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Born at Oothcaloga in the Cherokee Nation, Georgia (near present
day Rome, Georgia) on December 12, 1806, Stand Watie's Cherokee
name was De-ga-ta-ga, or "he stands." He also was known as Isaac
S. Watie. He attended Moravian Mission School at Springplace Georgia,
and served as a clerk of the Cherokee Supreme Court and Speaker
of the Cherokee National Council prior to removal. As a member of
the Ridge-Watie-boundinot faction of the Cherokee Nation, Watie
supported removal to the Cherokee Nation, West, and signed the Treaty
of New Echota in 1835, in defiance of Principal Chief John Ross
and the majority of the Cherokees. Watie moved to the Cherokee Nation,
West (present-day Oklahoma), in 1837 and settled at Honey Creek.
Following the murders of his uncle Major Ridge, cousin John Ridge,
and brother Elias Boundinot (Buck Watie) in 1839, and his brother
Thomas Watie in 1845, Stand Watie assumed the leadership of the
Ridge-Watie-Boundinot faction and was involved in a long-running
blood feud with the followers of John Ross. He also was a leader
of the Knights of the Golden Circle, which bitterly opposed abolitionism.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Watie quickly joined the Southern
cause. He was commissioned a colonel on July 12, 1861, and raised
a regiment of Cherokees for service with teh Confederate army. Later,
when Chief John Ross signed an alliance with the South, Watie's
men were organized as the Cherokee Regiment of Mounted Rifles. After
Ross fled Indian Territory, Watie was elected principal chief of
the Confederate Cherokees in August 1862. A portion of Watie's command
saw action at Oak Hills (August 10, 1861) in a battle that assured
the South's hold on Indian Territory and made Watie a Confederate
military hero. Afterward, Watie helped drive the pro-Northern Indians
out of Indian Territory, and following the Battle of Chustenahlah
(December 26, 1861) he commanded the pursuit of hte fleeing Federals,
led by Opothleyahola, and drove them into exile in Kansas. Although
Watie's men were exempt from service outside Indian Territory, he
led his troops into Arkansas in the spring of 1861 to stem a Federal
invasion of the region. Joining with Maj. GEn. Earl Van Dorn's command,
Watie took part in the battle of Elkhorn Tavern (March 5-6, 1861).
On the first day of fighting, the Southern Cherokees, which were
on the left flank of the Confederate line, captured a battery of
Union artillery before being forced to abandon it. Following the
Federal victory, Watie's command screened the southern withdrawal.
Watie, or troops in his command, participated in eighteen battles
and major skirmishes with Federal troop during the Civil War, including
Cowskin Prairie (April 1862), Old Fort Wayne (October 1862), Webber's
Falls (April 1863), Fort Gibson (May 1863), Cabin Creek (July 1863),
and Gunter's Prairie (August 1864). In addition, his men were engaged
in a multitude of smaller skirmishes and meeting engagements in
Indian Territory and neighboring states. Because of his wide-ranging
raids behind Union lines, Watie tied down thousands of Federal troops
that were badly needed in the East. Watie's two greatest victories
were the capture of the federal steam boat J.R. Williams on June
15, 1864, and the seizure of $1.5 million worth of supplies in a
federal wagon supply train a the Second battle of Cabin Creek on
September 19, 1864. Watie was promoted to brigadier general on May
6, 1864, and given command of the first Indian Brigade. He was the
only Indian to achieve the rank of general in the Civil War. Watie
surrendered on June 23, 1865, the last Confederate general to lay
down his arms. After the war, Watie served as a member of the Southern
Cherokee delegation during the negotiation of the Cherokee Reconstruction
Treaty of 1866. He then abandoned public life and returned to his
old home along Honey Creek. He died on September 9, 1871.
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