Pierce's 1st Choctaw Battalion was established in February 1863. They tracked Confederate deserters in Jones County and surrounding areas. After a Confederate troop train wreck, referred to as the Chunky Creek Train Wreck of 1863, near Hickory, Mississippi, the battalion led rescue and recovery efforts. Led by Jack Amos and Elder Jackson, the Indians rushed to the scene, stripped, and plunged into the flooded creek. Many of the passengers were rescued due to their heroic acts. Noted historian Clara Sue Kidwell wrote, "in an act of heroism in Mississippi, Choctaws rescued twenty-three survivors and retrieved ninety bodies when a Confederate troop train plunged off a bridge and fell into the Chunky River." The battalion was at the Battle of Ponchatoula in March 1863. After the battle, a majority of the Indians deserted. The remaining members returned to Ponchatoula where some were captured. The prisoners were taken to New Orleans and later New York City, where two died. Pierce's 1st Choctaw Battalion was disbanded on May 9, 1863.