12-26-2024 - On This Day in Insane History

On December 26, 1862, during the American Civil War, a peculiar military engagement unfolded that would become known as the Battle of Chustenahlah, pitting Confederate Cherokee forces against Union-loyal Cherokee troops in the rugged Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). This internecine conflict highlighted the complex and often heart-wrenching divisions within Native American communities during the war.

Led by Stand Watie, a Cherokee chief who sided with the Confederacy, approximately 1,500 Confederate Cherokee and allied Native American troops clashed with around 1,800 Union-loyal Cherokee under John Opothleyohola. The battle erupted in the snowy wilderness, with temperatures plummeting and tensions boiling over in a fight that was as much about tribal politics and survival as it was about the larger national conflict.

Watie's forces decisively defeated Opothleyohola's group, forcing the Union-loyal Cherokee to flee into Kansas, leaving behind their supplies and suffering significant casualties. This engagement was particularly significant because it demonstrated how the Civil War fractured not just the United States, but indigenous communities as well, with families and tribes split between Confederate and Union allegiances.

The battle's aftermath saw hundreds of Union-loyal Cherokee refugees facing brutal winter conditions, a stark reminder of the war's human cost beyond the battlefield. Stand Watie would go on to become the last Confederate general to surrender, doing so on June 23, 1865, nearly two months after Robert E. Lee's capitulation at Appomattox.