8. Choctaw
Before the attack on Fort Sumter, the new Confederate government received support through the enlistment of considerable numbers of Choctaw, many of whom owned slaves on plantations along the Mississippi and its southern tributaries. The Choctaw had split into two major bands following relocation, the Mississippi Choctaw east of the river, and the Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. By the time of the Civil War, the Choctaw Nation prospered, following the economic system of the southern states, with several tribal leaders successful in the cotton trade. The Mississippi Choctaw were for the most part poor, existing as sharecroppers and small farmers.
Both bands of the Choctaw supplied troops to the Confederacy, in numbers large enough to create several regiments throughout the war. This occurred despite a marked lack of support from the Confederate government. They fought in numerous battles and skirmishes in the western theater, against Union troops and their Indian allies. Choctaw and Chickasaw frequently served together in regiments, though divided by companies rather than fully integrated. By mid-1863 desertion rates among the Choctaw and Chickasaw troops increased dramatically, largely due to their being unpaid by the Confederate government, as well as undersupplied.