This copy of a letter by Colonel John Chivington, commander of the 1st Colorado Cavalry, was included in the report of a military commission called to investigate the Sand Creek massacre in Colorado Territory. In the letter, Chivington describes his pursuit of "hostile" Indians and his actions at Sand Creek. According to Chivington, he took no prisoners, leaving between five and six hundred Indians "dead upon the field." He also captured around 550 ponies and horses, as well as other Indian property. This letter is included in a larger published report, titled Report of the Secretary of War, Communicating, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of February 4, 1867, a copy of the evidence taken at Denver and Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, by a military commission, ordered to inquire into the Sand Creek massacre, November, 1864.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Colonel John M. Chivington to Major General S. R. Curtis