User:Haillynnortiz/Douglas H. Cooper

Early life and career
Douglas Hancock Cooper (November 1, 1815 – April 29, 1879) was an American politician, soldier, Indian Agent in what is now Oklahoma, and Confederate general during the American Civil War.

Douglas H Cooper was born November 1, 1815, most likely in Amite County, Mississippi. His father, David Cooper, was a physician and Baptist minister. His mother was Sarah Davenport. Cooper attended the University of Virginia from 1832 until 1834; his classmates included future Civil War generals Carnot Posey, Lafayette McLaws, and John B. Magruder.

Cooper returned home to operate "Mon Clova", his plantation in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. It was in Cold Springs, a tiny village between Woodville and Natchez. He married Martha (May also be known as Mary) Frances Collins of Natchez and they had 7 children together.

Political career
Entering politics, Cooper represented Wilkinson County as a Whig in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1842 to 1844. Twice Cooper would campaign for the Mississippi Senate during his service as a Whig. However, he would be unsuccessful during those attempts.

Cooper supported the Mexican–American War; with many other Southerners, he believed that the US could gain territory for the expansion of slavery. He helped to raise a regiment, the 1st Mississippi Rifles. He served as a captain under the command of Colonel Jefferson Davis, participating in the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista. He was cited for bravery and gallantry at the Battle of Monterrey.

In 1853, through the influence of Jefferson Davis, who had been appointed as Secretary of War, President Franklin Pierce appointed Cooper as the Federal Indian agent to the Choctaw tribe, most of whom had been removed to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1833. However, because the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek entitled the Choctaw and Chickasaw to payment, Cooper initially reported problems during the arrangement. But the Choctaw settled in the Unassigned Lands. Three years later, he also was appointed as Indian agent to the Chickasaw tribe and was also removed from Mississippi to Indian Territory. An agency fort the Choctaw and Chickasaw was located in Fort Washita. The Chickasaw tribe respected and trusted Cooper. As a result the Chickasaw tribe officially adopted him into a family as a member of the tribe.

In 1858, Cooper led a militia composed of Choctaw and Chickasaw volunteers. This militia fought against Comanche marauders.

Civil War
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Cooper pledged his allegiance to the Confederacy as a supporter of slavery. In May, Secretary of War Leroy Pope Walker sent Cooper a letter authorizing him to "take measures to secure the protection of these tribes in their present country from the agrarian rapacity of the North." He raised a regiment known as the 1st Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles and was commissioned as its colonel. Given brigade command by Confederate Secretary of War LeRoy P Walker, Cooper pursued the Creek Indian leader Opothleyahola in November and December, when the latter led his loyal Union followers toward Kansas. Cooper's brigade fought at the battles of Round Mountain and Chusto-Talasah, winning a decisive victory at Chustenahlah.

In 1862, Cooper led Confederate troops at the battles of Elkhorn Tavern, Arkansas, Newtonia, Missouri and Honey Springs, Oklahoma. He was promoted to brigadier general on May 2, 1862, and was named district commander of the Indian Territory on September 29, 1862. This promotion put him in command of all "... (Confederate) Indian troops in the Trans-Mississippi Department on the borders of Arkansas." Rumors circulated that the Indians were dissatisfied with Cooper. To refute this, letters of support from Indian leaders were sent to Richmond, Virginia, to President Jefferson Davis. This proved his excellent relations with the tribe despite the rumors. Cooper commanded the "Indian Brigade" in Indian Territory during Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's second invasion of Missouri in 1864. In 1865, Cooper was appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Confederacy's collapse accelerated after General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox in 1865. The Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes surrendered in April 1865, and forcefully agreed to the demands of the United States. Cooper ordered the surrender of all white Confederate troops in Indian Territory in June, 1865. Afterward, he swore allegiance to the United States government, and was formally pardoned in April, 1866.

Postbellum activities
After the war, Cooper continued to live in the Indian Territory and was an ardent supporter of Choctaw and Chickasaw land claims against the Federal government. Also, he assisted in reconstruction negotiations for the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. However, he was accused of abusing funds during his time as an agent. But he would eventually prove his innocence. He died of pneumonia on April 29, 1879, at Fort Washita (in what is now Bryan County, Oklahoma) and was buried in the old fort cemetery in an unmarked grave.