Choctaw in the American Civil War participated in two major arenas- East and West. General Arnold Spann organized the first battalion of Choctaws in Mississippi, and Albert Pike conducted treaty terms and later commanded a combined force of Choctaw; Cherokee; Chickasaw; Creek; and Seminole troops.

Background

At the beginning of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Albert Pike

Albert Pike

Albert Pike was an attorney, Confederate officer, writer, and Freemason. Pike is the only Confederate military officer or figure to be honored with an outdoor statue in Washington, D.C...

 was appointed as Confederate envoy to Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

. In this capacity he negotiated several treaties, one such treaty was the Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws

Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws

The Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws was a treaty signed on July 12, 1861 between the Choctaw and Chickasaw and the Confederate States of America. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Albert Pike was appointed as Confederate envoy to Native Americans...

 conducted in July 1861. The treaty covered sixty-four terms covering many subjects like Choctaw and Chickasaw nation sovereignty, Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 citizenship possibilities, and a entitled delegate in the House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America .

Soon Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 battalions were formed in Indian Territory and later in Mississippi in support of the southern cause. The Choctaws, who were expecting support from the Confederates, got little. Webb Garrison, a Civil War historian, describes their response: when Confederate Brigadier General Albert Pike

Albert Pike

Albert Pike was an attorney, Confederate officer, writer, and Freemason. Pike is the only Confederate military officer or figure to be honored with an outdoor statue in Washington, D.C...

 authorized the raising of regiments during the fall of 1860, Creeks, Choctaws, and Cherokees responded with considerable enthusiasm. Their zeal for the Confederate cause, however, began to evaporate when they found that neither arms nor pay had been arranged for them. A disgusted officer later acknowledged that "with the exception of a partial supply for the Choctaw regiment, no tents, clothing, or camp and garrison equippage was furnished to any of them."

East

The Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 wanted to recruit Indians east of the Mississippi River in 1862, so they opened up a recruiting camp in Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

 "at the foot of Stone Street." The Mobile Advertiser and Register would advertise for a chance at military service.
General Arnold Spann organized the first battalion of Choctaws in Mississippi in February 1863. After a train wreck, referred to as the Chunky Creek Train Wreck of 1863

Chunky Creek Train Wreck of 1863

The Chunky Creek Train Wreck of 1863 happened during the American Civil War near the town of Hickory, Mississippi on the Chunky River. On February 19, 1863 the train Mississippi Southern left the Meridian, Mississippi depot at 3:00 am to transport Confederate soldiers and some civilians to the...

, near Hickory, Mississippi

Hickory, Mississippi

Hickory is a town in Newton County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 499 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Andrew Jackson, nicknamed "Old Hickory," who passed through the area on his way to fight the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.-Geography:Hickory is located...

, the Choctaw Battalion, which had been organized days earlier, led rescue and recovery efforts. Spann described the scene, "the engineer was under military orders, and his long train of cars was filled with Confederate soldiers, who, like the engineer, were animated with but one impulse—to Vicksburg! To victory or death! Onward rushed the engineer. All passed over except the hindmost car. The bridge had swerved out of plumb, and into the raging waters with nearly one hundred soldiers the rear car was precipitated. 'Help!' was the cry, but there was no help." Boggan writes of the rescue, "help came quicker than expected. The First Battalion of Choctaw Indians, under the command of Major S. G. Spann, was based at a Confederate military training camp near the crash scene. Led by Jack Amos and Elder Williams, the Indians rushed to the scene, stripped, and plunged into the flooded creek. Many of the passengers were rescued due to their heroic acts." Noted Choctaw Historian Clara Kidwell writes, "in an act of heroism in Mississippi, Choctaws rescued twenty three survivors and retrieved ninety bodies when a Confederate troop train plunged off a bridge and fell into the Chunky River."

Major S. G. Spann, Commander of Dabney H. Maury Camp of Meridian, Mississippi

Meridian, Mississippi

Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...

, wrote about the deeds of the Choctaw years after the Civil War had ended.

Mississippi Choctaws captured

Mississippi Choctaws were captured in Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Ponchatoula is a city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,180 at the 2000 census. Ponchatoula calls itself the "Strawberry Capital of the World". It is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area. The current mayor is Bob Zabbia.-Geography:Ponchatoula is...

, and several died in a Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 prison in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Spann describes the incident, "[Maj. J.W. Pearce] established two camps—a recruiting camp in Newton County and a drill camp at Tangipahoa—just beyond the State boundary line in Louisiana in the fall of 1862. New Orleans at that time was in the hands of the Federal Gen. B.F. Butler. Without notice a reconnoitering party of the enemy raided the camp, and captured over two dozen Indians and several noncommissioned white officers and carried them to New Orleans. All the officers and several of the Indians escaped and returned to the Newton County camp; but all the balance of the captured Indians were carried to New York, and were daily paraded in the public parks as curiosities for the sport of sight-seers.

West

In Choctaw Nation, Jackson McCurtain, who would later become a district chief, was elected as representative from Sugar Loaf County to the National Council in October 1859. On June 22, 1861, he enlisted in the First Regiment of Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles. He was commissioned Captain of Company G under the command of Colonel Douglas H. Cooper of the Confederate Army. In 1862 he became a Lieutenant Colonel of the First Choctaw Battalion.

Organization

The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations were to organize ten companies. The units would participate in eight battles.

• First Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles
• Second Regiment of Choctaw Cavalry
• Third Regiment of Choctaw Cavalry
• First Choctaw Mounted Rifles
• Regiment of Choctaw Warriors
• Company of Choctaw Infantry

Aftermath

The fate of the Mississippi Choctaw captured in Louisiana after the end of the war is unknown.