As May advanced, the political situation in Missouri seemed to call loudly for a change in department commanders and President Lincoln, quite on his own initiative apparently, selected Schofield to succeed Curtis,[734] Curtis having identified himself with a faction opposed to Governor Gamble.  The selection was obnoxious to many and to none more than to Herron and to Blunt, whose military exploits Schofield had belittled.  The former threatened resignation if Schofield were appointed but the latter restrained himself and for a brief space all went well, Schofield even manifesting some sympathy for Phillips at Fort Gibson, or Fort Blunt, as the post, newly fortified, was now called.  He declared that the Arkansas River must be secured its entire length; but the Vicksburg campaign was still demanding men and Phillips had to struggle on, unaided.  Indeed, he was finally told that if he could not hold on by himself he must fall back and let the Indian Territory take care of itself until Vicksburg should have fallen.

[Footnote 733:  Britton, Civil War on the Border, vol. ii, 26.]

[Footnote 734:  A change had been resolved upon in March, E.V.  Sumner being the man chosen; but he died on the way out [Livermore, Story of the Civil War, part iii, book i, 256].  Sumner had had a wide experience with frontier conditions, first, in the marches of the dragoons [Pelzer, Marches of the Dragoons in the Mississippi Valley] later, in New Mexico [Abel, Official Correspondence of James S. Calhoun], and, still later, in ante-bellum Kansas.  His experience had been far from uniformly fortunate but he had learned a few very necessary lessons, lessons that Schofield had yet to con.]

The inevitable clash between Schofield and Blunt was not long deferred.  It came over a trifling matter but was fraught with larger meanings.[735] It was probably as much to get away from Schofield’s near presence as to see to things himself in Indian Territory that led Blunt to go down in person to Fort Gibson.  He arrived there on the eleventh of July, taking Phillips entirely by surprise.  Vicksburg had fallen about a week before.

The difficulties besetting Colonel Phillips were more than matched by those besetting General Steele.  He, too, struggled on unaided, nay, more, he was handicapped at every turn.  Scarcely had he taken command at Fort Smith when he was apprised of the fact that the chief armorer there had been ordered to remove all the tools to Arkadelphia.[736] Steele was hard put to it to obtain any supplies at all.[737] Many that he did get the promise of were diverted from their course,[738] just as were General Pike’s.  This was true even in the case of shoes.[739] He tried to fit his regiments out one by one with the things the men required in readiness for a spring campaign[740] but it was up-hill work.  And what was perfectly incomprehensible to him was, that when his need was so great there was yet corn available for private parties to speculate in and to realize enormous profits on.[741] In April, the Indian regiments, assembling and reforming in expectation of a call to action, made special demands upon his granaries but they were