General Stand Watie.

General Stand Watie.

Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. Born near present day Rome, Georgia he was a controversial leader of the Cherokee Nation and a hero of the Confederate cause. He supported the removal of the Cherokee Nation to Oklahoma and became bitter enemies of his fellow Cherokees who opposed the move. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined the Confederate Army, he was commissioned as a colonel and raised a regiment of Cherokee fighters. In 1862, the Colonel was named the principal chief of the Confederate Cherokees. During the war he led his troops into eighteen battles and guided them into many more raids behind Union lines.

His raids were so effective that it forced hundreds of Union troops to be tied to the West at a time they were desperately needed to fight in the East. In 1864 his regiment captured a Union steam boat and seized over a million dollars worth of supplies from Union forces. Later that year he was made a brigadier general, the only Native American to achieve that rank during the Civil War. He surrendered to Union forces on June 23, 1865, reportedly the last Confederate general to lay down his arms.

Birth: Dec. 12, 1806.
Death: Sep. 9, 1871.
Burial: Polson Cemetery, Delaware County, Oklahoma.