Federal soldiers recruited in the summer of 1862 from the Colorado gold mining districts served at Fort Lyons, Colorado; Forts Larned, Scott, and Leavenworth, Kansas; and Kansas City, Missouri, before marching to Indian Territory. A battalion of five companies—A, E, G, H, and I—under Lt. Col. Thomas H. Dodd first saw action at Cabin Creek on July 2, 1863. Two weeks later they fought alongside the 1st Kansas at Honey Springs as General Blunt arrived from the north with his staff and immediately prepared an advance. When everything was ready, the command crossed the Arkansas near the mouth of Grand River, about two miles from Fort Gibson, on July 16, and on the following day overtook the enemy at Elk Creek, about twenty-five miles south of Fort Gibson, near Honey Springs.