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| Photograph Courtesy of Waynesville Mountaineer |
The Thomas Legion's Cherokee veterans posed for their last photograph during the New Orleans Confederate Reunion in 1903. Banner
Inscription: “Cherokee Veteran Indians of Thomas’ Legion, 69 N.C. Regiment, Suo-Noo-Kee Camp U.C.V. 4th Brigade, N.C. Division”
Pictured from left to right; Front row: Usai, Kimson Saunooke, Jesse Ross, Jesse Reed,
Sevier Skitty. Back row: Bird Saconita, Dave Owl, Lt. Colonel William Williams Stringfield, Lt. Suatie (Suyeta) Owl (Owle), Jim Cag, Wesley Crow, Jessan, Lt. Calvin Cagle. (Cagle is often reported as a member of
the Legion, but no records confirm it. However, his presence appears to connect him to the Legion). Names were furnished
by the late James R. Thomas, son of William H. Thomas. It is the editor's view that this is the most accurate "photograph
interpretation" available. Also see Photos from the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
(Overview: Battles and Skirmishes)
The Cherokees reconnoitered the enemy at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in June 1862. The Cherokees, subsequently, fought the enemy at Powell's Valley in September 1862; at the North Carolina - Tennessee line from September 1862 to June 1863; at Murphy, North Carolina, in October 1863; at Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in December 1863; at Deep Creek (Bryson City area) in February 1864; and were instrumental in forcing the Union army's surrender at White Sulphur Springs (Waynesville) in
May 1865. Prior to any skirmish or battle, the warrior consulted the traditional oracle stone to know whether or not he would live. (Also see: Cherokee Battalion, Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders:
The Beginning and William Holland Thomas's 20 Cherokee Bodyguard or "Life
Guard": Includes Significant American Civil War Events Relating to
Western North Carolina)
"...An Indian [from Thomas' Legion] always executes an order with religious
fidelity. They scrupulously respect private property--there are no reports of depredations where they are encamped. They are
the best scouts in the world..." Knoxville Register, February 21, 1863
When the Thomas Legion was ordered to the Shenandoah Valley to participate in Gen. Jubal Early's Valley Campaigns, the Cherokees were detached and assigned to defend the Southern Appalachian Mountains. During the infamous Shelton Laurel Massacre, Thomas and the Indians were assigned to Western North Carolina and were engaging bushwhackers and deserters (O.R., Series 1, Vol. 18, p. 811*), and, when the Confederate forces in the Cumberland Gap capitulated on September 9, 1863, Colonel Thomas and the two Cherokee Companies were guarding the passes of the Smokies (O.R. Ser. 1, Vol. 30, pt. III, p. 661). *Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; hereinafter cited as O.R.
Thomas was following General
Buckner’s Orders and on Sept. 2, 1863, Thomas and the two Cherokee Companies departed Strawberry Plains for Western
North Carolina. While Thomas and the Indians were en route to the mountains, Major (later Lt. Col.) William Stringfield’s
sister, Mollie, spoke to Thomas as he departed Strawberry Plains and marched down the West Valley Road toward Sevierville. Buckner's order was in response to the great
plundering of the region by outlaws, deserters and bushwhackers. With the exception of the Skirmish at Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in December 1863, Thomas and the Cherokee
Battalion spent the remainder of the Civil War defending the North Carolina Smokies (O.R.,
1, 49, pt II, pp. 754-755). While in North
Carolina, Thomas and the Indians were responsible for recruitment duties, fighting bushwhackers, apprehending deserters, and
engaging the Union army (Cherokee Indian Scouts and O.R., 53, 313-314).
Prior to the Thomas Legion capturing White Sulphur Springs (Waynesville), North Carolina, in May 1865, the Thomas Legion's Cherokees encompassed the surrounding mountains and displayed their intimidating "Cherokee War Whoops
and Dances." Subsequently, the Confederates surrendered to Union forces. The Cherokee War Whoops are currently referred to
as PSYOPS or Psychological Operations and, moreover, are reflected in ancient Cherokee War Rituals. Unfortunately, some authors misrepresent the Cherokee War Rituals and others even ridicule and mock this sacred practice.
(Highly Recommended Reading: Storm in the mountains: Thomas' Confederate Legion of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers.)
Related Reading:
Knoxville Register:
February 21, 1863 - Thomas' Legion
The Indian Legion.--Major Thomas,
commanding the Legion of Cherokee
Indians, who have rendered much service to the Confederate
cause in East Tennessee,
was in our city yesterday. The Major is now with
his aboriginal allies in the mountains on the border between this State
and North Carolina, where he is in reality conciliating the tories. Let us
mention a fact or two communicated to us
by Major Thomas, to the credit of
these dusky warriors.
They excel any troops in either the Northern or Southern armies
for
subordination--an Indian always executes an order with religious fidelity.
They scrupulously respect private property--there
are no reports of
depredations where they are encamped. They are the best scouts in the world,
and hence the good
that they have accomplished among the mountain tories
and bush-whackers. A notice that Maj. Thomas' Indians are in a section
of
country brings in the dodgers at once, for they know that hiding out will not
avail against the Cherokees. By their
aid the Major has enlisted without
bloodshed, a great many men in his corps of sappers and miners, who have
thus been
converted from mischievous tories and bush-whackers into useful
employees of the Confederate Government. The Major, if
the war lasts,
will yet be of infinite service to the Government.--Knoxville Register,
[February] 21st.
Highly
Recommended Reading: Storm in the Mountains (Thomas' Legion)
Additional Sources: Official Records
of the Union and Confederate Armies; Vernon H. Crow, Storm in the Mountains: Thomas' Confederate Legion of Cherokee Indians
and Mountaineers; Walter Clark, Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865;
National Park Service: American Civil War; National Park Service: Soldiers and Sailors System; Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis
H. Manarin, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865; D. H. Hill, Confederate
Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865; Christopher M. Watford, The Civil War
in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865. Volume 2: The Mountains; William F. Fox, Regimental
Losses in the American Civil War.
Recommended Assistance
in Researching Your Genealogy and Heritage:
© 2005, 2006, 2007 Matthew D. Parker. All Rights Reserved.
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