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Choctaw in the American Civil War

Choctaw men shortly after the American Civil War. Their dress typifies the appearance of Choctaw Nation soldiers.

The Choctaw in the American Civil War participated in two major arenas—the Trans-Mississippi and Western Theaters. The Trans-Mississippi had the Choctaw Nation. The Western had the Mississippi Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation had been mostly removed west prior to the War, but the Mississippi Choctaw had remained in the east. Both the Choctaw Nation and the Mississippi Choctaw would ultimately side with the Confederate States of America.

After thirty years of development, the Choctaw Nation had begun to flourish in their new western environment. Their economic system was identical as the American South and based upon slave labor. Their upper class was engaged in the cotton trade with networks reaching as far as New Orleans. Confederate envoy Albert Pike successfully persuaded much of "Indian Country" to side with the newly formed Confederate states. He conducted treaties for the Confederacy and later commanded a combined force of Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole troops.

The Mississippi Choctaw led a tougher existence. Through treaty provisions, they elected to stay in Mississippi while the majority of the Indians moved west. By the time of the American Civil War, the Mississippi Choctaw were destitute and lived a sharecropper's existence. The most lucky of them had a patron who were sympathetic to their needs. Mississippi Choctaws were continually petitioning their grievances to U.S. authorities which were mostly ignored. Mississippian John W. Pierce and Alabamian Samuel G. Spann organized the Mississippi Choctaw. They were both wealthy white planters and had experience with the Indians from Mississippi.