The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971 Page: 509
616 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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General Sam Bell Maxey
Maxey made his headquarters at Fort Towson on the Red River
(see Map I), a post abandoned by the United States army in 1854.8
Only a hospital and one barracks were standing when Maxey arrived,
the remainder having been earlier destroyed by fire. Maxey located
a printing press which he set up on the premises and used for the
publication of reports.
In addition to assuming his duties as commander of the Indian
Territory, Maxey acted as superintendent of Indian affairs, in which
role he was responsible for feeding the hundreds of indigent Indians.
He drew his supplies from Texas because there were none in the
Indian Territory. Maxey wrote that he was expected to keep the
Union army out of North Texas and recover the lost territory of
the Indian Nations." He had no infantry since the Indians would
not serve unless mounted and the Texas regiments under his com-
mand were all cavalry. General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander
of the Trans-Mississippi Department, told Maxey that, in his opin-
ion, the Indian Territory was one of the most complicated commands
in the Confederacy, and that President Davis not only agreed with
him but had said further that the Indian Territory gave him "great
uneasiness."'"
The Confederate reverses had caused the Indians to scatter, and
one of Maxey's first acts was to count his effective Indian fighting
force. He had some 6,ooo Indians in the pay of the Confederate
government, drawing clothing, rations, and forage." The Indians were
so poorly armed and had so little ammunition that they were gen-
erally ineffective as a fighting force. Maxey wrote Smith, "Give me
a decent sized white force and I will hold my position. . ... I know
the Indian character. Despondency with them is followed by despair."'"
Maxey had at his disposal i,ooo white troops under Colonel Richard
M. Gano, but the effectiveness of these troops was limited because
of personnel problems within the ranks.'"
Maxey's self-interest as well as his duty lay in preventing Federal
forces from invading Texas through the Indian Territory. He hoped
8Muriel H. Wright and LeRoy H. Fischer, "Civil War Sites in Oklahoma," The Chron-
icles of Oklahoma, XLIV (Summer, 1966), 17o.
"Maxey to Marilda Maxey, December 29, 1863, Maxey Papers (Gilcrease).
0OMaxey quoted Smith's comment. Maxey to H. E. McCulloch, March 21, 1864, Letter-
book A, Maxey Papers (Archives, Texas State Library); hereafter cited as Maxey Papers
(Texas).
"Maxey to Anderson, January 12, 1864, ibid.
12Maxey to Anderson, February 7, 1864, Maxey Papers (Gilcrease).
"Maxey to Gano, December 28, 1863, ibid.5og
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971, periodical, 1971; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101200/m1/521/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.