A Two-Fold Civil War (Part 1)

[This next post (next two, actually) are a little more formal than I usually write, owing that it was written as a paper for my U. S. History class. Enjoy.]

Just as the Civil War would rend the United States in two, so would it decimate the Cherokee Nation. Each would fight a war between brothers. The Cherokee would find themselves caught up not only in an essentially foreign war, but facing their own internal strife. It was a war of race, not only regarding black slaves, but full-blood Cherokees versus mixed-blood Cherokees. It was a war of old rivalries and split loyalties. It was a war that could not be won.

Trouble for the Cherokee was nothing new. They had long had a tenuous relationship with the United States. Pressed southwestward by settlers, the Cherokee had tended to side with the British during the Revolution. In 1785, peace was made, but it was a peace that would not last. In spite of an 1802 treaty recognizing Cherokee sovereignty and territorial integrity, by 1828 the state of Georgia began to pass laws designed to control and eventually expel the Cherokee (Cunningham 9-10, 12.) The Cherokee reaction to this treaty violation would birth a rift that would begin to heal only after the end of the Civil War.

On the one side, stood Principle Chief John Ross and his supporters, who fought adamantly against relocation. Ross, whose supporters were largely full-blood, traditionalist Cherokee, took the tribe’s case to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court declared Georgia’s actions to be unlawful, but President Andrew Jackson, disregarding the ruling, insisted that the Cherokees move to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma (Cunningham 12-14.)

On the other side, stood Stand Watie and others known as the Treaty Party. This group was made up primarily of mixed-blood Cherokees who had largely assimilated into white Southern culture. Believing that relocation was inevitable, they sought to hasten tribe’s exodus. In December, 1835, they signed the Treaty of New Echota, relinquishing Cherokee land and promising to move to Indian Territory within three years. They did this without the knowledge of Chief John Ross (Cunningham 14.)

Those Cherokees siding with the Treaty Party went to Indian Territory voluntarily. The majority of the tribe remained until they were forcibly removed. The ensuing migration, known as the Trail of Tears, would shift the last of the Cherokee from their traditional lands to a new home far to the west. Ultimately, one quarter of the tribe died either during the long trek, or shortly after arrival in Indian Territory (Cunningham 15-16.)

Although relocation settled the issue that had split the tribe, it served only to deepen the rift between rival factions. In June of 1839, three Treaty Party leaders were assassinated, spurring Stand Watie to muster a force of armed men near the Arkansas Border (Cunningham 16-19.) Though Watie’s party dispersed, violence between the two factions would remain fierce until 1846. This year the two sides came to an uneasy truce that would last until the Civil War (Stebinger.)

After the formation of the Confederate States of America, Watie was quick to urge an alliance between the Cherokee and the new nation which was courting the tribes of Indian Territory. Chief Ross on the other hand urged a neutral stance, even as the neighboring Muskogee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole tribes allied themselves with the Confederacy (Cunningham 33, 35-36.)

The official Cherokee neutrality did not deter Stand Watie. In August, 1861, he lead a unit of Cherokee soldiers in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in southwestern Missouri. The battle, a costly victory for the Confederacy, would halt the Union advance across Missouri, for a time (Cunningham 38-41.) Wilson’s Creek would be not only an important battle in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the war, but would also mark the unofficial entry of the Cherokee on the Confederate side of the Civil War.

The official entry was not far behind. Watie’s standing had been raised by his participation in the battle, and Ross had been under continued pressure to ally with the Confederacy. The Confederate government had made generous treaty offers, including offered to make good on Federal treaty payments due to the Cherokee. On October 7th, 1861, the Cherokee officially joined with the Confederacy, the last of the “Five Civilized Tribes” to do so (Cunningham 43-45.)

[Continued here]

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Work Cited:

Barnhart, Donald L. “Upper Creek Chief Opothleyahola led his people in a fighting retreat during the Civil War.” Wild West 18.1 (June 2005): 14-70. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Yohe Memorial Library , West Burlington, IA. 28 Oct 2008 <http://wf2dnvr10.webfeat.org: 80/CFozK1363/url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=f5h&AN=16675522&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost- live&scope=site>.

Comtois, Pierre. “Frontier battle of Honey Springs.” America’s Civil War 10.5 (Nov. 1997): 54. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Yohe Memorial Library , West Burlington, IA. 27 Oct 2008 <http://wf2dnvr10.webfeat.org:80/CFozK1369/url=http://search.ebscohost. com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9710231011&loginpage=Login. asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site>.

Cunningham, Frank. General Stand Watie’s Confederate Indians. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.

Stebinger, Jim. “Cherokee Stand Watie exhibited bravery and leadership…” Wild West 10.3 (Oct. 1997): 30. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Yohe Memorial Library, West Burlington, IA. 1 Nov 2008 <http://wf2dnvr10.webfeat.org:80/CFozK1347/url=http://search.ebscohost. com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9709240628&loginpage=Login. asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site>.