After North Carolina passed laws in 1833 restricting the rights of free blacks and also limiting the rights of Indians, many Occaneechi Indians in old Orange, later Alamance, County, including Dixon Corn, Jesse Jeffries, Enoch Jones, and Andrew Jeffries, remained prosperous farmers and tradesmen. Although the law barred them from joining the militia, during the war many volunteered as foragers, teamsters, hostlers, and paid body servants. In North Carolina’s mountains, some Cherokee fought as soldiers in Thomas’s Legion. “Nick” Mebane, of Co. F, 6th North Carolina State Troops, employed William Haith as his body servant. Will Liggins was a servant to James E. Boyd in Co. E, 13th North Carolina State Troops, and Marshall Jeffries performed similar service. His kinsman Bedford Jeffries served as cook and servant, never bore arms, but was always with the troops near the front. When Lt. Bartlett Yancey Mebane was killed at Cold Harbor, Virginia, on June 7, 1864, Jeffries brought his remains home to the family. Indians Buck Parker and James Wilson were paid servants with Co. K, 6th North Carolina State Troops. Wilson foraged for food and supplies, and it was reported that he had foraged and stolen enough during the war to keep the company well fed. His brother, William Wilson, served Lt. George Bason in the Ordinance Department. Their motives probably matched those of many young white men who enlisted: pay, excitement, and escape from the farm. As Confederate manpower shortages grew by 1863, men like these helped keep the army in the field until 1865.