John Chivington
John M. Chivington | |
|---|---|
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| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | Union Army
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| Years of service | 1861 - 1864 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands | 1st Colorado Volunteers |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
| Other work | Methodist preacher |
John Milton Chivington (January 27, 1821 – October 4, 1894) was a 19th century United States Army officer noted for his role in the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War and in the Colorado War. He was celebrated as the hero of the 1862 Battle of Glorieta Pass against a Confederate supply train. Later he became infamous for his role in leading the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre of about 150 peacefully encamped Cheyenne and Arapaho, mostly women and children. He was also a member of the Freemasons, and the Masonic Square and Compass is featured prominently on his headstone.
Early life
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Chivington was born in Lebanon, Ohio, the son of Isaac Chivington he was born with severe color blindness and could not tell apart basic colors such as White and Black, and had fought under General William Henry Harrison against members of Tecumseh's Confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe.[1] Drawn to Methodism, Chivington become a minister. Following ordination in 1844, his first appointment was to Payson Circuit in the Illinois Conference. However, along the journey from Ohio to Illinois Chivington contracted smallpox.[2] He served the Illinois conference for ten years. During 1853, he worked in a Methodist missionary expedition to the Wyandot people in Kansas, a part of the Kansas-Nebraska Annual Conference. His outspoken views in favor of abolitionism put him in danger, and upon the advice of "Congressman Craig and other friends" Chivington was persuaded to leave the Kansas Territory for the Nebraska Territory.[3]
As a result, the Methodist Church transferred Chivington to a parish in the Omaha, Nebraska. This appointment would ultimately disagree with Chivington, and he would serve it for one year. Historian James Haynes would offer the following concerning Chivington's pastoral abilities: "Mr. Chivington was not as steady in his demeanor as becomes a man called of God to the work of the ministry, giving his minsterial friends regret and even trouble in their efforts to sustain his reputation."[4] On May 8, 1860, Chivington moved with his family to the Colorado Territory, settling in Denver, Colorado. He was selected as the Presiding Elder (P.E.) of the new Rocky Mountain District and served for two years (1860–62). Controversy would begin to mar Chivington's appointment, who stopped performing his function as P.E. During the 1862 conference, Chivington was not reappointed. Rather, his name was recorded as "located". According to early Methodist polity, describing a minister as located means that the minister has effectively been retired. Even this is not without controversy. Historian of Methodism Isaac Beardsley, a personal friend of Chivington, suggested that Chivington was "thrown out" due to its involvement with the armed forces, an association that would lead to Chivington's name to infamy.[5] Chivington's status as being "located" did not remove him completely from Methodist politics. His name would reappear as a member of the executive board of Colorado Seminary, the historic precursor of University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology. His name also appears in the incorporation document issued by the Council and House of Representatives of Colorado Territory, which was approved by then governor John Evans.[6]
Civil War
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When the Civil War broke out, Colorado Territory governor William Gilpin offered him a commission as a chaplain, but Chivington refused it, saying he wanted to fight. He was commissioned a major in the 1st Colorado Volunteers under Colonel John P. Slough.
During Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley's offensive in the East Arizona and New Mexico Territories, Chivington led a 418-man detachment to Apache Canyon. On March 26, 1862, they surprised about 300 Confederate Texans under Major Charles L. Pyron. The startled Texans were routed with 4 killed, 20 wounded and 75 captured, while Chivington's men lost 5 killed and 14 wounded. This small victory raised morale in Slough's army. On March 28, Slough sent Chivington and his men on a circling movement, with orders to hit Sibley in the flank once Slough's main force had engaged his front at Glorieta Pass. Chivington got into position above the Pass, but waited in vain for either Slough or Sibley to arrive. While they were waiting, scouts reported that Sibley's entire supply train was nearby at Johnson's Ranch.
Chivington's command descended the slope and crept up on the supply train. They waited for an hour in concealment, then attacked, driving off or capturing the small Confederate guard detail without any casualties. Chivington ordered the supply wagons burned, and the horses and mules slaughtered. Meanwhile, the Battle of Glorieta Pass was raging at Pigeon's Ranch. Chivington returned to Slough's main force to find it rapidly falling back. The Confederates had won the Battle of Glorieta Pass. Thanks to Chivington and his forces, however, they had no supplies to sustain their advance, and were forced to retreat. Chivington had completely reversed the result of the battle. Sibley's men reluctantly retreated back to Texas, never again to threaten New Mexico.
Chivington earned high praise for his decisive stroke at Johnson's Ranch, even though his discovery of the Confederate supply train was accidental. Critics have suggested that had Chivington returned quickly to reinforce Slough's army when he heard gunfire, his 400 extra men might have allowed the Union to win the battle. Chivington was unusual in becoming a (minor) military hero of the Civil War for an incident in which there were no casualties.
He was appointed colonel of the 1st Colorado Volunteer Regiment of Cavalry in April 1862. The darker side of Chivington was revealed in the complaints of a captured Confederate chaplain, who wrote that Chivington had threatened to kill the prisoners whom he took at Johnson's Ranch. In November 1862, Chivington was appointed brigadier general of volunteers, but the appointment was withdrawn in February 1863.
Sand Creek
Black Kettle, chief of a group of around 800 mostly Southern Cheyenne, reported to Fort Lyon to surrender and establish peace for his band. After having done so, he and his band, along with some Arapaho under the chief Left Hand, set up camp at nearby Sand Creek, less than 40 miles north, having been assured that by doing so his people would be considered friendly by the government. The Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, who had aggressively led battles against the whites, were not part of this encampment. Assured by the US government's promises of peace, Black Kettle sent most of his warriors to hunt, leaving only 60 men in the village, most of them too old or too young to hunt. A U.S. flag was flown over Black Kettle's lodge, since he had been told "as long as he flew the American flag, he and his people would be safe from U.S. soldiers".[7]
The governor of Colorado had received permission to raise a force to go against the Cheyenne, who had been attacking emigrant settlers. The Third Colorado Cavalry were essentially militia, volunteers who signed up for 100 days. They were put under Chivington's command and he felt pressure to use them before their terms expired at the end of 1864.
After Black Kettle and his band resettled, the commanding officer changed at Fort Lyon to one who was an ally of Chivington. In November, setting out from Fort Lyon, Colonel Chivington and his 800 troops of the First Colorado Cavalry, Third Colorado Cavalry and a company of First New Mexico Volunteers marched nearly to the reservation. On the night of November 28, after camping, soldiers and militia drank heavily and celebrated the anticipated fight.[7] On the morning of November 29, 1864, Chivington ordered his troops to attack. One officer, Captain Silas Soule, believing the Indians to be peaceful, refused to follow Chivington's order and told his men to hold fire. Other soldiers in Chivington's force, however, immediately attacked the village. Ignoring the US flag, and a white flag they raised shortly after the soldiers began firing, Chivington's soldiers massacred the majority of the mostly unarmed Cheyenne. The attack became known as the Sand Creek Massacre.
The US forces lost 15 killed and more than 50 wounded[8], mostly due to friendly fire (likely caused by their heavy drinking).[7] Between 150 and 200 Indians were estimated dead, nearly all women and children (before a Congressional committee, Chivington testified that his forces had killed 500-600 Indians, and that few of them were women or children. Others testified against him.[9]). A prominent mixed-race Cheyenne witness said that about 53 men and 110 women and children were killed.[10]
With Chivington's declaring his forces had won a battle against hostile Cheyenne, the action was initially celebrated as a victory. Some soldiers displayed Indian body parts as trophies in Denver saloons. However, the testimony of Soule and his men resulted in a US Congressional investigation into the incident, which concluded that Chivington had acted wrongly.
Soule and some of the men whom he commanded testified against Chivington at his US Army court martial. Chivington denounced Soule as a liar. Soule was later murdered by a soldier who had been under Chivington's command at Sand Creek. Some believed Chivington may have been involved.[citation needed]
Chivington was condemned for his part in the massacre, but he had already resigned from the Army. The general post-Civil War amnesty meant that criminal charges could not be filed against him. An Army judge publicly stated that the Sand Creek massacre was "a cowardly and cold-blooded slaughter, sufficient to cover its perpetrators with indelible infamy, and the face of every American with shame and indignation." Public outrage at the brutality of the massacre, particularly considering the mutilation of corpses, was intense. It was believed to have contributed to public pressure to change Indian policy. The US Congress later rejected the idea of a general war against the Indians of the Midwest.
Because of Chivington's position as a lay preacher, in 1996 the United Methodist General Conference expressed regret for the Sand Creek massacre. It issued an apology to the Southern Cheyenne for the "actions of a prominent Methodist." [11]
Late life
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Although never punished, Chivington was forced to resign from the Colorado Militia. Public outrage also forced him to withdraw from politics and kept him out of Colorado's campaign for statehood. In 1865 he moved back to Nebraska and became an unsuccessful freight hauler.
After living briefly in California, Chivington returned to Ohio to farm. Later he became editor of a local newspaper. In 1883 he campaigned for a seat in the Ohio legislature, but when his opponents drew attention to the Sand Creek Massacre, he withdrew from the race.
He returned to Denver where he worked as a deputy sheriff until shortly before his death from cancer in 1894. His funeral took place at Trinity Methodist Church, modern day Trinity United Methodist Church, and he is interred at Fairmount Cemetery. To the end of his life, Chivington maintained that Sand Creek had been a successful operation. He argued that his expedition was a response to raids on white people. He ignored his betrayal of official agreements for protection of Black Kettle's friendly band. In addition, he overlooked the contribution of the massacre to the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux bands strengthening their alliances and increasing raids on white settlers.
In 1887, the unincorporated settlement of Chivington, Colorado was established and named after John Chivington. It was a railroad town on the Missouri Pacific Railroad line, fairly close to the massacre site. It was largely depopulated during the Dust Bowl days of the 1920s and 1930s, although some buildings still remain.
Controversy
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In 2005, the City Council of Longmont, Colorado changed the name of Chivington Drive to Sunrise Drive. They had learned of Chivington's role in the Sand Creek Massacre and did not want to honor him.[12]
In popular culture
- James A. Michener loosely based his character Frank Skimmerhorn in the novel Centennial on John Chivington.
- In The Listening Sky, Dorothy Garlock portrayed Chivington as the father of Jane Love. The book provides background detail on Chivington.
- In the TNT mini-series, Into the West, John Chivington was portrayed by Tom Berenger.
Notes
- ^ Don H. Holter, Fire on the Prairie: Methodism in the History of Kansas
- ^ Isaac Haight Breadsley. Echoes from peak and Plain or Tales of Life, War, Travel, and Colorado Methodism. New York: Eaton and Maine, 1898.
- ^ Morton, Julius Sterling. Illustrated history of Nebraska: a history of Nebraska from the earliest explorations of the trans-Mississippi region, with steel engravings, photogravures, copper plates, maps, and tables, Volume 2 (Lincoln, NE: Jacob North and Company, 1906), 196.
- ^ Haynes, James. History of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Omaha and suburbs (Omaha, NE?: Omaha Printing Company, 1895), 44
- ^ Beardsley, Isaac. Echoes from peak and plain, or, Tales of life, war, travel and Colorado Methodism (Curtis & Jennings, 1898).
- ^ Beardsley, Isaac. Echoes from peak and plain, or, Tales of life, war, travel and Colorado Methodism (Curtis & Jennings, 1898)
- ^ a b c Brown 1970.
- ^ Michno 2003, p. 159.
- ^ "Testimony of Colonel J.M. Chivington, April 26, 1865" to the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, New Perspectives on the West: Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre. PBS.
- ^ George Bent, "On April 30, 1913, about 53 men were killed and 110 women and children killed, 163 in all killed. Lots of men, women and children were wounded.", Sand Creek Massacre National Historical Site, National Park Service. George Bent, the son of prominent fur trader William Bent and a Cheyenne mother, was at the village when it was attacked.
- ^ [1] Sand Creek Massacre research center supported
- ^ http://www.transformcolumbusday.org/media/20041229-lf.html
On December 27, 1956, the American television series Playhouse 90 broadcast "Massacre at Sand Creek." Its script recounted the massacre and the court-martial of Chivington but changed the names of those involved. John Chivington became "John Templeton," played by Everett Sloane. See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0675587/
References
- Brown, Dee. (1970). Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, Owl Books. ISBN 0-8050-6669-1.
- Frazer, Donald S. (1995). Blood and Treasure: The Confederate Empire in the Southwest. Texas A & M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-639-6.
- Michno, Gregory F. (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes 1850-1890. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87842-468-7.
- West Film Project and WETA. (2001). "John M. Chivington (1821-1894)", New Perspectives on the West: Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre. PBS.