Confederate Service of Alabama and Courshatta Indians

Alabama and Coushatta Indians of Polk County were trained as cavalrymen in 1861 by Indian Agent Robert R. Neyland as the war between the states advanced. In April 1862, nineteen Alabama and Coushatta, including Chief John Scott, enlisted in the Confederate Army as members of Company G, 24th Texas Cavalry. They trained in Hempstead, Texas, and in Arkansas, where their commander, General Thomas C. Hindman, converted them to infantrymen. After voicing displeasure with the change from cavalry to infantry duties, they were permitted to return to their Polk County homes to await further orders. Following brief service in the Confederate Navy under Galveston Bay Commander W. W. Hunter, they were reorganized as a cavalry company in the 6th Brigade, 2nd Texas Infantry Division. In 1864 the company roster listed 132 men. Their primary job was to build and operate flat-bottomed boats (scows) to transport farm produce and other supplies needed by the confederacy down the Trinity River to the port at Liberty, Texas. Official correspondence of wartime Texas Governors Francis R. Lubbock and Pendleton Murrah refer to the Alabama and Coushatta Indians' loyalty in their role as Confederate infantry, cavalry, and navy servicemen.

Confederate Service of Alabama and Courshatta Indians is a historical marker in Livingston, Polk County, dedicated in 1994. It is one of 50 historical markers documented in Polk County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 138 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.7151, -94.6737 near Livingston. The nearest cataloged historic site is Alabama-Coushatta Cemetery at Indian Village (cemetery), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Scott, Chief John, Alabama and Coushatti Indians, Village of, and Indian Baptist.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5373010388. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.