Thomas ' Legion Thomas ' Legion , also known as Thomas ' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders , Thomas ' Legion of Indians and Highlanders , and the 69th North Carolina Regiment , was a unit of the Confederate Army in the American Civil War . The formation was organized in 1862 by William Holland Thomas and fought in the last skirmish of the war in North Carolina before surrendering in May 1865 . The regiment was unusual in several respects . Thomas , the only white chief of the Cherokee Indians , recruited a sizable number of Cherokees . In addition , like a few other Civil War formations , it was a true legion , that is a combined arms unit , consisting of infantry , cavalry , and artillery . William Holland Thomas actively promoted the idea of having Cherokees fight for the Confederacy . In 1862 , he organized 200 Cherokee Indians in North Carolina as the Junaluska Zouaves , named after Chief Junaluska ; by April , he had raised the North Carolina Cherokee Battalion . His petition to recruit additional Cherokees and whites was approved by Confederate authorities and he was authorized to raise a legion . It was officially organized on September 27 , 1862 at Knoxville , Tennessee , with recruits coming primarily from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee . The unit , under the command of newly elected Colonel William Holland Thomas , initially comprised 1125 men in an infantry regiment and a cavalry battalion . The infantry was organized into ten companies , two Cherokee ( Companies A and B ) and eight white ( C - I , K ) , and became known as Love ' s Regiment , under Lieutenant Colonel James R . Love II . Walker ' s Battalion was raised in Cherokee County , North Carolina by William Stringfield and led by Lieutenant Colonel William C . Walker . The third element was the Cherokee Battalion , made up of 400 Cherokees . John T . Levi ' s Light Artillery Battery was added on April 1 , 1863 . The unit was mainly assigned to defend the area . A portion of the Legion was sent to Powell ' s Valley in late 1862 and was ambushed at Baptist Gap . When Cherokee Lieutenant Astooga Stoga was killed leading a counterattack , enraged Indian comrades scalped several dead or wounded Union soldiers . To defuse the situation , Colonel Thomas had the scalps returned to the Union with apologies . The Legion was sent east to join General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia . At this point , the Legion was down to 500 men . It fought in the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19 , 1864 . By the time the Legion was transferred back to North Carolina , it mustered fewer than 100 soldiers . An appreciative General Gabriel C . Wharton stated , " The gallant conduct of your command rendered your efforts to rejoin your command in North Carolina abortive , and the constant refusal to your many applications for transfer is complimentary evidence of the esteem in which you were held , and a grateful acknowledgement of the services you could render . " Back in his home state , Thomas brought the unit ' s strength up to 1200 men , including 400 Cherokees , by April 1 , 1865 . Eight days later , however , Robert E . Lee surrendered his army to Ulysses S . Grant . Thomas and his Legion surrendered to Union forces at Waynesville , North Carolina on May 10 .