The 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment was formed in November 1862 by

Territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

John Evans, composed mostly of members of the

1st Colorado Infantry Regiment The 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment (officially the 1st Regiment of Colorado Volunteers) was a volunteer infantry regiment of the United States Army formed in the Colorado Territory in 1861 and active in the American West in the late 19th century. ...

and of C and D Companies of the

2nd Colorado Infantry Regiment The 2nd Colorado Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment during the American Civil War from the state of Colorado. On October 13, 1863, the 2nd Colorado Infantry was consolidated with the 3rd Colorado Infantry Regiment in order to create the ...

. It was formed both to protect Colorado against incursions from the

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

forces and to fight the Native Americans who already inhabited the area. Command of this unit was given to Colonel

John Chivington John Milton Chivington (January 27, 1821 – October 4, 1894) was a Methodist pastor and Mason who served as a colonel in the United States Volunteers during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War. He led a rear action against a ...

, who had distinguished himself at the

Battle of Glorieta Pass The Battle of Glorieta Pass was fought March 26–28, 1862, in the northern New Mexico Territory, by Union Army, Union and Confederate States Army, Confederate forces during the American Civil War. While not the largest battle of the New Mexic ...

in the

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

early in 1862 against Confederate forces.

Sand Creek Massacre

In early 1864, the 1st Colorado Veteran Volunteers (aka the Veterans Battalion) appears to have initiated the

Colorado War The Colorado War was an Indian War fought in 1864 and 1865 between the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and allied Brulé and Oglala Lakota (or Sioux) peoples versus the U.S. Army, Colorado militia, and white settlers in Colorado Territory and ...

by attacking

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

at Fremont's Orchard. The resulting hostilities and Indian retaliations brought traffic on the

wagon A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by Working animal#Draft animals, draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are i ...

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

s into

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

to a standstill. Peace negotiations were in progress, and encampments of Cheyenne and

Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...

Indians on Sand Creek had been assured by the US government that they would not be attacked. Instead, in what is known as the

Sand Creek massacre The Sand Creek massacre (also known as the Chivington massacre, the battle of Sand Creek or the massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army in the American Indian Genocide that occurred on No ...

, Chivington and his troops struck in November 1864, a dawn attack that massacred an estimated one-quarter of the Indian encampments, mostly old men, women, and children. Body parts were taken as souvenirs. The event was the basis of the slaughter of an Indian village in the movies ''

Soldier Blue ''Soldier Blue'' is a 1970 American revisionist Western film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, and Donald Pleasence. Adapted by John Gay from the novel ''Arrow in the Sun'' by T.V. Olsen, it is inspired by ...

'' and '' Little Big Man''. Initial reports of the battle were taken as a victory among the American public, but as details came out, opinions changed. A subsequent Congressional investigation resulted in a scorching castigation of the event, Colonel John Chivington, and the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment.

Statue controversy

In the night between June 24 and 25, 2020, a group of

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

protestors tore down a statue depicting a Civil-War-era Colorado cavalryman located in front of the

Colorado State Capitol The Colorado State Capitol Building, located at 200 East Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado, United States, is the home of the Colorado General Assembly and the offices of the Governor of Colorado, Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, and the Co ...

. The statue was designed by Captain Jack Howland, a member of the 1st Colorado Cavalry regiment, and had been erected in July 1909. The base of the statue listed the Sand Creek massacre among the battles commemorated by the memorial.

References

{{Reflist Units and formations of the Union army from Colorado C 1862 establishments in Colorado Territory Military units and formations established in 1862 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 1865 disestablishments in the United States

Sand Creek Massacre

Statue controversy

See also

References