Honey Springs Battlefield will hold its annual memorial service honoring the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Honey Springs near Checotah at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 15. John Beaver, curator for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Cultural Center and Archives, will be the guest speaker.

The memorial service will be held outside on the lawn of the visitor center. The program will include welcome and opening remarks from site director Adam Lynn, and the presentation of colors by the color guard and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Honor Guard. An invocation will be given by Muscogee (Creek) Nation Secretary of Veterans Affairs Grover Wind and music by Mvskoke citizen Ms. Anne Townsend-Edwards.

The Friends of Honey Springs Battlefield will host its annual meeting following the retiring of the colors at the end of the program.

The service commemorates the largest of approximately 107 documented Civil War military engagements throughout Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.

The engagement took place at the Honey Springs settlement, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, on July 17, 1863, just two weeks after the famous Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

Approximately 9,000 Union and Confederate troops, mostly Native and African Americans, were involved in the Battle of Honey Springs. Of those, approximately 200 total casualties were suffered.

After a decisive Union victory, Confederates lost control of Indian Territory north of the Arkansas River. The Union victory also ensured Federal control of Fort Gibson in Indian Territory and Fort Smith in Arkansas.

For more information regarding the memorial service and Honey Springs Battlefield call 918-617-7125 or email honeysprings@history.ok.gov or adam. lynn@history.ok.gov.