Union Massacre of Indians during the Civil War
The United States has more than its share of atrocities. How many
people know that one of the “great victories” of the Union Army
during the Civil War occurred in Colorado? No, the northern forces did
not defeat confederate troops or liberate slaves. In the battle of Sand
Creek, drunken union forces massacred a bunch of Cheyenne including
women and children who had gathered to discuss a peace treaty under a
flag of truce.
The colonel was as thourough
as he was heartless. An interpreter living in the village testified,
"THEY WERE SCALPED, THEIR BRAINS KNOCKED OUT; THE MEN USED THEIR
KNIVES, RIPPED OPEN WOMEN, CLUBBED LITTLE CHILDREN, KNOCKED THEM IN THE
HEAD WITH THEIR RIFLE BUTTS, BEAT THEIR BRAINS OUT, MUTILATED THEIR
BODIES IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD." By the end of the one-sided battle
as many as 200 Indians, more than half women and children, had been
killed and mutilated.
While the Sand Creek Massacre outraged easterners, it seemed to please many people in Colorado Territory. Chivington later appeared on a Denver stage where he regaled delighted audiences with his war stories and displayed 100 Indian scalps, including the pubic hairs of women.
Chivington was later denounced in a congressional investigation and forced to resign. When asked at the military inquiry why children had been killed, one of the soldiers quoted Chivington as saying, "NITS MAKE LICE." Yet the after-the-fact reprimand of the colonel meant nothing to the Indians.
While the Sand Creek Massacre outraged easterners, it seemed to please many people in Colorado Territory. Chivington later appeared on a Denver stage where he regaled delighted audiences with his war stories and displayed 100 Indian scalps, including the pubic hairs of women.
Chivington was later denounced in a congressional investigation and forced to resign. When asked at the military inquiry why children had been killed, one of the soldiers quoted Chivington as saying, "NITS MAKE LICE." Yet the after-the-fact reprimand of the colonel meant nothing to the Indians.
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