A Glimpse at History

In May 1861, the Confederate government placed all of its forces in the Southwest under the command of Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch of Texas. Thus, the military district of Indian Territory was created. McCulloch moved into the Indian Territory and organized immediately three Indian regiments and placed these three Indian regiments together with one regiment from Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, under the command of Colonel Douglas H. Cooper.

There is record at the Oklahoma Historical Society of eleven regiments, three battalions, three squadrons, a company and several miscellaneous units. These lists give 11,875 enlisted men. Rolls of all the companies in some of the regiments could not be found in the War Department Archives, which indicates that many more persons than the above numbers were in service in the Indain Territory for the Confederate Cause. 

One of the last fronts to surrender was the Western Front. The men commanded by Stans Watie (Indian) surrendered several months after the signing at Apottomax. They continued their fight and did not believe that the Confederate States of America would surrender and not fight to the death, as he and his men were prepared to do.

The union of these two very passionate peoples coming from similar moral beliefs, yet different heritages, does not surprise me. Does it you??????

Some information contained in the articles published in” A glimpse of History” for the purpose of the Five Indian Nation series has been extracted  from the writings of Jessie Randolph Moore from the Chronicles of Oklahoma, Pages 324-328.

Have a Historical Day!

Savannah

Filed under: Civil War Blogs by Savannah Meade