Many members of an earlier generation did hear of him. Rifles for Watie (New York: Harper and Row, 1957), a novel for young people, won the prestigious Newbery Award and went through several editions.
Posted on 08/20/2017 6:28:10 AM PDT by Antoninus
It’s wrong to pre-judge a human being based on their racial characteristics. Beyond that, it’s stupid. Any marginally intelligent person knows this. A Christian, certainly, has no excuse for treating someone badly simply because they are of a different racial category. For a Catholic, it's a sin to do so.
At the same time, as we watch political agitators wantonly destroying symbols of our country’s history in vigilante mobs, one can not help but be struck by their profound ignorance of said history. For these simpletons, the Confederacy equals racism, and everything having to do with it equals racism, and anyone who casts a wistful glance at the sacrifices of their ancestors in support of the Confederacy is, de facto, a racist. But one doesn’t have to dig too deeply into the history to find that the situation was often far more complicated than this snap judgment will afford.
Take, for example, the case of Confederate brigadier general Stand Watie. Of course, you’ve never heard of him because your schooling in American history, like mine, was deeply defective. Stand Watie was a chief of the Cherokee Nation. Born in 1806, he had been among the Cherokees who were forced off their native lands in Georgia to “Indian Territory” in present day Oklahoma. Watie moved in 1835, three years before the rest of the tribe were forcibly relocated as part of the Trail of Tears.
When the Civil War erupted, it is perhaps not surprising that Watie and many of the Cherokees were drawn to the Confederate cause. They had no love for the federal government in Washington, and besides that, slavery was practiced by many American Indian tribes from before contact with Europeans. Watie himself owned slaves. Though divided, the Cherokee eventually threw their lot with the rebels and Stand Watie soon became a colonel in the Confederate army, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general. Well into his 50s, he was an active fighter in the western theater, taking part in battles throughout the Indian Territories. He would become famous as the last Confederate general to surrender, which he did on June 23, 1865.
The war had been hard on the Cherokee. They lost nearly a third of their number and their territory had been devastated by Union soldiers. After the war, Stand Watie tried to rebuild his home and his fortunes. He died six years later, predeceased by all of his three sons. His two daughters died shortly after him, leaving his widowed wife, Sarah, to carry on until 1883.
Stand Watie was not a paragon of virtue. He had many faults. His cause was wrong and his methods in combat could be unorthodox. He did not always have control of his men, who sometimes reverted to the old Indian practice of scalping their enemies. But was he racist? Our friends on the Left tell us that oppressed minorities can not be racist by definition—that only Whites can be racist. So where does that leave someone like Stand Watie in their postmodern hierarchy of sins?
Before you judge Stand Watie, however, at least give a read to this excerpt from a letter he wrote to his wife in 1864 where he examines his conscience:
"Sometimes I examine myself thoroughly and I will always come to the conclusion that I am not such a bad man at last as I am looked upon. God will give me justice. If I am to be punished for the opinions of other people, who do not know my heart I can’t help it. If I commit an error I do it without bad intention. My great crime in the world is blunder. I will get into scrapes without intention or any bad motive. I call upon God to judge me, he knows that I love my friends and above all others, my wife and children, the opinion of the world to contrary notwithstanding." [Taken from Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 1, page 47.]
You can read more of his correspondence at the above source. It's a fascinating look into the mind of a man in the process of losing a war, despite his best efforts, who was deeply affected by the slanders spread about him by his enemies.
As a Pennsylvania boy born and raised, I have little sympathy for the Confederate cause. But I do recognize that people fought in the Civil War for a variety of reasons that often had little to do with defending or destroying the hideous institution of slavery. Many of those who fought on the wrong side were brave men who sacrificed all. In the not-too-distant past, men could fight one day, be reconciled the next, and be best friends the day after. They could also honor each other years later—call it courtesy, nostalgia, chivalry or what have you. That sense of chivalry seems to be something our society has been sadly lacking for some time now.
Our modern arbiters of morality in media and the mask-wearing mob insist on judging our ancestors based on their own ill-informed, hyper-politicized 21st century views. These same folks vehemently deny anyone else the privilege of judging them or their actions. But their day will come. I am confident that future generations will judge the lives of men like Stand Watie a good deal more sympathetically than those of the cowardly rioters who pull down the effigies of brave men.
If they eventually deem Stand Watie unfit for a memorial of this kind, they should probably also find and burn all copies of the 1976 movie, The Outlaw Josie Wales, as it includes a character called "Lone Watie" played brilliantly by Chief Dan George. If you've never seen the film, Lone Watie is a likable character and his backstory will sound awfully familiar if you have read this post. In this clip, he explains his rationale for declaring war on the Union.
“Endeavor to persevere.”
EXCELLENT point on Stand Watie.
If the other side wasn’t in this for pure power they’d have to admit you were right.
Ping.
5.56mm
Great article. Thanks for posting it.
I had no idea General Watie was on FR. LOL.
Please boycott and DO NOT use the $1.00, $20.00, $50.00, & $100.00 bills, as they depict pictures of slave owners. Gather all of these hideous forms of racism and send them to me. I will see to it that they are disposed of properly. You don’t have to thank me, I do this as a public service for my country.
Many members of an earlier generation did hear of him. Rifles for Watie (New York: Harper and Row, 1957), a novel for young people, won the prestigious Newbery Award and went through several editions.
Thinking I need to put a copy of “ Gone With The Wind “ in my safe...
What ever happened to our ardent friend stand_watie? I miss her on these threads, albeit a bit volatile!
When I attended ceremonies for the Confederate POW burial ground at Pt. Lookout, prominent were a few representatives of the Cherokee Nation. The chief presented a memorial wreath from the Cherokee as we all did.
It’s amazing how much we DON’T know about our history. A tad more information would put things in much better context. I’ve learned alot on the RevWar side, being a devotee to our founding.
No big deal for the $20. They’re replacing Jackson with Tubman.
If anyone should be bitter about the Civil War it is the South. The South was all but destroyed for their resistance of the North. These memorials to figures of the South are some concession to dignity that I’ll say allowed the war to end and the nation to mend just a little. They are not icons to the memory of slavery. It is just stupid to believe that.
Let’s just tear down all the statues and destroy all the icons of our past and former principles and become an even more directionless, traditionless, hedonist nation.
I have already stated that not only Cherokees but blacks as well held slaves
Antifa and their efforts aren’t about any of that. They are commies through and through
if the flag, and monuments are to be removed because it is insulting to the snowflakes , because it flew and represents slavery, and oppression then does the Stars and Stripes come down since that too flew on slave ships, flew out west when fighting the indians?
This is why all of this is so stupid, and dumb. The people who state they are insulted are the same people who vote for the party of slavery, KKK, segregation, and against the civil rights act.
FRIGGING IDIOTS.
They should replace the statues with statues of abolitionists.
BLM’s response: You want us to put up statues of white people?
The debate would be fun to watch.
Beat me to it. Chief Dan George was magnificent in the role.
Will they attack the Tahlequah memorial? The Stand Watie Memorial Highway? Stand Watie’s grave not far from here?
Not long ago I saw a large number of paintings done by a local honoring Watie and his battles.
For those interested, almost all the tribes in Oklahoma and the plains went to war against the Union. Only the Pawnee, Crow and a small band of Yakaton Sioux remained loyal to the North. Osages were split, but most went South. It was believed /confederate agents were slipping in from Canada stirring up the northern tribes.
On the plains, the Apaches in New Mexico attacked the Union forts and welcomed in the Confederate cavalry. Farther north, the Cheyenne and Arapaho had the same plans for forts along the Arkansas River. Some members of Black Kettle’s tribe, being schooled in St Louis immediately joined the Confederate army and fought in Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi. They were believed to be agents for the South when Chivington hit their camp at Sand Creek and captured them. Chivington had earlier helped destroy a Confederate advance into New Mexico and felt the hostile tribes were “Red Rebels”
After the war, the Oklahoma tribes were forced to give up almost all the western part of Oklahoma. These areas were later made into reservations for other western tribes forced out of their homelands.
Contrary to popular belief, the Cherokee casinos and other tribes will not reject a bill with Andrew Jackson’s portrait on it.
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