The following is an enlistment record for 18 year-old Stephen Arbuckle who was born into slavery in Sebastion county, Arkansas. At the time of his enlistment at Fort Smith, Stephen was described as standing 5 feet 8 inches tall. He was originally mustered into the service by the recruiting officer, 2nd Lt. John Hayes, Jr. of the 2nd Kansas Colored Volunteers, but in December 1863, he was officially enrolled in Co. B of the 11th Regiment of US Colored Troops (USCT).
The new recruits, now wearing Union blue, were former slaves from Fort Smith, Van Buren (Crawford County), and surrounding settlements, including Dripping Springs (Crawford County), Kibler (Crawford County), and Alma (Crawford County). In addition, several of the men who had been enslaved in the nearby Choctaw Nation, and even as far away as Mississippi, escaped their former masters and made the treacherous journey to Fort Smith with the hopes of joining the new all-black unit, commanded by white officers who were all from the North.
The regiment’s first assignment was not glamorous. The men spent most of their time as laborers unloading or loading steamships and railroad cars, as well as drilling and repairing the massive earthwork fortifications that surrounded Fort Smith. They also served as teamsters and guards and participated in formal dress parades in town and at the fort.
The Eleventh did not see its first military action until the summer of 1864 at Gunther’s Prairie in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), located twelve miles northwest of Fort Smith. On August 24, five companies totaling 265 men were guarding cattle and a haying operation. According to military reports, the unit was attacked by 300 to 400 Confederate cavalrymen made up of Indians and white troopers. For one hour, the fighting was almost constant; it lasted until 7:30 a.m., with sporadic firing continuing until 10:00 a.m. The attacking Confederate cavalry made three separate charges and was repulsed each time. After the third try, the cavalry retreated. Confederate losses were not reported, but the Eleventh reported three men killed, with fourteen men missing or wounded.
Among those killed in the Battle of Gunter’s Prairie was young Arbuckle who, according to his military record, “tried to run away” from the battlefield when he “was shot,” had “his throat cut and was disemboweled by Stand Watie’s Rebel Indians.”
I can only speculate on Stephen Arbuckle’s parentage. Most likely he was once the property Samuel Arbuckle (1817-1850) who grew up in Kentucky but later moved to Missouri where he died in 1850. One of his daughters, Martha Marvin Arbuckle (1845-1884) married John Sparkman Jones (1837-1898) in 1859 and she may have inherited property from her father on his death in 1850, including Stephen. Martha and her husband lived in Sebastion county, Arkansas, at the time the Civil War began.
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