e only Indian to attain the rank of general in the Confederate Army. An aristocratic, prosperous slaveholding planter and leader of the Cherokee mixed bloods, Watie was recruited in Indian Territory by Albert Pike to fight the Union forces on the western front. He organized the First Cherokee Rifles on July 29, 1861, and was commissioned a colonel. In 1864, after battling at Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge, he became brigadier general. Watie was the last Confederate general to lay down his arms in surrender, two months after Appomattox. In his foreword, Brad Agnew discusses Watie's role in the Civil War and his reception by later historians. Brad Agnew, Professor of History at Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, is the author of Fort Gibson: Terminal on the Trail of Tears University of Oklahoma Press). Frank Cunningham earned doctorates in Letters, Education, and Philosophy and received honorary doctorates in Humanities, Journalism, Law, and Literature for his achievements as a writer and journalist. Among his books are Big Dan: The Story of a Colorful Railroader and Sky Master: The Story of Donald Douglas.