REFERENCES
Below are summaries of what MG S. B. Maxey (CSA) said together with modern posts in "History-Sites.com Arkansas in the Civil War” by Danny Odom and ARushing regarding MG Janes F. Fagan's men from Price's Army retreating south after crossing the Arkansas River near Tamaha, IT on November 7, 1864:
Maxey at Ft. Towson (Doaksville): Official Records; Vol. 41, Part IV, Page 1059, on 11-17-64:
"Prices men have been arriving here (at Doaksville and Ft. Towson in southern Indian Territory (IT) near Red River) for four or five days, singly, in squads, and every way. Their horses are miserably poor, as they say, and many are being abandoned on the prairies."
By: Danny Odom (History-Sites.com)
Date: 5/22/2016, 5:12 pm
To continue with those notes from Wright's Memoirs, let me add:
... "I (Col. John C. Wright, com. Wright’s regiment of Slemons’ brigade) held my Regt together for several days for mutual safety as the enemy was still near at Ft Smith and Gray back guerrillas infested the area …and there we turned south east towards Ark. On reaching the line at Polk County, I turned the boys loose to make their ways home. We reached El Dorado on 11/20 men and horses totally worn out."
By: ARushing (History-sites.com)
Date: 5/16/2016, 1:15 pm
In one of Col. Crawford's extant letters (Col. William A. Crawford, com. Crawford’s regiment of Slemons’ brigade, with Col. Crawford now in command of brigade since Mine Creek) written on Jan 1, 1865,
Crawford states:
"I cannot attempt to give you an account of all our trials, hardships, and battles on that trip (Missouri) ... I have heard nothing from home since my return from Texas."
ARushing then adds the following comment: “So he (Crawford) did go on down to Texas with his men and did not return to Arkansas until around late 1864 (Dec).”
By: ARushing (History-Sites.com)
Date: 5/16/2016, 1:32 pm
ARushing then continued his commentary:
“So with that said, I feel it pretty good indicator that Crawford and his regiment did indeed travel through IT and on down to Texas with Fagan.”
FINDINGS
1. For at least five (5) days, from November 12-17, 1864, a sizeable number of men from Prices' retreating army from his Missouri Expedition passed thru Doaksville and Fort Towson, Indian Territory. Almost surely, all of these men were from MG James F. Fagan's Arkansas Cavalry Division. Some of these men were from Col. William A. Crawford's regiment of Slemons' brigade. Perhaps others were following Crawford, who was also serving as temporary commander of Slemons' brigade. Due to the 5-day range of arrivals seen at Doaksville by Maxey, it is also probable that some of these Arkansas troopers were from Cabell's brigade, under the command of LC A.V. Reiff. Cabell's men likely left Price's army early during the furlough process.
2. On November 20, LC Robert C. Wood's elite battalion of the 14th Missouri cavalry arrived at Doaksville. Wood's battalion had served as Price's personal escort (bodyguard) during Price's Missouri Expedition, and had served as General E. K. Smith's personal escort during the latter part of the Camden Expedition/Red River Campaign of April 1864 in Arkansas (during the Battle of Jenkins Ferry). (MG Fagan was marching only one day behind Wood's battalion as they neared Doaksville/Ft. Towson) on the evening of the 19th.)
Whereas, some of Fagan's men (from Slemons’ and Cabell’s Arkansas brigades) had previously left Price’s army and retreated down the Ft. Smith-Ft. Towson military road to Spencer Academy and then southeast to Doaksville, Wood’s Missouri battalion and Fagan with his escort probably came to Spencer Academy from a northwestern route via "Mrs. Caffery's." Wood's route from Perryville essentially followed the modern Indian Nation Turnpike (INT) southeast thru the Jack Fork Mountains to Mrs. Caffery's, near Antlers.
Fagan had stayed with Price until they crossed the Muddy (Middle) Boggy at Atoka (near the Confederate Cemetery and Civil War Museum, and near Boggy Depot where Price was headed for supplies). At Atoka, Fagan and his escort left Price (as ordered) on the morning of the 18th and headed southeast along an Indian road (that OK 3 now basically follows) until it struck the 1832 US Army’s Indian Immigration Road (from Ft. Smith to Horse Prairie at Red River, south of Hugo, OK. The IIR is OK 2 from Clayton along the Kiamichi River to (west) Antlers). By the evening of the 19th, Fagan arrived at and camped near this major junction (located near the intersection of OK 3 with OK 2 and the INT just west of Antlers, and about 30 miles northwest of Doaksville/Ft. Towson (41-4-1067).
Wood's battalion had come down the INT route from Perryville, and was also headed toward Doaksville. Wood's battalion was a day ahead of Fagan and rode on the Indian road headed to Cedar County Court House southeast of Antlers, and on to Spencer Academy and ten (10) miles on southeast to Doaksville. The Ft. Smith-Ft. Towson Military Road passed near (~1 mile) the Cedar County Court House, having a direct connecting road. MG Maxey reported Woods' battalion as arriving at Doaksville/Ft. Towson around noon on 11-20-1864 (41-4-1067), indicating that Wood’s battalion may have camped at Spencer Academy on the 19th, being ten miles away.
No report of MG Fagan's arrival at Doaksville/Ft. Towson is known to exist, although like Crawford, he reportedly later went to Texas, perhaps to look for and recruit his worn out troops. He must have been successful, because MG Fagan was given command of all Confederate cavalry in Arkansas in early February, 1865.