"Confederate ranks included as combat soldiers 13,000 Indians..."

Among these men was Brigadier General Stand Watie (De-ga-ta-ga)of the Cherokee Nation. Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender (June 23, 1865) and the only American Indian on either side to acheive the rank of General in the Civil War.

As usual, it took the U.S. Army a full lifetime to folow suit. Major General Clarence Tinker (AAF) of the Osage Nation received his first star just prior to American entry into WW2. In addition to being the U.S. Army's first American Indian general officer, he also holds the distinction of having been the first U.S. general killed in WW2, when his plane was lost at sea during a raid on Wake Island in June, 1942.