[BroJoeK]

AuntB: "Actually, the civil war was proceeding in and around Indian Territory as early as March, 1861.
Confederate Colonel Stand Watie and his Cherokee troops had taken Fort Smith, held raids into Missouri, along with some Texans in the early spring."

Near as I can tell, Watie's official role in the Confederate Army began in July 1861.

"At the outbreak of the Civil War, Watie quickly joined the Southern cause.
He was commissioned a colonel on July 12, 1861, and raised a regiment of Cherokees for service with the Confederate army.
Later, when Chief John Ross signed an alliance with the South, Watie's men were organized as the Cherokee Regiment of Mounted Rifles.
After Ross fled Indian Territory, Watie was elected principal chief of the Confederate Cherokees in August 1862.

"A portion of Watie's command saw action at Oak Hills (August 10, 1861) in a battle that assured the South's hold on Indian Territory and made Watie a Confederate military hero."

Battle of Wilson's Creek aka Battle of Oak Hills, August 10, 1861:

And here is a second version of events:

"After a majority of the Cherokee Nation voted to support the Confederacy in the American Civil War, Watie organized a regiment of cavalry.

"In October 1861, he was commissioned as colonel in the 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles.
Although he fought Federal troops, he also led his men in fighting between factions of the Cherokee, as well as against the Creek, Seminole and others in Indian Territory who chose to support the Union.

"Watie is noted for his role in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on March 6–8, 1862.
Watie's troops captured Union artillery positions and covered the retreat of Confederate forces from the battlefield after the Union took control."

Battle of Pea Ridge, March 6-8, 1862:

So my point here still stands: no Southern soldier was killed by any Union force before the Confederacy started and formally declared war on the United States, on May 6, 1861.

And the simple reason that's true is because President Lincoln on his first day in office had ordered that there could not be war unless the secessionists started it.

[AuntB]

” He was commissioned a colonel on July 12, 1861,.....
So my point here still stands: no Southern soldier was killed by any Union force before the Confederacy started and formally declared war on the United States, on May 6, 1861.

And the simple reason that’s true is because President Lincoln on his first day in office had ordered that there could not be war unless the secessionists started it.”

I didn’t speak to any southern soldier being killed before that, because I don’t know, but it does seem likely even though the Cherokee soldiers were not yet officially ‘Confederate’soldiers. And yes, the confederacy commissioned him Colonel in the summer. He was Brigadier General by the end of the war. I’m just telling you they were active up into Missouri and took fort Smith months before that.
The Cherokee were more interested in their own sovereignty than the north vs south battle, detested Lincoln because he and his political friends were ‘free soilers’ wanting more Indian land and had been waiting for this conflict for years.

John Rollin Ridge, another Cheorkee who was living in Califoria at the time, wrote about this in 1849.

“I shall not return to the Nation now until circumstances are materially changed. I shall cast my fortunes for some years with the whites. I am twenty-three years old, married, and have an infant daughter. I will still devote my life to my people, though not amongst them, and before I die, I hope to see the Cherokee Nation, in conjunction, with the Choctaws, admitted into the Confederacy of the United States.”