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Re: Place names of I. T.
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Phillips Expedition, Feb. 1864.

Phillips leaves Ft Gibson on February 1st with "commands from the First Indian Regiment, Col. Wattles; Third Indian, Maj. Foreman; battalion Fourteenth Kansas Cavalry, Maj. Willetts; section of Kaufman's howitzers. Capt. Kaufman.

After "four days' hard marching', Phillips is 35 miles southwest of North Fork Town and he calls the site "Camp Willetts". The "itinerary" says he reached Hillabee after a march of 75 miles. This would be south of present Dustin, northeast of present Lamar, and near Middle Creek. He arrived the evening of the 4th and writes a report from there on the 5th. He states that Watie and Quantrill recently passed through the area and that Cols. McIntosh's and Hawkins' command (2nd Creek Mtd Rifles) were camped there but fled. (A secondary source states that Hillabee was 20 miles upstream of North Fork Town, which would be about present Hanna and their is a Hillabee Cemetery east of Hanna. However, Hillabee is the name of a band of the Muscogee and the name is used for a number of locations, e.g. churches. It is debatable whether Camp Willetts was at Hillabee or further west, perhaps 15 miles west.).

On the 8th, Phillips writes from "South Canadian". Per the itinerary, he may still be at Hillabee/Camp Willets. He states his mounted troops have been "been sweeping the whole valley of the upper Canadian and its tributaries north and south". He states he has had a detachment at North Fork Town for three days waiting for Moonlight to arrive with the balance of the 14th KS Cav. The itinerary says he has been skirmishing Feb. 5-8 and three expeditions to Little River Feb 9-10, the whole command at Little River on the 11th.

Per the itinerary, on Feb. 12th Phillips "marched forward", which I presume to mean southward.

On the 13th, the advance, Willett's Battalion, encounters "Seminoles, Choctaws, and Texans" on Middle Boggy. Maxey writes on the 26th that the Confederate force was the Seminole Battalion and Nail's company of "Chickasaw and Choctaw".

McCulloch writes that Cooper said on the 13th that 200-250 Federals were 45 miles from Boggy Depot, about the distance to present Allen OK.

On the 14th, Phillips writes from Camp Kahi [sic Kagi for "John H. Kagi"] that he is on South Boggy [Clear Boggy or just Boggy] 21 miles south of the battleground on Middle Boggy and scouting to the south. Thayer reports to Steele (US) that Phillips reported to him also on the 14th from Middle Boggy, Choctaw Nation. I presume the report from Middle Boggy was sent in the morning and from Camp Kagi that evening after moving south. His train and infantry was sent from Middle Boggy back to Little River where they arrived the night of the 14th. Per the itinerary, the 14th-17th is spent marching southward and then moving back to Ft Gibson "while detached mounted forces swept the whole country for 80 miles on each side". (Per Phillips other reports, he did not sweep 80 miles east of his route. I believe this refers to the sweep up the Canadian, North Canadian, and Arkansas valleys.) Phillips reports on the 24th that at his southern most point he was within a few hours of Ft Washita.

On the 15th, Phillips writes from Camp Kagi to Chickasaw Gov. Colbert "When I passed you house I could not find you". Colbert house was destroyed. It is unclear whether the Colbert house was near Cochran's on Boggy or at his mill on Pennington Creek north of Tishomingo.

On the 15th, Cooper writes McCulloch that Phillips is 30 miles from Boggy Depot, about the distance to present Stonewall.

On the 16th, Phillips writes from Little Rivertown near Old Fort Arbuckle in the Creek Nation that he is 105 miles from Fort Gibson. Old Fort Arbuckle (aka Beaver Town) is 25 miles west-southwest of Little Rivertown on the south side of the Canadian, north of present Ada in the Chickasaw Nation. Little Rivertown is at Edward's Trading Post opposite Old Fort Holmes at the mouth of Little River in the Creek Nation south of present Holdenville. As a straight line, this is about 95 miles from Ft Gibson. Phillips splits his force into three groups to move west up the Canadian, Little River, and North Fork (North Canadian) and sweep to the Arkansas and then return to Ft Gibson. Phillips takes his train direct to Ft Gibson.

Phillips reports on the 24th he is back at Ft Gibson. The itenerary says "February 29.--Got back; mustered and inspected."

On April 17th, Adair writes from Willaby [sic Hillabee], that the Federals have not been there since their raid to Colbert's Mill. On Oct. 6th, Cooper states "It may be necessary to place a regiment (say the Chickasaw) at the Rock Academy [Wapanucka] or at Colbert's Mill to guard the road from the mouth of Little River and to Fort Washita, the route Phillips took last winter." Per G.W. Grayson, Phillips' advance did not reach Wapanucka Academy where he found his family "safe and sound" with many Creek refugees.

Colbert's Mill, per Thorburn, was on Pennington Creek, 10 miles north-northwest of Tishomingo. Per the Chronicles of Oklahoma, Gov. Colbert lived at Oil Springs before/during the war near present Berwyn. However, men of means often owned multiple residences and Colbert may have had a residence near Cochran's (near Frisco/Old Stonewall), near present Reagan on Pennington Creek, or elsewhere. The Frisco/Old Stonewall vicinity seems most likely since Phillips wrote on Feb. 15 from Camp Kagi on Boggy that he had been to Colbert's house.

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