Silas Soule
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Silas Stillman Soule ( ; July 26, 1838 – April 23, 1865) was an American
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
, teenage conductor on the
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
, military officer, and early example of what would later be called a "
whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
". He is honored as a hero for disobeying orders to participate in a massacre of Native Americans, and then giving evidence against his commander despite threats on his life. As a
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
Jayhawker Jayhawker and red leg are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs were ...
, he supported and was a proponent of
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
's movement in the time of strife leading up to the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. During the War, Soule joined the Colorado volunteers and rose to the rank of
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
in the Union Army. Soule was present at 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 ...
in 1864, commanding the 1st Colorado Cavalry, Company D, but refused to take part in the killing, and ordered his men not to harm the Native Americans. Afterwards he testified about the massacre at a military hearing. Another soldier murdered Soule two months later, in what some believed was retaliation. Soule's
assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
at age 26 brought a tide of outrage on his behalf and sympathy for his widow.


Early life

Silas Soule was born on July 26, 1838, in
Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...
, the son of Amasa Soule, a
cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...
, and Sophia (Low) Soule. He was born into a family of abolitionists, and was descended from Mayflower passenger George Soule. He was raised in
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
and
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. Soule was a "friendly, intelligent, and good-natured young man, full of practical jokes, ndtall tales In 1854, his family became part of the newly formed
New England Emigrant Aid Company The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population o ...
, an organization whose goal was to help settle the
Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...
and bring it into the Union as a free state. His father and older brother William arrived in the vicinity of modern day
Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...
in November 1854, and became one of the town's founding families. The teenage Silas, his mother, and two sisters came the following summer. Shortly after the family's arrival at Coal Creek located a few miles south of Lawrence, Silas's father, Amasa, established his household as a stop on the
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
. At the age of 17, Silas escorted escaped slaves from
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
north to freedom.


Strife in Kansas

During the late 1850s, pro-slavery forces from Missouri and abolitionist forces from Kansas were engaged in open warfare. The conflict was over whether Kansas would be admitted to the Union as a slave or free state. This period was often called "
Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...
". On January 25, 1859, twenty pro-slavery men had crossed into Kansas to look for escaped slaves. They located and ambushed an Underground Railroad party led by Dr. John Doy, a physician in Lawrence, who was escorting 13 former slaves to
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
. The men from Missouri arrested Dr. Doy and sold the former slaves. Doy, meanwhile, was tried and convicted of abducting slaves and sentenced to five years in a Missouri penitentiary. Because he was awaiting transfer to the prison at the
jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...
house in
St. Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orth ...
, Soule and a group of men from Lawrence decided they would free him. Soule went into the jail and convinced the jailkeeper that he had a letter from Doy's wife. The note in fact read: "Tonight, at twelve o'clock." Later that night they overpowered the jailer and helped Doy escape back to Kansas. Thereafter known as "
The Immortal Ten The Immortal Ten were a group of militant abolitionists and Free-Staters in the Kansas Territory who, on July 23, 1859, freed Dr. John Doy from a Missouri jail, where he was being held for allegedly abducting slaves. Doy and his 19-year-old son ...
", when they reached Lawrence they had their photo taken (above left).


John Brown's Men

After John Brown was captured following the raid on
Harper's Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in the lower Shenandoah Valley, where ...
, Soule once again found himself planning a jailbreak. In February 1860, after Brown had been tried, convicted, and executed, Soule visited Brown's followers, Albert Hazlett and
Aaron Dwight Stevens Aaron Dwight Stevens (sometimes misspelled Stephens) (March 15, 1831 – March 16, 1860) was an American abolitionist. The only one of John Brown's raiders with military experience, he was the chief military aide to Brown during his failed ...
, jailed at Charles Town, (then in Virginia), and offered to help the men escape. As part of this plan, Soule posed as a drunken Irishman, got himself arrested for brawling, and was put into the Charles Town jail for the night. He managed to charm the jailer into letting him out of his cell for a short while during which he contacted the two prisoners. Hazlett, and Stevens, however, both refused to be sprung from the jail, choosing instead to become martyrs for the cause. They were both hanged on March 16, 1860. After his release from the Charles Town jail, Soule traveled to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, where he often met with various abolitionists and befriended the poet
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
.


Life in Colorado and the Civil War

Later in 1860, Soule—along with his brother William, and a cousin—was restless, and went west to the gold fields in
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
where he dug for gold and worked in a
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
shop. In December 1861, after the start of the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, Soule enlisted in Company K;
1st Colorado Infantry 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 took part in the
New Mexico campaign The New Mexico campaign was a military operation of the trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War from February to April 1862 in which Confederate Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley invaded the northern New Mexico Territory in ...
of 1862, including the key
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 November 1864, he was assigned the command of Company D,
1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment The 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment was formed in November 1862 by Territory (country subdivision), Territorial Governor John Evans (Colorado governor), John Evans, composed mostly of members of the 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment and of C and D Comp ...
.


The Sand Creek Massacre

On November 29, 1864, at Sand Creek, in what was then the southeastern corner of
Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the 38th State of Colorado. The territory was organized ...
, 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 ...
ordered the Third Colorado Cavalry to attack Southern Cheyenne Chief
Black Kettle Black Kettle (Cheyenne: Mo'ohtavetoo'o) (November 27, 1868) was a leader of the Southern Cheyenne during the American Indian Wars. Born to the ''Northern Só'taeo'o / Só'taétaneo'o'' band of the Northern Cheyenne in the Black Hills of presen ...
's encampment of
Southern Cheyenne The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma. History The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Ts ...
. Before the attack, Soule told other officers “any man who would take part in
uch Uch (; ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf (; ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexander the Great during his invasion of t ...
murders, knowing the circumstances as we did, was a low lived cowardly son of a bitch.” Several lieutenants also objected to Chivington's plans. Lt. Joseph Cramer and Soule went directly to Major Scott Anthony, Chivington's superior. As the attack began, Soule reminded his troops that the supposed "enemy" was a peace chief's band, and some responded that they "would not fire a shot today". His company did not follow the orders given to them to enter the creek bed leading to the settlement but moved up and down the banks and observed the slaughter. Soule and the men under his command did not participate in the killings. After the attack, in Chivington's telegram reporting his "victory" he condemned Soule for "saying that he thanked God he killed no Indians, and like expressions, proving himself more in sympathy with the Indians that the whites." The U.S. Congress created a congressional committee to investigate the Sand Creek Massacre due to a nationwide outrage of the incident. Soule's and others' verbal and written testimonies about the Sand Creek Massacre contributed to Colorado's Second Territorial Governor, John Evans’, dismissal, and the U.S. Congress refusing the U.S. Army's repeated requests for a general war against the
Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nations peoples who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North ...
.


Personal life and family

Described as a " ndsome and headstrong" young man, Soule was "a great favorite with the men of his own military company" and could express a "devilish sense of humor", being able to "slither under the thickest skin of pro-slavery or Union supporter alike, with his sharp tongue, cynical nature and charming wit; eingwise beyond his years and able to separate the wheat from the chaff on matters of politics". On April 1, 1865, Soule married Hersa Coberly; the marriage lasted just twenty-two days before he was murdered. Following his death, his widow remarried. She and her second husband, Alfred Lea, became the parents of the adventurer, author, and geopolitical strategist
Homer Lea Homer Lea (November 17, 1876 – November 1, 1912) was an American author of works on geopolitics who became a military advisor and general in the army of Sun Yat-sen. Early life Born in Denver, Colorado, to Alfred E. (b.1845) and Hersa A. (1846 ...
.


Death

On April 23, 1865, two months after testifying before a U.S. military commission investigating the Sand Creek Massacre, Soule was on duty as
provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French (Modern French ). While a provost marshal is now usually a senior c ...
in Denver City, when he went to investigate guns being fired. At around 10:30 p.m., with his pistol out, Soule faced Charles Squier; the two men eventually standing only about four feet apart. The final act of Soule's life perhaps was intended to be an act of mercy; Soule fired a shot that wounded only Squier's left arm. Squier then fired a bullet that entered Soule's right cheek, mortally wounding him. The murder occurred on what is now 15th Street between Lawrence and Arapahoe Streets. Soule was dead before help could arrive. Squier dropped his pistol and, with an accomplice, ran before he could be arrested by the authorities. Soule's death occurred two weeks after the end of the Civil War and eight days after the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
. Squier was eventually caught and brought back to Denver City for a court-martial. However, the officer who captured Squier was found dead in a hotel with what was presumed to be a staged drug overdose, and Squier escaped to New York, where his influential family lived. Once there he held various jobs, and tried to rejoin the Army, but was rejected. Squier then fled to Central America to avoid the law. His legs were crushed in a railroad accident, and he died from gangrene in 1869. Despite his crime, he was buried in New York with honors.''Captain Silas S. Soule, a Pioneer Martyr''
article; via KC Lonewolf Blog online; originally published in ''The Colorado Magazine'', vol. IV; (May 1927)


Remembrance

Soule's funeral on April 26, 1865, was attended by a large crowd, with military and civil dignitaries. A journalist described the funeral as "the finest ever seen in this country." In 1867, Soule was posthumously
brevetted In military terminology, a brevet ( or ) is a warrant which gives commissioned officers a higher military rank as a reward without necessarily conferring the authority and privileges granted by that rank. The promotion would be noted in the of ...
to the rank of major, in recognition of his meritorious service. Soule was first buried at Denver City Cemetery (now the location of
Cheesman Park Cheesman Park is an urban park and neighborhood located in the City and County of Denver, Colorado, United States. Geography Cheesman Park is located in central Denver, southeast of downtown. The Park has inexact borders, as it is framed on thr ...
). A large memorial stone was erected above his grave. The cemetery later closed and many bodies, including Soule's, were transferred to Riverside Cemetery in Denver. Soule's body was transferred to the
Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...
portion of Riverside in May 1886, where he is still buried. Soule's large memorial stone was not moved with his remains, and he now has a standard soldier's gravestone. His widow Hersa, who died in 1879, is buried in a different section at Riverside Cemetery.


Recognition in Congress

On October 6, 1998, Senator
Ben Nighthorse Campbell Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born Benny Marshall Campbell; April 13, 1933) is an American and Northern Cheyenne politician and Air Force veteran who served in both chambers of the United States Congress; representing Colorado in the U.S. House of Re ...
of Colorado spoke in the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
about the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act of 1998, specifically honoring Silas Soule, with these remarks: :"Finally, on this occasion I want to pay a long overdue tribute to one young Coloradan, Captain Silas S. Soule, whose actions over one hundred and thirty years ago saved many innocent Cheyenne and Arapaho lives on that fateful day at Sand Creek. . . . :"While the Sand Creek Massacre was at first hailed as a great victory, Captain Soule was determined to make the horrific truth of the massacre known. . . . Soule refused to compromise himself and made his voice heard through reports that reached all the way from Colorado to Washington, and even to the floor of the U.S. Senate. . . . :"During hearings in Denver, Captain Soule's integrity and unwavering testimony turned the tide against the once popular Chivington and the other men who participated in the massacre and mutilations at Sand Creek. Captain Soule fully realized that telling the truth about the massacre could cost him his life, even telling a good friend that he fully expected to be killed for his testimony. He was right. . . . Silas Soule's funeral, held just a few weeks after his wedding, was one of the most attended in Denver up until that time. While Captain Silas Soule's name has largely faded into history, he stands out as one of the few bright rays of light in the moral darkness that surrounds the Sand Creek Massacre. He should be remembered."


Recognition in Colorado

From 1998 to 2019 a Spiritual Healing Run/Walk was held in November to honor those killed at Sand Creek (after an interruption due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the Run began again in 2024). It began at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado and concluded on the west steps 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 ...
. Starting in 2003, a memorial ceremony was also held at Soule's grave site, and in addition in later years at a Denver high-rise building where a memorial plaque honoring Soule was installed adjacent to Skyline Park, near the location of his murder. The marker is 100 feet from 15th Street and about 100 feet from Arapahoe Street, behind a black pillar supporting the building at that location. The inscription on the memorial plaque says: :"At this location on April 23, 1865, assassins shot and killed 1st Colorado Cavalary Officer Capt. Silas S. Soule. During the infamous Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864, Soule had disobeyed orders by refusing to fire on Chief Black Kettle's peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho village. Later, at Army hearings, Soule testified against his commander, Col. John M. Chivington, detailing the atrocities committed by the troops at Sand Creek. His murderers were never brought to justice."


Legacy

Soule's name has been proposed as a replacement name for several locations in Colorado. Soule was among several proposals submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename Mount Evans. The USBGN chose the name Mount Blue Sky. A creek in Chaffee County (whose name previously included an offensive slur) was also proposed to the USBGN to be named for Soule, but the USBGN chose the name for a nearby geological site. In 2022, Soule’s name was also submitted to the USBGN to replace Pingree Park, Pingree Road and Pingree Hill after Colorado State University renamed its nearby campus Colorado State University Mountain Campus. About Soule's legacy, one writer has concluded: :"Principle, not populism, is desperately scarce today. . . . Contrast that with Soule’s willingness to sacrifice himself for vulnerable humans everywhere he encountered them: he fought Slavery even before the Civil War, he upstood at Sand Creek, and he rescued white settler children held as hostages. . . . To institutionalize principle, we need to elevate a role model like Silas Soule. . . . The marker at Arapahoe and 15th . . . is an insufficient tribute to someone who should be a household name."


Papers

Soule's letters to his family, as well as other original items from his life, are in the care of his collateral descendants in Iowa; transcripts of his letters and other documents, including some military records, are in the Denver Public Library. His letters to
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
are in the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
. Items relating to his time in Kansas are in the Kansas Historical Society collections.


See also

* Hugh Thompson Jr., credited with intervening in, and later exposing, the 1968 My Lai massacre.


Notes


References


Further reading

* Bensing, Tom. ''Silas Soule: A Short, Eventful Life of Moral Courage''. Dog Ear Publishing, 2012. . * Hoig, Stan. ''The Sand Creek Massacre''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977. . * Jacobs, Margaret D. ''After One Hundred Winters, In Search of Reconciliation on America's Stolen Lands''. Princeton University Press, 2021. . * Kelman, Ari. ''A Misplaced Massacre: Strugging Over the Memory of Sand Creek''. Harvard University Press, 2013. . * Kraft, Louis. ''Ned Wynkoop and the Lonely Road from Sand Creek''. University of Oklahoma Press, 2011. . * Kraft, Louis. ''Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway ''. University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. . * Turner, Carol. ''Forgotten Heroes and Villains of Sand Creek''. History Press, 2010. . * Various Authors. ''Sand Creek Papers, Documents of a Massacre''. Big Byte Books, 2016. .


External links


''Testimony of Captain Silas S. Soule before the military commission investigating the massacre of Cheyenne Indians at Sand Creek, Colorado, in 1864''Silas Soule, Soldier, Abolitionist, Friend of the Cheyenne and Arapaho''
(by Byron Strom, descendant of Silas's older brother William Soule)
''The Sand Creek Massacre » Silas Soule''
* ttps://silassoule.net ''Silas Soule American Hero with moral courage''(by Tom Bensing, the author of Soule's biography)
Pension Application File for Hersa A Coberly Soule, Widow of Silas S Soule, Company D, 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment (Application No. WC72533)SILAS SOULE PAPERS, Denver Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soule, Silas 1838 births 1865 deaths People assassinated in the 19th century Abolitionists from Maine American military personnel of the Indian Wars People from Kansas Territory American people of Dutch descent American people of English descent American whistleblowers Assassinated American activists Assassinated American military personnel Bleeding Kansas History of Denver Military personnel from Denver People from Bath, Maine People from Sagadahoc County, Maine 19th-century people from Maine People from Colorado Territory People from Lawrence, Kansas People of Maine in the American Civil War People of Kansas in the American Civil War People of Colorado in the American Civil War People murdered in Colorado Underground Railroad people Union army officers Union army personnel 19th-century United States Army personnel Burials at Riverside Cemetery (Denver, Colorado) People murdered in 1865