Confederate Indian Pension

Exceedingly scarce archive of documents related to Native American A.P. Kincade’s pension request for serving in the Confederate Army as a private in the First Regiment Choctaw & Chickasaw Mounted Rifles. The archive includes:

Application for Pension partly printed document Arkansas, 14 June 1922. 1 page, folio. -- Proof of Indigency partly printed document. Arkansas, 9 June 1922. 1 page, folio. -- Evidence of Physician (Original Application) partly printed document signed by J.J. Smith, M.D. Logan County, Arkansas, 9 June 1922. Notes that the physician J.J. Smith is acquainted with A.P. Kincade of Paris, Arkansas. He notes that the "Extent of disability 'One half'". -- Typed document signed by E.E. Young. Logan County, Arkansas, n.m. 1922. With second copy not completed in manuscript. A testament by Young attesting to have known A.P. Kincade for 20 years and that he believes his claim to having served under Douglas H. Cooper is correct. -- Typed letter signed by J.C. Riley. Paris, Arkansas, 8 May 1922. 1 page 8 3/8 x 5 1/2 in. Seeking confirmation of Kincade's enlistment.

The First Regiment Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles was a fascinating regiment composed almost entirely of members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) that supported the Confederacy. The regiment was organized in August 1861, and quickly fought in a series of three battles with pro-Union Native Americans led by Upper Creek Chief Opothleyahola: the Battles of Round Mountain, Chusto-Talasah, and Chustenahlah (collectively known as the Trail of Blood on Ice).

In the spring 1862, the First Regiment Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles facilitated a Confederate retreat after the Battle of Pea Ridge, and helped to turn the tide for the Confederate Army at Newtonia, Missouri. The regiment suffered a defeat at the Battle of Fort Wayne in the Cherokee Nation on 22 October 1862, and again at the Battle of Honey Springs in the Creek Nation. By 1864, all of the Native American units in Indian Territory were consolidated into the Second Indian Cavalry Brigade, with their final major engagement at the Battle of Poison Spring on 18 April 1864. As Confederate hopes for ultimate victory faded, so did the enthusiasm from Native American troops.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Native Americans, Indian Affairs, Choctaw Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Creek Nation, Oklahoma, UCV, United Confederate Veterans, GAR, Grand Army of the Republic, Veterans' Organizations, Reconstruction, Documents, Manuscripts, Ephemera, Robert E. Lee]