The Battle of Honey Springs,[a] also known as the Affair at Elk Creek, on July 17, 1863, was an American Civil War engagement and an important victory for Union forces in their efforts to gain control of the Indian Territory.

Native Americans made up a significant portion of each of the opposing armies and the Union force contained African-American units.

Confederate cavalry, operating from Cooper's encampment at Honey Springs, frequently harassed Fort Gibson and attacked its supply trains.

The supply train reached Fort Gibson about the same time as General Blunt himself arrived, accompanied by more troops and artillery.

[3] Believing they were numerically superior, the Confederates plotted a counteroffensive against Union forces at Fort Gibson, to be launched by Cooper's Indians and some attached Texan troops, and 3,000 soldiers of Brigadier General William Cabell's brigade, camped in Fort Smith, Arkansas, which were expected to reach Honey Springs by July 17. Cooper moved his army forward to Honey Springs, Indian Territory, an important Confederate supply depot, to rest and equip, while awaiting Cabell's brigade, marching to link up with Cooper.

Union forces under General Blunt got wind of Cooper's plan however, and opted to attack him first, before Cabell arrived, which would have given the Confederates overwhelming numerical superiority.

[2] Blunt's attack began on July 17, with desultory morning skirmishing that revealed many of the Confederate soldiers had wet gunpowder, causing numerous misfires and accidents.

The main Union attack began at mid-afternoon, and the beginning of a rain squall intensified the Confederate's ammunition problems.

Colonel James M. Williams led the Colored Volunteer infantry forward, but the Confederates held their ground.

[3] Cooper pulled his men back towards the depot to obtain new ammunition, but the Federals continued to press his army closely.

Heavy fighting occurred when Cooper's men made a stand at a bridge over Elk Creek, roughly 1/4 of a mile south of the original position.

Union forces continued driving them back further and gradually beginning to turn Cooper's left, causing a general Confederate retreat.

Cooper attempted to fight a rearguard action, making a last stand another 1/2 mile south near Honey Springs Depot.

Despite a notable half-hour stand by the Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment, the Indians and Texans were badly organized, disheartened, and in many cases due to poor powder, unarmed.

[6] Victorious Union forces took possession of the Honey Springs depot, burning what couldn't be immediately used, and occupying the field.

[7] The Union army, including its black and Native American forces, had a definite edge in both quantity and quality of weaponry.

[citation needed] After the battle, the defeated Confederates withdrew, leaving their dead comrades behind, and met up with Cabell's 3,000 man relief force about 50 miles away.

Confederate forces, already operating on a shoe-string budget and with bad equipment, would come to increasingly rely on captured Union war material to keep up the fight.

[12][d] On August 21, 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced a $1.9 million public-private partnership that includes the Oklahoma Historical Society, McIntosh County and an area nonprofit organization to build a 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) visitor center to replace the existing facility consisting of a small trailer.