In the fall of 1862 the U.S. fleet operated relatively unopposed in the Confederate-held territory on the Mississippi River, and the river’s larger tributaries. In response, Confederate Major General Theophiles H. Holmes, commander of the Department of the Trans-Mississippi, ordered the construction of fortifications at Arkansas Post near the confluence of the Arkansas and White Rivers. Arkansas Post had been a seat of commerce since being established for frontier trade by the French in 1686. Designated Fort Hindman, the installation suffered humiliating defeat when under heavy bombardment. Nearly a third of Confederate troops serving in Arkansas were captured when the post was surrendered on Jan. 11, 1863.

Holmes needed more troops and believed the answer was within his ranks in the name of newly promoted Col. Charles Harrison. Harrison had made a name for himself at the outbreak of the war in Colorado. Harrison had been a leader of the southern men, having flown a Confederate flag over his Criterion saloon before Denver City authorities took it down. Months later in Arkansas and Missouri, Harrison quickly rose through the ranks from captain to colonel in less than a year.

Before the war, Holmes worked in the general recruiting office of the United States Army. Recognizing a recruiting opportunity, Holmes devised a plan to harvest Colorado’s fertile fields with Harrison leading a team of recruiters.

Accompanying Col. Harrison were Col. Warner F. Lewis and Col. B. H. Woodson. Filling out the roster was a lieutenant colonel, a major, four captains, and eleven lieutenants. Col. Lewis was chosen to assist Harrison expressly for his recruiting skills earlier in the war. In Cass County, Mo., his command of 300 recruits joined William Quantrill’s partisans, but found his tactics too unconventional, going on to regular service in the Confederate Army.

The Colorado expedition crossed the Missouri border into southeast Kansas about 10 miles north of the southern Kansas border where Center Creek crosses into Kansas. It was the 22nd day of May, 1863. Continuing on a direct course to the west, 20 men rode quietly through Union held country wearing blue uniforms to hide their Confederate affiliation. They were expecting an uneventful passage across the plains of Kansas. However, they did not escape the watchful eye of 10 young men crossing the Osage reservation.

Riding up to the mysterious party, the Osages asked who they were. The mysterious men in blue said they were Union troops from the command at Humboldt, Kan. That seemed peculiar. The Osage people were well-acquainted with Capt. Doudna and his troops at Humboldt and they did not recognize any of these strangers. Feeling responsible to Doudna, the Osage party asked the strangers to accompany them to Humboldt for identification. The moment grew tense and one of Harrison’s men shot and killed one of the Osage men.

Dropping to one side of their ponies for protection, the surprised Osage men raced away without further loss. Within a short time 200 warriors were on the trail of the unexpected war party of white men. Perhaps expecting trouble, Harrison’s men paused on a rise “for rest and rations.” As they were saddling up, the warriors were seen approaching at a full gallop. The Confederates moved away at a brisk walk. The warriors closed in.

A volley of shots rang out as the first of Harrison’s men fell from the saddle. The Confederates mounted a charge but were thrown back. One Osage warrior was killed. An arrow pierced Col. Lewis’ shoulder and his horse was shot from under him. Catching the mule of the last dead man, Lewis swung into the saddle to fight for his life and that of his companions. Staying beyond firing range, the Osages surrounded the soldiers, deliberately directing them toward the steep embankments at the mouth of Drum Creek on the Verdigris River. At the crossing of a small creek, the Confederates stopped to rest their horses, even though under intense fire. Another soldier fell. Lewis left the mule and took the soldier’s horse. Col. Woodson preferred the mule and turned his horse loose before the soldiers “made a dash for liberty.” Riding over the stream bank Capt. McClure’s saddle slipped, throwing him to the ground. An 18-year-old warrior crushed his skull with a stone mace. Col. Harrison was shot in the face and when last seen by his men was on his knees firing blindly at the oncoming warriors.

Riding for their lives, the timber of the Verdigris River could be seen two miles in the distance. Woodson’s mule gave out, leaving him stranded and overwhelmed. The soldiers made a desperate last stand at the Verdigris, but once they were there, there was no way out from the steep river embankments. When the fighting was over, the bodies of 18 Confederate officers traced the tragic line of retreat to the final slaughter field from which there was no retreat. Nevertheless warriors found footprints of two men leading away from a protected bank along the stream.

Their amazing escape and Capt. Doudna’s investigation of the battle site is one more story to be told in the next edition of The Way West.

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, KS. Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st RD, Geneseo, KS. Phone (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@ kans.com.