Battle Of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attacks On Fort Smith, Arkansas

The Battle of Massard Prairie was fought on July 27, 1864, on the outskirts of Fort Smith, Arkansas. A dramatic Confederate victory, it included one of the largest open field cavalry charges of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi. The battle is unique because it involved both white and Native American troops (Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek and Seminole). This is the most detailed account available of the engagement at Massard Prairie and subsequent Confederate attack on Fort Smith. Both were important preliminaries to the major Cabin Creek campaign in modern Oklahoma.