Ambush of the steamboat J. R. Williams

The fortunes of war had gone against the Confederate States of America by midsummer of 1863. Union victories in the southeastern states were rapidly depleting the Confederate Army of men and supplies, neither of which could be easily replaced. The Texas units were largely withdrawn from Indian Territory, leaving only units of Native Americans (principally the Five Civilized Tribes) to defend against further incursions by the Union Army.

The Confederate troops remaining in Indian Territory were commanded by the noted Cherokee Colonel Stand Watie, who was a subordinate of Major General Samuel Bell Maxey. Watie had already demonstrated his military capabilities and acquired a reputation as a guerilla fighter. Since the Confederate forces in Indian Territory were not strong enough to confront the Union forces there directly, Watie resorted to harassing tactics with hit-and-run raids. One of the most notable of these was an ambush of the supply steamboat J. R. Williams at Pleasant Bluff, on the Arkansas River. The raid was partially successful, in that the steamboat was destroyed by the action, and the cargo kept from the Union Army. It was a propaganda victory and morale builder for the Confederates and an embarrassment to the Union. It had no military effect, and the monetary loss to the Union was soon dwarfed by the Confederate ambush of a very large wagon train at the Second Battle of Cabin Creek.

Background
After the Confederate losses at the first Battle of Cabin Creek on 17 July 1863, and the Battle of Fort Smith the Union forces had essentially uncontested control of the Arkansas River between Fort Smith and Fort Gibson. It had become feasible to resupply Union positions in eastern Indian Territory by water instead of over land. Vessels like the steamboat J. R. Williams were used for this purpose. Those used on the Arkansas typically, had stern-mounted paddle wheels to propel the ship, while a wood-fired boiler generated the steam used as the motive force for the wheel.

On 15 June 1864, the J. R. Williams was proceeding up the river from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson. Its cargo was primarily commissary goods and food for the Native American refugees who had recently returned from their exile in Kansas and Missouri, hoping to recover their homes and farms they had abandoned in Indian Territory. A token guard of one officer, Lieutenant Horace A. B. Cook, a sergeant and 24 privates from the 12th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry, was also aboard.

Attack
As the steamboat rounded a bend at Pleasant Bluff, located just below the mouth of the Canadian River near the present-day town of Tamaha in Haskell County, Oklahoma, a Confederate force of about 400 men, commanded by Colonel Stand Watie, opened fire with cannon and small arms. The artillery was particularly deadly. It hit the smokestack, the pilot house and the boiler, disabling the vessel. The captain and crew managed to ground the boat on the north bank of the river, opposite the Confederate position. The guardsmen opened fire, even though steam from the boiler had enveloped the deck.

Lieutenant Cook hoped to hold off the enemy until reinforcements arrived. However, he soon saw the ship's captain and the sergeant sailing a yawl across the river toward the enemy position. Knowing that the Confederates would use that to attack the steamboat in force, he ordered his surviving men to abandon ship. Cook and his men fled the scene. Cook located a Union army camp nearby and reported the ambush. Meanwhile, Watie's men boarded the abandoned steamboat and managed to tow it to a sandbar on the south side of the river. They hastily unloaded the cargo onto the bar, then began to load as much as possible on their horses. Watie complained that the greater portion of the Creeks and Seminoles in his command immediately broke off to carry their booty home, and with the men remaining he could no longer adequately protect his artillery.

One article stated that the boat carried a thousand barrels of flour and fifteen tons of bacon. According to another account the cargo included a load of men's dress clothing, with top hats, dinner jackets with tails, fancy trousers and spats. Allegedly, Watie's men wore these as their uniforms thereafter. A more lethal part of the cargo was 400 Sharps rifles and 600 new revolvers.

Later that day, Colonel John Ritchie and 200 men from the 2nd Regiment of the Indian Home Guard arrived from the Union camp and began to fire on the Confederates. Watie set the steamboat afire and withdrew from the scene with his troops. Shortly afterward, he received official news of his promotion to brigadier general, effective May 10, 1864.

Aftermath
On July 17, 1864, Watie reported the results of the encounter to his superior, General Cooper. He noted that he was sending six prisoners from the steamboat. He also stated that four of the Union men were killed.

The action has been commemorated by a marker erected by the Oklahoma Historical Society in Stigler, Oklahoma in 1995. The inscription reads: "'Battle of the J. R. Williams Site of Civil War naval battle. Confederate Indian forces led by Cherokee Maj. Gen. Stand Watie, forced aground and captured Union steamboat J. R. Williams with cargo valued at #120,000, on June 15, 1864. Southern troops included Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles.'"

It appears that the raid did not have an official military name. A publication by the Oklahoma Civil War Sesquicentennial referred to it as the "Pleasant Bluff Action."

Impact
The Confederate success was primarily symbolic. To the Union, it emphasized the risk of moving supplies via river transport and the need to control the few roads. To local Confederate supporters, almost desperate for favorable war news in 1864, it was a time for rejoicing. Stand Waite's reputation as a successful guerilla raider was reinforced. However, the outcome had no meaningful effect on the outcome of the American Civil War.

Some present-day Oklahomans like to refer to this encounter as, "the only naval battle ever fought in Oklahoma."