Wouldn't you say that the Indian Troops got about as good as they were going to get under leaders that tried to improve the living conditions in the I.T.? Men like Phillips and Maxey did a lot to keep the supply lines open for their respective sides. At Fort Gibson, Phillips was constantly running low of rations for his soldiers because of the need to distribute food for the civilian population. He also worked hard to get the mills operating again. Wiley Britton seems to have thought that Col. Phillips' 3rd IHG was considered the best drilled Indian outfit early on because of his leadership. Samuel Maxey figured out what kind of fighting his Confederate Indians were good at and went with a raiding strategy.

Quite frankly, it doesn't seem that there were many all-stars, Indian or White, serving in the I.T. Cabell's Arkansas Brigade was a day late and dollar short at both 1st Cabin Creek and Honey Springs. They then eventually disintegrated at Backbone Mountain. Bankhead seemed unable or unwilling to move his Texas troops north of Boggy Depot and help out when Steele repeatedly gave him direct orders to do so. As for reliability and loyalty, Indian Troops weren't the only ones lacking in this regard. Col. Cloud had Confederate troops which fought against him at Backbone Mountain and then with him a few days later at Dardanelle. Several sources point out that they were still in their Confederate gray and butternut. There was also a lot of hunting down and hanging of Union sympathizers in North Texas as well. Who would you say were the best soldiers in the I.T.? The Kansas Cavalry Regiments seemed to be better trained and better equipped.

Several leaders on both sides really ripped the conduct of the Indian soldiers in their reports. Steele's report after he was replaced comes to mind. Hindman was the same and kept redirecting supplies bound for the Indian Nations for his forces in Arkansas. Blunt also wrote a report in which he stated that the Indian Troops should be disbanded because they were worthless. The funny thing about Blunt is that he also wrote reports in which he praised his Indian units. In William Shea's "Fields of Blood" and in his Prairie Grove Battlefield Guide book he briefly discusses the performance of the Union Indian troops. He gives them credit for performing the tasks assigned to them in an adequate fashion.

Anyway, it was interesting to hear your analysis of the Indian command situation.

Thanks,

Manny