I think the common surname is a coincidence. Apparently Maj Foreman was competent and reliable. The colonel of the 3rd IHG was William A. Phillips who was brigade commander. The Lt Col of the 3rd IHG was Lewis Downing, a full blood Cherokee, who was formerly chaplain of Drew's 1st Cherokee Mtd Rifles (Confederate). Downing was a prominent Keetoowah (Pin) leader, a "native preacher" (Northern Baptist), and post-war was elected Principal Chief and is credited with easing hostilities and bringing the Nation back together after the war. Downing was not a trained military leader so it makes sense that Maj Foreman was in military command.
The Pin Regiment, as the 3rd IHG, were of course Cherokee. Since most of the scouting, skirmishing, etc. in the Indian Territory occurred in the Cherokee Nation, it makes sense that the two most active units were Cherokee (i.e., the Union 3rd IHG and Watie's Confederate regiments). Phillips didn't have a unit that would be more agressive in pursing and fighting their old enemies from the removals and the subsequent Cherokee Civil War in the 1840s. Watie had been a leader of the Treaty Party which favored removal to the west and signed the technically illegal Treaty of New Echota. The Ross Party -- followers of Chief John Ross including the Keetoowah Society (Pins) -- opposed the treaty and were forced west over The Trail of Tears. The so-called Cherokee Civil War was essentially a blood feud between the Treaty Party and Ross Party marked by years of countless murders between the factions. The hostility between the factions returns with new zeal with the coming of the WBS and the Watie faction favoring the South and being pro-slavery and the Pins being anti-slavery AND anti-Watie. At the beginning of the war, there was a fear that Watie's and Drew's "Confederate" Regiments would attack each other. At the battle of Bayou Menard (that Phillips erroneously calls Bayou Bernard -- maybe a transcription error) the Creeks in the 1st IHG captured Lt Col Thomas Fox Taylor (an ancestor of mine), 1st Cherokee Mtd Volunteers (Watie's Regiment), and turned him over to the Pin Regiment (the 3rd IHG) who immediately murdered him. The memoirs of Robt Pack, a wagon master for the 3rd IHG, state that only with extreme diligence could the white officers keep the men of the 3rd IHG from killing all Southern sympathizers -- men, women, and children.
The horses of the IHG wore out early on (they were unshod) and were not replaced by the US Army. Phillips found it impossible to keep the IHG mounted. I believe the 3rd IHG were the last to have enough horses or perhaps received preferential treatment to keep them mounted so that they could pursue Watie on his frequent scouts through the Cherokee Nation north of the Arkansas.
I would still like to learn more about Major Foreman as he was one of the most active commanders in the Indian Territory.
Ken