Battle of Round Mountain | |||||||||
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Part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War | |||||||||
![]() 2017 re-enactment of the Battle of Round Mountain, at the disputed battle site near Yale, Oklahoma | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Loyal Indians | ![]() | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Opothleyahola | Douglas H. Cooper | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
Unknown | 1,400 men | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
110 casualties | 6 fatalities 4 wounded 1 missing |
The Battle of Round Mountain was the first battle in the Trail of Blood on Ice campaign for the control of Indian Territory during the American Civil War that occurred on November 19, 1861. [1] Its main purpose was to prevent Union supporters of the Creek Nation, led by Opothleyahola from fleeing Indian Territory to the protection of Union forces in Kansas. [lower-alpha 1]
The physical location of the battle is in dispute. Some historians believe it to be near Keystone while others contend that it is near Yale, Oklahoma. The event is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Red Fork. [3] [4]
Col. Douglas H. Cooper, Confederate commander of the Indian Department, was unable to reconcile differences with Opothleyahola, commander of a band of Unionist Creeks and Seminoles. Opothleyahola" group was estimated to number about seventeen hundred people, and also included some Union supporters from the Comanches, Delawares, Kickapoos, Wichitas, and Shawnees. [5] Cooper set out on November 15, 1861, with about 1,400 men either to compel Opothleyahola 's submission or "drive him and his party from the country." [6] Cooper's force rode up the Deep Fork of the Canadian River to find Opothleyahola's camp deserted. On November 19, Cooper learned from captured prisoners that part of Opothleyahola's band was erecting a fort at the Red Fork of the Arkansas River. [lower-alpha 2]
Cooper's men arrived there around 4:00 p.m. Charging cavalry discovered that Opothleyahola's followers had recently abandoned their camp. The Confederates located and followed stragglers; the 4th Texas blundered into Opothleyahola's warriors on the tree line at the foot of the Round Mountains. The Federal response chased the Confederate cavalry back to Cooper's main force. Darkness prevented Cooper's counterattack until the main enemy force was within 60 yards (55 m). After a short fight, Opothleyahola's men set fire to the prairie grass and retreated.
The following morning, Cooper advanced on Opothleyahola's new camp but found that the Federal forces had fled. The Confederates claimed victory because Opothleyahola had left the area. The Confederates captured abandoned supplies, such as Opothleyahola's carriage, a dozen wagons, food, cattle and ponies. The Confederate loss in the engagement was 1 captain and 5 men killed, 3 severely and 1 slightly wounded, and 1 missing. Opothleyahola lost about 110 killed and wounded. [1]
This was the first of three encounters between Opothleyahola's Union bands and Confederate troops. The Unionists were forced to flee to Kansas after the Battle of Chustenahlah at the end of the year. [5] [1]
The site of this event has been disputed for many years, with two locations emerging as the leading choices. One is near the present day town of Yale, Oklahoma. The other is close to the former site of Keystone (which is now submerged by the waters of Keystone Lake). Angie Debo, a noted Oklahoma historian, wrote an article describing the evidence for and against each site. She concluded that the evidence pointed more strongly to the Yale site. [3]
Cooper's Brigade - Col. Douglas H. Cooper
Creek and Seminole Indians - Opothleyahola
Tulsa County is located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in the state, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the second-largest city in the state. Founded at statehood, in 1907, it was named after the previously established city of Tulsa. Before statehood, the area was part of both the Creek Nation and the Cooweescoowee District of Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory.
The Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma were in the center of the lands ceded to the United States by the Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole Indians following the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been settled. By 1883 it was bounded by the Cherokee Outlet on the north, several relocated Indian reservations on the east, the Chickasaw lands on the south, and the Cheyenne-Arapaho reserve on the west. The area amounted to 1,887,796.47 acres.
The Battle of Chustenahlah was fought in Osage County, Oklahoma, on December 26, 1861, during the American Civil War. A band of 9,000 pro-Union Native Americans was forced to flee to Kansas in bitter cold and snow in what became known as the Trail of Blood on Ice.
The Battle of Chusto-Talasah, also known as Bird Creek, Caving Banks, and High Shoal, was fought December 9, 1861, in what is now Tulsa County, Oklahoma during the American Civil War. It was the second of three battles in the Trail of Blood on Ice campaign for the control of Indian Territory during the American Civil War.
Opothleyahola, also spelled Opothle Yohola, Opothleyoholo, Hu-pui-hilth Yahola, Hopoeitheyohola, and Hopere Yahvlv was a Muscogee Creek Indian chief, noted as a brilliant orator. He was a Speaker of the Upper Creek Council and supported traditional culture.
Douglas Hancock Cooper was an American politician, soldier, Indian Agent in what is now Oklahoma, and Confederate general during the American Civil War.
Indian cavalry is the name collectively given to the Midwest and Eastern American Indians who fought during the American Civil War, most of them on horseback and for the Confederate States of America.
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 45th-most populous city in the United States.
John Chupco was a leader of the Hvteyievlke, or Newcomer, Band of the Seminole during the time of their forced relocation to Indian Territory. They were the last group to move from Florida to Indian Territory.
The 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles was a Confederate States Army regiment which fought in the Indian Territory during the American Civil War. It was formed from the merger of two predecessor units the First Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Rifles, and the Second Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Rifles. The first commander was Col. John Drew, while the second was Stand Watie.
The Battle of Middle Boggy, also known as the 'Battle of Middle Boggy River or Battle of Middle Boggy Depot, 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.
Confederate Units of Indian Territory consisted of Native Americans from the Five Civilized Tribes — the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations. The 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles were commanded by the highest ranking Native American of the war: Brig. Gen. Stand Watie, who also became the last Confederate General to surrender on June 23, 1865. There was also a series of Union units of Indian Territory.
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.
Sonuk Mikko, commonly known as Billy Bowlegs and also known as So-Nuk-Mek-Ko, was a Seminole who gained recognition as a captain in the American Civil War. Mikko adopted the name of Chief Billy Bowlegs from, who had fought in the Second and Third Seminole wars, following Holato Micco's death in 1859.
James McQueen McIntosh was a career American soldier who served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Noted as an aggressive and popular leader of cavalry, he was killed in action at the Battle of Pea Ridge.
The Cherokee in the American Civil War were active in the Trans-Mississippi and Western Theaters. In the east, Confederate Cherokees led by William Holland Thomas hindered Union forces trying to use the Appalachian mountain passes of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Out west, Confederate Cherokee Stand Watie led primarily Native Confederate forces in the Indian Territory, in what is now the state of Oklahoma. The Cherokee partnered with the Confederacy in order to get funds, as well as ultimately full recognition as a sovereign, independent state.
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.
The Trail of Blood on Ice was a December 1861 campaign in the American Civil War in which pro-Union Native Americans, led by Upper Creek Chief Opothleyahola, fought their way north from Indian Territory to Fort Row, Kansas. They faced continuing attacks from Confederate forces under Col. Douglas H. Cooper.
John Thompson Drew was a mixed blood military and political leader of the Cherokee Nation. Born in 1796, there is little written about his life until he led a company of Cherokee emigrants from Georgia to Indian Territory. The Cherokee Encyclopedia states that he was a participant in the Battle of Claremore Mound in 1818. He is best known for joining the Confederate Army at the outbreak of the American Civil War, when he raised, organized and led the 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles. He moved his home from the Cherokee Nation to the Chickasaw Nation near the end of the war to escape intra-tribal bloodshed.