The 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment (officially the 1st Regiment of Colorado Volunteers) was a

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

formed in the

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 State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the w ...

in 1861 and active in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

in the late 19th century.

History

The regiment was formed shortly after the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

by order of William Gilpin, the first governor of the territory. Recruiters began enlisting men in August 1861, just six months after the organization of the territory. Known as "Gilpin's Pet Lambs" for the involvement of the governor in its formation, the regiment served in the Western Theater, at first serving in various detachments throughout the territory. The regiment's most notable service came in the New Mexico Campaign in the spring of 1862, in which they helped repulse the advance of the

Army of New Mexico The Army of New Mexico, also known as the Sibley Brigade, was a small Confederate field army in the American Civil War. It operated in Confederate Arizona and New Mexico Territory during the New Mexico Campaign in late 1861 and early 1862, before ...

under

Henry Hopkins Sibley Henry Hopkins Sibley (May 25, 1816 – August 23, 1886) was a career officer in the United States Army, who commanded a Confederate cavalry brigade in the Civil War. In 1862, he attempted to forge a supply route from California, in defiance ...

at the battles of

Glorieta Pass Glorieta Pass (elevation 7500 ft.) is a mountain pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. The pass is at a strategic location near at the southern end of the Sangre de Cristos in east central Santa Fe County southeast o ...

and Peralta. In November 1862, the unit was reorganized along with Companies C and D of the 2nd Colorado Infantry into the

1st Colorado Cavalry The 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment was formed in November 1862 by Territorial Governor John Evans, composed mostly of members of the 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment and of C and D Companies of the 2nd Colorado Infantry Regiment. It was formed bot ...

. (This was done since the

US War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

believed cavalry would be better in protecting the Western trails and for fighting the various Indian tribes.) The first colonel of the regiment was

John P. Slough John Potts Slough (February 1, 1829 – December 17, 1867; last name pronounced like 'plough') was an American politician, lawyer, Union general during the American Civil War, and assassinated Chief Justice of New Mexico. He commanded the Un ...

, replaced in April 1862 by Major

John Chivington John Milton Chivington (January 27, 1821 – October 4, 1894) was an American 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 ...

, later chastised for his role as commander of the

3rd Colorado Cavalry The 3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment was a Union Army unit formed in the mid-1860s when increased traffic on the United States emigrant trails and settler encroachment resulted in numerous attacks against them by the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Hung ...

in the November 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. There is an active group of reenactors who portray the First Colorado (Company D) in Denver.http://www.firstcolorado.org/

References

External links

Colorado.gov website on the regiment
{{Authority control Units and formations of the Union Army from Colorado Military units and formations in Colorado 1861 establishments in Colorado Territory Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1862

History

See also

References

External links