Civil War in Indian Territory
During the Civil War, Indian Territory was an active slaveholding region where thousands of Black people remained enslaved within the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations. Enslavement in these nations was legally sanctioned, economically entrenched, and protected by tribal laws that mirrored Southern slave codes. As the war unfolded, several tribal governments aligned with the Confederacy in an effort to preserve slavery, while enslaved Black people continued to labor on farms, ranches, and in households under brutal conditions. Freedom did not immediately follow the war’s end; for many, enslavement persisted until federal treaties in 1866 formally abolished slavery in Indian Territory and promised citizenship to the formerly enslaved—marking the beginning of a long and unfinished struggle for justice.
Within the communities of Choctaw & Chickasaw Nations, many of the enslaved men decided to make their own mark and to seize the opportunity, if it came, to become activists and to fight for their freedom.
Men from the Cherokee, Creek and Seminole Nations had already joined the Civil War as early as 1861 and some had seen action in 1862.
For Choctaw and Chickasaw people, many were forced from their home in Indian Territory to move South into Texas while enslaved.
The ideas of freedom would not be easy to carry out. However, some, because of their proximity to Union Army held places took advantage and they did enlist. This page honors those men who have been identified as true Freedom fighters. Some were born in Indian Territory, while others were taken there while still young. By the time of the Civil War, the Choctaw Nation was their home, and for some, the Chickasaw Nation was their home.
These men are seldom mentioned when the western theatre of the Civil War history is discussed. Nevertheless, they were there on the battlefield, and thanks to the official military record, their footprints can be found.
They are our ancestors and should never be forgotten.
**
(These images are all from the National Archives Compiled Military Service Records that are now digitized and available online on Fold3.com)
