Colorado in the Civil War

Introduction
Colorado became a U.S. territory in 1861 shortly before the American Civil War began. The territory supplied men and support for both the Union and the Confederacy. William Gilpin, the first territorial governor, supported the Union and quickly raised a regiment. The United States War Department credited Colorado with supplying 4,903 white men to the Union Army.

Battle
No official Civil War battles were fought in Colorado. However, during the time of the Civil War on November 29, 1864 in Sand Creek, southeastern Colorado Territory, a regiment of 675 U.S. volunteer soldiers commanded by Colonel John M,. Chivington of the U.S. Army attacked a village of 750 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. They killed 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians composed mostly of women, children and the elderly. It was also called the Chivington Massacre.

Information on the Sand Creek Massacre:
 * National Park Service
 * brief summary - National Park Service

Other information about Colorado during the Civil War:
 * Colorado Territory in the American Civil War - Wikipedia

Casualty Records
A Colorado Civil War Casualties Index is available from the Colorado Sate Archives.

Cemetery Records
The Colorado Veterans’ Grave Registrations 1862 - 1949 from the Colorado State Archives lists soldiers buried in Colorado that served in the Civil War, World War I, World War II and possibly other wars of that time period. The online index does not mention which war the soldier served in, however, more information can be obtained from the state archives.

Service Records
The Family History Library and the National Archives have an Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers (Family History Library ) and an index to pension applications.

The compiled service records of soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Colorado have not been microfilmed and are only available from the National Archives. For more information see Union Service Records.

A roster of Colorado soldiers is in William Clarke Whitford, Colorado Volunteers in the Civil War: The New Mexico Campaign in 1862, (Denver: S.p., State Historical and Natural History Society, 1906; Family History Library ). The Colorado State Archives has put an Index to this record on-line. Read more about Colorado Volunteers From The New Mexico Campaign, 1862   There is also a book entitled Colorado Volunteers in New Mexico, 1862, by Ovando J. Hollister ; edited by Richard Harwell, FS Library book call  which is a History of the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers.

The Colorado State Archives has put a Colorado Civil War Casualties Index on-line. The information was compiled from the Civil War Service Record Index Cards on file at the Colorado State Archives. Read more.

The Colorado State Archives has also put a Colorado Volunteers Transcript of Records Index on-line. This Index is a compiled list of Volunteers from 1861-1865.Read more aboutColorado Volunteers Transcript of Records Index 1861-1865

Pension Records
Civil War Pension Index Cards - An of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Pension Records.

Colorado Military Units

 * 1st Regiment, Colorado Cavalry (Union) Regiment organized from 1st Colorado Infantry November 1, 1862 Mustered out at Leavenworth, Kansas, November 18, 1865.


 * 2nd Regiment, Colorado Cavalry (Union) Organized at St. Louis, Missouri, by consolidation of the 2nd and 3rd Regiments Infantry to date from October, 1863. Mustered out at Leavenworth, Kansas, September 23, 1865.


 * 2nd Regiment, Colorado Infantry (Union) Organized at Fort Garland, Canon City, Fort Lyon and Denver, Colorado, December, 1861. Ordered to Springfield, Missouri, October, 1863, for consolidation with 3rd Colorado Infantry to form 2nd Colorado Cavalry, which see.


 * 3rd Regiment, Colorado Cavalry (Union) Regiment organized at Denver, Colorado, for 100 days' service August 20 to September 21, 1864. Mustered out at Denver December 31, 1864.


 * 3rd Regiment, Colorado Infantry (Union) Organized at Denver and Camp Weld, Colorado, September, 1862, to January, 1863. Moved to St. Louis October, 1863, for consolidation with 2nd Colorado Infantry to form 2nd Colorado Cavalry, which see.


 * Denver City Home Guards, Colorado Infantry (Union) Organized at Denver August to October, 1861. Mustered out April 1, 1862.


 * McLain's Independent Battery, Colorado Light Artillery (Union) Organized at Denver, Colo., December 15, 1862. Ordered to Fort Scott and Fort Gibson, and duty in District of North Kansas until August. Mustered out August 31, 1865.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)
Grand Army of the Republic founded in 1866 - 1956, was the largest veteran’s organization in the country after the Civil War. It was a fraternal organization members were veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, Marines and Revenue Cutler Service who served in the American Civil War. The group supported voting rights for black veterans, and lobbied the U.S. Congress to establish veterans' pensions. In 1890 the membership was 490,000.

GAR Posts in the State of Colorado

The Family History Library list records of the Colorado Grand Army of the Republic

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
With the death of the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was formed.