The Confederate Cherokees

By W. Craig Gaines

Subjects: Confederate States of America. Army. Arkansas Cherokee Mounted Rifles, 1st, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, regimental histories, Indian Participation, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, participation, indian, Confederate states of america, army, Indians of North America, Indians of north america, history, Regimental histories, United States Civil War, 1861-1865, Confederate States of America, History, Cherokee Indians

Description: Although many Indian nations fought in the Civil War, historians have given little attention to the role Native Americans played in the conflict. Indian nations did, in fact, suffer a higher percentage of casualties than any Union or Confederate state, and the war almost destroyed the Cherokee Nation. In The Confederate Cherokees, W. Craig Gaines provides an absorbing account of the Cherokees' involvement in the early years of the Civil War, focusing in particular on the actions of one group, John Drew's Regiment of Mounted Rifles. Gaines writes not only about the actions of Drew's Regiment but about military events in the Indian Territory in general. - Jacket flap.