Civil War in the Indian Territory

The teaming of author Steve Cottrell and artist Andy Thomas in this book is perfect. Many captivating stories and facts combined with amazing artwork to go with them. This subject is a very interesting, and largely unknown, part of the American Civil War that anybody interested in this important time of American history should read. It's also written for a very wide range of ages to learn and enjoy.

The writing is a bit corny; and nothing is covered in depth (it is a small book). But as a quick review on the battles involving Native Americans in the Civil War, it's pretty handy

......that the Civil War reached Oklahoma, which was then called Indian Territory. Well, it did, and it's quite a story. A backwater of General Edmund Kirby Smith's Transmississippi Department, Oklahoma was a boarder area where brother really did fight against brother. Real battles were fought, and real soldiers died. But, they didn't die in the massive numbers seen at Chickamauga or Antietam; thus history has forgotten them. This fine little book makes a good start at correcting the oversight. When the war broke out, both sides wanted the Indians, the Five Civilized Tribes, led by the Cherokees, and each got around half. The Confederacy sent Brigadier General Albert Pike to recruit them, and he did a pretty good job. A strange, brilliant, man, Pike's career as a General is a minor footnote in his long life as an attorney, author, and Masonic scholar. Pike resigned in 1862, and was followed by Douglas Cooper, a more conventional, if less colorful, officer. Here we meet the very first American Indian ever to wear general's stars: Brigadier General Stand Watie, one of the two rival Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation. This was NOT a poor Indian in a wigwam, but a wealthy, slave owning, rancher who lived in a mansion. He was also a very effective leader, and fighting cavalry officer, who conducted multiple successful operations. For all the Confederacy's problems, this was an arena where the South remained viable. General Watie did not surrender until June 23, 1865, the last Confederate general to strike his colors. This book does not pretend to be a deep, scholarly, tome. It is, however, a very well researched, and well written, overview. This IS a book that I would recommend to the general reader; all too many think the Civil War was just about Lee and Grant, and that's far from the whole story.