He was at Honey Springs -- until Cooper sent him east in a feint attack on Fort Gibson to draw the Union soldiers away from the soon-to-be-battlefield. (Didn't work! But Watie later wrote the War Dept. demanding the record show he was NOT here during the battle.)

And he certainly wasn't late at Cabin Creek in Sept. 1864! His capture of the Federal wagon train earned him a Presidential Commendation and a Congressional Commendation as well.