Lewis Downing, Baptist Minister and Cherokee Chief

Baptists and the American Civil War: February 21, 1863

Since the previous summer, the Cherokee nation in Indian Territory, once solidly aligned with the Confederacy, has largely switched loyalties and aligned with the United States, although a dissenting faction remains aligned with the Confederate States. Thanks to Baptist mission efforts among Native Americans, many of the Cherokees are Baptists, including Lewis Downing, Baptist minister…