Civil War in the Indian Territory (review)

BOOK REVIEWS1 63 Islands for the bombardment of Charleston. This book is recommend for students of American military history and the Civil War. Walter J. Fraser Jr. Georgia Southern University CiVi/ War in the Indian Territory. By Steve Cottrell. (Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing Co., 1995. Pp. in. $8.95 paper.) Steve Cottrell has written a most readable summary of a civil war within the national Civil War—the conflict in Indian Territory, 1861 to 1865, which degenerated into an intertribal conflict as tribe fought tribe and an intra-tribal conflict as members in any one tribe fought each other. Cottrell examines thirty-one major battles or skirmishes in which members of the Five Civilized Tribes participated. Coverage of the various campaigns is to the point, well written, and informative. The narrative flows smoothly from the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Missouri, August 10, 1 861, to the skirmish on Snake Creek, April 24, 1 865. Highlighted are the actions of major leaders, such as Stand Watie, Albert Pike, Douglas Cooper, James Mcintosh, Chief Opothleyoholo, William Weer, James Blount, John Ross, and many others. The author also does well covering the hardships of war, cowardliness, desertions, bravery, victory, and defeat. CottrelPs volume is not perfect. The rather short bibliography lists only secondary sources; therefore, a reader must conclude that the author used only secondary sources. For truly a authoritative account, a researcher would need to consult the many primary records available, some of which are available in any good research library. The volume is not endnoted. The reader has no way of knowing the specific sources from which the author drew his material. The index is only an "index to battles and skirmishes." A thorough index listing historical terms—especially individual names, military units, places, and key events—would have been greatly useful. The author could have given the reader more analysis to complement the narrative.The reader is left with many questions: Other than dealing much death, did the civil war in Indian Territory mean anything to the larger Civil War between the North and South? Were there any national ramifications to actions taken, to battles lost and won, in what appears to be a backwater of the larger war? What was the significance of the war to the future of Indian Territory? On a more positive note, the author gives much detail on the war within the larger war, and he synthesizes the material in many secondary accounts. The book will stand as a good introduction to the topic, will be appreciated by undergraduate college students, and should be examined by teachers (at the high school and college levels) wanting a good overview ofthe war in IndianTerritory. James Smallwood Oklahoma State University ...