Ely S. Parker (Seneca, 1828–1895) was the highest-ranking American Indian in the Union army, a lieutenant colonel. As General Ulysses S. Grant’s secretary, he drafted the terms of surrender. A popular story states that Confederate General Robert E. Lee, noticing that Parker was an American Indian, remarked, “I am glad to see one real American here.” Parker later recalled, “I shook his hand and said, 'We are all Americans.'” #history

americanindian.si.edu/static/why-we-serve/topics/civil-war/