Respuesta :
Both accounts differ in different points. First, both Generals give different figures of their troops and the enemy forces. While Blunt says he has 3000 men to face the forces of Cooper (6000 men) and the reinforcements of Cabell (3000 men), Cooper claims that his troops were numerically inferior to Blunt's, and that his defeat was due to the inferior quality of their weapons and ammunition. They also differ on the number of casualties.
Both narrate the withdrawal of Cooper's troops in an orderly manner and resisting in certain points, like in the bridge over Elk Creek, although while Cooper affirmas that the loss of certain positions was due to minsunderstanding in the orders (as in Colonel Bass' command), Blunt attributes it to the attack of his men. According to Cooper, the support of the Choctaws slowed the advance of Blunt's troops during the retreat. Although Blunt maintains that he did not continue the attack because his cavalry was exhausted, both Generals agree that the Choctaws remained in the field in full view of the enemy army.
Blunt's story includes that Cooper's troops set fire to their own commissary stores during the retreat, something denied by Cooper. While the latter admits that they set fire to some supplies, they only burned food that they couldn't transport but they saved all their military supplies.
Blunt says that he was prepared to stay in the battlefield untild next day, in case there would be another skirmish, but Cooper describes how his course of retreat made Blunt think that they were moving to attack Fort Gibson, what made Blunt withdraw forces and hurry towards there.
Both stories coincide in mentioning and praising the performance of their non-white troops. In the case of Blunt, he praises the courage of the First Kansas (coloured), while Cooper thanks the Creeks for their bravery and their role in granting a safe retreat.
In general, both accounts coincide in praising the performance of their own troops in the face of a greater enemy force.
