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Campaigns and Commanders #69
The Second Colorado Cavalry: A Civil War Regiment on the Great Plains
During the Civil War, the Second Colorado Volunteer Regiment played a vital and often decisive role in the fight for the Union on the Great Plains—and in the westward expansion of the American empire. Christopher M. Rein’s The Second Colorado Cavalry is the first in-depth history of this regiment operating at the nexus of the Civil War and the settlement of the American West.
Composed largely of footloose ’59ers who raced west to participate in the gold rush in Colorado, the troopers of the Second Colorado repelled Confederate invasions in New Mexico and Indian Territory before wading into the Burned District along the Kansas border, the bloodiest region of the guerilla war in Missouri. In 1865, the regiment moved back out onto the plains, applying what it had learned to peacekeeping operations along the Santa Fe Trail, thus definitively linking the Civil War and the military conquest of the American West in a single act of continental expansion.
Emphasizing the cavalry units, whose mobility proved critical in suppressing both Confederate bushwhackers and Indian raiders, Rein tells the neglected tale of the “fire brigade” of the Trans-Mississippi Theater—a group of men, and a few women, who enabled the most significant environmental shift in the Great Plains’ history: the displacement of Native Americans by Euro-American settlers, the swapping of bison herds for fenced cattle ranges, and the substitution of iron horses for those of flesh and bone.
The Second Colorado Cavalry offers us a much-needed history of the “guerilla hunters” who helped suppress violence and keep the peace in contested border regions; it adds nuance and complexity to our understanding of the unlikely “agents of empire” who successfully transformed the Central Plains.
- GenresCivil War
288 pages, Hardcover
Published February 13, 2020
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May 5, 2020
The U.S. Civil War was fought along a far wider range than most casual readers are aware of. Without even discussing the naval war (which ranged across a respectable part of the world’s oceans) the Civil War saw Confederate raids as far north as Vermont and attempts to subvert California for the rebels. Rein’s book looks at the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, a unit which would range far and wide in the West.
The 2nd Colorado was initially an infantry regiment. Raised among the prospectors, miners and workers of the territory, it saw its first action when the unit was sent south into the New Mexico Territory, where a Confederate invasion was underway from Texas. This is one of the forgotten chapters of the Civil War, one that saw the Confederates move up the Rio Grande valley in an effort to reach the gold mines of Colorado… which would presumably help finance the rebel cause.
The 1862 invasion of New Mexico blooded the 2nd Colorado at Valverde, the biggest battle of the Civil War in the Desert Southwest and a victory for the Confederates. Rein contends that the rebel losses at Valverde and their failure to force the Union surrender of Fort Craig afterwards really doomed the Confederate expedition. This is borne out by the Battle of Glorieta Pass, another fight that 2nd Colorado Cavalry participated in but this time the Confederates lost their supply wagons. The rebels began a long, arduous retreat to Fort Bliss, Texas.
Even as the rebels retreated from New Mexico another threat was beginning to develop, this one from the Indian Territory. Many of the tribes threw their lot in with the Confederacy and there was a fear that they might launch their own invasion of Union territory.
The 2nd Colorado gave a good accounting of itself in stand-up fights against Confederates and their Indian allies in 1863. Rein does a good job of describing the complicated situation in the Indian Territory, especially the loyalties of the different tribes relocated there (as well as the conflicting loyalties from within the different tribes). Not only did the 2nd Colorado fight the rebels but they also provided security within Kansas as so little Union manpower was committed to the frontier.
Recognizing the need for fast-moving units in the vast distances of the Plains, the U.S. Army sent the 2nd Colorado Volunteer Infantry to Saint Louis to be refitted and trained as cavalry. This would prove to be an important development in the last phase of the 2nd Colorado’s war: fighting Missouri guerrillas.
Missouri, a slave state, was torn by strong southern interests. Prewar conflict with Kansas free-soilers and the infamous civilian evacuation of some Missouri border counties forced by the U.S. Army did little to dampen the ardor of pro-slavery men in the state and as a result a merry guerrilla war broke out in Missouri, spilling into Kansas on occasion.
Rein likens the role of the 2nd Cavalry to that of modern peacekeepers in that the 2nd Colorado was placed between Missourians and Kansans in order to dampen down the mutual animosity. The 2nd Colorado Cavalry garrisoned several towns within the counties evacuated by general order.
As in New Mexico and the Indian Territory, the Union commanders sought out Confederate supplies, without which the “bushwhackers” could not operate. Abandoned fodder and food kept the guerrillas in the field, so these supplies were burnt when found.
Once again, the 2nd Colorado Cavalry was fighting on the margins of the War. It was this chapter in the history of the unit that brought it to the Fort Leavenworth area. The fight between the 2nd Colorado and the partisans was a nasty one, with civilians caught in the crossfire and in many cases no quarter given or asked for. The 2nd Colorado Cavalry earned the grudging respect of the Missouri bushwhackers as they conducted some “counter-bushwhacking” of their own.
Finally, the 2nd Colorado was sent to provide security against the Plains Indians who had risen up to attack settlements. These tribes, distinct from the native-American nations relocated to the Indian Territory, had no interested in forming military units as the Cherokee and Comanche had: they were more interested in raiding settlements in Kansas and Colorado. This last phase kept the Coloradans in federal service well past the official end of the Civil War.
Units, like people, have collective characteristics based upon their leadership and their individual personalities and experiences. The Union Army was fortunate to have the 2nd Colorado to serve in the role of “Fireman of the Frontier.” The recruits from the mountains of Colorado were familiar with hardship because of the environment in which they sought claims and worked mines, they were used to adapting when circumstances dictated it and they were brave… otherwise, they would have given up long before the territory recruited them to serve.
It also says something for the nature of the U.S. Army and the Americans who fight in it.
Well written and researched. Includes period photos and very helpful maps.
The 2nd Colorado was initially an infantry regiment. Raised among the prospectors, miners and workers of the territory, it saw its first action when the unit was sent south into the New Mexico Territory, where a Confederate invasion was underway from Texas. This is one of the forgotten chapters of the Civil War, one that saw the Confederates move up the Rio Grande valley in an effort to reach the gold mines of Colorado… which would presumably help finance the rebel cause.
The 1862 invasion of New Mexico blooded the 2nd Colorado at Valverde, the biggest battle of the Civil War in the Desert Southwest and a victory for the Confederates. Rein contends that the rebel losses at Valverde and their failure to force the Union surrender of Fort Craig afterwards really doomed the Confederate expedition. This is borne out by the Battle of Glorieta Pass, another fight that 2nd Colorado Cavalry participated in but this time the Confederates lost their supply wagons. The rebels began a long, arduous retreat to Fort Bliss, Texas.
Even as the rebels retreated from New Mexico another threat was beginning to develop, this one from the Indian Territory. Many of the tribes threw their lot in with the Confederacy and there was a fear that they might launch their own invasion of Union territory.
The 2nd Colorado gave a good accounting of itself in stand-up fights against Confederates and their Indian allies in 1863. Rein does a good job of describing the complicated situation in the Indian Territory, especially the loyalties of the different tribes relocated there (as well as the conflicting loyalties from within the different tribes). Not only did the 2nd Colorado fight the rebels but they also provided security within Kansas as so little Union manpower was committed to the frontier.
Recognizing the need for fast-moving units in the vast distances of the Plains, the U.S. Army sent the 2nd Colorado Volunteer Infantry to Saint Louis to be refitted and trained as cavalry. This would prove to be an important development in the last phase of the 2nd Colorado’s war: fighting Missouri guerrillas.
Missouri, a slave state, was torn by strong southern interests. Prewar conflict with Kansas free-soilers and the infamous civilian evacuation of some Missouri border counties forced by the U.S. Army did little to dampen the ardor of pro-slavery men in the state and as a result a merry guerrilla war broke out in Missouri, spilling into Kansas on occasion.
Rein likens the role of the 2nd Cavalry to that of modern peacekeepers in that the 2nd Colorado was placed between Missourians and Kansans in order to dampen down the mutual animosity. The 2nd Colorado Cavalry garrisoned several towns within the counties evacuated by general order.
As in New Mexico and the Indian Territory, the Union commanders sought out Confederate supplies, without which the “bushwhackers” could not operate. Abandoned fodder and food kept the guerrillas in the field, so these supplies were burnt when found.
Once again, the 2nd Colorado Cavalry was fighting on the margins of the War. It was this chapter in the history of the unit that brought it to the Fort Leavenworth area. The fight between the 2nd Colorado and the partisans was a nasty one, with civilians caught in the crossfire and in many cases no quarter given or asked for. The 2nd Colorado Cavalry earned the grudging respect of the Missouri bushwhackers as they conducted some “counter-bushwhacking” of their own.
Finally, the 2nd Colorado was sent to provide security against the Plains Indians who had risen up to attack settlements. These tribes, distinct from the native-American nations relocated to the Indian Territory, had no interested in forming military units as the Cherokee and Comanche had: they were more interested in raiding settlements in Kansas and Colorado. This last phase kept the Coloradans in federal service well past the official end of the Civil War.
Units, like people, have collective characteristics based upon their leadership and their individual personalities and experiences. The Union Army was fortunate to have the 2nd Colorado to serve in the role of “Fireman of the Frontier.” The recruits from the mountains of Colorado were familiar with hardship because of the environment in which they sought claims and worked mines, they were used to adapting when circumstances dictated it and they were brave… otherwise, they would have given up long before the territory recruited them to serve.
It also says something for the nature of the U.S. Army and the Americans who fight in it.
Well written and researched. Includes period photos and very helpful maps.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review