The Indian Territory in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Historical Accuracy
In Response To: Re: Historical Accuracy ()

I have just read the entire thread on "Historical Accuracy" developed back in 2010 by many of you, way before I began my meager contribution to "The Indian Territory in the Civil War Message Board." I am still "shaking and trembling" with awe and respect.

I did find one point therein on Col. William A. Phillips operations out of Ft. Gibson that I want to reflect on dealing with Col. Phillips' expeditions. Ken Martin commented:

"... there are several primary sources that state that Phillips went to the Creek Agency to find D.N. McIntosh to encourage him to defect to the Union and, by the way, on their way back to Ft Gibson they decided to take the road to Ft Davis, which they knew had at most a few Creeks camping there and was abandoned when they arrived, and they burned the buildings and stores there and moved on. "

This "peace or war" (carrot or stick) modus operandi is exactly what I think Col. Phillips used again when he decided to leave Cochran on the afternoon of 2-15-64 and head back to Ft. Gibson, after writing all those failed "Lincoln will forgive you" amnesty proclamations while camped at Camp Kagi.

We know that Pontotoc County Court House, Cochran's Store, Gov. Colbert's House and Colbert's Institute, and the Seminole's Oak Ridge Mission were similarly burned, as Phillips passed by as he returned to Ft. Gibson.

The meager evidence suggested that Phillips had burned the "enemy" (in his mind) facilities as he left, but I was not aware that Col. Phillips already had developed an attitude on "turn your back, then burn it down." This reminds me of the movie scene where Sherman is marching away from Atlanta toward the sea, with Atlanta burning behind him. Sherman's justification was "War is Hell." And "hell fire" also apparently happened several times in IT, including at Cochran and Perryville.

One can cross Clear Boggy River's low water bridge and then drive west past the former location of Cochran's Store and Camp Kagi and see nothing on the historic Civil War events that occurred there in February 1864. Someday, I hope they will.

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