Get ready to ride on a raid with Stand Watie with the release Steven L. Warren’s new book "Brilliant Victory: The Second Civil War Battle of Cabin Creek, Indian Territory."  Warren’s book tells the entire story of the last Confederate offensive into northern Indian Territory in September of 1864. 

The book chronicles the successful raid led by Confederate brigadier generals Richard M. Gano and Stand Watie.  On September 19, 1864, their rag tag force consisting of 2,000 Texas and Indian troops, surprised and captured a Union supply train of 300 wagons, including 1,800 mules and horses at the Cabin Creek station, Cherokee Nation.  Watie and Gano’s men made it safely back to the Confederate lines with 130 wagons filled with much need supplies and 740 mules.  The captured supplies were later estimated to have been worth more than $1.5 million in 1864 dollars.  In a congratulatory order published in October of 1864, Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby-Smith, the commander of all Confederate forces west of the Mississippi River, noted the success of "one of the most brilliant raids of the entire war."  Watie, Gano and their respective commands received a special commendation from the Confederate Congress in January of 1865 for the capture of the wagon train. 

Warren documents the events leading up to the capture of the wagon train at Cabin Creek, including the battle at Flat Rock, which occurred north of present-day Wagoner, Oklahoma.  At Flat Rock, black soldiers of Company K, First Kansas Colored Infantry were massacred by the bloodthirsty Confederate troops. 

The author also writes about the Union forces attempt to recapture the wagon train at Pryor Creek.  "It’s a great story," Warren said.  "It’s amazing what Watie and Gano’s men accomplished.  The Texans and Indians didn’t really trust one another, and yet they worked together to go far behind enemy lines and capture a very valuable wagon train."

An recognized authority on the Civil War battles at Cabin Creek, Warren has made presentations to historical and genealogical groups throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Washington state.  Currently, Warren is writing a screenplay about the Cabin Creek battle.  This is his first book, but it’s not his first project on the Civil War in Indian Territory.  In 1992, Warren and Rick Harding of Bartlesville, Oklahoma released the 90-minute television documentary "Last Raid at Cabin Creek," which Warren wrote and co-produced.  Videotapes of the program have been sold to libraries across the country.  The videotape has also been successful in the home video market.  The documentary has won numerous awards, including recognition from the state of Oklahoma.  The program was added to the collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History in 1998.

This first edition hardback book was published in 2002, measures 8½" by 11", and contains 230 pages with photographs, maps, appendices and index, 10-digit ISBN 0-944619-66-5, 13-digit ISBN 978-0-944619-66-7.  The book also features the partial war diary of Richard M. Gano, highlighting his early service in the early Indian Wars on the Texas plains and as the Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Kentucky Cavalry, which was attached under General John Hunt Morgan’s command.

Click here to read a book review of this publication.

The Cabin Creek Battlefield Park is located three and one-half miles north of Pensacola, Oklahoma from Oklahoma State Highway 28.  The park is owned by the Oklahoma Historical Society and is maintained by the Friends of Cabin Creek Battlefield, Inc., a local volunteer group.  The park is open from daylight to dusk, 365 days a year.  The park is host to reenactment enthusiasts every three years as a rotating program sponsored by the Oklahoma Historical Society (next OHS reenactment Fall 2010).

For more about Warren Entertainment's Cabin Creek Coverage Click Here

Steve Warren's Recommended Civil War Links

ADDVD1-$36.00 (Special Order) Last Raid at Cabin Creek DVD - researched, written, & produced by Steve Warren.  This popular documentary was originally available in VHS tape format but is no longer.  After being unavailable for quite some time, we are happy to be able to offer this in DVD format.