Closing the Loop: The Civil War Battle of Honey Springs, Creek Nation, 1863

Author(s): William B. Lees

Year: 2016

Summary

The Oklahoma Historical Society conducted metal detector survey of the Civil War Battle of Honey Springs, Creek Nation (Oklahoma) in the 1990s. A variety of papers between 1995 and 2002 reported on different aspects of this research, but I present a comprehensive archaeological treatment of the battle here for the first time. Results show the battle to have been a series of three engagements over several miles, with a distinctly different signature at each of the three conflict locations. This mid-war, far west battle shows reliance on munitions and weapons increasingly seen as obsolete in Eastern theaters, and perhaps also including use of traditional Native American weapons. Examination of the placement of artifacts allows a useful reconciliation of the battle events with the modern landscape and insight into the level of tactical engagement by US and Confederate forces during the initial battle.

Cite this Record

Closing the Loop: The Civil War Battle of Honey Springs, Creek Nation, 1863. William B. Lees. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434729)

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 508