Shortly after Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter in South Carolina, commencing the American Civil War, there was a rush among Union sympathizers to raise military forces. In Kansas, a physician named James G. Blunt was among the first to volunteer. He had practiced medicine in Greeley, Kan., for several years and was a staunch abolitionist.

He joined the Third Kansas Regiment and was given the rank of Lt. Colonel. This regiment was sent to Fort Scott, Kan., to defend it against Confederate troops under General Sterling Price. After spending several months in pursuit of Price throughout Kansas and Missouri, Blunt was made a Brigadier General and placed in command of Fort Leavenworth.

Blunt was responsible for organizing regiments of Creek, Cherokee and Seminole refugees who had fled Indian Territory to Kansas at the outbreak of hostilities. Utilizing these troops, Blunt sent forces into Indian Territory as far as Tahlequah in 1862, but they returned to Fort Scott, Kan., rather than remain in the Territory.

Blunt then left Fort Leavenworth and personally assumed command of the Indian troops. He would later write of them that they remained on active duty till the end of the war and “did excellent service for the Union cause.” Blunt would lead his troops to battles throughout Missouri and Kansas, including the well-known clashes at Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove.

By 1863, Blunt had also added to his command one of the first African American regiments to fight in the Civil War — the First Kansas Colored Infantry. With success in the Arkansas battles, Blunt was determined to secure Indian Territory for the Union. He ordered a subordinate, Col. William Phillips, to occupy Fort Gibson. Blunt would join Phillips there with additional troops on July 11, 1863.

By this time, General Blunt’s reputation as a bold and disciplined fighter had been well established. Upon his arrival at Fort Gibson, its name was changed to Fort Blunt, though it only was referred to by this name for a brief time.

Blunt learned that Confederate troops were massing at a supply depot called Honey Springs and more reinforcements were expected to arrive from Arkansas. Their intent was to attack Fort Gibson. But as he had done on several other occasions, Blunt decided to strike first before the additional troops could arrive.

Leaving Fort Gibson on July 16, Blunt’s forces made the 20-mile march to Honey Springs overnight. They engaged the Confederate troops under General Douglas Cooper at a point where the Texas Road crossed Elk Creek. With the First Kansas Colored Infantry holding the center of the Union line, the Confederate forces were routed and forced to retreat. Because of the Union victory at Honey Springs, Fort Gibson, or Fort Blunt, was never again seriously threatened by Southern troops for the remainder of the Civil War.

Reach Jonita Mullins at jonita@netscape.com.