Battle of The Neches

[Craig Tx]

From the Texas State Historical Association

Texans rout Cherokees in battle of the Neches

On this day in 1839, some 500 Texas troops under Kelsey H. Douglass routed 700 to 800 Cherokees led by Chief Bowl in what is now Henderson County.

The battle of the Neches was the principal engagement of the Cherokee War; it resulted in the expulsion of the hostile Indians from East Texas and virtually ended Indian troubles in the settled portion of the state. More than 100 Indians, including Duwali, were killed, and the remaining Cherokees were driven across the Red River into Indian Territory.

Among the prominent Texans who participated in the battle were Thomas J. Rusk, Edward Burleson, David G. Burnet, Albert Sidney Johnston, and John H. Reagan. The Cherokee War was the culmination of years of friction between Cherokee, Kickapoo, and Shawnee Indians and white settlers in Northeast Texas.



Craig

[Caddo]

That is some little known history that a lot of folks in Texas never hear about. You hear about the Comanche dangers and the war for independence but not much about east Texas and the problems the settlers had there. Thanks Craig

[Craig Tx]

My pleasure Caddo!


Craig

[Ironwood]

I think there's a Texas town named after all of those fellows except Johnston.