Colorado's Confederate Legacy: And Interesting Facts about the American aEURoeCivil WaraEUR in the West

By Scott Dalton Myers

The American Civil War, 1861-1865, was the culmination of many complex causes and factors. Slavery was not the direct or proximate cause of the war; rather, it was intertwined with these other complex issues and factors that led to the war (see Appendix A). But it is not much of a stretch to say it was also about the American West--fought to determine the future control of that part of the United States. Although most of the battles took place in the east and southeast, the American West held much political and economic value for both the North and the South. The ports of California would allow the Confederate States to avoid the Union blockade of Southern ports. The gold and silver of the West could provide additional funding sources for the war for both sides. Last but not least, all of the territories and states held value for their present or future legislative votes in both chambers of Congress.

What role did Colorado play in the Civil War and what role did Confederate Veterans play in development of Colorado? Two Colorado Governors were Confederate Veterans--James B. Grant, the third governor of Colorado served in the 20th Alabama Light Artillery Battalion, and Charles S. Thomas, the eleventh governor of Colorado served in the Georgia State Militia. Georgia Confederate Veterans William and Joseph Russell discovered gold on Little Dry Creek along the Platte River that began the "Pikes Peak or Bust" Gold Rush in 1858. The brothers founded the town of Auraria on Cherry Creek, which became the first permanent settlement of what would later become Denver.

Confederate Veterans also served as senators, a congressmen, as well as officials in towns and municipalities all across the state. These prominent Colorado Confederate Veterans are listed in this book, along with the positions they held. Additionally, there are 506 known Confederate Veterans buried in Colorado. These Veterans are detailed in this book, with their names, ranks, units, and the location of their graves.

The Civil War radically changed the role of women on both sides of the war. Women filled positions previously held by men, and many women found themselves working outside the home and earning money for the first time in their lives. Most of the Southern women served on the home front, but many also served the Confederacy as nurses, spies, couriers, and dignitaries, while some even served in uniform. You can read about some of their exploits in this book.

Native Americans also served in the Confederate States Army. Their units and achievements are detailed herein.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781639033645

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Colorado's Confederate Legacy

And Interesting Facts about the American Civil War in the West

Scott Dalton Myers

ISBN 978-1-63903-363-8 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63903-364-5 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Scott Dalton Myers

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All verses are from the King James version of the Holy Bible

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Confederate History in Colorado

The Civil War in the West

Prominent Colorado Confederate Veterans

Heroes, Heroines, Scoundrels, and Scalawags

The Rank and File Soldier

Confederate Veterans Interred in Colorado

Women Who Served the Confederacy

Infamous Confederate Veterans

Native American Confederates

Travel Guide

Appendix A

Southern Heritage Defense

Appendix B

The North Did Not Go to War to End Slavery

Appendix C

Northern Economic Annihilation: The True Cause of the Civil War

Appendix D

Defense of the Confederate Battle Flag

Appendix E

Baseball and the War

Appendix F

My Ancestors' and Family's Military Service

About the Author

Cover Art: Confederate Army of New Mexico, 5th Texas Mounted Rifles, make the only lancer charge of the Civil War at Valverde, New Mexico Territory, Feb 21, 1862. Image by Adam Hook from Weapons of the Civil War Cavalryman by John Walter © 2020 Osprey Publishing.

Dedication

John Roderick Castle Jr. (1935–2016)

John Castle was my ex-father-in-law and a great friend. He was born to John and Phyllis (Goldsmith) Castle on April 30, 1935, in North Branch, Michigan. John was a devoted son and worked hard on the family farm that he would fondly reminisce about for the rest of his life. Inspired by his grandfather Fred Goldie Goldsmith, he learned to love the game of baseball and eventually played in the minor leagues until an injury shattered his dream of playing professional baseball. He was passionate about baseball and coached the game all his life. John was also a family man and always put God and his family first.

He moved on to build a successful business and was a contractor for forty-three years. John loved writing and became an author, publishing Goldie's Curve Ball, an honorary biography of his grandfather's baseball career. Interestingly, Fred Goldie Goldsmith is credited with giving the first publicly recorded demonstration of a curveball to sportswriter-baseball historian Henry Chadwick on August 16, 1870, at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn, New York.

I met John when I moved to Colorado Springs in 1997. I became a member of the Colorado Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and spent about five years in the SCV. I did a lot of graves research during that time. There are, to date, 506 known Confederate Veterans buried in Colorado. My SCV Compatriots and I registered all these graves with the SCV Graves Registration Project. Additionally, we ordered and set twenty-eight Veterans Administration Headstones to mark previously unmarked graves of Confederate Veterans. I also wrote many of articles about Colorado during the Civil War for the Colorado SCV Division's website. John and I were discussing this one afternoon and he said to me, You should write a book about all of this, and so I did. John was the inspiration to write this book, and I thank him his encouragement.

Acknowledgments

There are many sources and authors to acknowledge in the creation of this book. Following each article that I have used in this book, I credited the authors and their URLs or other sources. I would like to thank all of them for their contributions!

Introduction

Imade a work-related move to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1997. Although I have five great-grandfathers who served in the Confederate States Army during the War for Southern Independence, I never had any interest in joining Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). This was primarily because of all the negative rhetoric and bad things I had heard about the SCV in the mainstream media. I did a lot of research, including reading the SCV Constitution and scouring the SCV's National Headquarters website, and changed my mind. My research showed that, indeed, the SCV was a strictly patriotic, historical, educational, fraternal, benevolent, nonpolitical, nonracial, and non-sectarian organization as stated in its Constitution. It neither embraces nor espouses acts or ideologies of racial and religious bigotry and further, condemns the misuse of its symbols and flags in the conduct of same. So I decided to join. But, as we all know, in any large organizations, there are a few extreme members out on the fringes who give the entire organization a bad name and reputation. Unfortunately, several hate groups have also coopted the Confederate Battle Flag for disgraceful and unseemly purposes. True historical organizations such as the SCV abhor these actions as well as these organizations.

At the time, Colorado Springs had an inactive SCV camp, Jefferson Davis Camp 175. It had five members, so I decided to try to reactivate the camp. Evidently, there had been a lot of friction in the camp over camp officer elections a few years earlier, so the camp fell by the wayside as an inactive camp. I contacted the five members on the camp roster and we met. Everyone was excited to get the camp up and running again. I served as the Camp Commander and as the Colorado Division Lieutenant Commander from 2009 through 2013. During this time, I became very interested in Colorado's role in the Civil War and its history. I ended up writing a lot of articles and a paper on Heritage Defense (see Appendix A) for the Colorado Division website. By the time I left, we had grown the camp from five members to thirty-two members.

I was also very interested in researching Confederate Veterans' contributions to the territory and state and Confederate Veterans' graves in Colorado. To date, there have been 506 Confederate Veteran graves found in Colorado. These graves have all been registered with the SCV Graves Registration Project. Additionally, the Colorado Division of the SCV has ordered and set twenty-eight headstones from the Department of Veterans Affairs to mark previously unmarked Confederate graves or to replace headstones which had been broken or damaged. The veterans are all listed in this book, along with their ranks, their units, and the location of their graves. This book is the culmination of a lot of my research and the research of others into the roles played by Confederate Veterans in Colorado's history. There are also chapters about other Western states during the war, women's very important role during the war, Native Americans who served in the Confederacy, and some of the more infamous Confederate Veterans in the West. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed researching and compiling the articles within!

1

Confederate History in Colorado

The Colorado Territory During the Civil War

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 (four statehood attempts were thwarted, largely by Confederate sympathizers in July 1862, February 1863, February 1864, and January 1866). 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 (February to April 1862) 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.

Confederate Sympathizers

During the late 1850s, many Southerners migrated to the Colorado Territory in search of new opportunities, including working in the newly discovered gold fields. When the war broke out, many returned to the South to defend their homes. However, some remained and formed militia groups in Fairplay, Leadville, Denver, and Mace's Hole (near present-day Beulah). These Confederate partisan ranger units operated in the Colorado Territory from 1861 to 1865, raiding supply wagon trains, disrupting communications lines, recruiting volunteers, and skirmishing with Union troops. There were also pockets of strong support for the Confederacy in the mining areas and in the Arkansas River Valley, from Canon City eastward to Lamar, and Canon City southward to Trinidad.

The first actual demonstration of opposition to the Union occurred in Denver on April 24, 1861, just a few days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Denver awakened to find the Stars and Bars had been raised over the Wallingford & Murphy store on Larimer Street. A turbulent pro-Union crowd soon gathered in front of the store and demanded that the flag be taken down. The Southern adherents were equally determined that the flag should stay. A young man in the crowd, Samuel M. Logan, later a captain in the First Colorado Volunteers, climbed to the roof of the store to remove the flag. There are conflicting reports as to what happened next; some say a compromise was reached and the flag was permitted to remain for one day, while others state the flag was removed.

In 1861, when Confederate General Sibley organized his army to invade New Mexico, he commissioned Captain George Madison to go into Colorado with a twofold mission: first, disrupt federal mail and communication lines and, second, help organize Confederate recruitment there. At this time, Confederate recruits in Colorado were first sent to a camp in the Pikes Peak area and then sent to the main Confederate encampment at Mace's Hole. In early 1862, Captain Madison and his men captured mail en route to Fort Garland. Madison was also actively planning a raid on Fort Garland. Federal soldiers learned of the encampment at Mace's Hole and broke up the regiment while many of the Confederates were away. The Federals captured forty-four Confederates and took them to Denver.

The Reynolds Gang, a group of Southern sympathizers, operated in South Park in 1864. Their objective was to rob the gold mines in the area to help finance the Confederate Government. However, their goal was never accomplished and the members were eventually captured. While the captured Southern sympathizers were being taken to Fort Lyon, the first stop on their way to Denver for a military trial, they attempted their escape. A gunfight ensued and three of the prisoners were killed. However, two managed to steal horses in the confusion and escaped to the New Mexico Territory.

Interestingly, Colorado became the only non-Southern state to have two ex-Confederate soldiers elected as state governors:

James B. Grant (private, Company B, 20th Alabama Light Artillery Battalion, Confederate States of America) served as the third governor of Colorado from 1883 to 1885.

Charles S. Thomas (private, Georgia State Militia, Confederate States of America) served as the eleventh governor of Colorado from 1899 to 1901 and as a US senator from 1913 to 1921.

Margaret Howell Davis Hayes, Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis's daughter, and her husband Joel Addison Hayes moved to Colorado Springs in 1885. As her husband rose in city banking circles, Margaret became involved with charitable causes and was a leading member of local society. After her death in 1909, Addison and the children took her ashes to Richmond to be interred with the Davis family at Hollywood Cemetery.

Colorado is also the only non-Southern state to host a national convention of surviving Confederate Veterans. The national organization of the United Confederate Veterans (active from 1890–1951) held their 49th Reunion in Trinidad, Colorado, from August 22–25, 1939.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_Campaign

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Price

Johnny Walker, South Park, Colorado Gold Prospecting and the Reynolds Gang (Colorado Adventure Guide, Heritage and History).

History of Colorado, Wilbur Fisk Stone, Editor, Volume I, Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918.

Misconceptions about Colorado and the War for Southern Independence

Most written histories of Colorado only briefly mention the events that took place during the War for Southern Independence (1861–1865). The events and incidents that were reported were generally described as being of little significance or importance. Those events that did take place in Colorado are usually described in the following manner:

Colorado was very loyal to the Union.

The majorityof its resources went to support the Union cause.

There were no Civil War battles fought within the territory (other than theSand Creek Indian Massacre).

The US Army had little or no trouble with the Confederates in Colorado after 1862.

Unfortunately, these descriptions oversimplify the events that occurred in Colorado during the war. In reality, more went on in Colorado during the war than is popularly known, admitted, or reported in history books:

Colorado was only marginally loyal to the Union. Four statehood attempts were thwarted by Confederate sympathizers (in July 1862, February 1863, February 1864, and January 1866).

Many thousands of dollars' worth of gold, arms, supplies, and money went to the Confederate cause from Colorado.

There were at least four separate Confederate partisan ranger units operating within the Colorado Territory from 1861 to 1865 (raiding supply wagon trains, disrupting communications lines, recruiting volunteers, and skirmishing with Union Troops).

The last reported Confederate activity took place in March 1865.

Colorado played an important role during the War for Southern Independence and many clashes between Confederate and Union forces took place within its borders. Additionally, after the war, Colorado became a haven for many thousands of ex-Confederates and Southerners seeking to start a new life in a new frontier. Through the years, Colorado has embraced its Confederate heritage by dedicating many monuments and memorials to honor those who fought for the Confederacy.

Source: Gary Parrott, Colorado Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

First Military Action in Colorado

On October 14, 1861, Captain Eli Long (Company F, 4th US Cavalry) intercepted and captured a detachment of Captain Joel McKee's Company, CSA along the Arkansas River between Fort Wise and Bent's Fort. It was believed this detachment had participated in an earlier raid on a US Army supply wagon train commanded by Captain John H. Mink (New Mexico Mounted Volunteers, USA) en route from Fort Craig, New Mexico, to Fort Wise, Colorado.

Reportedly, as many as sixty Rebels, one hundred guns, and various supplies were seized and later transported to Fort Wise. However, approximately fifteen to twenty members of the Confederate force escaped capture. No casualties were reported by either side. A few days later, all Rebel prisoners were transferred to the territorial prison in Denver.

Local newspapers reported this to be the first victory in Colorado involving Union Troops and local Rebels. Additionally, the newspapers reported this incident vindicated Governor William Gilpin's actions in raising two companies of infantry for local defense.

On October 26, 1861, Chief Justice Benjamin F. Hall of the Colorado Territorial Supreme Court wrote to President Abraham Lincoln in regard to the unrest in the territory and asked for direction on how to legally handle the prisoners (Were they POWs, criminals, or political prisoners?). However, before the final disposition was made, all the prisoners, including Captain McKee (who had been captured prior to this incident), escaped. Most eventually joined other CSA units in Missouri, New Mexico, or Texas.

Although this event was a minor affair, it was the first military action involving an organized CSA military unit and the US Army in the Colorado Territory.

Note: The above was compiled from information found in the October 26 and 28, 1861, issues of the Daily Colorado Republican and Rocky Mountain Herald newspaper; the November 3, 1861, issue of the New York Herald newspaper; the November 29, 1861, issue of The Daily True Delta newspaper (New Orleans, Louisiana); and the Official Records: War of the Rebellion.

Source: Gary Parrott, Colorado Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

Confederate Recruiting in the Colorado Territory

Although there have been numerous references to Confederate recruiting in the Colorado Territory during the War for Southern Independence in history books, old newspapers, and archival materials, the Colorado Division of the SCV has only recently discovered actual records of recruiting taking place in Denver. Compatriot Gary Parrott of SCV Camp 2104 in Grand Junction found these documents while researching this interesting topic.

Muster Documents show that Private Marion J. (M. J.) Diggs of Company D, 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment (also known as the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles) was recruited in Denver City, Colorado Territory by Captain Joel McKee on September 1, 1861, and was a carpenter by trade. The following document is a form that entitles Private Diggs to a discharge due to a Surgeon's Certificate of Disability:

The form shows that he was indeed recruited in Denver and was signed by Colonel Charles L. Pyron, the 2nd Texas Cavalry Regimental Commander. Colonel Pyron had participated in the Battles of Valverde and Glorieta Pass (General Henry H. Sibley's New Mexico Campaign) in 1862 as a major.

This last document is Private Diggs's Honorable Discharge due to a gunshot wound to the right leg which splintered the bone. Private Diggs has an interesting link to another Confederate historical event in the Colorado Territory. In 1861, General Henry Sibley organized the Army of New Mexico to occupy the New Mexico Territory and move northward into the Colorado Territory. Captain George T. Madison (a lieutenant at the time) was recruited by General Sibley and given a twofold mission within the boundaries of the Colorado Territory. Captain Madison was to disrupt federal mail and communication lines, and he was to help organize and recruit Colorado men for Confederate service. In late 1861, there was a vigorous effort within Colorado to recruit and train soldiers for Confederate service among the miners and settlers who came from the Southern states. Recruits were sent to a number of camps in the Pikes Peak region (one was reportedly in Russellville) and eventually concentrated at the primary Confederate training encampment at Mace's Hole (near present-day Beulah, Colorado). General Sibley had commissioned Colonel John Heffner (also referred to as Heffiner and Heffinger in historical documents) to create a Confederate Regiment in Colorado, and his operational base was at Mace's Hole. Colonel Heffner's regimental strength at Mace's Hole was about 600 soldiers.

Unfortunately, Federal soldiers learned of the encampment at Mace's Hole and broke up the regiment while many of the Confederates were away on furlough. The Federals took those who remained in camp prisoner. Forty-four Confederates were captured, including Captain McKee, and taken to Denver. Captain McKee subsequently escaped and rejoined the Confederate war effort in New Mexico. Following this, Colonel Heffner and his officers, including Captain Madison, were all ordered to join General Sibley in New Mexico.

Below is an excerpt from the Colorado City Journal dated November 28, 1861:

Confederates captured at Mace's Hole

You will notice Marion J. Diggs as the sixth name down in the column on the right and also see Captain McKee listed at the bottom of the article. This lends even more credence to the documentation in this article. Private Diggs had been recruited in September 1861 by Captain McKee in Denver and both were captured in November 1861 by Federal troops while training at Mace's Hole.

Note: You will also see the names of John and James Reynolds (right column) of the famed Reynolds Gang who conducted operations in and around South Park, Colorado Territory. There is a legend that they buried some of their treasure in the South Park area along the base of Mount Logan, but it has never been found.

Captain Joel McKee

An excerpt from the book Frontier Legend: Texas Finale of Captain William F. Drannan, Pseudo Frontier Comrade of Kit Carson (W. N. Bate, Owen G. Dunn Company, Publishers, New Bern, NC, 1954, pp. 31–32) states the following:

Metcalf (George, a nephew of Joel McKee) stated that Joel McKee was born in Indiana about 1824, and later lived in Rushville, Illinois. He went to Oregon in 1847, then back to Illinois, and upon hearing of gold in California, he went to that territory and made money, after which he went to Palo Pinto, Texas, arriving there about 1855 or 1856.

During the Civil War he was a Captain in the Confederate Army and was taken prisoner and held in jail in Denver, from where he later escaped, together with two Wilson boys. Then he went with General Sibley and helped him and his men through the mountains. He was in the battle of Glorieta Pass (New Mexico Campaign in 1862), and at a point where they desired to cross a stream, Chivington's troops opposed them. McKee was known to have made the remark, If that Dog Chivington comes near I will shoot him. McKee moved to Oklahoma about 1900.

Another author, Earl Pittman, writes that Joel McKee was a leader of the underground secesh (a secessionist or supporter of the Confederacy during the war) in the Colorado Territory in 1861 and specifically, a leader of the pro-South forces around Denver (according to the newspapers). They had a secret camp at the ghost town of Russellville in 1861.

Captain George T. Madison (ca. 1830–1868)

Research on George T. Madison, a Confederate officer, suggests he was born in Missouri, the son of William and Sarah (Taylor) Madison, and that his middle name was probably Taylor. After service in the Mexican War, he mined for gold in California and then settled near Tucson, Arizona. By 1860, he lived in San Pedro Settlement and worked as a merchant, supplying rations to local miners.

At the onset of the Civil War, George T. Madison enrolled in the San Elizario Spy Company, also known as the Santa Fe Gamblers or the Forty Thieves, and was elected lieutenant. Madison and his company became an advance scout unit for General Henry H. Sibley during his New Mexico Campaign and were the first to enter Santa Fe. Madison was captured at the battle of Glorieta Pass but was paroled at Fort Union on April 5, 1862.

After his parole, Madison was promoted to captain, and his group was reorganized as Madison's Spies and Guides. In late 1862, Captain Madison and his soldiers disrupted federal mail and communication lines throughout southern Colorado, especially around Fort Garland, a federal outpost in the San Luis Valley. In August, after Madison and his men seized a mail train at Fort Garland, Federal officers offered a $500 reward for their capture. By the following month, however, they were already headed to San Antonio with the rest of Sibley's army.

Sources:

Military Order of the Stars and Bars (MOSB) website: www.coloradomosb297.org/colorado.htm

Colorado Division of the SCV website: www.coloradoscv.org

Bruce S. Allardice, Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008).

James T. Matthews, Frontier Commanders in Grey: George Baylor, Alonzo Ridley, and George Madison, West Texas Historical Association Year Book, 73 (1997).

Jerry Thompson, Civil War in the Southwest: Recollections of the Sibley Brigade (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001).

Stewart Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Texas (New York: Facts on File, 1995).

http://www.fold3.com/browse.php#20|h6o8f1tVqCj9HsimEgnfg

kQ11AkZoPekn

Colorado City Journal 28 November 1861

Mace's Hole, Beulah, Colorado

The community of Beulah is one of the earliest settlements in the West and was founded in the 1840s as Fisher's Hole by Robert Fisher, a fur trader, hunter, and guide. It is situated in the