When Davis wrote, the ambition of Cooper had, in a measure, been satisfied; for he had been put in command of all “the Indian troops in the Trans-Mississippi Department on the borders of Arkansas."[912] It was by no means all he wanted or all that he felt himself entitled to and he soon let it be known that such was the state of affairs.  He tried to presume upon the fact that his commission as superintendent of Indian affairs had issued from the government, although never actually delivered to him, and, in virtue of it, he was in military command.[913] The quietus came from General Smith, who informed Cooper that his new command and he himself were under Maxey.[914]

It was hoped that prospective Indian brigades would be a powerful incentive to Indian enlistment and so they proved.  Moreover, much was expected in that direction from the reassembling of the general council at Armstrong Academy, and much had to be; for the times were critical.  Maxey’s position was not likely to be a sinecure.  As a friend wrote him,

Northern Texas and the Indian Department have been neglected so long that they have become the most difficult and the most responsible commands in the Trans-Mississippi Department.  I tremble for you.  A great name is in store for you or you fall into the rank of failures; the latter may be your

[Footnote 912:  Official Records, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 848; Special Orders of the Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, 1864, Confederate Records, no. 7, p. 15.]

[Footnote 913:  Cooper to Davis, February 29, 1864, Official Records, vol. xxxiv, part ii, 1007.]

[Footnote 914:—­Ibid., 1008.]

fate, and might be the fate of any man, even after an entire and perfect devotion of all one’s time and talent, for want of the proper means.  In military matters these things are never considered.  Success is the only criterion—­a good rule, upon the whole, though in many instances it works great injustice.  Good and deserving men fall, and accidental heroes rise in the scale, kicking their less fortunate brothers from the platform.[915]

With a view to strengthening the Indian alliance and accomplishing all that was necessary to make it effective, Commissioner Scott was ordered by Seddon to attend the meeting of the general council.[916] Unfortunately, he did not arrive at Armstrong Academy in time, most unfortunately, in fact, since he was expected to bring funds with him and funds were sadly needed.  Maxey attended and delivered an address[917] that rallied the Indians in spite of themselves.  In council meeting they had many things to consider, whether or no they should insist upon confining their operations henceforth to their own country.  Some were for making a raid into Kansas, some for forming an alliance with the Indians of the Plains,[918] who, during this year of 1864, were to prove a veritable thorn in the flesh to Kansas and Colorado.[919] As regarded some of the work of the general council, Samuel Garland, the principal chief of the Choctaws, proved a huge stumbling block,