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 ...

, most of what is now the U.S. state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

was designated as 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 ...

. It served as an unorganized region that had been set aside specifically for Native American tribes and was occupied mostly by tribes which had been removed from their ancestral lands in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

following the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...

of 1830. As part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater, the Indian Territory was the scene of numerous skirmishes and seven officially recognized battles involving both Native American units allied with the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

and Native Americans loyal to the United States government, as well as other

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 ...

and Confederate troops. Most tribal leaders in Indian Territory aligned with the Confederacy. A total of at least 7,860 Native Americans from the

participated in the Confederate Army, as both officers and enlisted men;American Civil War Resource Database
/ref> most came 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 ...

: the

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 ...

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

, Creek, and

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

nations. The Union organized several regiments of the

Indian Home Guard The Indian Home Guard was a series of volunteer infantry regiments recruited from the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian Territory to support the Union during the American Civil War. There was also a series of Confederate units of Indian Territ ...

to serve in the Indian Territory and occasionally in adjacent areas of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Native American alliances

Before the outbreak of war, the United States government relocated all soldiers in the Indian Territory to other key areas, leaving the territory unprotected from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and Arkansas, which had already joined the Confederacy. The Confederacy took an interest in the territory, seeking a possible source of food in the event of a Union blockade, a connection to western territories, and a buffer between Texas and the Union-held

. At the onset of war, Confederate forces took possession of the U.S. army forts in the area. In June and July 1861, Confederate officers negotiated with Native American tribes for combat support. After refusing to allow Creek lands to be annexed by the Confederacy, the Creek Principal Chief

Opothleyahola Opothleyahola, also spelled Opothle Yohola, Opothleyoholo, Hu-pui-hilth Yahola, Hopoeitheyohola, and Hopere Yahvlv (c. 1778 – March 22, 1863) was a Muscogee Creek Indian chief, noted as a brilliant orator. He was a Speaker of the Upper Cre ...

led the Creek supporters of the Union to Kansas, having to fight along the way. Leaders from each of the

, acting without the consensus of their councils, agreed to be annexed by the Confederacy in exchange for certain rights, including protection and recognition of current tribal lands. After reaching Kansas and Missouri, Opothleyahola and Native Americans loyal to the Union formed three volunteer regiments known as the

. It fought in the Indian Territory and Arkansas. The following Indian Nations not only had suffered forced migration at the hands of the American government but signed treaties of alliance with the CSA: * Cherokee Nation *

Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation (Chickasaw language, Chickasaw: Chikashsha I̠yaakni) is a federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, with its headquarters located in Ada, Oklahoma in th ...

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation ( Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

Creek Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...

Seminole Nation The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Comanche Nation The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

Quapaw Nation 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 Oh ...

Seneca–Cayuga Nation The Seneca–Cayuga Nation is one of three federally recognized tribes of Seneca people in the United States. It includes the Cayuga people and is based in Oklahoma, United States. The tribe had more than 5,000 people in 2011. They have a tribal ...

Shawnee Nation 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 an ...

Logistics

After abandoning its forts in the Indian Territory early in the Civil War, the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

was unprepared for the logistical challenges of trying to regain control of the territory from the Confederate government. The area was largely undeveloped relative to its neighbors: roads were sparse and primitive, and railroads did not yet exist in the territory. Pro-Union Indians had abandoned their own farms because of raids by pro-Confederacy Indians and fled to Kansas or Missouri, seeking protection from better-organized Union forces there. The Union did not have enough troops to control the few roads, and it was not feasible to sustain a large military operation by living off the land. This was demonstrated in 1862 when General

William Weer William Weer (''a.k.a.'' William A. Weer and William WeirEicher p. 558) was a lawyer, attorney general for Kansas and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He is notable for his service in the Trans-Mississippi Theater earl ...

's "Indian Expedition" into the Indian Territory from Kansas met with disaster when food and supplies were quickly exhausted and Union supply trains failed to arrive.

Military actions

The first battle in the territory occurred on November 19, 1861. Opothleyahola rallied Indians to the Union cause at Deep Fork. A total of 7,000 men, women, and children resided in his camp. A force of 1,400 Confederate soldiers under Colonel

Douglas H. Cooper Douglas Hancock Cooper (November 1, 1815 – April 29, 1879) was an American politician, soldier, Indian Agent in what is now Oklahoma, and Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War. Early life and career Cooper ...

initiated the

Battle of Round Mountain The Battle of Round Mountain was the first battle in the Trail of Blood on Ice campaign for the control of Indian Territory during the American Civil War that occurred on November 19, 1861. Its main purpose was to prevent Union supporters of t ...

, but were repulsed after several waves, leading to a Southern defeat. Opothleyahola then moved his camp to a new location at Chustenalah. On December 26, 1861, Confederate forces again attacked, this time driving Opothleyahola and his people to Kansas during a snowstorm. The decisive Union victory at the

Battle of Pea Ridge The Battle of Pea Ridge (March 7–8, 1862), also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, took place in the American Civil War near Leetown, northeast of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Federal forces, led by Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, moved south ...

northwest Arkansas Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozark Mountains. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Rogers, Arkansas, ...

in March 1862 established federal control of Arkansas and Missouri and limited the Confederate government's ability to protect its Indian allies.

Stand Watie Brigadier-General Stand Watie ( chr, ᏕᎦᏔᎦ, translit=Degataga, lit=Stand firm; December 12, 1806September 9, 1871), also known as Standhope Uwatie, Tawkertawker, and Isaac S. Watie, was a Cherokee politician who served as the second princ ...

, who fought at Pea Ridge, and other officers operating out of the Indian Territory had to fight on without support. The Union army recaptured its forts in the territory, but was forced to temporarily abandon them when faced with ongoing raids by Stand Watie; later the Union recaptured them again. Stand Watie was the last Confederate commander in the field to surrender.

Indian Expedition of 1862

In 1862, Union General James G. Blunt ordered Colonel

to lead an expedition into the Indian Territory. The expedition included five white regiments, two Indian regiments and two artillery battalions,Tom Franzmann, "Indian Expedition of 1862." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''
Accessed October 15, 2015. more than 5,000 men in all. The main objective of the expedition was to escort the Indian refugees who had fled to Kansas back to their homes in the Indian Territory; a secondary objective was to hold the territory for the Union.Cottrell, Steve. ''Civil War in the Indian Territory'', Chapter 1.
1995. Available on Google Books. Accessed October 15, 2015. Weer's expedition departed from

Baxter Springs, Kansas Baxter Springs is a city in Cherokee County, Kansas, United States, and located along Spring River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,888. History For thousands of years, indigenous peoples had lived along the wate ...

and met with early success at the Battle of Locust Grove in Indian Territory on July 3.John D. May, "Locust Grove, Battle of", ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' Retrieved April 13, 2013.
/ref> The expedition camped at Locust Grove for two weeks, waiting for a Union supply train. One detachment from the main force moved on to

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

, causing the Confederates stationed there to withdraw. However, the Union supply train failed to arrive and supplies of food, forage and ammunition ran low. Weer dithered about what to do next and found solace in drinking heavily. The men under his command soon mutinied, arresting Weer and putting Colonel Frederick Salomon in command and bringing the expedition to an end before making any further progress into Indian Territory."Indian Expedition of 1862."
Franzmann, Tom. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved December 27, 2014. The expedition encouraged the organization of three Indian Home Guard regiments in support of the Union.

First Battle of Cabin Creek

Two military engagements were fought at the Cabin Creek Battlefield in the Cherokee Nation within Indian Territory. The location was where the

Texas Road The Texas Road, also known as the Shawnee Trail, Sedalia Trail, or Kansas Trail, was a major trade and emigrant route to Texas across Indian Territory (later Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri). Established during the Mexican War by emigrants rushin ...

crossed Cabin Creek, near the present-day town of

Big Cabin, Oklahoma Big Cabin is a town in Craig County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 265 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 9.6 percent from the figure of 293 recorded in 2000. History The town was named for a local landmark, a plank cabin, that exist ...

. Both the First and Second Battles of Cabin Creek were launched by the Confederate Army to disrupt Union Army supply trains bound from Fort Scott to Fort Gibson. In the First Battle of Cabin Creek, which occurred July 1–2, 1863, the Union escort was led by Colonel

James Monroe Williams James Monroe Williams (September 12, 1833 – February 15, 1907) was an American lawyer, soldier, and merchant. He served both as a cavalry and as an infantry Officer (armed forces), officer in the Union Army within the Trans-Mississippi Theater of ...

. Williams was alerted to the attack and, despite the waters of the creek being swelled by rain, made a successful counterattack upon the entrenched Confederate position and forced them to flee. The battle was the first in which African-American troops fought side by side with their white comrades.Steven L. Warren, "Cabin Creek, Battles of" ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Regtrieved December 30, 2014
/ref>

Battle of Honey Springs

Honey Springs Depot, a site of frequent skirmishes, was chosen by General James G. Blunt as the place to engage the largest Confederate forces in Indian Territory. Anticipating that Confederate forces under General Douglas H. Cooper would attempt to join with those under General William Cabell, who was moving to attack Fort Gibson, Blunt approached Honey Springs on July 17, 1863 with a force of 3,000 men, including Native Americans and African-American former slaves. On the morning of July 17, he engaged Cooper in the

Battle of Honey Springs The Battle of Honey Springs, also known as the Affair at Elk Creek, on July 17, 1863, was an American Civil War engagement and an important victory for Union forces in their efforts to gain control of the Indian Territory. It was the largest c ...

, who commanded a force of 3,000–6,000 men composed primarily of Native Americans. Cooper's troops became unorganized and retreated when wet gunpowder caused misfires and rain hampered their movements. The battle was the largest of the war in the Indian Territory. Following the battle, which essentially secured the Indian Territory for the Union,

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

became the primary means of engagement between opposing forces in the territory.

Battle of Perryville

Perryville, a town halfway between

Boggy Depot ''Boggy Depot'' is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. The vinyl edition was released on March 31, 1998, and the CD was released on April 7, 1998 through Columbia Records. The album was named after the ...

and Scullyville on the

, had become a major supply depot for the Confederate army. After the Battle of Honey Springs, General Cooper retreated to Perryville, where his troops could be resupplied. General Blunt, who had returned to Fort Gibson, learned that the Confederates had regrouped there and believed his troops could capture the depot and destroy Cooper's forces. Blunt reassembled a force and led them to Perryville. Arriving there on August 23, 1863, he found that the Confederate commanders, Cooper and Watie, had already left for

. Only a small rear guard, commanded by Brigadier General William Steele, remained at Perryville. Blunt attacked under cover of darkness and the two sides exchanged artillery fire. The Union forces quickly scattered the Confederates, who eventually retreated again, leaving their supplies behind. Blunt's forces captured whatever supplies they could use, then burned the town.Edwards, Whit
"Perryville, Battle of,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015. Instead of following the retreating Confederates southwest toward Boggy Depot, Blunt proceeded to attack Fort Smith, which he captured on September 1, 1863.''The History of Oklahoma''.
Gibson, Arrell Morgan. p.70. 1984. Available on Google Books.Retrieved September 21, 2014.

Battle of Middle Boggy

On February 13, 1864, a force of about 350 Union troops supported by two howitzers attacked a Confederate outpost in the Indian Territory. The outpost was guarded by about 90 poorly armed Confederate soldiers. The outpost was located where the Dragoon Road crossed the Middle Boggy River. The Confederates resisted, holding off the Union troops for about half an hour, then fled on foot toward

Fort Washita Fort Washita is the former United States military post and National Historic Landmark located in Durant, Oklahoma on SH 199. Established in 1842 by General (later President) Zachary Taylor to protect citizens of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Natio ...

. The Union Army claimed victory because 49 Confederates were killed, while the Union forces suffered no deaths.Messer, Dr. Carroll. "Battle of Middle Boggy: Phillips' Expedition of 1864 into Indian Territory."
May 17, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2015. The encounter had no strategic impact on the outcome of the Civil War. This was the last significant skirmish of the war in Indian Territory. It was a defeat for the Confederates, but the mistreatment of civilians and killings of wounded soldiers by the Union troops strengthened the resolve of Confederates and their sympathizers to continue the fight.Steven L. Warren, "Middle Boggy, Battle of," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
/ref>

Second Battle of Cabin Creek

The Second Battle of Cabin Creek was part of a plan conceived by Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie, who had been promoted from colonel after the First Battle of Cabin Creek. The plan was to have a Confederate force attack central Kansas from Indian Territory, raiding Union Army facilities and encouraging Indian tribes in western Kansas to join in an attack on the eastern part of the state. Watie presented the plan to his superior, General

Samuel B. Maxey Samuel Bell Maxey (March 30, 1825August 16, 1895) was an American soldier, lawyer, and politician from Paris, Texas. He was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and later represented Texas in the U.S. ...

, on February 5, 1864. Maxey approved the plan on the condition that the attack would start by October 1, to coincide with an attack on Missouri already planned by General

Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...

Guerrilla warfare

From 1864 until the early summer of 1865, hostilities in the Indian Territory consisted mainly of guerrilla attacks. Confederate Colonel

William Quantrill William Clarke Quantrill (July 31, 1837 – June 6, 1865) was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. Having endured a tempestuous childhood before later becoming a schoolteacher, Quantrill joined a group of bandits who ...

and his gang committed a number of raids throughout the lands of the Five Civilized Tribes. Armed gangs known as "free raiders" mostly stole horses and cattle, while burning the communities of both Confederate and Indian supporters. A third type of marauder was the Confederate Army unit led by General Stand Watie, which attacked only objectives having military value. They destroyed only houses and barns used by Union troops as headquarters, for quartering troops or for storing supplies. Watie also targeted military supply trains because that not only deprived the Union troops of food, forage and ammunition but gave significant amounts of other booty that he could distribute to his men. One of Watie's most notable successes during this time was the ambush of the steamboat ''J.R. Williams'' in September 1864. Watie surrendered, along with his troops, at

Doaksville Doaksville is a former settlement, now a ghost town, located in present-day Choctaw County, Oklahoma. It was founded between 1824 and 1831, by people of the Choctaw Indian tribe who were forced to leave their homes in the Southeastern United Stat ...

on June 23, 1865.

Aftermath

Fort Towson Fort Towson was a frontier outpost for Frontier Army Quartermasters along the Permanent Indian Frontier located about two miles (3 km) northeast of the present community of Fort Towson, Oklahoma. Located on Gates Creek near the confluence ...

in Choctaw lands, General

officially became the last Confederate general to surrender on June 25, 1865. Watie went to Washington, D.C. later that year for negotiations on behalf of his tribe; as the principal chief of the pro-Confederacy group elected in 1862, he was seeking recognition of a Southern Cherokee Nation. He did not return home until May 1866. The US government negotiated only with the Cherokee who had supported the Union; it named John Ross as the rightful principal chief (he had gone into exile in 1862 when the majority supported the Confederacy). As part of the

Reconstruction Treaties On the eve of the American Civil War in 1861, a significant number of Indigenous peoples of the Americas had been relocated from the Southeastern United States to Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi. The inhabitants of the eastern part of th ...

, U.S. officials forced land concessions upon the tribes; it also required the Cherokee and other tribes to emancipate their slaves and give them full rights as members of their respective tribes, including rights to annuities and land allocations.Confer pg. 156 The Southern Cherokee had wanted the U.S. government to pay to relocate Cherokee Freedmen from the tribe. Later the issue of citizenship caused contention when American Indian lands were allotted to households under the

Dawes Commission The United States, American Dawes Commission, named for its first chairman Henry L. Dawes, was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893. Its purpose was to convince the Five Civilized Tribes to agree to cede tr ...

. In the early 20th century, the Cherokee Nation voted to exclude the Freedmen from the tribe, unless they also had direct descent from a Cherokee (not just a Cherokee Freedman) listed on the

Dawes Rolls The Dawes Rolls (or Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, or Dawes Commission of Final Rolls) were created by the United States Dawes Commission. The commission was authorized by United States Congress in 1893 to exec ...

(1902–1906).

Notes

References

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