Home |  PublicationsEncyclopedia |  First Cherokee Mounted Rifles

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

FIRST CHEROKEE MOUNTED RIFLES.

Soon after the Civil War began, the Cherokee National executive committee in August 1861 authorized the creation of the First Cherokee Mounted Rifles under Col. John Drew, ostensibly in anticipation of an alliance with the Confederate States of America. The regiment's officers were loyal to Chief John Ross, and many enlistees were full-blood Cherokee traditionalists. The organization may have been created partially in response to the Confederacy's authorization of an alternate unit outside tribal jurisdiction. This rival "First Cherokee" was formed by Stand Watie's aggrieved faction, which had intermarried with southern whites. In November and December 1861 Drew's regiment took part in pursuit of anti-Confederate Creek and Seminole refugees led by Creek Chief Opothleyahola. Rather than fight fellow Indians, many members of Drew's regiment deserted during the campaign. The unit further dissolved in 1862 following the Confederate defeat at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and the invasion of Indian Territory by the Federal Indian Expedition. The regiment was disbanded that July, by which time many members had switched to U.S. Indian Home Guard regiments.

Michael A. Hughes

Bibliography

W. Craig Gaines, The Confederate Cherokees: John Drew's Regiment of Mounted Rifles (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989).

Lary C. Rampp and Donald L. Rampp, The Civil War in the Indian Territory (Austin, Tex.: Presidial Press, 1975).


Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
Michael A. Hughes, “First Cherokee Mounted Rifles,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=FI007.

Published January 15, 2010

Copyright and Terms of Use

No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain.

Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole.