Indian Home Guard

The Indian Home Guard was a series of volunteer infantry regiments recruited from the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian Territory to support the Union during the American Civil War. There was also a series of Confederate units of Indian Territory. The leaders of all of the Five Civilized Tribes signed treaties with the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War. Many of the tribal members, however, did not support the Confederacy, and, not being organized, were driven from Indian Territory with a large loss of life. Most fled to Kansas and Missouri. Many of the "Loyal" Indians volunteered for Union duty in order to get control back from the Confederate generals. The Indian Home Guard regiments fought mostly in Indian Territory and Arkansas. It was mainly due to these Loyal Indians that the Five Civilized Tribes were able to retain any of their lands following the end of the Civil War. Indian Home Guard Regiments 1st Regiment, Indian Home Guard Organized at Le Roy, Kansas on May 22, 1862, it included Major William Addison Phillips. The regiment consisted of eight companies of Creeks and two recruited amongst the Seminole. Company A of the unit was led by Sonuk Mikko. From the summer 1862 to Spring 1865, the 1st Indian Home Guard participated in over thirty actions.