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The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War
No one questions the horrific impact of the Civil War on America, but few realize its effect on American Indians. Residents of Indian Territory found the war especially devastating. Their homeland was beset not only by regular army operations but also by guerillas and bushwhackers. Complicating the situation even further, Cherokee men fought for the Union as well as the Confederacy and created their own “brothers’ war.”This book offers a broad overview of the war as it affected the Cherokees—a social history of a people plunged into crisis. The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War shows how the Cherokee people, who had only just begun to recover from the ordeal of removal, faced an equally devastating upheaval in the Civil War. Clarissa W. Confer illustrates how the Cherokee Nation, with its sovereign status and distinct culture, had a wartime experience unlike that of any other group of people—and suffered perhaps the greatest losses of land, population, and sovereignty.
Confer examines decision-making and leadership within the tribe, campaigns and soldiering among participants on both sides, and elements of civilian life and reconstruction. She reveals how a centuries-old culture informed the Cherokees’ choices, with influences as varied as matrilineal descent, clan affiliations, economic distribution, and decentralized government combining to distinguish the Native reaction to the war.
The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War recalls a people enduring years of hardship while also struggling for their future as the white man’s war encroached on the physical and political integrity of their nation.
Confer examines decision-making and leadership within the tribe, campaigns and soldiering among participants on both sides, and elements of civilian life and reconstruction. She reveals how a centuries-old culture informed the Cherokees’ choices, with influences as varied as matrilineal descent, clan affiliations, economic distribution, and decentralized government combining to distinguish the Native reaction to the war.
The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War recalls a people enduring years of hardship while also struggling for their future as the white man’s war encroached on the physical and political integrity of their nation.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 26, 2011
A fast read, a grabber, though as I'm reading several books for a school project on Indians and the Civil War not really anything new here for me at least, but highly recommended as an introduction for another side to the usual debates on why people fought. American Indians are rarely thought of when the Civil War comes up...this book focuses on the Cherokee who were but one tribe that participated but probably the largest in number and they were as divided as yankee and rebel fighting for both sides.
March 11, 2016
A good introduction to the history of the Cherokees during the Civil War which was probably as devastating as the Trail of Tears. I certainly learned very little about the Civil War in my Oklahoma history class in high school. This book goes a long way to remedy that.
June 30, 2018
Clarissa W. Confer. The Cherokee Nations in the Civil War. University of Oklahoma Press:
Norman, 2007.
Clarissa Confer argues, in The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War, that historical accounts of the American Civil War lag behind in adopting underrepresented views of minority groups. Her thesis proposes that underrepresentation has been detrimental to Native American voices, overlooking the unique positions of the tribes in the United States, the roles they had in the war, and the severe consequences the Civil War had on their societies. This thesis is given nuance through the choices, decisions, experiences, and atypical development of the Cherokee as they were influenced by Removal and Civil War tensions (8). It also conveys how the war severely altered the cultures of the Cherokee and Indian Territory, leading to the erosion of tribal sovereignty through factors of the greed exhibited by the American federal government, the prejudices faced from the American public, and tribal factionalism (148).
The Cherokee Nation portrays Native Americans as actors on the geopolitical stage. Its primary strength is illustrating that Civil War stressors did not occur in a vacuum, and that the tensions that strained the relationship between the Northern and Southern states also divided the tribes. This idea challenges Native American romanticism, as Confer illustrates that they were motivated by the same economic, political, and social systems of the United States (23). Observances of Cherokee motivations for forming alliances also strengthen her work, detailing the following factors of allegiances: Jackson’s administration proving that favorable Supreme Court decisions offered no protections (19), the tribe’s economic interest being reliant on agriculture and chattel slavery (23), and the Confederacy’s willingness to work with the Cherokee as legislative equals while Lincoln’s administration was idle (45).
There are also several weaknesses in Confer’s arguments. The most prominent is that in distinguishing between American and Native identities, she seems to favor the latter, and is averse towards ideas she associates with white society. This weakens her work because when describing the selfish economic, political, and social motives of the Cherokee and Native American tribes, she attributes them to the corruption of white society instead of historical agency (45). This occurs in contradiction to her prefix that the decisions that the Cherokee made during the war may not have always been favorable, but they were Native American decisions (5). This also skews military history because she describes losses of high-stakes battles, like Robert E. Lee’s in Pennsylvania, as a failed gamble, but gives Stand Waite’s loss when attacking Ft. Gibson’s supply lines the description of a bold, logical attack despite of extreme Union power (88). Still, the work makes major contributions to the historical contexts of the Civil War through its observances of how Cherokee and tribal perspectives influenced the conflict (9).
Confer used primary accounts, like Elizabeth Watts’ childhood description, to depict Cherokee thoughts of war. Secondary sources were utilized to tell the feats of Stand Waite and John Ross, using maps and pictures to detail military strategy. The first sentence that grabbed my attention from the work was “the Cherokee’s appealed to the highest legal authority, the United States Supreme Court, and discovered favorable rulings provided no practical protection” (19). This sentence poses the historical question of where does one turn when the federal government ignores its own authority. It also represented the Cherokee’s attempts to rectify their situation through judicial processes, to no avail. The next sentence that garnered my attention was “native leaders made it clear that they had not accepted missionaries in order to be judged on the morality of slavery” (28). This sentence depicts how deeply rooted slavery was into American and Cherokee societies. It also poses the historical question of could the Cherokee have survived in an agrarian economy without the institution of slavery, framing the context of tribal struggle that led to the decrease in Native American autonomy.
Norman, 2007.
Clarissa Confer argues, in The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War, that historical accounts of the American Civil War lag behind in adopting underrepresented views of minority groups. Her thesis proposes that underrepresentation has been detrimental to Native American voices, overlooking the unique positions of the tribes in the United States, the roles they had in the war, and the severe consequences the Civil War had on their societies. This thesis is given nuance through the choices, decisions, experiences, and atypical development of the Cherokee as they were influenced by Removal and Civil War tensions (8). It also conveys how the war severely altered the cultures of the Cherokee and Indian Territory, leading to the erosion of tribal sovereignty through factors of the greed exhibited by the American federal government, the prejudices faced from the American public, and tribal factionalism (148).
The Cherokee Nation portrays Native Americans as actors on the geopolitical stage. Its primary strength is illustrating that Civil War stressors did not occur in a vacuum, and that the tensions that strained the relationship between the Northern and Southern states also divided the tribes. This idea challenges Native American romanticism, as Confer illustrates that they were motivated by the same economic, political, and social systems of the United States (23). Observances of Cherokee motivations for forming alliances also strengthen her work, detailing the following factors of allegiances: Jackson’s administration proving that favorable Supreme Court decisions offered no protections (19), the tribe’s economic interest being reliant on agriculture and chattel slavery (23), and the Confederacy’s willingness to work with the Cherokee as legislative equals while Lincoln’s administration was idle (45).
There are also several weaknesses in Confer’s arguments. The most prominent is that in distinguishing between American and Native identities, she seems to favor the latter, and is averse towards ideas she associates with white society. This weakens her work because when describing the selfish economic, political, and social motives of the Cherokee and Native American tribes, she attributes them to the corruption of white society instead of historical agency (45). This occurs in contradiction to her prefix that the decisions that the Cherokee made during the war may not have always been favorable, but they were Native American decisions (5). This also skews military history because she describes losses of high-stakes battles, like Robert E. Lee’s in Pennsylvania, as a failed gamble, but gives Stand Waite’s loss when attacking Ft. Gibson’s supply lines the description of a bold, logical attack despite of extreme Union power (88). Still, the work makes major contributions to the historical contexts of the Civil War through its observances of how Cherokee and tribal perspectives influenced the conflict (9).
Confer used primary accounts, like Elizabeth Watts’ childhood description, to depict Cherokee thoughts of war. Secondary sources were utilized to tell the feats of Stand Waite and John Ross, using maps and pictures to detail military strategy. The first sentence that grabbed my attention from the work was “the Cherokee’s appealed to the highest legal authority, the United States Supreme Court, and discovered favorable rulings provided no practical protection” (19). This sentence poses the historical question of where does one turn when the federal government ignores its own authority. It also represented the Cherokee’s attempts to rectify their situation through judicial processes, to no avail. The next sentence that garnered my attention was “native leaders made it clear that they had not accepted missionaries in order to be judged on the morality of slavery” (28). This sentence depicts how deeply rooted slavery was into American and Cherokee societies. It also poses the historical question of could the Cherokee have survived in an agrarian economy without the institution of slavery, framing the context of tribal struggle that led to the decrease in Native American autonomy.
October 3, 2023
This book was a very good overall of the history of the Cherokee nation in the Civil War! We see development of animosity between Watie and Ross which is one reason that the Cherokee nation was divided and still divided. We see how they fought in battle and chose a side despite their leaders dividing the tribe. We see how the Civil War affected everyone not just the main Caucasian people but Cherokee women, African Americans, men who never got to go back home. A great history book about a very important topic. 4.5/5 stars.
February 1, 2022
Decent overview of the conflict with respect to the Cherokee. Good examination of the impact on refugee communities that developed in Kansas, Indian Territory, and Texas.
October 22, 2022
A thorough and readable work on an understudied topic.
February 13, 2013
This is a basic review of the Cherokee nation during the Civil War. For the scholar of history this will be a disappointment. It is very generalized and does not pursue certain subjects such as Stand Waite's wartime activities very well. There are brief glimpses of true insight. Confer's look at the Cherokee home-front and refugees does offer substance to the book; however, it does not go far enough.
Well written but does not go deep enough to satisfy the more than general history reader.
Well written but does not go deep enough to satisfy the more than general history reader.
July 5, 2024
Good history of the tribe during the Civil War, but also rather brief, especially with the military aspects. It fails to cover the period from the spring of 1864 to the end of the war, and only mentions the formation of John Drew's and Stand Watie's regiments and their early service. The exact activities of these units during the later part of the war (along with the 1st Battalion formed later on in the war) isn't covered.
February 8, 2013
This was a disappointing book that gave only a glimpse of a fascinating and under-examined aspect of the Civil War (and of how many aspects of the war could THAT be said!).
November 11, 2014
Very informative book about a little known facet of the American Civil War. Anyone interested in this time period should read this.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews