Captain Maxwell Phillips served in the Third Regiment Indian Home Guards, part of the Kansas Infantry during the Civil War. He was commissioned on May 28, 1863. Phillips recorded in great detail the official procedures and events that took place at Fort Gibson. Phillips described obstacles the regiment faced; such as desertion, cattle rustling, and improper processing of paperwork. The letters contained in this collection reveal the close ties between the Federal officers and the Native Americans that they lived and served with. Phillips stressed the importance of the Native Americans to the Union’s cause and how invaluable they were as allies for the servicemen stationed in the Kansas Territory.

Edward Bates testified regarding the destruction of 1,000 tons of hay under the control of A.W. Robb, Quarter Master of the 3rd Indian Home Guards. Bates testified that Robb left the hay stacks unguarded for several months in the fall of 1864, allowing African American and Native American refugees to steal the property. Furthermore, Bates reported that Robb left the hay stacks uncovered and they became ruined by the weather. Robb was removed from his position on March 1, 1865 and the United States Army inventoried the property in his office. The inventory team, which included Bates, found only 50 tons of hay remained and all of it was unfit for use.

George Fine was born in Mississippi in 1835, and resided of Washington, County Arkansas before the Civil War. Fine was part of the 19th (Dawson’s) Arkansas Infantry Regiment, which was stationed at Fort McCulloch in present day Oklahoma. The fort was created by General Albert Pike, but was quickly becoming dilapidated and the soldiers there would soon be relocated to Fort Gibson. In Fine’s letter to his father he was optimistic about the Confederacy’s position in the East and believed that the soldiers in the west would soon be sent East to help support General Robert E. Lee and General Stonewall Jackson. Although George closes his letters using the last name Fine, he is listed in the 1860 U.S. Census as having the last name Carroll. Further investigation into this subject matter is needed