1st Indian Home Guard - Robert Rybinski
The first Indian Home Guard's involvement in the battle of Prairie Grove was front-line combat.
They were ordered to take place on a road at the base of the Boston Mountains. After they were told to leave they made their way towards Cane Hill. On the way mounted Confederate troops retreated from a position upon merely seeing the First Indian Home Guard approach.1 The regiment traveled on horseback, which benefited them in that case, had they not been on horseback they would have been at a disadvantage. It may have also been a sight to Union troops as well seeing a mounted unit of Natives. Once the men had reached Cane Hill they dismounted their horses and marched into battle on foot. They marched through a wooded area in between the Eleventh Kansas Volunteers and an unknown Iowa Regiment. They ended up falling back and reforming on the edge of the woods where they would assist in escorting Captain Allen’s Battery through a cornfield.
This unit of men fought valiantly in the Battle of Prairie Grove, Stephen H Wattles recorded two fatalities and four wounded. However, those numbers may be inconclusive due to the fact that Natives typically would not report injuries or deaths in battle as a sense of Pride.2 According to the after-action reports, the men fought through a very intense battle including a 5-minute skirmish in which they received opposing fire from the front and the flank. This left Stephen H Wattles to write about the heroism of a few Native soldiers by name. “Of the Indian officers, Captain Jon-neh, of the Uches, and Capt. Billy Bowlegs, of the Seminoles, and Captain Tus-te-nup-chup ko, of Company A (Creek), are deserving of the highest praise”.3
1 States, United. 1882. The War of the Rebellion. Vol. XXII. Part I. Cornell University. Pg 93 https://collections.library.cornell.edu/moa_new/waro.html.
2 States, United. 1882. The War of the Rebellion. Vol. XXII. Part I. Cornell University. Pg 94 https://collections.library.cornell.edu/moa_new/waro.html.
3 States, United. 1882. The War of the Rebellion. Vol. XXIII. Cornell University. Pg 181-182 https://collections.library.cornell.edu/moa_new/waro.html.