In July 1863, Confederate troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Douglas H. Cooper waited at Honey Springs supply depot for Brig. Gen. William L. Cabells 3,000 reinforcements from Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the combined forces planned to capture the Federal garrison at Fort Gibson. On July 16, Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt led 3,000 Federal troops from Fort Gibson south along the Texas Road toward Honey Springs, intending to defeat Cooper's force before the reinforcements arrived. After marching all night, the troops rested, waited for the slower supply wagon train to catch up, and prepared for battle. Blunt said that when his men came up wearied and exhausted, he halted them behind a little ridge about one-half mile from the enemy's line to rest and eat lunch from their haversacks, and after two hours' rest, at about 10 a.m., he formed them into two columns, one on the right of the road under Colonel Judson and the other on the left under Colonel Phillips.