The Indian Home Guard was a series of volunteer infantry regiments recruited from the

Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by European Americans in the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek ...

of the

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

to support the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. There was also a series of Confederate units of Indian Territory. The leaders of all of the Five Civilized Tribes signed treaties with the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War. Many of the tribal members, however, did not support the Confederacy, and, not being organized, were driven from Indian Territory with a large loss of life. Most fled to Kansas and Missouri. Many of the "Loyal" Indians volunteered for Union duty in order to get control back from the Confederate generals. The Indian Home Guard regiments fought mostly in Indian Territory and Arkansas. It was mainly due to these Loyal Indians that the Five Civilized Tribes were able to retain any of their lands following the end of the Civil War.

Indian Home Guard Regiments

1st Regiment, Indian Home Guard

Organized at

Le Roy, Kansas LeRoy is a city in Coffey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 451. History LeRoy was founded in 1855. It was named after the city of Le Roy, Illinois. The first post office in LeRoy (a name al ...

on May 22, 1862, it included Major William Addison Phillips.

2nd Regiment, Indian Home Guard

Organized on Big Creek and at Five-Mile Creek, Kansas, June 22 to July 18, 1862. "Concurrently with the 1st Regiment of Indian Home Guards in May 1862, this regiment, commanded by Colonel John Ritchie, consisted of one company each of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, Kickapoo,

Quapaw The Quapaw ( ; or Arkansas and Ugahxpa) people are a tribe of Native Americans that coalesced in what is known as the Midwest and Ohio Valley of the present-day United States. The Dhegiha Siouan-speaking tribe historically migrated from the Ohi ...

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

, and

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

, two companies of Osage, and two of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

. It took longer to organize, due to the political disagreements of the various government agents involved in the negotiations. They were attached to the first Indian Expedition given the task of clearing the territory north of the Arkansas River of Confederates. Lack of support from higher command, as well as in-fighting" among the colonels, caused the expedition to be withdrawn."Text of interpretive sign on Trail #1 (Federal Units) at Honey Springs Battlefield

3rd Regiment, Indian Home Guard

The Third Regiment was formed at Tahlequah and Park Hill in July 1862. It was commanded by Colonel William A. Phillips, promoted from Major in the 1st Regiment. Many of its troops had previously fought for the Confederate Army, particularly the First Cherokee Mounted Rifles that had been commanded by Colonel John Drew.Franzmann, Tom. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved July 17, 2013.

4th Regiment, Indian Home Guard

Organization commenced but not completed. Men transferred to other organizations.

References

Bibliography

* Abel, Annie Heloise
''The American Indian in the Civil War 1862–1865''
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. . *Connole, Josep
''The Civil War and the Subversion of American Indian Sovereignty"
Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2017 *Lause, Mark
''Race and Radicalism in the Union Army"
Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009. * {{Internet Archive, 02208690.3232.emory.edu, Britton, Wiley. ''The Union Indian Brigade in the Civil War''. Kansas City: Franklin Hudson Publishing Co., 1922. *Warde, Mary Jane. Now the Wolf Has Come': The Civilian Civil War in the Indian Territory''. The Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol 71 (Spring 1993).

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121024013411/http://www.library.okstate.edu/okmaps/ Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory Irregular forces of the American Civil War Arkansas in the American Civil War Kansas in the American Civil War 19th century Cherokee history Indian Territory in the American Civil War Native Americans in the American Civil War 1862 establishments in the United States Units and formations of the Union Army from Indian Territory