Union:
3rd Indian Home Guard Regt, Col. Wm. A. Phillips

Confederate:
1st Cherokee Battalion, Maj. Joel M. Bryan
1st Choctaw and Chickasaw Mtd Rifles, Lt. Col. Tandy Walker
1st Choctaw Mtd Rifles, Col. Sampson Folsom

On the Union side, the men of the 3rd Regt Indian Home Guard were almost exclusively Cherokee. The commander, Col. Wm. A. Phillips, was a Kansas abolitionist. The regiment was engaged in heavy fighting on the left flank of the Union line. A detachment of 50 men from this regiment were assigned to Lt Col Arthur Jacobi’s "reconnaissance command”.

The 3rd IHG was commonly known as "the Pin Regiment". The term "Pin" comes from an insignia of a pin or crossed pins worn on the lapels of members of the Keetoowah Society which promoted adherence to historical Cherokee traditions and culture and discouraged assimilation of "white culture". This regiment was composed almost entirely from men formerly of Col. John Drew's 1st Cherokee Mtd Rifles (CSA). Though Drew's Regt was technically a "Confederate" regiment, the men viewed themselves as "home guards" whose purpose was to protect the Cherokee Nation from invasion, primarily from Kansas jayhawkers who frequently raided the northern Cherokee Nation to steal cattle, etc.. In July 1862, during the Union Indian Expedition into the Cherokee Nation, all but 80 men of Drew's regiment defected to the Union Army and were organized as the 3rd Indian Home Guard. After the Battle of Prairie Grove AR, Dec 1862, the three Indian Home Guard regiments were consolidated into the so-called Union Indian Brigade under the command of Col. Phillips. They were primarily encamped around Neosho MO, with their refugee families, until the spring of 1863 when the brigade entered the Indian Territory and established headquarters at Ft. Gibson, Cherokee Nation, which it held for the remainder of the war.

On the Confederate side, Maj. Joel Mayes Bryan's Cherokee Battalion was composed of Cherokee and whites from the Cherokee Nation, northwest Arkansas, and southwest Missouri. The Cherokee had strong ties with northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. There were of course economic ties in the towns along the border. Cherokee students attended school in Fayetteville and Cane Hill. The Cherokee exported cattle, salt, and tobacco to the States. Area residents used the closest stores, grist mills, and post offices regardless of which side of the border they were on. Cooper's report of the battle praises Maj. Bryan for "coolness and courage displayed". Bryan's Battalion probably numbered around 200 men.

Col. Douglas H. Cooper, commanding the Confederate forces at Newtonia, was formerly the US Indian Agent to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. He raised and commanded the 1st Choctaw and Chickasaw Mtd Rifles. At the battle, direct command of the regiment fell to Lt Col Tandy Walker, a prominent Choctaw. Cooper's report of the battle states "At this moment the First Choctaw and Chickasaw Regiment, led by Lieut.-Col. Walker, entered the town at full gallop, passed through without halting, singing their war-songs and giving the war-whoop, and under my personal direction at once engaged the enemy under a heavy fire from artillery and infantry... but I cannot close this report without mentioning the gallant bearing of Lieut.-Col. Walker, of the First Choctaw and Chickasaw Regt. He was always found at the head of his regiment in the thickest of the fight, encouraging his men by his words and actions. He remained on horseback during the whole day and escaped unhurt."

The 1st Choctaw Mtd Rifles was commanded by Col. Sampson Folsom, a prominent Choctaw.