Overview of the territory during the American Civil War
The
Colorado Territory
was formally created in 1861 shortly before the bombardment of
Fort Sumter
sparked the
American Civil War
. Although sentiments were somewhat divided in the early days of the war, Colorado was only marginally a pro-Union territory
[1]
(four statehood attempts were thwarted, largely by Confederate sympathizers in July 1862, February 1863, February 1864, and January 1866). Colorado was strategically important to both the
Union
and
Confederacy
because of the gold and silver mines there as both sides wanted to use the mineral wealth to help finance the war. The
New Mexico Campaign
(February to April 1862) was a military operation conducted by Confederate Brigadier General
Henry Sibley
to gain control of the Southwest, including the gold fields of Colorado, the mineral-rich territory of Nevada and the ports of
California
. The campaign was intended as a prelude to an invasion of the Colorado Territory and an attempt to cut the supply lines between California and the rest of the Union. However, the Confederates were defeated at the
Battle of Glorieta Pass
in New Mexico and were forced to retreat back to Texas, effectively ending the New Mexico Campaign.
Confederate sympathizers
[
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]
During the late 1850s, many Southerners migrated to the Colorado Territory in search of new opportunities, including working in the newly discovered gold fields. When the War broke out, many returned to the South to defend their homes. However, some remained and formed militia groups in
Fairplay
,
Leadville
,
Denver
and Mace's Hole (present day
Beulah
). These Confederate Partisan Ranger units operated in the Colorado Territory from 1861 to 1865, raiding supply wagon trains, disrupting communications lines, recruiting volunteers, and skirmishing with Union troops. There were also pockets of strong support for the Confederacy in the mining areas and in the
Arkansas River Valley
, from
Canon City
eastward to
Lamar
, and Canon City southward to
Trinidad
.
[2]
The first actual demonstration of opposition to the Union occurred in Denver on April 24, 1861, just a few days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Denver awakened to find the "
Stars and Bars
" had been raised over the Wallingford & Murphy store on
Larimer Street
. A turbulent pro-Union crowd soon gathered in front of the store, and demanded that the flag be taken down. The Southern adherents were equally determined that the flag should stay. A young man in the crowd, Samuel M. Logan, later a Captain in the
First Colorado Volunteers
, climbed to the roof of the store to remove the flag. There are conflicting reports as to what happened next; some say a compromise was reached and the flag was permitted to remain for one day, while others state the flag was removed.
[3]
In 1861, when Confederate
General Sibley
organized his
army to invade New Mexico
, he commissioned Captain
George Madison
to go into Colorado with a twofold mission: disrupt federal mail and communication lines, and to help organize Confederate recruitment there. At this time, Confederate recruits in Colorado were first sent to a camp in the
Pikes Peak
area, and then sent to the main Confederate encampment at Mace's Hole. In early 1862, Captain Madison and his men captured mail en route to
Ft. Garland
. Madison was also actively planning a raid on Ft. Garland. Federal soldiers learned of the encampment at Mace's Hole and broke up the regiment while many of the Confederates were away. The Federals captured forty-four Confederates and took them to Denver.
[4]
The "
Reynolds Gang
", a group of Southern sympathizers, operated in
South Park
in 1864. Their objective was to rob the gold mines in the area to help finance the Confederate government. However, their goal was never accomplished and the members were eventually captured. While the captured Southern sympathizers were being taken to
Fort Lyon
, the first stop on their way to Denver for a military trial, they attempted their escape. A gunfight ensued and three of the prisoners were killed. However, two managed to steal horses in the confusion and escaped to the
New Mexico Territory
.
[5]
Other Colorado Confederate ties
[
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]
Colorado was the only non-Southern state to have two ex-Confederate Soldiers elected as state governors:
- James B. Grant
(Private, Company B, 20th Alabama Light Artillery Battalion, Confederate States of America) served as the 3rd Governor of Colorado from 1883 to 1885.
[6]
- Charles S. Thomas
(Private, Georgia State Militia, Confederate States of America) served as the 11th Governor of Colorado from 1899 to 1901 and as a U.S. Senator from 1913 to 1921.
[7]
- Margaret Howell Davis Hayes, Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis' daughter, and her husband, Joel Addison Hayes moved to Colorado Springs in 1885. As her husband rose in city banking circles, Margaret became involved with charitable causes and was a leading member of local society. After her death in 1909, Addison and the children took her ashes to Richmond to be interred with the Davis family at Hollywood Cemetery.
[8]
Colorado is also the only non-Southern State to host a national convention of surviving Confederate Veterans. The national organization of the United Confederate Veterans (active from 1890 to 1951) held their 49th Reunion in Trinidad, Colorado from August 22?25, 1939.
[9]
Union regiments
[
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]
When President
Abraham Lincoln
called for volunteer soldiers to supplement the
Regular Army
, Colorado residents responded, with nearly 4,000 men eventually enlisting in the volunteer Union forces authorized by the
United States War Department
. Hundreds more served in
militia
companies, authorized by the territorial governor, most of which were formed to fight Indians rather than
Confederates
. Three regiments of infantry were organized, which were reorganized as two regiments of cavalry, while a third regiment of cavalry was raised in 1864. Other residents enlisted in New Mexico units.
[10]
The territory's first governor,
William Gilpin
, organized the
1st Colorado Infantry
in August 1861. Nicknamed "Gilpin's Pet Lambs" because of the governor's involvement in their organization, the regiment and its first commander,
John P. Slough
, marched to northern
New Mexico Territory
in February?March 1862. There they fought in the battles of
Apache Canyon
,
Glorieta Pass
and
Peralta
. Slough resigned in April 1862 and was replaced by Major
John M. Chivington
.
[11]
A second regiment, the
2nd Colorado Infantry
, was organized in February 1862, with four existing companies of independent
militia
joining the volunteer service and forming the nucleus of the new regiment, which primarily fought Indians during its existence, although battalions from the regiment fought at the
Battle of Honey Springs
in present-day
Oklahoma
. Much of the regiment was later consolidated with the
3rd Colorado Infantry Regiment
and reformed into the
2nd Colorado Cavalry
. (The
1st Colorado Cavalry
had been organized in November 1862.)
[12]
In January 1864, the 2nd Colorado Cavalry was ordered to the Missouri border counties to relieve Kansas troops defending against Confederate Partisan Units. Beginning in late April 1864, the regiment fought several skirmishes with Confederate Partisans throughout the summer months, as well as a raid on regular Confederate cavalry at the
Battle of Camden Point
,
[13]
while
John Evans
, the new governor of Colorado Territory, pleaded for their return to Colorado. Just as the 2nd Colorado prepared to return for Indian-fighting duty in Colorado, Confederate General Sterling Price began his campaign to secure Missouri for the Confederacy. The 2nd Colorado was attached to the Union force raised to repel General Price's
Missouri State Guards
, and took part in the battles of the
Little Blue River
,
Westport
,
Marais des Cygnes
, and
Mine Creek
in October 1864. When Price withdrew, the 2nd Colorado was part of the pursuit, meeting him for the last time near
Fayetteville, Arkansas
, in November 1864.
The
3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment
, a hundred days regiment raised in August 1864, was involved in a series of bloody attacks on local Indians, including the notorious
Sand Creek Massacre
against a village of peaceful Cheyennes. The commander of the regiment, Colonel John Chivington, was accused of perpetrating a massacre but many in the territory, including the territorial legislature, came to his defense and consequently Chivington was never court?martialed.
[14]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Colton, pp. 178–179.
- ^
Colton, p. 171; Smith, p. 18, 20.
- ^
Colton, p. 172.
- ^
Colorado Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Archived
2012-03-25 at the
Wayback Machine
Retrieved on 2011-06-21.
- ^
Smith, p. 208–209.
- ^
Colorado State Archives
Retrieved on 2011-06-21.
- ^
Colorado State Archives
Retrieved on 2011-06-21.
- ^
Colorado United Daughters of the Confederacy
Archived
2011-06-27 at the
Wayback Machine
Retrieved on 2011-06-21.
- ^
Colorado Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Archived
2012-03-25 at the
Wayback Machine
Retrieved on 2011-06-21.
- ^
Smith, p. 111.
- ^
Josephy, pp. 76–77, 82–85.
- ^
2nd Colorado Infantry website
Archived
2012-03-25 at the
Wayback Machine
Retrieved on 2011-06-21.
- ^
Smith, p. 239.
- ^
Smith, p. 216–217, 220.
References
[
edit
]
- History of Colorado
. Wilbur Fisk Stone, Editor, Volume I, Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918.
- Colton, Ray C.
The Civil War in the Western Territories: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
. University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
- Josephy Jr., Alvin M.
The Civil War in the American West
. Alfred A. Knope, 1991.
ISBN
0-394-56482-0
.
- Smith, Duane A.
The Birth of Colorado: A Civil War Perspective
. University of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
ISBN
0-8061-2180-7
.
- Walker, Johnny.
South Park, Colorado Gold Prospecting & The Reynolds Gang
. Colorado Adventure Guide, Heritage and History.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Adams, Blanche V., "The Second Colorado Cavalry in the Civil War,"
Colorado Magazine
, VII, 3, May 1931.
- Carey, Raymond G., "Colonel Chivington, Brigadier General Connor, and Sand Creek,"
Denver Posse of the Westerners 1960 Brand Book
. Boulder: The Johnson Publishing Company, 1961; "The Bloodless Third' Regiment, Colorado Volunteer Cavalry,"
Colorado Magazine
, Vol. 38 No. 4, October 1961.
- Colton, Ray C.,
The Civil War in the Western Territories
. Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
- Hollister, Ovando J.,
History of the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers
, Denver: Thomas Gibson & Co., 1863. Reprint: Colorado Volunteers in New Mexico, 1862. Chicago: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co., The Lakeside Press, 1962.
- Nankivell, Major John H.,
History of the Military Organizations of the State of Colorado.
Denver: The W.H. Kistler Stationery Co., 1935.
- Smith, Duane A.,
The Birth of Colorado: A Civil War Perspective.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
- U. S. War Department.
The War of the Rebellion. A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
Four series, 128 vols. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880?1901.
- Whitford, William C.,
Colorado Volunteers in the Civil War.
Denver: Colorado State Historical Society, 1909; Golden, Colorado: Pruett Press, 1963.
Colorado in the New Mexico Campaign, 1906
- Williams, Mrs. Ellen.
Three Years and a Half in the Army; or, History of the Second Colorados.
New York: Fowler & Wells Company, 1885.
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