It would seem that BG Douglas H. Cooper had to be the commander that ordered the outpost at Middle Boggy on the Dragoon Trail manned (by troops from at least the Seminole Battalion, under LC John Jumper, and Company A of the 1st Choctaw and Chickasaw Regiment, under Capt. Jonathan Nail of Nail's Crossing of the Blue, under Col. Tandy Walker).

Official Records (and calendar analysis) show that that neither BG Maxey at Ft. Towson nor BG H. McCulloch at Bonham, TX knew about Phillips Expedition on Tuesday, February 9, 1864 (See Vol. 34, P. II, p. 957). The Battle of Middle Boggy occurred on the following Saturday, February 13, 1864. Maxey's keynote speech of the Grand Council was given on Friday, February 5 at Armstrong Academy. No word had reached the Grand Council as of Saturday February 6 (Vol. 34, Part II, p. 945-6). BG Cooper has left the Grand Council for the weekend, and expects to return Monday (8th) or Tuesday (9th). He writes Maxey from Elm Green (location unknown) that things are going well at the Grand Council and that Maxey's speech was well received. Maxey has received this letter by Tuesday, February 9. Cooper shows no clue on this date (writing Maxey probably on Sunday Feb. 7) that Phillips is coming. It is not clear that Cooper returned to the Grand Council on Monday or Tuesday as he suggested to Maxey that he might (or send a representative to keep the pressure on Choctaw Chief Garland to approve a third Choctaw & Chickasaw regiment for Confederate service).

Cooper's whereabouts are unknown until he writes from Boggy Depot to McCulloch in Bonham on the late evening of February 13 that Phillips is 45 miles away and is attacking. On the morning of the 15th Cooper writes McCulloch again that Phillips is only 30 miles from Boggy Depot and seems to be headed toward Fort Washita. Col. Bass has resigned as commander at Boggy Depot on Wednesday February 10.

Some questions remain: When did BG Cooper find out about Phillips Raid? How did BG Cooper get his Confederate troops (noted above) in the field by Friday evening, Feb. 12, at Middle Boggy River? (They were discovered at the outpost by Company L of 14th Kansas Friday evening, Feb. 12, four miles south of Allen.) Nail's Company A C&C Regt. may have been camped on Cooper's way to Boggy Depot, but surely the Seminole Battalion was not. BG. Cooper had only about 4 days to get all those troops to Middle Boggy. Nail's command might have taken the Dragoon Trail northwest to better contact Jumper near Ft. Arbuckle and Cochran's Store. And where did all of those "50" troops of the 20th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), go after Col. Bass resigned at Boggy Depot? And why did Bass resign on a most critical day (Wednesday, the 10th) that Boggy Depot had had in a long time (BG Cooper probably had arrived there by that time, perhaps with only Col. Watie's troops needed to guard the Texas Road toward Perryville. You might ask "How would a few dismounted Texas cavalry march 45 miles to the Battle of Middle Boggy River in four days and then safely escape a massacre?" "My answer is fresh mules can go places jaded horses can't, especially along Muddy Boggy in February." I would also ask "How did Cooper get those two dispatches at Boggy Depot so quickly (overnight) from the battlefield and Cochran's Store area? How did they know Cooper was there (at Boggy Depot), and not at Armstrong Academy or Ft. Washita? LC Jumper's Seminoles had fled southwest to Fort Arbuckle Perhaps the couriers were surviving troops from Company A of Jonathan Nail's command, perhaps not. Why did MG S. B. Maxey have to make a week long trip to visit Boggy Depot and Ft. Washita the week after the raid? Because Confederate defeats out west were seldom reported with insight or truthfulness. Outside of Maxey's personal interview (probably with Jonathan Nail), I know of no other Confederate written after-action report of the Battle of Middle Boggy. So with their regimental commander Bass gone, it is not surprising that no other official documentation on the 20th Texas' participation, a detached and forever dismounted regiment of fort guards, exists of the battle. Maybe it is because they were not involved in the battle, maybe not. A lot of respected historians have said that they were.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.