Steele posted a picket line that included two howitzers to block the road that led into the north side of Perryville. However, the Union troops deployed on both sides of the road and opened fire with their own artillery. [6] The Union forces quickly scattered the Confederate. Blunt secured all supplies he could use and burned the rest, along with the town . Instead of following the retreating Confederates southwest toward Boggy Depot, Blunt proceeded to attack Fort Smith, which he captured on September 1, 1863. [7]
Perryville was at least partially rebuilt after the end of the Civil War, though it did not return to its former importance or population. It survived as a community until about 1872, when the Katy railroad line reached the Choctaw town of Bucklucksy and built a railroad station named McAlester. [b] Businesses that had stayed in Perryville moved to the area of the station. This marked the end of Perryville. [8] The site is now the location of Chambers, Oklahoma. [9] [c] [10]
Pushmataha County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,812. Its county seat is Antlers.
Pittsburg County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,773. Its county seat is McAlester. The county was formed from part of the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory in 1907. County leaders believed that its coal production compared favorably with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the time of statehood.
LeFlore County is a county along the eastern border of the U.S state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,129. Its county seat is Poteau. The county is part of the Fort Smith metropolitan area and the name honors a Choctaw family named LeFlore. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma is the federal district court with jurisdiction in LeFlore County.
Atoka County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,143. Its county seat is Atoka. The county was formed before statehood from Choctaw Lands, and its name honors a Choctaw Chief named Atoka. The county is part of Choctaw Nation reservation lands.
Atoka is a city in and the county seat of Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,195 as of the 2020 Census, a 2.4% increase over the 3,107 reported at the 2010 census, which was itself an increase of 4.0 percent from the figure of 2,988 in 2000.
Haileyville is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 716 at the time of the 2020 United States census.
Hartshorne is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the third largest city in the county. The population was 1,947 at the time of the 2020 United States census.
Krebs is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,083 at the time of the 2020 United States census, up 1.5% from the 2,053 reported at the 2010 census, which in turn was a slight increase from the 2,051 reported in 2000. Its nickname is "Little Italy." Krebs was founded before Oklahoma statehood as a coal-mining town in the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory.
McAlester is the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. The population was 18,363 at the time of the 2010 census, a 3.4 percent increase from 17,783 at the 2000 census. The town gets its name from James Jackson McAlester, an early settler and businessman who later became lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. Known as "J. J.", McAlester married Rebecca Burney, the daughter of a full-blood Chickasaw family, which made him a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.
Boggy Depot is a ghost town and Oklahoma State Park that was formerly a significant city in the Indian Territory. It grew as a vibrant and thriving town in present-day Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States, and became a major trading center on the Texas Road and the Butterfield Overland Mail route between Missouri and San Francisco. After the Civil War, when the MKT Railroad came through the area, it bypassed Boggy Depot and the town began a steady decline. It was soon replaced by Atoka as the chief city in the area. By the early 20th century, all that remained of the community was a sort of ghost town.
The Battle of Honey Springs, also known as the Affair at Elk Creek, on July 17, 1863, was an American Civil War engagement and an important victory for Union forces in their efforts to gain control of the Indian Territory. It was the largest confrontation between Union and Confederate forces in the area that would eventually become Oklahoma. The engagement was also unique in the fact that white soldiers were the minority in both fighting forces. Native Americans made up a significant portion of each of the opposing armies and the Union force contained African-American units.
Chahta Tamaha served as the capital of the Choctaw Nation from 1863 to 1883 in Indian Territory. The town developed initially around the Armstrong Academy, which was operated by Protestant religious missionaries from 1844 to 1861 to serve Choctaw boys. After the capital was relocated to another town, this community declined.
The Battle of Middle Boggy Depot, also known as the Battle of Middle Boggy River or simply Battle of Middle Boggy, took place on February 13, 1864 in Choctaw Indian Territory, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of what is now Allen in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. Advancing down the Dragoon Trail toward Fort Washita, Union Colonel William A. Phillips sent out an advance of approximately 350 men from the 14th Kansas Cavalry and two howitzers to attack a Confederate outpost guarding the Trail's crossing of Middle Boggy River. The Confederate force was led by Captain Jonathan Nail and composed of one company of the First Choctaw and Chickasaw Cavalry, a detachment of the 20th Texas Cavalry and part of the Seminole Battalion of Mounted Rifles. The outpost was about 12 miles (19 km) from Muddy Boggy Depot, which was held by the Confederates. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture says that the battlefield was 15 miles northeast of the depot, whereas the battlefield marker says the distance was 12 miles. The Confederate force at the outpost, consisting of 90 poorly armed men, were caught off guard when Willetts attacked them. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Confederates held off the Union cavalry attack for approximately 30 minutes before retreating to the rest of Lt. Col. John Jumper's Seminole Battalion, who were not at the main skirmish. The Confederates retreated 45 miles (72 km) southwest down the Dragoon Trail. The Union advance continued south toward Ft. Washita the next day, but when the expected reinforcements did not arrive Philips' Expedition into Indian Territory stalled on February 15, near old Stonewall.
Allen Wright was Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870. He had been ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1852 after graduating from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He was very active in the Choctaw government, holding several elected positions. He has been credited with the name Oklahoma for the land that would become the state.
During the American Civil War, most of what is now the U.S. state of Oklahoma was designated as the Indian Territory. It served as an unorganized region that had been set aside specifically for Native American tribes and was occupied mostly by tribes which had been removed from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. As part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater, the Indian Territory was the scene of numerous skirmishes and seven officially recognized battles involving both Native American units allied with the Confederate States of America and Native Americans loyal to the United States government, as well as other Union and Confederate troops.
The Choctaw in the American Civil War participated in two major arenas—the Trans-Mississippi and Western Theaters. The Trans-Mississippi had the Choctaw Nation. The Western had the Mississippi Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation had been mostly removed west prior to the War, but the Mississippi Choctaw had remained in the east. Both the Choctaw Nation and the Mississippi Choctaw would ultimately side with the Confederate States of America.
Adamson is classified as a Census designated place per the GNIS.
James Jackson McAlester was an American coal baron and politician active in Indian Territory and later Oklahoma. He served as a United States Marshal for Indian Territory from 1893 to 1897, one of three members of the first Oklahoma Corporation Commission from 1907 to 1911, and as the second lieutenant governor of Oklahoma from 1911 to 1915.
Muddy Boggy Creek, also known as the Muddy Boggy River, is a 175-mile-long (282 km) river in south central Oklahoma. The stream headwaters arise just east of Ada in Pontotoc County. It is a major tributary of the Red River in south central Oklahoma. Clear Boggy Creek is a major tributary which enters the Muddy Boggy at a location known as River Mile 24 in Choctaw County. The river is inhabited by over one hundred species of fish.
Tobucksy County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory, prior to Oklahoma becoming a state. It was part of the Moshulatubbee District, or First District, one of three administrative and judicial provinces.