John Milton Chivington (January 27, 1821 – October 4, 1894) was a Methodist pastor and Mason who served as a colonel in the United States Volunteers during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War. He led a rear action against a Confederate supply train in the Battle of Glorieta Pass that ended the Confederacy's campaigns in the Western states, and was then appointed a colonel of cavalry during the Colorado War.
Colonel Chivington gained infamy for leading the 700-man force of Colorado Territory volunteers responsible for one of the most heinous atrocities in American military history: the November 1864 Sand Creek massacre. An estimated 70 to 600 Cheyenne and Arapaho – about two-thirds of whom were women, children, and infants – were murdered and mutilated by Col. Chivington and the volunteer troops under his command. Chivington and his men also took scalps and many other human body parts as trophies, including unborn fetuses, as well as male and female genitalia. The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War conducted an investigation of the massacre, but while they condemned Chivington and his soldiers in the strongest possible terms, no court-martial proceedings were brought against him or them. The only punishment Col. Chivington suffered was public exposure and the end of his political aspirations.
Three years prior to Sand Creek, on August 2, 1861, he became the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Colorado. Several Freemasons, some of whom were present at the Sand Creek Massacre, objected to Chivington's actions and publicly denounced them, while others supported him.
Chivington was born in Lebanon, Ohio on January 27, 1821, the son of Isaac and Jane Chivington, who had fought under General William Henry Harrison against members of Tecumseh's Confederacy at the Battle of the Thames.
Drawn to Methodism, Chivington became a minister. Following ordination in 1844, his first appointment was to Payson Circuit in the Illinois Conference. On the journey from Ohio to Illinois, Chivington contracted smallpox. He served the Illinois conference for ten years. In 1853, he worked in a Methodist missionary expedition to the Wyandot people in Kansas, a part of the Kansas–Nebraska Annual Conference. His outspoken views in favor of abolitionism put him in danger, and upon the advice of "Congressman Craig and other friends," Chivington was persuaded to leave the Kansas Territory for the Nebraska Territory.
As a result, the Methodist Church transferred Chivington to a parish in Omaha, Nebraska. Chivington left this position after a year. Historian James Haynes said of Chivington's pastoral abilities: "Mr. Chivington was not as steady in his demeanor as becomes a man called of God to the work of the ministry, giving his ministerial friends regret and even trouble in their efforts to sustain his reputation."
In May 1860, Chivington moved, with his family, to the Colorado Territory and settled in Denver. From there, he sought to establish missions in the South Park mining camps in Park County. He was elected Presiding Elder of the new Rocky Mountain District and served in that capacity until 1862. Controversy began to mar Chivington's appointment, who stopped performing his function as presiding elder. Chivington was not reappointed at the 1862 conference; rather, his name was recorded as "located." According to early Methodist polity, describing a minister as "located" means that the minister has effectively been retired. Historian of Methodism Isaac Beardsley, a personal friend of Chivington, suggested that Chivington was "thrown out" because of his involvement with the armed forces. Chivington's status as being "located" did not remove him completely from Methodist politics. His name appears as a member of the executive board of Colorado Seminary, the historic precursor of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology. His name also appears in the incorporation document issued by the Council and House of Representatives of the Colorado Territory, which was approved by then governor John Evans.
When the Civil War broke out, Colorado Territorial Governor William Gilpin offered him a commission as a chaplain, but Chivington refused it, saying he wanted to fight. He was commissioned a major in the 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment under Colonel John P. Slough.
During Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley's offensive in the East Arizona and New Mexico territories, Chivington led a 418-man detachment to Apache Canyon. On March 26, 1862, they surprised about 300 Confederate Texans under Major Charles L. Pyron. The startled Texans were routed with four killed, 20 wounded and 75 captured, while Chivington's men lost five killed and 14 wounded. This small victory raised morale in Slough's army. On March 28, Slough sent Chivington and his men on a circling movement, with orders to hit Sibley in the flank once Slough's main force had engaged his front at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico. Chivington got into position above the Pass, but waited in vain for either Slough or Sibley to arrive. While they waited, scouts reported that Sibley's entire supply train was nearby at Johnson's Ranch.
Chivington's command, among whom there was a detail of Colorado Mounted Rangers, descended the slope and crept up on the supply train. They waited for an hour in concealment, then attacked, driving off or capturing the small Confederate guard detail without any casualties. Chivington ordered the supply wagons burned, and the horses and mules slaughtered. Meanwhile, the Battle of Glorieta Pass was raging at Pigeon's Ranch. Chivington returned to Slough's main force to find it rapidly falling back. The Confederates had won the battle, but because of Chivington's forces, they had no supplies to sustain their advance and were forced to retreat, rendering their victory moot. Sibley's men reluctantly retreated back to Texas and never again threatened New Mexico.
Chivington earned high praise for his decisive stroke at Johnson's Ranch, even though his discovery of the Confederate supply train was accidental. Critics have suggested that had Chivington returned quickly to reinforce Slough's army when he heard gunfire, his 400 extra men might have allowed the Union to win the battle. A captured Confederate chaplain also complained that Chivington had threatened to kill the prisoners he took at Johnson's Ranch.
The victory at Glorieta Pass gave Chivington a reputation as a bold and daring commander. Along with his ardent advocacy of statehood, he hoped it could help him become the first member of the U.S. House of Representatives elected from Colorado. To that end he cultivated his connections with political leaders like territorial governor John Evans. But he also knew that his chances would be best if he could secure another key military victory. The wars with various local Native American tribes, a matter that affected Coloradans more directly than the Civil War, offered an opportunity.
In April 1862, Chivington was appointed colonel of the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment, and commander of the military district of Colorado. In November, Chivington was appointed brigadier general of volunteers, an appointment withdrawn in February 1863. His superiors expressed enough concern that he was putting his political interests ahead of his duties that he had to write Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, commander of the Department of Kansas, a letter of reassurance.
Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.
Following the Hungate massacre in June 1864, tensions between settlers and Indians rose. War seemed likely, and Evans wrote to the War Department in Washington to request both more troops and the authority to raise more for a hundred days. The latter was granted, and Chivington formed the 3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment from a group of volunteers who largely lacked combat experience, to protect Denver and the Platte road. For political reasons, Evans had stoked the fears of the populace regarding Indian attacks, and he and Chivington both hoped successful military engagements against the Indians would further their careers. But most of the Indian war parties and attacks were occurring hundreds of miles away.