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Once hailed as a hero, Chivington was regarded as a butcher following the Sand Creek massacre. (Colorado Historical Society)

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Maj. John C. Chivington

'Fighting Parson' Went From Glory to Infamy With Sand Creek Massacre

By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Columnist

In 1856, pro-slavery members in John Chivington's Missouri Methodist congregation threatened to tar and feather him if he did not cease preaching about abolition. Chivington climbed into his pulpit with a Bible and two pistols, declaring, "By the grace of God and these two revolvers, I am going to preach here today!"

This incident, earning him the title of the "Fighting Parson," was just the beginning of a controversial and checkered military career. When Civil War broke out in the United States, the Chivington family was living in Colorado. Territorial Gov. William Gilpin offered Chivington a chaplaincy, but Chivington asked for a "fighting" rather than a "praying" commission.

The ardent abolitionist played a critical role in defeating the Confederacy's western forces in 1862. Texan invaders had already captured Albuquerque and Santa Fe en route to Colorado, where they planned to pillage the state's gold and silver stores for their cause. To cross the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the invaders had to go through Glorieta Pass. Chivington and the 1st Colorado Volunteers met them there. Maj. Chivington led his troops in a diversionary attack, climbing to the top of Glorieta Mesa, where they pushed through the rocky terrain and reached a point just above the Texans' supply train. Using belts, ropes, and rifles, they rappelled down the nearly perpendicular slope. This surprise attack on 80 wagons of munitions and supplies effectively ended the invasion. Cut off from their supplies, the Texans had no choice but to surrender.

Back in Colorado, Chivington was widely celebrated for this victory and was a likely candidate for the new state's first Republican congressional seat. Yet his bright future was tarnished by his participation in the notorious Sand Creek massacre.

Though an advocate of slaves' rights, Chivington did not believe American Indians deserved the same rights. "It simply is not possible for Indians to obey or even understand a treaty," he once told a church gathering.

The Nov. 29, 1864, attack he led on the Cheyenne reservation at Sand Creek was a bloody genocide. Afterwards, attempts were made to court-martial Chivington, but he was already out of the Army. Nevertheless, an Army judge said publicly that Sand Creek was "a cowardly and cold-blooded slaughter, sufficient to cover its perpetrator with indelible infamy, and the face of every American with shame and indignation." Chivington, once a hero, ended his life as a scoundrel.