The Engagement at Honey Springs was the largest of more than 107 documented hostile encounters in Indian Territory. The engagement took place on a rainy Friday, July 17, 1863, between the First Division Army of the Frontier, commanded by Major General James G. Blunt, and the Confederate Indian Brigade led by Brigadier General Douglas H. Cooper. Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek) regiments fought on both sides. The approximately 9,000 troops involved included Native Americans, veteran Texas regiments, and the First Kansas Colored Volunteers, which was the first African American regiment in the Union army. The Honey Springs Battlefield is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. Through artifacts, graphics and narrative, the visitor center exhibits tell the rich history of the Battle of Honey Springs. Visitors will learn that on July 17, 1863—just two weeks after the famous Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg—a total of 9,000 troops converged on a small farming settlement along the Texas Road in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation called Honey Springs, named after a well-known watering stop in the area. There they battled against one another for their freedom, homes, tribal nations and ways of life. These troops, historians believe, represented the most diverse set of individuals and cultures to fight in any battle of the Civil War.