Most of the Osage tribe lived in South EasternKansas, a newly admitted state which remained generally in Union hands throughout the war. The Indian Territory, modern Oklahoma, lay immediately to the south of Kansas and had recently been designated a home for the Five Civilized Tribes of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. The Osage were split into two major groups, the Great Osage and the Little Osage, and then into separate semi-autonomous bands. Prior to the war the two major American influences upon the Osage were the Jesuit mission at Neosho County, whose members generally favoured the Union, and the prominent merchant John Mathews, who favoured the Confederacy. After the outbreak of the American Civil War, the Confederacy was keen to sign military treaties with the tribes to secure their western frontier and diplomatic advances were made towards the Osage. The Osage were encouraged to sign a treaty by Mathews, the former US Indian agent Andrew J Dorn, and representatives from the Cherokee, who had chosen to side with the Confederacy. Mathews had been appointed a colonel in the Confederate army and led a unit of white, Cherokee and Osage men in the Indian Territory. The Confederate cause was helped when the leader of the Jesuit mission left the territory. The White Hair, Big Hill, Clermont and Black Dog bands of the Great Osage signed a cooperation treaty with the Confederacy on October 2, 1861. The Confederacy annexed much of the Osage territory, including that belonging to the Little Osage who had not signed the treaty. The Confederate government appointed Dorn as its Indian agent to the Osage and Louis Pharamond Chouteau, of mixed white and Osage heritage, was appointed the official government interpreter.
Formation
The treaty required the Great Osage to raise a 500-man unit for military service with the Confederacy, which was known as the Osage battalion. Chouteau was appointed adjutant and quartermaster of the unit, and an Osage named Broke Arm was its commander. Two of the company commanders were Captain Black Dog II and Captain Ogeese Captain. The Osage became the only Native American tribe outside of the Five Civilized Tribes to join the Confederate Armed Forces in any significant number. Recruitment to the battalion was hindered by the killing of Mathews by Union forces, which led to the withdrawal of the White Hair and Big Hill bands from the treaty. Other issues included the Union's occupation of much of the Osage reserve throughout the war, and the high level of support for the Union among the Osage people. Company A was formed at Harveyville, Kansas and drilled at Wilmington and the battalion was formed by Spring 1863. It consisted of 200 men split into four companies; both men and officers were drawn from the Osage community. Being a Plains Indian tribe with relatively little European influence, the men of the battalion were initially reluctant to wear standard Confederate uniform and equipment. From June 23, 1863, the battalion formed part of General Douglas H. Cooper's brigade of the Trans-Mississippi Department and participated in raids on Union territory. During this period, the Confederacy made several payments of gold to the Osage, though their ability to administer the reserve was hampered by the Union occupation. Distributions of currency, food and stores were made to Osage refugees in Indian Territory, rather than Kansas.
First Indian Brigade
During Major General Samuel B. Maxey's spring 1864 reorganisation of Confederate forces in the Indian Territory, the Osage Battalion became part of Brigadier General Stand Watie's First Indian Brigade of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi from May 10. The Osage Battalion fought at the Second Battle of Cabin Creek, where the Confederates captured 130 wagons and more than 1,800 horses and mules from a Union supply train. They were also part of Price's Missouri Expedition in late 1864, forming part of the rearguard. During the expedition the unit fought at the Battle of Byram's Ford. By early 1865 Chouteau reported that the battalion was in good spirits but lacked for uniforms and requested fresh supplies.
Surrender
The American Civil War is considered to have ended on May 9, 1865, but isolated units continued to be active after this time. The Osage battalion surrendered to Union forces on June 23 at Fort Towson near Doaksville, Indian Territory, as part of a ceremony with the Cherokee, Creek and Seminole of Watie's command. Watie was the last Confederate general to capitulate and this ceremony marked the "last formal surrender of any significant body of Confederate troops". In the aftermath of the war the Osage were summoned to the US government's Fort Smith Council in September 1865, but were not made to sign new agreements. This was in contrast to the Five Civilized Tribes, who were told they had forfeited all previous treaty rights by signing treaties with the Confederacy.
