CIVIL WAR in the INDIAN TERRITORY by Steve Cottrell

 



Originally published in 1995.
Published in 1998 by Pelican Publishing Company.

The answer to one of the more popular Civil War trivia questions is: Stand Watie. The question is: Who was the last Confederate General to surrender at the end of the Civil War?

Stand Watie (1806-1871)

Stand Watie is unique because he is the only Native American to become a general during the Civil War. The Cherokee and other Indian Nations living in Oklahoma were drawn into the Civil War and fought in more than 30 engagements - some relatively small and some quite large. 

Slavery was a factor (Watie had slaves and a plantation), but there were also local political issues that were probably more influential. 

Like most of the fighting in the West, the battles were not large by Civil War standards, but the fighting was usually pretty personal. Villages were burned out, refugees fled by the thousands and it was not uncommon for soldiers to know the people they were fighting personally. Also, this front was one of the first to have African American soldiers fight. 

As a history, this book was very readable as an introduction. It is big on the action of the war and doesn't get much into the thoughts and motivations of the regular soldiers. For example, it would have been interesting to read about what white soldiers from Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and Wisconsin (a Wisconsin unit is mentioned throughout the book) thought about fighting alongside and/or against Native American and African American soldiers.

Also, there were a few times when Cottrell's text was over the top. For example, on page 76: "Holding their rifles and cartridge boxes above their heads to keep their powder dry, the dauntless African-Americans sloshed through the waist-deep water to the opposite shore as bullets and buckshot flew around them. With warm adrenaline flowing through their veins, the former slaves followed their Anglo-Saxon colonel into the brush, overrunning the enemy rifle pits in a mad, fearless dash through the timber." 

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: CIVIL WAR in the INDIAN TERRITORY by Steve Cottrell.

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