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Sentiment In 1861
During the winter of 1860-61, preceding the
actual outbreak of hostilities between the North and the South, there
arose strong evidences of divided sentiment in Denver and other
communities of Colorado Territory. There must be taken into consideration
the fact that many of the settlers in Colorado, in the towns and mining
camps, were from the South, were thoroughly imbued with the southern
spirit and ideals, and naturally sympathized with the cause of the South.
But there were others, from the North and in the majority, who bitterly
opposed everything which smacked of the false aristocracy of the Southern
States. Actual war between the states was considered remote and not until
the news of Fort Sumter came to Denver did the people awaken to the true
character of the situation.
The military organizations in the
territory were insignificant at this time. In fact, when Governor Gilpin
arrived to take over the government in the new Territory, there were no
Colorado troops in existence. The Jefferson Rangers and Denver Guards,
small militia companies, had been organized during the summer of i860 in
accordance with an act of the Legislative Assembly of Jefferson Territory,
but were disbanded before the end of the following winter. Small forces of
government troops were stationed at two places in Colorado Territory, at
Fort Garland, in the San Luis Valley, and at Fort Wise, on the Arkansas
River, near the eastern part of the present Bent County. The latter post
was formerly the trading station built by William Bent and which was sold
to the Government in 1859; in the fall of the year 1861 the name was
changed from Fort Wise to Fort Lyon, in memory of Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, the
Union leader who fell at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, the preceding August.
Confederate Flag Raising
Governor Gilpin was a staunch supporter of the Union, but the same could
not be said for many of the citizens. Rebel sympathizers could be heard on
every hand, expounding their blatant views of slavery and the Southern
Confederacy. The first actual demonstration of opposition to the North
occurred on April 24th, just a few days after the bombardment of Fort
Sumter. Upon this day a number of men raised the "Stars and Bars" over the
store of Wallingford & Murphy, a log building which stood on the north
side of Larimer Street, a short distance west of Sixteenth Street. A
turbulent crowd, in which the Union men were predominant, 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 general
melee seemed imminent. Shortly a young man in the crowd, Samuel M. Logan,
later captain in the First Colorado Volunteers, climbed to the roof of the
store and tore the emblem down, without opposition from the crowd
assembled. This was the first and last open display of the Confederate
flag in Colorado Territory, although it is said that a few small flags
were flown from private houses later. This occurrence, however, brought
the Union spirit out in force and numerous manifestations of loyalty to
the North were made.
Colorado Territory was placed in a
complicated situation. Territorial government had just been inaugurated
and actual administration was yet in the formularize state: the conditions
in New Mexico heralded a Confederate menace from that direction; Indians,
covertly watching for the opportunity to spring upon the white men, roamed
the plains in great numbers; great distances lay between the settlements
and the beginning of civilization in the east; and, in all, many other
factors contributed to the feeling of isolation and uneasiness in the
territory.
Defeat Of Enemy Plans
Governor Gilpin came to Denver on May 29th and began the work of
organizing the new government. In the next month he formed a military
staff, consisting of: Richard E. Whitsitt, adjutant-general; Samuel Moer,
quartermaster-general; John S. Fillmore, paymaster; and Morton C. Fisher,
purchasing agent. One of the first moves made by the governor, after the
organization of the staff, was to order Fisher to purchase all the small
ordnance and ammunition he could find among the people. This variegated
stock of weapons was not collected without opposition from the
Confederates. The latter were quietly active throughout the territory,
were engaged in gathering arms themselves, and were suspected to be
forming a mounted force for the purpose of raiding Denver or some other of
the larger communities. Under the leadership of one McKee, a Texan, these
men advertised freely for guns and were becoming more and more open and
boastful in their actions, when Governor Gilpin took steps to crush them.
He ordered McKee and two score of his followers arrested and imprisoned.
This ended the purchase of guns by the rebel sympathizers.
There
were yet many of the butternut caste in Colorado and a detachment of them
succeeded in establishing a meeting place at the head of Cherry Creek in
the autumn of 1861. In the meantime, the First Colorado Volunteer Regiment
had been organized and a number of these soldiers were despatched to the
enemies' stronghold. Some of the latter were captured and others escaped.
The rebels fled southward, taking possession of a wagon train in the
southeastern part of the present state, but many of them were speedily
caught by the pursuing soldiers and returned to Denver with their former
comrades. After a few weeks of imprisonment they were discharged by the
authorities and threatened with summary punishment if they resumed their
disloyal activities. In this way the last organized attempt to oppose the
North was quelled in the territory. Those of southern ideas and who wished
to take up arms against the North surreptitiously departed from Colorado,
individually or in small groups, and made their way to the nearest
Con-federate army or community.
First
Recruiting
In July, 1 861, Governor Gilpin, with the
cooperation of several prominent citizens, had taken steps to perfect some
sort of military organization. A request was made of the Washington
authorities for permission to organize a few companies of infantry or
cavalry, the same to be used in the service of the North. For some reason,
this request was ignored.
In the same month of July, recruiting
was begun near Idaho and vicinity by Samuel H. Cook, for service in a
Kansas Regiment. This must be considered as the first actual recruiting in
the territory for service in the cause of the Union. When Cook had nearly
completed his recruiting Governor Gilpin persuaded him to keep the men in
Colorado, to form a unit of the First Regiment of Volunteers. This
regiment was conceived in the mind of the governor, as he had decided to
assume the initiative and organize a regiment despite the silence of
Washington. As governor of the territory he was vested with authority to
raise a military force for the defense of the citizens.
John P.
Slough, a Denver attorney, by this time had received a commission from
Washington to enlist two companies of infantry for the regular service.
The original plan was for this command to relieve the United States
Regulars at Fort Garland, thus releasing the latter for work at the front.
In July and August, Governor Gilpin appointed company officers and ordered
the enlistment of nine companies which, with Cook's two, were to comprise
the new regiment. In the latter part of August he made additional
arrangements for two more companies, which were to perform the service
intended for the two units to be raised by Slough, and afterward to form
the basis of the Second Regiment of Colorado Volunteers, then
contemplated.
Recruiting offices having been located at the more
important places in the territory, by the end of September the quota of
the First Regiment was practically filled. John P. Slough was appointed
colonel of the regiment; Samuel F. Tappan was made lieutenant-colonel;
John M. Chivington, later of Sand Creek fame, was commissioned major.
Chivington, in view of his former vocation as a preacher, was tendered the
position of chaplain at first, but his bellicose spirit was too strong for
such an office and he chose the major ship. The companies and their
officers, also places where recruited, were:
Company A, Capt. Edward W. Wynkoop, was recruited at Denver by Colonel
Slough.
Company B, Capt. Samuel M. Logan, was recruited at Central
City by Lieutenant-Colonel Tappan.
Company C, Capt. Richard Sopris,
was recruited partly in Denver and partly in the Buckskin Joe district in
the South Park.
Company D, Captain Downing, was formed mostly in
Denver.
Company E, Capt. Scott J. Anthony, was recruited in the
California Gulch and Buckskin Joe districts.
Company F, Capt. Samuel
H. Cook, was formed of men from the vicinity twenty-five miles west of
Denver, which is now Clear Creek County.
Company G, Capt. Josiah W.
Hambleton, was recruited in the Clear Creek district.
Company H, Capt.
George L. Sanborn, raised mostly at Central City.
Company I, Capt.
Charles Mailie, a German company recruited at Denver, Central City and in
other Clear Creek mining towns.
Company K, Capt. Charles P. Marion,
recruited mostly in Denver and Central City.
Captains Hambleton and
Marion were both cashiered for insubordination in November and were
succeeded by Captains William F. Wilder and Samuel H. Robbins
respectively.
Comfortable barracks, costing about $40,000, were
constructed on the east side of the South Platte River, two and a half
miles above the mouth of Cherry Creek, and here the regiment was taken in
October. The encampment was given the name of Camp Weld, in honor of the
first secretary of the territory, Lewis Ledyard Weld.
By the end
of November two more companies were raised at Caņon City, and were known
as "Captain 'Jim' Ford's Independent Company" and "Captain Theodore Dodd's
Independent Company."
These Colorado soldiers might be described
by the word nondescript. Regulation government supplies and equipment
failed to arrive for some time, and each man carried a different kind of
weapon. When the regulation guns did arrive, they were few in number and
of inferior quality. Currency was another obstacle in the governor's path.
Congress had not included in its appropriations for the Colorado
territorial government any funds for military purposes. Governor Gilpin
found it necessary to resort to some means to meet expenses, so issued
negotiable drafts directly upon the national treasury, which were accepted
here as legal tender. He was outside of his authority in doing this, but
was not aware of it at the time. When the drafts began to reach Washington
the merry music began, and the paper was all repudiated by the Government.
This led to a financial depression in the territory, as there had been
about $375,000 worth of these drafts issued, and the feeling against
Gilpin became extremely bitter. He visited Washington in the attempt to
straighten matters out, but was unsuccessful, and the question was finally
submitted to the cabinet. Early in 1862 this body of men voted to remove
Gilpin from office. In May, 1862, John Evans succeeded to the office of
governor of Colorado Territory.
Proclamation
In order to show the temper of the people in regard to
the conflict being waged, the Territorial Legislature adopted the
following resolutions the first of October:
"Be it Resolved by the
Council and House of Representatives of Colorado Territory, as follows,
to-wit:
"Resolved, That the deplorable Civil war in which the
United States Government is now engaged, was brought about by the
unjustifiable and traitorous acts of the disunionists at the South, and
therefore the sole responsibility for all its legitimate consequences
rests with them alone.
"Resolved, That all the resources of the
Country both in men and means to their utter exhaustion should be at once
called out, if needed to defend the National Government, and to preserve
the integrity of the Union.
"Resolved, That the pretended right of
secession, as claimed by some of the states of the Union, has no warrant
in the Constitution and is wholly repugnant to the principles on which our
government was founded.
"Resolved, That after this rebellion shall
have been crushed out, the supremacy of the Federal Constitution shall
have been fully conceded, and the rights of the Union shall have been
amply guaranteed, then there should be invoked the same spirit of
concession and compromise to perpetuate our institutions, in which they
were first conceived and framed.
"Resolved, That the people of
Colorado Territory, utterly ignoring all former political classifications,
heartily sympathize with the Federal Government in its present contest,
approve of its leading acts, which have been necessarily undertaken for
its own self-existence and self-defense, and pledge themselves to
cooperate to the full extent of their power, in all constitutional
measures which may hereafter be adopted toward the prompt and decisive
conclusion of the war thus waged on its part only for the maintenance of
the Constitution and the enforcement of the laws."
Another resolution was approved on October 29th which placed confidence
in Governor Gilpin and accorded him the support of the Legislature.
In addition to the volunteer companies already formed and which were
enlisted for the term of three years, two home guard companies, designated
as Nos. 1 and 2, were formed in the City of Denver. Joseph Ziegelmuller
was the captain of the first one and James W. Iddings of the second. The
duty of these troops kept them in Denver as guards, but they were
regularly mustered into the United States service and mustered out in the
spring of 1862. In November, three companies of the First were taken to
Fort Wise from Camp Weld and there remained during the winter months,
under command of the post officer, Lieut. James M. Warner. The companies
which had been raised at Canon City, recruited by Ford and Dodd, remained
there until the close of the year for equipment and muster.
Menace From The South
Shortly after
Texas seceded from the Government in March, 1861, the Confederate
authorities in that state began to prepare to take possession of the
Federal forts which stood upon Texas soil, also to take over the Territory
of New Mexico, which then included all of the present State of Arizona. In
a short time all the Union troops which had been stationed in Texas were
withdrawn, leaving many supplies in the hands of the Confederates.
Adequate provisions had been made for the expected war by John B.
Floyd, secretary of war under President Buchanan, who was a southern
sympathizer. Anticipating the secession of the rebel states, he abundantly
stocked all the forts in Texas and New Mexico with provisions and
munitions of war, also stationed a greater number of army officers than
necessary at the New Mexico posts, believing that when the South withdrew
from the Union these officers would give their services to the cause and
persuade a greater part of the soldiers to do likewise. Although many of
the officers did desert the blue for the gray, the whole force in this
territory was not seriously crippled thereby.
Col. William W.
Loring, a North Carolinian, was unwisely placed in charge of the Union
army in New Mexico, with headquarters at Santa Fe. Colonel Loring bore an
excellent reputation as an officer, but favored the southern cause. He
remained in office at Santa Fe for about three months, doing all in his
power to aid the Confederates in their plan of invading New Mexico, then
formally resigned and joined the Confederate army. Col. Edward R. S.
Canby, an officer of unquestioned loyalty, succeeded Loring and
established his headquarters at Fort Craig, on the Rio Grande, one hundred
and fifty miles above El Paso. Conditions in New Mexico and Arizona were
then in turmoil. New Mexico was considered to be largely for the North,
but in the country now constituting Arizona, where there were few people,
rabid southerners were in the majority. In a con-vention held at Tucson in
the late spring of '6i the western half of New Mexico was definitely
listed among the Confederate states and a delegate to the Con-federate
Congress elected.
Baylor's campaign
In July, 1861, Lieut.-Col. John R. Baylor, C. S. A., with several
companies of Texas mounted infantry and artillery, invested Fort Bliss, on
the Rio Grande below El Paso. Here he left a detachment and began to march
up the Rio Grande with the remainder of the force, carrying with him a
small field battery. First he approached Fort Fillmore, thirty-six miles
above El Paso, and commanded by Maj. Isaac Lynde. The latter made a feeble
effort to resist the southern troops, was defeated, and abandoned the
fort. With some five hundred Union troops he sought refuge at San Augustin
Springs, twenty-five miles northeast of Fort Fill-more, but Baylor
continued the pursuit and compelled the Union commander to lay down his
arms, despite the wishes of Lynde's under officers to make some sort of
fight. This exhibition of weakness compelled the evacuation of Fort
Thorne, forty miles up the river from Fort Fillmore. The garrison was
removed to Fort Craig. The Confederates, evidently believing they could
capture Fort Craig, moved on up the valley of the Rio Grande, but were met
by a detachment from the fort and compelled to retire. Colonel Baylor lost
no time in proclaiming to the inhabitants that he had assumed control of
the southern half of New Mexico in the name of the C. S. A. and that the
town of Mesilla would be the seat of government.
Colonel Canby
realized the distinct menace of Baylor's success along the Rio Grande and
immediately began to assemble all available Federal troops at Fort Craig.
The post was strengthened and enlarged and every preparation made to
receive the enemy.
History of Colorado
Source: History of Colorado, Wilbur
Fisk Stone, Editor, Volume I, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing
Company, 1918 |
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