Native Americans in the American Civil War

• 1. Tribal Divisions And Alliances

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  In March 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Albert Pike as his envoy to negotiate alliances with the Five Civilized Tribes. This diplomatic mission aimed to bolster Confederate defenses against Union-aligned incursions from Kansas. Most nations signed treaties with the Confederacy, often under pressure from wealthy, slave-holding factions within their own communities. However, these alliances were far from unanimous. Large segments of those same tribes opposed slavery and sought independence from U.S. political turmoil. This divergence precipitated a three-way split in Indian Territory. Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross led a neutrality faction that later aligned with the Union. Stand Watie headed the Confederate Treaty Party. Creek chief Opothleyahola organized "Loyal Indians" who fled to Union-held Kansas with refugees and escaped slaves. The Confederate treaty with the Cherokee Nation guaranteed protection, rations, tools, and a congressional delegate in exchange for ten mounted companies. General Ben McCulloch organized two Native American regiments under John Drew and Watie. Although both led Cherokee units, Drew and Watie were longstanding rivals and commanders deliberately kept their regiments apart.

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• 2. The Five Civilized Tribes Combatants

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  Recent research indicates that Choctaw involvement in the Civil War was more extensive than previously believed. Confederate records show strong enlistment among Choctaw men. Supporting documents along with 19th-century narratives and personal writings provide insight into their wartime experiences. For many Choctaw men, the war offered a chance to reassert traditional concepts of masculinity that had shifted during earlier decades. Historically, warfare was closely tied to male identity within Choctaw culture. Reduced intertribal conflict and increased contact with Euro-Americans had led to new expressions of manhood including education and diplomacy. The Civil War allowed Choctaw soldiers to reaffirm older ideals of masculinity through combat while also defending tribal sovereignty and existing racial hierarchies. The Delaware Nation formally declared for the Union on the 1st of October 1861. One hundred seventy of 201 able-bodied Delaware men enlisted in the Union Army. In response to U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs William P. Dole's January 1862 call for Native recruitment, the 1st and 2nd Indian Home Guard regiments were raised. These units comprised Delaware, Creek, Seminole, Kickapoo, Seneca, Osage, Shawnee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw soldiers. In October 1862 Delaware cavalrymen played a key role in the capture of the Wichita Agency. They slew five Confederate agents, seized a rebel flag, currency, and ponies, and destroyed enemy supplies.

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• 3. Eastern Theater Native Contingents

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  In the eastern theater, several tribes that had not yet been displaced by removal aligned with the Confederacy. Thomas' Legion composed of Eastern Band Cherokee under Colonel William Holland Thomas operated in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. Roughly 200 Cherokee formed the Junaluska Zouaves. Across South Carolina, nearly every adult Catawba male enlisted in the 5th, 12th, or 17th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry of the Army of Northern Virginia. They distinguished themselves during the Peninsula Campaign at Second Manassas and at Antietam. Later they endured the grueling lines at the Siege of Petersburg. A monument in Columbia commemorates their service though the regiments' heavy casualties severely threatened the Catawba community's survival. Further north, the Pamunkey of Virginia and the Lumbee of North Carolina sided with the Union. The Pamunkey provided civilian and naval piloting for Union vessels while the Lumbee engaged in guerrilla operations. Members of the Iroquois Nation served in Company K of the 54th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. Powhatan guides acted as river pilots and scouts for the Army of the Potomac. At the time, Native Americans enlisting in U.S. Colored Troops were categorized simply as "colored." Records show that many Pequot from New England fought in the 31st United States Colored Infantry Regiment and other Black regiments.

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• 4. Company K And The Battle Of The Crater

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  Perhaps the best-known Native American contingent in the eastern Union Army was Company K of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters Regiment. It was made up predominantly of Odawa, Delaware, Oneida, Potawatomi, and Ojibwa soldiers. Assigned to the Army of the Potomac as Ulysses S. Grant took command, Company K saw action at the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. They famously captured 600 Confederates at Shand House near Petersburg. In their final engagement at the Battle of the Crater on the 30th of July 1864, they found themselves cut off and low on ammunition. A lieutenant later recounted that even as they fell mortally wounded, they pulled their blouses over their faces. They chanted a death song and died together in a group. This final stand occurred during a massive underground explosion intended to breach Confederate lines but resulted in a disastrous Union defeat where thousands perished.

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• 5. Sand Creek Massacre And Plains Warfare

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  In 1864, Colorado Territory Governor John Evans secured President Lincoln's approval to raise the 3rd Colorado Infantry Regiment for the sole purpose of fighting hostile Indians. Under Colonel John Chivington, the unit found no organized opposition after Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope met with territorial authorities in Denver. They agreed to bring any non-combatants to Fort Lyon for protection. On the 29th of November 1864, however, Chivington led a dawn assault on the peaceful encampment of some 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho near Big Sandy Creek. Many of those present were unarmed women and children. Witnesses recounted widespread killings, mutilations, and sexual violence. Estimates place the dead between 160 and 200. A subsequent Congressional inquiry into the Sand Creek Massacre determined that Chivington had acted without authorization and recommended his removal. No criminal charges were filed. In the massacre's aftermath, many survivors joined the militant Dog Soldiers band precipitating further conflict on the southern Plains.

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• 6. Postwar Betrayal And Policy Shifts

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  Unlike formerly enslaved people who were granted legal protections through Reconstruction Amendments, Native Americans remained classified as "domestic dependent nations." They were excluded from full citizenship rights as seen in the Fourteenth Amendment's continued exclusion of "Indians not taxed." In the postwar years, the U.S. government intensified military campaigns against Native peoples across the West. Figures such as Phillip Sheridan and William Tecumseh Sherman oversaw these efforts while President Ulysses S. Grant presided over policies that expanded federal control. By 1882, military operations against Native Americans consumed the vast majority of the War Department's budget and personnel. This highlighted the central role of Native resistance in shaping postwar federal military priorities. The Cherokee Nation suffered more than any other tribe due to its Confederate alignment. Its population declined from approximately 21,000 in 1861 to about 15,000 by 1865. Despite earlier assurances of amnesty, the entire Nation was branded disloyal and stripped of its treaty rights. Ongoing guerrilla warfare and displacement led to severe loss of life with high rates of widows, orphans, and fatherless children.

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