Stand Watie Stamp

On June 29,1995, the U.S. Post Office issued a set of 20 commemorative stamps showing 16 individuals and 4 battles of the Civil War. Official first day of issue ceremonies were held in front of the Cyclorama Center at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. A pictorial cancellation showing a Civil War cannon was available at the ceremony. However, as the Postal Service also released the set of stamps nationwide, numerous unofficial first day of issue cancellations were possible.

One of the stamps shows Stand Watie on horseback after a raid on a Union river boat that can be seen burning in the background. On the back of the stamp is the notation:

Confederate Brig. General

Stand Watie (De-ga-do-ga)

1806-1870

Known for guerrilla tactics

tying down Union trooos.

Sole CSA Indian General

raised Cherokee regiment,

fought at Pea Ridge, captured

federal steamboat. Last

CSA General to surrender.

Stand Watie was born in the Oothcaloga Valley south of present-day Calhoun, Ga. in 1806 [some sources say Dec. 12]. He was the son of David Watie (Oo-watie) and brother of Buck Watie (who took the name of Elias Boudinot). David Watie was the brother of Major Ridge, which made the noted Cherokee leader their uncle and his son -- John Ridge -- their cousin. In time, the three cousins and Major Ridge came to the conclusion that keeping whites out of the Cherokee Nation in the East was hopeless. This was especially true after gold was discovered on Cherokee land in 1828 and Pres. Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme Court's Worcester v. Georgia decision in 1832. Consequently, they became leaders of a Cherokee faction supporting removal to the West. On Dec. 29, 1835, they signed the Treaty of New Echota giving up all claims to lands in the East in return for compensation and land west of the Mississippi River. Other Cherokees led by John Ross bitterly opposed the treaty and fought removal, but the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty. Three years later, the U.S. enforced Cherokee removal in what came to be known as the Trail of Tears.

Stand Watie, Elias Boudinot and the Ridges emigrated to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma in 1837. In June 1839, all but Watie were assassinated by execution squads for having signed the Treaty of New Echota. Watie escaped after being warned that he was targeted. In time, he became a wealthy planter and slave owner in the Indian Territory. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Watie sided with the Confederacy and was commissioned as a colonel in July 1861. Watie raised a regiment known as the Cherokee Mounted Volunteers and fought in Arkansas and the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elk Horn Tavern). Because many Cherokees were loyal to the Union, Watie spent much of the rest of the war waging guerrilla warfare in the Indian Territory and adjacent states. In May 1864, he was promoted to brigadier general -- becoming the highest ranking Indian to fight in the Civil War. On June 23, 1865, over two months after Lee's surrender, Cherokee Stand Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender his forces. Following the war, Watie unsuccessfully tried to rebuild his fortune. He died on Sept. 9, 1871 [not 1870 as indicated on the back of the stamp] in Delaware County, Oklahoma.

Click here for more biographical information on Watie.

(c) Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia

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