| 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
 National color of the regiment | |
| Active | August 1861 to November 1862 |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Engagements | American Civil War |
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.
The regiment was formed shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War 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 under Henry Hopkins Sibley at the battles of Glorieta Pass 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. (This was done since the US War Department 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, replaced in April 1862 by Major John Chivington, later chastised for his role as commander of the 3rd Colorado Cavalry in the November 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.
There was a group of reenactors who portray the First Colorado (Company D) in Denver. The unit has since been disbanded. [1]
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 an attempt to gain control of the Southwest, including the gold fields of Colorado and the ports of California. Historians regard this campaign as the most ambitious Confederate attempt to establish control of the American West and to open an additional theater in the war. It was an important campaign in the war's Trans-Mississippi Theater, and one of the major events in the history of the New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War.
William Gilpin was a 19th-century American explorer, politician, land speculator, and futurist writer about the American West. He served as military officer in the United States Army during several wars, accompanied John C. Frémont on his second expedition through the West, and was instrumental in the formation of the government of the Oregon Territory. As a politician and writer, he was an inveterate believer in Manifest Destiny and was a visionary booster of new settlement to the West, helping lay the groundwork in his writings for a modern theory of the succession of civilizations.
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 both to protect Colorado against incursions from the Confederate forces and to fight the Native Americans who already inhabited the area.
California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular U.S. Army units sent east, in the area west of the Rocky Mountains, maintaining and building numerous camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist activity and securing the New Mexico Territory against the Confederacy. The State of California did not send its units east, but many citizens traveled east and joined the Union Army there, some of whom became famous.
The California Column was a force of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the American Civil War. The command marched over 900 miles (1,400 km) from California through Arizona and New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and as far east as El Paso, Texas, between April and August 1862.
The Colorado Territory was formally created in 1861 shortly before the bombardment of Fort Sumter sparked the American Civil War. Although sentiments were somewhat divided in the early days of the war, Colorado was only marginally a pro-Union territory. Colorado was strategically important to both the Union and Confederacy because of the gold and silver mines there as both sides wanted to use the mineral wealth to help finance the war. The New Mexico Campaign was a military operation conducted by Confederate Brigadier General Henry Sibley to gain control of the Southwest, including the gold fields of Colorado, the mineral-rich territory of Nevada and the ports of California. The campaign was intended as a prelude to an invasion of the Colorado Territory and an attempt to cut the supply lines between California and the rest of the Union. However, the Confederates were defeated at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico and were forced to retreat back to Texas, effectively ending the New Mexico Campaign.
The 1st Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States.
Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting former Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army. Approximately 5,600 former Confederate soldiers enlisted in the United States Volunteers, organized into six regiments of infantry between January 1864 and November 1866. Of those, more than 250 had begun their service as Union soldiers, were captured in battle, then enlisted in prison to join a regiment of the Confederate States Army. They surrendered to Union forces in December 1864 and were held by the United States as deserters, but were saved from prosecution by being enlisted in the 5th and 6th U.S. Volunteers. An additional 800 former Confederates served in volunteer regiments raised by the states, forming ten companies. Four of those companies saw combat in the Western Theater against the Confederate Army, two served on the western frontier, and one became an independent company of U.S. Volunteers, serving in Minnesota.
The 1st Nebraska Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was initially organized to protect the Nebraska Territory from Indian attacks, but primarily served in the Western Theater before being reorganized and sent to the frontier.
The Utah Territory during the American Civil War was far from the main operational theaters of war, but still played a role in the disposition of the United States Army, drawing manpower away from the volunteer forces and providing its share of administrative headaches for the Lincoln Administration. Although no battles were fought in the territory, the withdrawal of Union forces at the beginning of the war allowed the Native American tribes to start raiding the trails passing through Utah. As a result, units from California and Utah were assigned to protect against these raids. Mineral deposits found in Utah by California soldiers encouraged the immigration of non-Mormon settlers into Utah.
James Hobart Ford was a Union colonel and brevet brigadier general during the American Civil War, notable for his contributions in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the war.
The Department of Kansas was a Union Army command department in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the American Civil War. This department existed in three different forms during the war.
The Department of New Mexico was a department of the United States Army during the mid-19th century. It was created as the 9th Department, a geographical department, in 1848 following the successful conclusion of the Mexican–American War, and renamed Department of New Mexico in 1853. It had to contend with an invading Confederate force during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War from mid-1861 to early 1862, then with Apache tribes during the remainder of the conflict. It was merged into the Department of California after the end of the war as the District of New Mexico.
Hispanics in the American Civil War fought on both the Union and Confederate sides of the conflict. Not all the Hispanics who fought in the American Civil War were "Hispanic Americans" — in other words citizens of the United States. Many of them were Spanish subjects or nationals from countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Some were born in what later became a U.S. territory and therefore did not have the right to U.S. citizenship. It is estimated that approximately 3,500 Hispanics, mostly Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans living in the United States joined the war: 2,500 for the Confederacy and 1,000 for the Union. This number increased to 10,000 by the end of the war.
The units of the Arkansas Militia in the Civil War to which the current Arkansas National Guard has a connection include the Arkansas State Militia, Home Guard, and State Troop regiments raised by the State of Arkansas. Like most of the United States, Arkansas had an organized militia system before the American Civil War. State law required military service of most male inhabitants of a certain age. Following the War with Mexico, the Arkansas militia experienced a decline, but as sectional frictions between the north and south began to build in the late 1850s the militia experienced a revival. By 1860 the state's militia consisted of 62 regiments divided into eight brigades, which comprised an eastern division and a western division. New regiments were added as the militia organization developed. Additionally, many counties and cities raised uniformed volunteer companies, which drilled more often and were better equipped than the un-uniformed militia. These volunteer companies were instrumental in the seizure of federal installations at Little Rock and Fort Smith, beginning in February 1861.
The 2nd Colorado Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment during the American Civil War from the state of Colorado. On October 13, 1863, the 2nd Colorado Infantry was consolidated with the 3rd Colorado Infantry Regiment in order to create the 2nd Colorado Cavalry Regiment.
The 134th Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment in the Nebraska Army National Guard. By extension, it is a member of the United States Army National Guard, and as a currently federally-recognized unit, also a member of the National Guard of the United States.
Samuel H. Cook was a Union officer who served as a captain in the American Civil War. A veteran of the fighting in Kansas, in 1861 he started recruiting volunteers in Denver to form a unit of soldiers to head east and fight against the Confederacy. However, Governor William Gilpin of the Colorado Territory, offering funds to raise the unit, persuaded him to stay and help raise the 1st Regiment of Colorado Volunteers. Chivington's recruits formed the core of the new unit. Major John Chivington was placed in command of the unit and Captain Cook commanded the cavalry of F Company. At the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Cook was wounded at Apache Canyon.
James Monroe Williams was an American lawyer, soldier, and merchant. He served both as a cavalry and as an infantry officer in the Union Army within the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the American Civil War, and was breveted a brigadier general near the end of the conflict.
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