Oklahoma in the Civil War

Oklahoma

Oklahoma, Military Records

Oklahoma in the Civil War

Confederate General Stand Watie (1806-1871)

Introduction

During the Civil War, most of the area of present-day Oklahoma, was called the Indian Territory. The Five Civilized Tribes decided to support the Confederacy, and about 3500 Indians served in Confederate units. Two major Oklahoma units were the Confederate Indian Brigade and the Union Indian Home Guard.

Many Indians also served in regiments in the Confederate Regular Troops and in other state regiments.

Oklahoma Military Units

Confederate Indian Brigades

First Indian Cavalry Brigade (Confederate)

Created early 1864 when Major General Samuel B. Maxey reorganized Confederate troops in Indian Territory. Colonel Stand Watie was its commander.Oklahoma Historical Society, First Indian Cavalry Brigade, article in the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed 4 August 2011)</ref>

• Cherokee Battalion (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Major Joseph A. Scales, commanding.
  

• Creek Squadron (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Captain R. Kenard, commanding.
  

• First Cherokee Regiment (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early1864.
  Colonel Robert C. Parks, commanding.
  

• First Creek Regiment (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Colonel Daniel N. McIntosh, commanding.
  

• First Osage Battalion (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Major Broke Arm, commanding.
  

• First Seminole Battalion (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Lieutenant Colonel John Jumper, commanding.
  

• Second Cherokee Regiment (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Colonel William P. Adair, commanding.
  

• Second Creek Regiment (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Colonel Chilly McIntosh, commanding.

Second Indian Cavalry Brigade (Confederate)

Created early 1864 when Major General Samuel B. Maxey reorganized Confederate troops in Indian Territory. Colonel Tandy Walker was its commander. It was mostly composed of veteran soldiers from various Choctaw and Chickasaw units.

• First Chickasaw Battalion (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Lieutenant Colonel Lemuel N. Reynolds, commanding.
  

• First Choctaw Battalion (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Lieutenant Colonel Jackson McCurtain, commanding.
  

• First Choctaw and Chickasaw Battalion (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Lieutenant Colonel James Riley, commanding.
  

• Second Choctaw Regiment (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Colonel Simpson N. Folsom, commanding.
  

• George Washington's Reserve Squadron (Oklahoma) (Confederate)
  Created probably in early 1864.
  Captain George Washington, commanding.

Union Indian Home Guard

• 1st Regiment, Indian Home Guard (Oklahoma)(Union)
  Organized at Le Roy, Kansas, May 22, 1862.
  

• 2nd Regiment, Indian Home Guard (Oklahoma) (Union)
  Organized on Big Creek and at Five-Mile Creek, Kansas, June 22 to July 18, 1862.
  Commanded by Colonel John Ritchie
  Consisted of one company each of Delaware, Kickapoo, Quapaw, Seneca, and Shawnee, two companies of Osage, and two of Cherokee.
  

• 3rd Regiment, Indian Home Guard (Oklahoma) (Union)
  Organized at Tahlequah and Park Hill in July 1862 with Colonel William A. Phillips as commander.
  

• 4th Regiment, Indian Home Guard (Oklahoma) (Union)
  Organization commenced but not completed. Men transferred to other organizations.

Confederate Sources

Service Records Index

• Chase, Marybelle W., transcriber, Index to Civil War service records - Watie's Cherokee Regiments, (Tulsa, Oklahoma : M.W. Chase, 1989), 32 pages. Includes the following: First Cherokee Mounted Volunteers (Watie's Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Volunteers; 2d Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Rifles, Arkansas; 1st Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Rifles or Riflemen); 1st Cherokee Squadron Mounted Volunteers (Holt's Squadron Cherokee Mounted Volunteers); Second Cherokee Mounted Volunteers (2d Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Rifles or Riflemen). FHL book 973 M22cm. Other libraries (WorldCat).

Pension Records

• An index to Oklahoma Confederate pension records is available from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Records are available at the Oklahoma State Archives and the Oklahoma Historical Society.
• Confederate Pension Records at Oklahoma Digital Prairie; index and images
• Confederate Pension Index Cards at Oklahoma Digital Prairie; index and images

Rosters

Civil War Rosters (accessed 18 April 2012) has rosters for the:

• 1st Cherokee Mtd.Rifles Co. A That Fought For The South
• 1st Cherokee Mtd.Rifles Co. B That Fought For The South

Union Sources

Service Records

For information on Union service records, see Union Service Records.

Pension Records

• Civil War Pension Index Cards - An Index to Pension Applications of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Pension Records.

1890 Census Veterans Schedules

• 1890 Census Veterans Schedules - The "Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (NARA M123) are available online for the state of Oklahoma. The schedules list Union veterans and their widows living in Oklahoma in 1890. For more information on the 1890 Veterans Schedules see Union Census Records.

Other Sources

Internet Sites

• The Civil War Archive, United States Volunteers - Indian Troops, (accessed 5 August 2011) gives short histories of the Indian Home Guard units.
  

• Gjertveit, Lars. A Guide to Cherokee Confederate Military Units, 1861 - 1865, (Sons of Confederate Veterans, © 1995 - 1998).
  

• Rodman, Leslie J., The Five Civilized Tribes and the American Civil War: A Bibliographic Essay, on 10 pages, lists many books that give information on this subject.
  

• Indigenous Peoples in the American Civil War gives information about Native American units in other areas of the Confederacy.
  

• Wikipedia contributers, Indian Home Guard (American Civil War), (accessed 28 April 2011).

Union Sources

• Britton, Wiley. The Union Indian Brigade in the Civil War. (Kansas City: Franklin Hudson Publishing Co., 1922). Internet Archive.  FHL book 970.1 B778u . Other libraries (WorldCat).

General Books and Microfilms

• Abel, Annie Heloise, The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War, (Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark, 1919). Gutenberg Online Reader.FHL book 970.1 Ab34
  

• Abel, Annie Heloise, The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist, Reprint. Originally published: Cleveland: Arthur H. Clarke Co., 1915. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, c1992). Internet Archive. FHL book 970.1 Ab34ai
  

• Fisher, LeRoy H., ed. The Civil War Era in Indian Territory, (Los Angeles: Lorrin L. Morrison, 1974). Libraries with book (WorldCat)
  

• Oklahoma Historical Society. Indian Archives Division. Civil War Records, 1862-1888, (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma : Oklahoma Historical Society, Indian Archives Division, 1976- ), one microfilm,FHL film 1666362 item 6
  

• Taylor, Ethel Crisp, Indian Territory, 1861-1865: the Forts, the Battles, the Soldiers, (Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, c2010), 610 pages. FHL book 973 M2te, Libraries with book (WorldCat).
  

• Warde, Mary Jane. 'Now the Wolf Has Come': The Civilian Civil War in the Indian Territory. The Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol 71 (Spring 1993).

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)

Grand Army of the Republic founded in 1866 - 1956, was the largest veteran’s organization in the country after the Civil War. It was a fraternal organization members were veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, Marines and Revenue Cutler Service who served in the American Civil War. The group supported voting rights for black veterans, and lobbied the U.S. Congress to establish veterans' pensions. In 1890 the membership was 490,000.

In 1888 there were ------ posts and ------ members in the state of Oklahoma

GAR Posts in the State of Oklahoma

The FamilySearch Catalog list records of the Oklahoma Grand Army of the Republic.

Grand Army of Republic Irwin McDowell Post 19 Register Book. Daughters of Union Veterans. Lucretia Garfield Tent 3 Application by Mrs. Opal London Cox.  FHL book 976.628/El C4c or film 1,573,511 item 12

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

With the death of the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was formed.

Family History Library