This testimony was given by James Cannon, a lieutenant in the New Mexico Volunteers, who was called before the military commission investigating the massacre of Cheyenne Indians at Sand Creek, Colorado, in 1864. This excerpt focuses primary on the events that occurred along Sand Creek. Although this commission was not a criminal trial, the format of taking witness's testimony was similar—Colonel Chivington, commander of the 1st Colorado, was allowed to cross-examine the witnesses called by the commission. The testimony is part of a larger report containing evidence obtained at this hearing, 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.