Indigenous Peoples of the United States Military Records

United States U.S Military  American Indian Research  Military

War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Tribes on the British / Canada Side

In the photo to the right of veterans of the War of 1812, from left to right are John Smoke Johnson, Jacob Warner (Iroquois) and John Tutlee (Iroquois).

About 35 tribal nations fought with the British and Canadians during the War of 1812. Tecumseh, the Shawnee war chief, worked to unite the Indians with the British.

Some of these nations were:


 * Potawatomi
 * Ojibwa
 * Shawnee
 * Ottawa
 * Kickapoo
 * Iroquois
 * Mohawk
 * Seneca
 * Sauk
 * Creek
 * Creek Red Sticks
 * Ojibway
 * Chickamauga
 * Fox
 * Miami
 * Mingo
 * Delaware (Lenape)
 * Mascouten
 * Wyandot
 * Maybe Huron and Winnebago
 * Mdewakanton Sioux

Tribes on the U.S. Side


 * Choctaw
 * Cherokee
 * Creek
 * Seneca

Web Sites Concerning Indian Involvement


 * Shawnee in the War of 1812, by Richard Williams, gives a short history of Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa, The Prophet, who fought with the British and then went to Canada. Most Shawnee remained neutral during the War of 1812.
 * Clarke Historical Library, War of 1812, lists many magazine articles going back to 1886 with brief descriptions of the articles and links to digital copies of most of the articles.


 * Ely Parker's List of Oneida Indian Volunteers, War of 1812


 * Major William McIntosh’s Company of Creek Indians, Creek War of 1814

Civil War (1861-1865)
See American Indians in the Civil War for information about American Indian Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the American Indian regiments involved in the Civil War.

The regimental pages often include lists of the companies with links to the locations where the companies started. Men in the companies often lived in the locations where the companies were raised. Knowing a location can help when researching more about the soldiers and their families.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System allows name searching for soldiers. The result set gives the regiments for the soldiers. Then you can check the Wiki regiment pages to determine locations. Often knowing the locations that had men in a regiment will help you determine if a soldier was your ancestor.

Code Talkers

 * McClain, Sally. Navajo Weapon: The Navajo Code Talkers. WorldCat
 * Meadows, William C. Comanche Code Talkers of World War II. WorldCat
 * They Talked Navajo" "dine bi-zaad choz-iid."; The United States Marine Corps Navajo Code Talkers of World War II; A Record of Their Reunion, July 9-10, 1971, Window Rock, Arizona. WorldCat

Indian Scouts
Indians were employed as scouts from Colonial times onward, their service reaches its height in post-Civil War conflicts.


 * Downey, Fairfax Davis and Jacques Noel Jacobsen. The Red/Bluecoats, The Indian Scouts, U.S. Army. WorldCat