[1] Brigadier-General Richard M. Gano and Watie met at Camp Pike in the Choctaw Nation on 13 September 1864, to make plans for the coming expedition.

Watie, however, knew that most of the Texans hated all the Indians, including their allies, and resented his promotion in the Confederate Army.

It carried supplies and provisions intended for Native Americans who had fled their homes and camped near Fort Gibson.

A group of 100 pro-Union Cherokees joined the train at Baxter Springs, Kansas, but half were left at the Neosho River junction to guard the rear.

The escort was to be increased by 170 Union Cherokees of the 2nd Indian Regiment, based at Cabin Creek, and 140 Cherokees of the 3d Indian Regiment en route from Fort Gibson[1] Major Hopkins received a message to move the train to Cabin Creek as fast as possible and await further orders.

The message also said that Major John A. Foreman, six companies of men and two howitzers were en route as a relief force.

[1] On 16 September, as they were waiting for the supply train, the Confederates happened to encounter a detachment of black Union soldiers conducting hay-making operations at Flat Rock, near the confluence of Flat Rock Creek and the Grand River, about 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of present-day Wagoner, Oklahoma and 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Fort Gibson.

The Union troops lost all their hay-making equipment, several hundred tons of hay and over 100 casualties (including prisoners).

The Texans, led by Gano himself, attacked the Union flank, driving it back until the defenders were scattered in the wooded bottoms along the creek.