On October 13th 1864 In Northwest Texas near Fort Belknap Confederate cavalrymen of Col. James G. Bourland’s “Border Regiment” begin a fierce two-day engagement with several hundred Comanche and Kiowa Indians. 

In pre war years Fort Belknap was home to future Civil War generals including William Joseph Hardy, George H. Thomas, John Bell Hood, Earl Van Dorn and Edmund Kirby Smith, who would conduct the final surrender of Confederate Territory.

President Jefferson Davis and his army commanders, Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston, top the list.

I personally had several ancestors in the Texas Frontier Cavalry CSA who quite possibly could have been part in this event. My GG Grandfather, John Ward Sellers lived not far from where the battle took place. Tough times, the Comanche and Kiowa were fierce opponents. 

Photo: Captain George W. Chilton 3rd Texas Cavalry CSA