[CIVIL WAR]. 11th U.S. Colored Troops archive, Fort Smith, Arkansas.

An important archive with approximately 35 papers related to the recruitment, service, and conduct of African American soldiers raised at and near Fort Scott, Arkansas. Archive consists of letters, reports, returns, enlistment papers, and more, most associated with Captain John Hayes, Jr., Co. B, 11th USCT. Hayes also served as a recruiting officer for the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry, and a small number of items in the collection are associated with that regiment. Particularly notable in the archive are documents related to the August 1864 Battle of Gunther's Prairie in which the 11th USCT repulsed a surprise Confederate attack, correspondence related to the service of African American men in the Union's Indian Regiments, and a group of 4 Volunteer Enlistments for African American soldiers. Various places including Fort Smith and Fort Gibson, 1862-1865 (bulk 1864).

Correspondence constitutes, in part: Official copy of a letter, 16 March 1864, from Major General James G. Blunt at Fort Smith to an unidentified colonel regarding the enlistment of "colored persons (Negroes)... in the 1st, 2nd, 3d Indian H.G. [Home Guard] Regiments." Blunt states that African American males will no longer be allowed to enlist in Indian Regiments, and "all able-bodied male negroes" within their lines and not already employed as servants or laborers will be required to enter the service as soldiers in "colored regiments." -- Unsigned, undated 1p manuscript report seemingly written in the immediate aftermath of the 24 August 1864 Battle of Gunther's Prairie in Indian Territory. Report describes the movement of troops to Gunther's Prairie [also spelled "Gunter's Prairie"] as it guarded a "Hay making Party" and details the surprise assault by "300 Rebel Cavalry Indian & white." Casualties are identified including "Stephen Arbuckle, who ran & was shot & had his throat cut …." -- Manuscript report of the engagement at Gunther's Prairie, signed and submitted by Captain Hayes to Lt. Col. James M. Steele, on the day the battle. Hayes closes his letter stating "Some of our men ran away at the start...but the number were few, not more than two or three to a company. With this exception the men all fought like veterans...."

Collection also includes forms/reports submitted on behalf of Co. B, 11th USCT, including in part: A group of 2 Volunteer Descriptive Lists, both submitted in March 1865, one for Corporal Carter Arbaugh, and another for Sergeant Emet Logan. -- "Monthly Return of Clothing Camp and Garrison Equippage [sic] for the Month of July 1864, Station 12 Miles N.W. of Fort Smith Arkansas - in Cherokee Nation." -- Undated "Requisition For Ordnance Stores for Company B. 11th Regt. U.S. Col'd. Troops..." in which Hayes certifies there are 79 non-commissioned officers and privates under his command. -- Clothing rolls for clothing issued to Co. B, 11th USCT, 31 January 1864, listing 26 soldiers by name, and another for November 1864, listing 64 soldiers by name. -- Group of 5 manuscript "Inventory of Effects" for deceased soldiers of the 11th USCT.

[With:] A group of 4 Volunteer Enlistment documents for formerly enslaved men recruited for service in the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment in October 1863, each enlistment identifying 2nd Lieutenant John Hayes, Jr. as the recruiting officer and sworn to with the mark of the enlisted soldier. The soldiers are identified as: 22-year-old William West of Johnson County, Arkansas; 18-year-old Andrew Howard, born in Kansas; 20-year-old George Washington, born in the Chickasaw Nation; and 25-year-old Thomas Hogan, born in Franklin County, Arkansas. The 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry was initially organized at Fort Scott, Kansas, but completed muster-in at Fort Smith, Arkansas. John Hayes served as the recruiting officer for this regiment prior to his promotion to Captain, Co. B, in the newly formed 11th USCT.

[With:] Unsigned manuscript in the hand of John Hayes, Jr., titled "Autobiography of a Private Soldier in the 'Kansas Regiment' U.S.A. War of the Rebellion." 20pp, string-bound, on approx. 6 x 7 1/2 in. blue-lined paper. Manuscript "autobiography" describes Hayes's political and philosophical beliefs, and events leading up to his enlistment in the 5th Kansas Cavalry at the onset of the war. -- Unsigned manuscript in the hand of John Hayes, Jr., titled "Sketch of Military Opperations [sic] of the 5th Kansas Cavalry Vols. In which Iowa men participated." 16pp, on 8 x 12 1/2 in. blue-lined paper. Hayes describes his service with the 5th Kansas Cavalry in the fall of 1861, with interesting content regarding the border states of Kansas and Missouri and descriptions of engagements. Hayes describes the 17 September 1861 skirmish at Morristown in which Col. Hamilton P. Johnson was killed, capturing the town of Osceola, the pursuit of Confederate General Sterling Price, and other actions. He notes near the conclusion of his manuscript that "We may here add one remark of this Expedition as of all others made by our Regiment at this time and for a long time afterwards - to wit: we obtained considerable supplies of beef, cattle, horses, mules & wagons which being deemed 'contraband of war' as well as negroes to drive them were always taken by us."

[Also with:] Fort Smith New Era. Fort Smith, Arkansas. 27 August 1864. Vol. 1, No. 44. 4pp, approx. 15 1/2 x 10 in. Newspaper report on the engagement of the 11th USCT at Gunther's Prairie.

In the fall of 1863, shortly after the Union had recaptured Fort Smith from Confederate forces, the 11th Regiment USCT was recruited out of the Fort Smith area in northwest Arkansas with four companies created on 19 December 1863, and a fifth company in March 1864. The 11th was primarily filled with men who had previously been enslaved in the region surrounding Fort Smith, Arkansas, as well as men who had been enslaved by the Choctaw Nation in nearby Indian Territory. The regiment was first assigned to post and garrison duty at Fort Smith. It was first engaged in August 1864 at Gunther's Prairie, 12 miles northwest of Fort Smith, while assigned to guard government livestock and cut hay. At daybreak on August 24, an estimated 300-400 Confederate cavalry, consisting of both white and Native American troops, attacked the 11th, with the fighting continuing for almost two and half hours. The Confederates made three separate charges and were repulsed each time before finally retreating. The 11th USCT remained at Fort Smith until November 1864 at which time it removed to Lewisburg, Arkansas. It was engaged again at Bogg's Mill on 24 January 1865. After the surrender of Lee's Army in Virginia, the unit was consolidated with the 112th and 113th Colored Infantry regiments to form the new 113th USCT. They were mustered out one year later on 9 April 1866.

John Hayes, Jr. (1826-1909?) enlisted on 16 September 1861 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as a private in Co. B, Kansas 5th Cavalry. Originally from Ohio, Hayes was a lawyer residing in Corydon, Wayne County, Iowa when the war erupted. Following recruitment duty from 24 June through 10 December 1863 on behalf of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment, Hayes was discharged for promotion on 15 December 1863 and promoted to Captain, Co. B, 11th USCT. After the war, Hayes returned to Iowa, where he worked as a "Lawyer-Farmer" through the 1880s. He died in Elgin, Chatauqua County, Kansas.

A scarce Trans-Mississippi Theater archive which sheds light not just on the USCT, but also on the role of Native American soldiers and the prosecution of the war in Indian Territory.

See Lot 252: [CIVIL WAR]. "The Vision of Emet Logan The Negro Prophet of the Arkansas." 1864.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Ephemeral Americana and Historical Documents