I thought I'd take the time to "document" on the message board the events leading to the exodus of Chief John Ross et al from the Cherokee Nation. Manny mentioned that Larry Wood's "The Two Civil War Battles of Newtonia" implies that Greeno escorted Ross north in mid-July 1862. One of my favorite books on the Civil War in the Indian Territory, Whit Edwards' "The Prairie was on Fire", makes this mistake of assuming Ross left with Greeno. Mark Christ's new book "Civil War Arkansas 1863: The Battle for a State" follows Edwards and duplicates this error.
By the way, I would recommend Mark Christ's new book. Chapter 6 is predominately about the Indian Territory and, though not long enough to contain a high degree of detail, does an excellent job of characterizing the context and issues. In particular, he effectively addresses the command problems on both sides and the plight of the Confederate Indians as to ammunition, arms and subsistence. More on that in another post.
Back on topic...
On the morning of the 15th I moved my command to Park Hill (3 miles), the residence of John Ross, Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Here [Per?] your command. The loyal people were very much excited, owing to the fact of several murders having been committed by Watie's men in the neighborhood within the past week. I found at Ross' house Lieut. Col. W. P. Ross, Maj. Thomas Pegg, Lieuts. Anderson Benge and Joseph Chover, Second Lieuts. L. Hawkins, Archibald Scraper, Walter Chuster, and George W. Ross, and Third Lieuts Allen Ross, Joseph Cornsilk, and John Shell, all of whom had been in the Confederate service, members of Col. Drew's regiments, and had received orders from Col. Cooper to report for duty at once to his headquarters, Fort Davis. [Lt. Col. William Potter Ross was the nephew of Chief John Ross] These orders had been received but a few hours previous to my arrival. Col. Ross was hesitating what course to pursue, and to decide the matter for him I made them all prisoners of war and brought them to these headquarters. ["Col. Ross" is Lt. Col. William Potter Ross who was hesitating as to whether to follow orders and report to Ft Davis. Greeno declares him prisoner-of-war, along with the other officers and men of Drew's Regt and it is William Potter Ross, not Chief John Ross, that Greeno brought back with him to headquarters.] John Ross had received a dispatch from Col. Cooper, in the name of the President of the Southern Confederacy, to issue a proclamation calling on the Cherokee Indians for every man over eighteen and under thirty-five to take up arms to repel invasion in accordance with treaty stipulation entered into last August between the Cherokee Nation and Southern Confederacy, which treaty binds the Chief of the Cherokee Nation to furnish his ration of men whenever called upon by the President of the Southern Confederacy to do so. In order to place the Chief in position in which it would be impossible for him to act to do anything in opposition to the Government of the United States or in aid of the rebels, after thinking the matter over I concluded it was best, under the circumstances, to make him a prisoner of war and leave him at home on his parole until further action in the matter. [Greeno also makes Chief John Ross a prisoner-of-war but paroles him and leaves him at home!] The Chief seems very much concerned about the situation of the people of his nation, and anxious that the United States Government should send sufficient force here to protect them from lawless bands that are daily threatening them, committing robberies and murders. He is quite apprehensive of his own personal safety and the safety of his family. [Chief Ross is "quite apprehensive of his own personal safety" because Greeno left him behind at Rose Cottage.]
So, Greeno arrives at Park Hill on July 15th, arrests and paroles Chief John Ross at his home, camps for the night, and returns to Weer's headquarters with Lt. Col. William Potter Ross and other officers of Drew's Regt as prisoners of war along with two hundred "friendly" Cherokee.
Leaving my forces at Wolf Creek, with orders to march up in the morning, I proceeded with Maj. Wright to your quarters. On the way I tendered part of my command, or the whole of it, to Col. Cloud, whom I met on the way. He declined it, but subsequently, I learn, took some 250 or 300 men with him to Park Hill. He has sent me no notification of this proceeding.
Col. Cloud returned from his expedition to Tahlequah and Park Hill on the forenoon of August 7, bringing with him the Ross family, the --- and treasury of the Cherokee Nation, and the valuables of Ross.
We have information from Park Hill by our scouts just in from there yesterday. Found a considerable Indian force at your place [George Murrell's home] and in the vicinity. Killed two of the enemy at you place but fell back without a general engagement. A Federal force of some 300 strong then left Park Hill with the Chief [John Ross], Mr. Lewis Ross, Lt Col W.P. Ross, Wash, and others as prisoners. Your family, Col. Ross and the Chief accompanied them to Grand Saline, said to be the Head-quarters of the Indian forces.
The following is the memoir of James A. Slover, a Southern Baptist missionary, written long after the war. It is deficient in many details but is consistent with the timeline of the above. Note that Slover writes in the third person, referring to himself as "the Missionary".
As further evidence of the Chief's duplicity, a company or two of Blunt's command came down and camped near the Chief's residence and guarded him and [his] family for three weeks while he and his treasurer, Lewis Ross, a brother of Chief John Ross, could get everything in readiness for a final trip to Washington City...
On the day the Treaty Regiment [Drew's Regt] mutinied, E.L. Compere and the Missionary [Slover] rode out on the prairie west of Tahlequah to look after some young horses... The next day [this is presumably the 16th of July] the two preachers made a trip to Chief Ross's for information, and found him in great excitement over the meeting of the previous day. ... He gave the preachers the information about the Treaty Regiment's mutiny, the colonel's escape with ninety men [Col. John Drew and 90 men of his regiment who did not defect], and the departure of the soldier's for Blunt's headquarters [Weer's -- Blunt did not accompany his command and was in Kansas] on Wolf Creek. ...
As soon as the Chief and his party were ready to move, which took about three weeks' time, Gen. Blunt withdrew from the Indian Territory.
The events can be summarized as:
Chief Ross is at his Park Hill mansion surrounded by the remnants of Drew's Regt. Greeno comes to meet with Chief Ross on July 15th. Most of the remainder of Drew's Regt defects and Col. Drew and 90 men escape to Ft Davis. Greeno declares the defectors prisoners of war. Greeno declares Chief Ross a prisoner of war but paroles him to his home. On July 16th, Greeno leaves with Lt Col William Potter Ross and a couple of hundred Pins and returns to Weer's headquarters. A contingent of Union soldiers, probably predominately Pins now of the IHG, returns camps around Park Hill to protect the Chief for about three weeks. Salomon arrests Weer and orders a withdrawal of his white troops. Cloud takes two or three hundred of Phillips men to Park Hill to get the Chief et al. On or about August 5th, Drew sends a scout to Park Hill which skirmishes with Pins at the Murrell home and reports that the Chief et al left that day with a Union escort. Cloud returns to Salomon's headquarters with the Chief on August 7th.