Battle of Honey Springs Reenactment

On July 17, 1863, about 9,000 troops met near present-day Checotah in the largest Civil War battle fought in Indian Territory. The Union side included the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers, and Cherokee and Muscogee soldiers fought on both sides. Every other fall, reenactors return to the Honey Springs Battlefield, now a National Historic Landmark, to restage the battle and spend the weekend living in period camps.

Union reenactors with a drummer and American flag lined up on the prairie
Women in 1860s dresses walking across the battlefield
Reenactors in period dress walking out of the trees
Union drummer and color guard with rifles and flag
Union artillery crew firing a cannon in a cloud of smoke
Cannon smoke drifting over the artillery line
Cavalry reenactors riding across the open prairie
Confederate cavalry riding out of the trees
Union soldiers and a girl in a red dress watching the battle
Union officer in a slouch hat in front of rows of white tents
Union infantry line firing a volley beneath the flag
Fallen soldiers lying on the field as the battle continues
Reenactors lying in the grass as casualties
Confederate soldiers advancing through the trees with their battle flag
Confederate line firing from the tree line beneath their flags
Confederate soldiers gathered beneath battle flags at the edge of the woods
Artillery crew in gray loading a cannon
Artillery crew working the cannon
Reenactor tending a cook pot over a smoky campfire
Reenactor in a slouch hat cleaning his rifle with a ramrod
Bacon frying in a cast-iron skillet over a campfire grate
Reenactor kneeling outside his tent holding a puppy
Family in period clothing posing in front of their tent
Cannon standing on the prairie under a blue sky
Reenactor working inside an open tent in camp
Blue enamel cups and a bowl of apples on a camp table
Girl in a red plaid dress standing before the tents with the sun behind her
Tin cookware and utensils on a wooden camp table
Couple in 1860s dress standing on the prairie
Woven basket of linens and bottles resting in the grass
Young woman in a red dress chopping cabbage for a camp meal
Reenactors playing chess in camp
Hands slicing apples beside a bowl of potatoes
Overhead view of women preparing a meal on a wooden table