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On August 26, 1861, Reverend John M. Chivington was commissioned major in the 1st Colorado Volunteers. The previous year, he had migrated to Denver, begun a church, organized a Sunday school, become presiding elder of the Rocky Mountain Methodist District, and gotten interested in politics. When the Confederates began their invasion of the New Mexico Territory in the summer of 1861, the "Fighting Parson" anticipated a chance at the military glory and public advancement several Union officers in the East had enjoyed.
As major with the 1st Colorado he met with some success, making a name for himself when, at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, he turned the tide of the battle by leading a charge that destroyed the Confederate's supply train.
With the resignation of the colonel of the reorganized Colorado Volunteers, Chivington stepped up to replace him. At around this time, the first great push to bring Colorado into the Union as a state had begun. John Evans, the appointed territorial governor of Colorado, hoped to become the elected governor; Chivington, the territorial hero, saw himself as a congressman from the state. The political ambitions of these two men led to their exaggeration of Indian troubles in the state, and, ultimately, the end of Chivington's chance as a politician.
Following Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton's refusal to send troops to Colorado, Evans asked to raise another regiment of volunteers to fight hostile Indians "before we are cut off and destroyed." He hoped that if it appeared he, Chivington, and a few extra recruits could eliminate the overblown Indian threat, they would gain greater Federal favor.
The raising of the regiment was approved and placed under Chivington's command. The new unit, combined with elements of the 1st Colorado, became known as the 3rd Colorado. (There was a 2nd Colorado on duty in Kansas.) However, unlike most of the 1st Colorado's recruits, many of the volunteers of the 3rd turned out to be no more than "street toughs, claim jumpers, and assorted riffraff."
On November 29, 1864, Chivington led these men in an attack on a Cheyenne village. Chief Black Kettle, leader of the Cheyenne people, had believed his people were safe, as they had complied with the U.S. Army's demands to lay down arms. Though he was advised by fellow officers to cancel the attack, Chivington and his men were hungry to seek revenge on the Indians who had been causing trouble for the past few years. As his men attacked, Chief Black Kettle raised a U.S. Flag over his lodge as a sign of peace. This, along with the encouragement of an interpreter to call off the attack, were both ignored by Chivington, who ordered his men to "take no prisoners." The slaughter, which became known as the Sand Creek Massacre, left 400 to 600 Indians killed. The majority of the dead were women and children, whose bodies had been mutilated. 8 to 10 soldiers were killed in the attack, 40 more fell wounded. The scandalous event was investigated by Congress. Chivington was forced to resign his commission in early 1865 to avoid a court-martial.
After the Civil War, Chivington's political ambitions were ruined, and he traveled through California, Nebraska, and Colorado until his death on October 4, 1894.
Though he had led the attack on the Cheyenne village, it was commanding general Samuel R. Curtis who had originally claimed that the Indians needed to be "punished for their depredations." Following the massacre, Chivington was made the military's scapegoat, in order to protect Samuel R. Curtis' own career. Despite his barbaric actions at Sand Creek, Chivington is still regarded as a hero by many for his gallant actions at Glorieta Pass.
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