William Leander Byrd, because of his youth, his participation in the war was deferred until January 1864, when the First Choctaw-Chickasaw Indian Brigade was formed with Col. Tandy Walker in command. The young man enlisted and became adjutant in the company commanded by Captain Edmund Gardner, part of the regiment of Colonel Sampson Folsom in Walker's brigade. The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations in their alliance with the Confederate government had reserved the privilege of limiting their activities to the Indian Territory. Regardless of this reservation, in the spring of 1864, of its own volition, Colonel Walker's brigade was transferred to Arkansas for service with the army of General Sterling Price and actively participated in the battle of Poison Springs, Arkansas, on April 18, 1864.
Mike