6. William Holland Thomas
William Thomas, a white man adopted by the Cherokee, studied law in antebellum North Carolina. He represented the Eastern Cherokee during the period which led to the Indian Removal Act and obtained concessions from the Federal Government which allowed the Eastern Cherokee to remain in their lands in western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. When his adoptive father Yonaguska died, Thomas became Chief of the Eastern Cherokee, the only white man to ever assume such a role. From 1848 to 1860 he served as an elected representative in the North Carolina State Senate. The concessions Thomas won for the Cherokee made him a well-respected leader among both the Indians and North Carolina’s western citizens.
When the state seceded from the Union in May 1861, Thomas used his influence both in the state government and the Eastern Cherokee to raise a legion to defend North Carolina. Thomas recruited 8 companies, six from the white citizens of North Carolina, most of which were of Scotch-Irish descent. The other two were comprised of Cherokee warriors, about four hundred men. He called his new command Thomas’ Legion of Cherokee and Highlanders. They were placed under the command of the Department of East Tennessee, and engaged in several battles in the Eastern Theater, including in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley late in the war.