--
Mr. John M. Peel, recently returned from Fort Ouachita, in the
Indian Territory, furnishes the
Southern press with the following interesting information:
‘
Fort Ouachita, and all the other Forts in the
Territory, were evacuated by the
Federal forces before the arrival of the
Texas troops under
Col. Young.
The company to which
Mr. Peel belonged, the
Deadshot Rangers, from
Jefferson, Texas, captured fourteen wagons belonging to
Emory's command, which had been left behind.
A company from
Fannin county also captured several wagons.
Emory, finding the
Texans in close pursuit of him, threw away guns, ammunition, and Government stores into the
Ouachita river, first destroying the guns by breaking the locks and taking them to pleces.
The enemy left at Fort Ouachita a large quantity of clothing, some provisions and one field-piece.
At
Fort Arbuckle, also, they abandoned various Government stores and supplies, most of which were stolen and carried away by the Indians before the
Texans got there.
After taking possession of
Fort Arbuckle, it was garrisoned by a company of
Choctaw and
Chickasaw Indians, under
Capt. McKinney. Fort Ouachita was garrisoned by the
Dead Shot Rangers, under
Capt. Mayberry.
Mr. Peel also states that the Chickasaws held a council on the 24th of May, and formally dissolved their connection with the United States Government, and issued a manifesto to the Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, Seminoles, and to the
Reserve Indians, advising them to secede from the Old Union, and to petition the Southern Confederacy to be received as a distinct organized Territory, instead of an
Indian Territory.
The friendly
Indians are all in favor of it. They had ordered off all the
Yankee missionaries in the country.
The
Indians also took up two Abolitionists from
Northern Texas, one of whom was a preacher, and hung them.
The forts are all to be garrisoned in twenty days, in accordanc with a treaty made with the
Reserve Indians.
Mr. Peel further states, in illustration of the spirit of the
Texas troops, that within forty eight hours after the news came across the
Texas border that the
Kansas bandit,
Montgomery, was coming down, there were 10,000 men under arms who started immediately to meet him. He says that, instead of there being any Abolitionists in
Northern Texas, the people are unanimous for fighting, and all classes, including preachers, were eager for the fray.
’
