[Footnote 949:  —­Ibid., part i, 1011-1013; part iv, 686-687.]

It was under the inspiration of such recent victories that the southern Indians took up for consideration the matter of reenlistment, the expiration “of the present term of service” being near at hand.  Parts of the Second Brigade took action first and, on the twenty-third of June, the First Choctaw Regiment unanimously reenlisted for the war.  Cooper was present at the meeting “by previous request."[950] Resolutions[951] were drawn up and adopted that reflected the new enthusiasm.  Other Choctaw regiments were to be prevailed upon to follow suit and the leading men of the tribe, inclusive of Chief Garland who was not present, were to be informed that the First Choctaw demanded of them, in their legislative and administrative capacities “such co-operation as will force all able-bodied free citizens of the Choctaw Nation, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, and fitted for military service, to at once join the army and aid in the common defense of the Choctaw Nation, and give such other cooeperation to the Confederate military authorities as will effectually relieve our country from Federal rule and ruin.”

The First Brigade was not behindhand except in point of time by a few days.  All Cherokee military units were summoned to Watie’s camp on Limestone Prairie.[952] The assemblage began its work on the twenty-seventh of June, made it short and decisive and indicated it in a single resolution: 

    Whereas, the final issue of the present struggle between the North
    and South involves the destiny of the Indian Territory alike with
    that of the Confederate States:  Therefore,

    Resolved, That we, the Cherokee Troops, C.S.  Army, do

[Footnote 950:  Official Records, vol. xxxiv, part iv, 694.]

[Footnote 951:  —­Ibid., 695.]

[Footnote 952:  Stand Watie to Cooper, June 27, 1864, Ibid., part i, 1013.]

    unanimously re-enlist as soldiers for the war, be it long or
    short.[953]

No action was taken on the policy of conscription; but, in July, the Cherokee National Council met and, to it, Chief Watie proposed the enactment of a conscription law.[954]

As a corollary to reorganization, the three brigade plan was now put tentatively into operation.  It was, in truth, “a fine recruiting order,” and Commissioner Scott, when making his annual rounds in August, was able to report to Secretary Seddon,

It is proposed to organize them into three brigades, to be called the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek Brigades; the Cherokee Brigade, composed of Cherokees, Chickasaws, and Osages, has already been organized; the Creek Brigade, composed of Creeks and Seminoles, is about being so, and the Choctaws anticipate no difficulty in being able to raise the number of men required to complete the organization of the Choctaw Brigade.[955]

Behind all this virility was General Maxey.  Without him, it is safe to say, the war for the Indians would have ended in the preceding winter.  In military achievements, others might equal or excel him but in rulings[956] that endeared him to the Indians and in