Cherokee & the Confederacy
The South, the West, and a Second Civil War
The Civil War was not just a white man's war...it involved dozens of Native American tribes, which fought for their own independence. This is the story of the Cherokee.
Cherokee Nation and the Confederacy
Jeffrey R Gudzune, MA
The Civil War was not simply a war between the states. It was a war between nations. When the republic divided into two feuding political entities in 1861, the fighting was not contained to just the Union and the Confederacy. The western theater saw some of the heaviest fighting among the combatants. Contained within these armies were volunteer soldiers from over a dozen Native American nations. For the Native American, the Civil War was not about the political divisiveness that tore the old union asunder—it was an opportunity to protect their waning lands and revitalize a rapidly vanishing way of life. They fought on both sides, but it was in the south that Native Americans truly committed their resources. Given the history of broken treaties and the sense of animosity towards the federal government that had by this time permeated throughout Native American culture, it may seem strange that they would agree to serve with either side. For some, a divided America was an opportunity to regain stolen territory. For others, the choice was not as simple.
The republic that was forged out of the American Revolution ceased to exist in February of 1861, when representatives from seven states met in Montgomery, Alabama to discuss a plan of union. Within four days a provisional government was established and a national administration was elected. Thus was born the Confederate States of America. Former Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis was elected as the new nation’s first President. Davis immediately sent emissaries to Washington D.C. in an effort to avoid a conflict, while at the same time encouraging a strong defensive posture. When war finally did break out between the two nations, the seriously undermanned and ill equipped Confederacy sought out foreign recognition. Emissaries were dispatched to England, France, and Canada, but were never given official recognition. Seeking to bolster his western defenses, President Davis empowered Albert Pike to negotiate treaties with Indian tribes in what is now Oklahoma. Pike’s mandate was to secure treaties with the so-called “five civilized tribes” of the western territories—this was federal nomenclature used to describe the Creeks, Cherokee, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Seminoles. When he arrived, Pike found the territory rife with internal struggle among the full-blooded and mixed blooded natives. In July of 1861, Pike and representatives of the Creek nation signed a compact of alliance and “perpetual peace.” Similar agreements were signed by the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Comanche, Osage, Seneca, Shawnee, Quapaw, and Cherokee nations. This last treaty would provide the Confederacy with one of its most ardent supporters—Chief Stand Watie, the last Confederate commander to surrender his forces. It would also generate an internal power struggle that would replicate the coming war and would almost tear the Cherokee nation apart.
Born in Georgia in 1806, Stand Watie was three-fourths Cherokee and a staunch supporter of Indian rights. Educated in Connecticut, he returned to Georgia and became a prominent planter. Throughout this period of time, the state of Georgia was engaged in a political war with the Cherokee nation. Though now a part of the rising southern elite, Waite remained connected with his native roots. When the Cherokee refused to sign treaties granting the government more control over their territories, the state of Georgia enacted legislation that nullified any traditional land claims. In 1835, Watie was the principal force behind an effort to negotiate a treaty between the United States and the Cherokee. The result was the Treaty of Echota, which would divide the Cherokee into two factions—those in favor of moving west into a designated Indian Territory and those against the concept. Those who moved west established an autonomous state, a sovereign nation in essence if not in fact. Stand Waite rose to prominence as one of the leaders of the faction in favor of settling in the west. Those who remained within the boundaries of Georgia suffered a much more devastating fate. In 1838, the United States Army forcibly removed 15,000 Cherokee to the Indian Territory—the result was Trail of Tears, a forced march that killed 4,000 Cherokee.
Throughout the years leading up the Civil War, Chief Stand Watie maintained the balance between being a leader among his people and a member of anti bellum society. When the rebellion started, Waite expressed his secessionist views and became an active proponent of an alliance between the Cherokee and the Confederacy. When Albert Pike arrived in the Indian Territory (claimed by the Confederacy) in 1861, it was Stand Watie who helped secure the treaty between the Cherokee and south. The Cherokee, like the eight other tribes, were to pledge military support to the Confederacy and operate within the western theatre. The result would once again divide the Cherokee into two factions, those in favor or the alliance, and those who sought neutrality.
When he arrived in Cherokee territory in 1861, Pike met with the Principal Chief of the Cherokee nation, John Ross—who was himself actually one-eighth Cherokee, but respected by the other elders for his dedication to his heritage. For Ross, the coming storm was a white man’s struggle and he would not involve his people in such a potentially dangerous situation. Furthermore, many of his full-blooded compatriots were opposed to slavery on moral grounds and those that did own slaves were nonetheless against a southern alliance. Ross was opposed in this decision by Chief Stand Watie, who led a faction of the slave owning Cherokee who believed that an alliance with the Confederate government would benefit the entire nation. The political makeup of the Cherokee nation at this time employed the democratic election of primary leaders and Ross was the Cherokee equivalent to the Chief Executive Officer of the nation. Waite, however, was a widely respected leader occupying a position similar to that of a territorial Governor. For the Principal Chief, alienating Watie and his followers could result in a political coup within the Cherokee state. Conversely, were the Cherokee to support the Confederate government they would have to withdraw from treaties that they had already signed with the United States. Naturally, Ross was cautious.
While this debate was being conducted within the Cherokee leadership, Pike moved on and negotiated treaties with the surrounding nations. Watie raised a home guard of mounted Cherokee warriors and began training them for combat. Events were now conspiring to force the hand of the Principal Chief into accepting an alliance with the Confederacy. Stand Waite received an appointment as Colonel of the “Cherokee Mounted Rifles,” a company of Cherokee solders pledged to fight for the Confederate States of America; and fight they did, quite successfully. On August 21, 1861, Ross authorized direct negotiations with the Confederate government. In this, he had no choice. The surrounding tribes had already entered into an alliance with the south and the Cherokee nation stood alone. Negotiations were necessary for the continued survival of the Cherokee state. On October 7, 1861, Pike and Principal Chief Ross signed a treaty of alliance and perpetual peace—any hope of neutrality was now gone. The Indian Territory was reorganized as a separate military department, with Brigadier General Albert Pike as superintendent. The Confederate government assumed the financial and diplomatic obligations to the Cherokee nation that were once the responsibility of the Union. The “Cherokee Mounted Rifles” were placed under the command of the newly minted Department of the Indian Territory, with Colonel Watie in command. Furthermore, the Confederate Congress agreed to seat a non-voting delegate, to be chosen by the tribal leadership, to represent the Cherokee nation in Richmond. A similar provision was included in the treaties that Pike signed with the Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Chickasaw nations. Each tribe was allowed to send a non-voting representative to the Confederate Congress. The pact was sealed, but John Ross was now painfully aware that he had made a deal with the devil.
The pro-southern Cherokee soon gained a reputation for being formidable warriors within the western theatre while their scouting efforts gained notoriety as far away as the Confederate capital. Now Colonel of the “Cherokee Mounted Rifles,” Chief Stand Waite entered the service of the Confederacy at the head of multi-national force of Native soldiers. Poorly armed and seriously undersupplied, many Natives grew disenchanted with the new alliance and some abandoned the cause. However, Watie and his force remained dedicated to the treaty that they had signed. Why would so many dedicate themselves to the existence of this rebel government? For Stand Waite it was survival of his way of life. In August of 1861, Waite and the men under his command encountered Union forces at Wilson’s Creek, Missouri. This would be the second engagement of the war, and one of the most brutal battles either army would face. His Cherokee forces withheld a Federal onslaught and maintained control of their position long enough for reinforcements to repel the northern advance. The result was another Confederate victory.
What set the Native America troops apart from their white counterparts was their curious inclination towards avoiding artillery fire and direct charges. Many southern soldiers found it odd that the Natives withdrew when heavy ordinance was unleashed and sought defensive positions away from the enemy. Why would these warriors elect to avoid a charge and seek a more defensive posture? The answer is simple; they were smarter than the whites. For the Cherokee, and indeed for all Natives who served on either side of the war, the objective was to fight and to win—not to stand around and wait for the enemy to shoot them down or stab them when it was possible to continue the fight. They were like this in every battle; every encounter with Native American troops saw some of the most determined fighting. The Union army fought hard for every inch of territory that they managed to win. The Native American and Confederate forces made the invader pay dearly for every inch that was yielded. Reports were widely distributed on both sides of the ferocity of the Native warriors. Stand Watie earned a reputation as a highly capable commander and was elevated to the rank of Brigadier General in May of 1864. However, the days of the Confederacy were numbered and the inevitable collapse of the entente between the south and Native American nations soon became apparent.
Union forces soon overwhelmed the Indian Territory and regular Confederate forces were forced to relocate to more defensive positions within what was left of the Confederacy. The Cherokee and the other tribes were on their own to face the Yankee advance. This tragic turn of events did not dim their spirit of resistance, but it soon became apparent that to continue the alliance with the south would prove disastrous. Principal Chief John Ross appealed for assistance from the Confederate army as Union forces began to encroach on Cherokee territory in the early summer of 1862. Colonel Watie and other native leaders also pressed for assistance for their people. The Confederate high command vacillated and sent only one battalion under the command of Colonel J.J. Clarkson to strengthen the Cherokee position.
In July of 1862, Union forces marched into the heart of Cherokee territory and overwhelmed Colonel Watie’s division, forcing the Confederates to pull out. The resulting panic left the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah undefended. One unit of Cherokee forces that had been fighting for the Confederacy immediately broke ranks and offered their assistance to the Union forces in exchange for the preservation of their beloved capital. Desperately trying to hold his government together, Ross considered seeking terms with the Union army in order to save the Cherokee state. As dispatches arrived from Richmond reminding Ross of his obligations to the Confederacy, the decision became even more vexing. As the Union forces moved deeper into the Indian Territory they took as their prisoner, John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee.
Sent as a prisoner of war to Leavenworth, Ross was soon allowed an audience with President Lincoln. The meeting accomplished nothing and until his death in 1866, Ross remained adamant that he had no choice but assent to an alliance with the Confederacy. The absence of their primary leader caused a power vacuum within the Cherokee nation and resulted in a coup de tat—bloody civil unrest followed and the Cherokee soon entered into their own civil war. The pro-Confederate leaders elected Stand Watie as Principal Chief, but the supporters of Ross vehemently argued against such an action. Cherokee solders now fighting for the Union army battled with Cherokee soldiers in Colonel Watie’s army. Homes were raided, local towns sacked, and supporters on both sides were killed. Pro-Union Cherokees fled to Kansas to avoid the bloodshed. For a period of time, two governments claimed hegemony over the Cherokee nation. On July 17, 1863, the pro-Confederate Cherokee under Stand Watie were pushed out of Cherokee Territory after the Battle of Honey Springs. A pro-Union council immediately met to discuss the possibility of withdrawing from the alliance with the Confederate States of America. Repudiating the treaty they signed with Pike, the remaining Cherokee leadership sought to spare their people from further bloodshed.
Stand Waite and his Cherokee Mounted Rifles remained dedicated to the southern cause; for they still believed that a Confederate victory would allow them control over their lands within the Indian Territory. As refugees from both sides sought sanctuary in whatever fortifications they could find, Waite’s division was cut off from the rest of the Confederate army and became guerillas. They even went so far as to sack and destroy the Cherokee capital, Tahlequah, before their withdrawal. Deluded as they might seem in the final analysis, pro-Confederacy Cherokee did what they felt was necessary to reaffirm their own independence as well as the independence of the south. Commissioned a Brigadier General in May of 1864, Watie re-supplied his forces by raiding a steamboat on the Arkansas River and managed to rejoin the regular Confederate Army by September.
Now in Union hands, the Indian Territory was a wasteland of broken nations and refugees representing the eight tribes who had allied with the south. The Union military commander, stationed at Fort Gibson, made efforts to get other nations to withdraw from their treaties with the Confederacy. Throughout the war, the tribes within the Indian Territory met with one another to discuss defensive preparations, share information, and maintain a peace between one another. This meeting was called the Grand Council. At the insistence of the Union forces occupying the Indian Territory, the Grand Council called for an open meeting of all tribes capable of sending delegations. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss a general Native American withdrawal from all alliances with the Confederacy. On May 26, 1865, fourteen tribes signed an accord vowing never to take up arms against one another for any purpose. For the Cherokee, the war was over and a period of reconstruction was about to begin. There remained, however, the question of the rather formidable Cherokee army.
By this time the war was all but over for the south. President Davis and his cabinet evacuated Richmond on April 9, 1865 as Union forces moved in. On April 12, 1865. Confederate General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee formally surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. Two weeks later, General Joseph E Johnston surrendered his forces in North Carolina. Gradually, all the southern armies still in the field surrendered to Union forces. All were paroled and allowed to go back home, some with their colors flying. On May 10, 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces while en route to Texas—although he was held for two years at Fortress Monroe, he was also eventually released. The Confederate States of America was no more. One army remained in the field, however, even as the war was officially concluded. They could hold our forever. On June 23, 1865, General Stand Watie surrendered his army to Union forces. He was paroled and returned to his farm in Cherokee territory. Though Principal Chief John Ross did not live to see his people recover from the war, Chief Stand Watie would assist in the recovery efforts. He died in 1871, having seen his people return to their former prosperity under their long cherished constitutional government.
The Native American nations that allied with the Confederacy did so to ensure their continued safety and prosperity. In the end, though, they wrought only devastation and civil strife. Their choice was not an easy one. Some might even argue that it was forced on them by the very political divisiveness that had ripped the Union apart. When the Confederacy withdrew from the Union, all ties with the United States of America were broken. As allies of the United States, the tribes of the Indian Territory were now cut off and claimed by a potentially hostile nation. To maintain sovereignty over their land, leaders like John Ross and Stand Watie were forced to make such unpopular decisions. While Watie seemed to embody the Confederate cause much more than any of his contemporaries, his motivations were at least partially nationalistic.
Bibliography
Angie Debo, A History of Indians of the United States. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.
Harold E. Driver, Indians of North America. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.)
Richard B. Harwell, The Confederate Reader: How the South Saw the Way. (New York: N\Metro Book, 2002).
Alvin M. Josephy, jr., The Civil War in the American West. (New York: Alfred E. Knopf, 1991).
