John Chivington
Best known as: pastor and Union soldier
Born: January 27, 1821 in Lebanon, Ohio
Died: October 4, 1894 in Denver, Colorado
Resting place: Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Colorado
Full name: John Milton Chivington
Biography:
John Chivington was born in Lebanon, Ohio in 1821. His parents were named Isaac and Jane, and he had five siblings, three of whom survived infancy. Isaac died when John was five. John was an intelligent boy but wasn't able to attend school regularly because he had to help take care of the family farm and lumber business. In his teens, he took on a greater role in the family's lumber business, which required him to make frequent trips to Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he met and fell in love with Martha Rollason. They got married in 1839, when he was only 18 and she was 26. Eventually they would have three children.
John was drawn to religion from an early age. In 1842 he attended a Methodist revivalist meeting and was inspired to become a minister. He couldn't afford a formal religious education, so he studied by himself and and was ordained a minister in 1844. His first job was in Illinois. During the journey there, he caught smallpox, but he recovered and went on to serve as minister of Payson Circuit in Illinois for 9 years. In 1853 he joined a missionary expedition to Kansas in hopes of converting some of the Wyandot (Huron) people to Christianity. Chivington was a vocal proponent of abolishing slavery, a viewpoint that was unpopular in Kansas, and in 1856 he moved to a parish in Omaha, Nebraska because of fears that his life was in danger. In 1860 he was reassigned to the Rocky Mountain District and moved to Denver, Colorado. Shortly thereafter, he was elected Presiding Elder of this district. His duties included establishing missions in nearby mining camps.
Another important part of Chivington's life was his membership in the Freemasons. He became the first Grand Master of the Masons of Colorado in August 1861.
When the Civil War broke out, Chivington joined the U.S. army. He was offered a commission as a chaplain, but he wanted a role that involved fighting. As a result, he was commissioned a major in the 1st Colorado Volunteers on August 26, 1861. He spent the rest of that year training and drilling his troops. In 1862, he fought in East Arizona and New Mexico and scored two important victories: at Apache Canyon he led a detachment that surprised and routed a company of Confederates, and at Johnson's Ranch he and his men attacked a Confederate supply train and forced the Confederate army to retreat because they no longer had the necessary supplies to sustain their advance. In April 1862, Chivington was promoted to colonel of the 1st Colorado Volunteer Regiment of Cavalry and put in command of the Colorado Military District.
In 1864 the most controversial event of Chivington's life happened. In the fall of that year, Governor John Evans founded the 3rd Colorado Cavalry and appointed him commander. His base was Fort Lyon, in southeastern Colorado. On November 29, Chivington and his cavalrymen of the 1st and 3rd Colorado regiments marched to a nearby Indian reservation and attacked the village of Sand Creek. Between 150 and 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho people were killed, compared with only 15 of Chivington's troops. Chivington claimed that he was defending Denver and retaliating for previous attacks on settlements and wagon trains, while others argued that the Native Americans were not expecting the attack because they had recently signed a treaty with the federal government. A congressional investigation took place, during which witnesses presented differing versions of events. The congressional committee ultimately found that Chivington had acted wrongly.
Chivington resigned from the army in 1865. Sadly, his son, Thomas, died and he moved back to Nebraska to settle his estate. There, Chivington worked as freight hauler for a time. He moved about frequently, including to Washington, D.C., New York, California, Canada, and Ohio. In Ohio he worked as editor of a local newspaper and unsuccessfully campaigned for the state legislature in 1883. In his later years he returned to Colorado, which by that time had become a state, and worked as a sheriff's deputy and also as a coroner. He also served as president of the Colorado Veterans' Association. He passed away from stomach cancer in 1894. Until the end of his life, he maintained that his actions at Sand Creek were justified.
Personality:
John Chivington seems to have been combative, stubborn, and temperamental. As a military commander, he was strict but well-respected.
Fun facts:
- Was nicknamed the "Fighting Parson."
Quotes:
- "I stand by Sand Creek."
- "The morning of the 29th day of November, 1864, finds us before the village of the Indian foe. The first shot is fired by them. The first man who falls is white. No white flag is raised. None of the Indians show signs of peace, but flying to rifle pits already prepared they fight with a desperation unequalled, showing their perfect understanding of the relations that existed as regards peace or war as forty-nine killed and wounded soldiers too plainly testified."
Pictures:
Chivington as a colonel in the U.S. Army
Chivington in his later years by E. H. Rood, via Colorado History Museum
Oil painting of Chivington by John Antrobus, via Colorado History Museum