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1st Colorado Infantry Regiment

Former American military unit

Field	Value
unit_name	1st Colorado Infantry Regiment
image	National color of the regiment 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment.png
caption	National color of the regiment
dates	August 1861 to November 1862
country	United States
allegiance	Union
branch	Infantry
equipment
battles	American Civil War

Battle of Glorieta Pass
Battle of Peralta The 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment (officially the 1st Regiment of Colorado Volunteers) was a volunteer infantry regiment of the United States Army formed in the Colorado Territory in 1861 and active in the American West in the late 19th century.

History

The regiment was formed shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War by order of William Gilpin, the first governor of the territory. Recruiters began enlisting men in August 1861, just six months after the organization of the territory. Known as "Gilpin's Pet Lambs" for the involvement of the governor in its formation, the regiment served in the Western Theater, at first serving in various detachments throughout the territory.

The regiment's most notable service came in the New Mexico Campaign in the spring of 1862, in which they helped repulse the advance of the Army of New Mexico under Henry Hopkins Sibley at the battles of Glorieta Pass and Peralta.

In November 1862, the unit was reorganized along with Companies C and D of the 2nd Colorado Infantry into the 1st Colorado Cavalry. (This was done since the US War Department believed cavalry would be better in protecting the Western trails and for fighting the various Indian tribes.)

The first colonel of the regiment was John P. Slough, replaced in April 1862 by Major John Chivington, later chastised for his role as commander of the 3rd Colorado Cavalry in the November 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.

There is a group of reenactors who portray the First Colorado (Company D) in Denver. The unit celebrated 50 years in 2024.

Flags

The regiment carried an 34 star American flag that measured 48 by 105.5 inches. It was carried thought-out New Mexico Territory during the war. During the Battle of Glorieta Pass the flag was hit by enemy fire which left a hole near the canton. After the battle the regiment was given a new flag.

Company A carried their own flag. The banner was made by Mrs. Sam Cashman and Mrs. J. S. Brown, daughters of Captain Richard Sopris, and Miss Taylor. After the war it was given to Captain Sopris. When he died, his widow presented it to the adjutant generate office in 1904.

References

http://www.firstcolorado.org/ {{Webarchive. link. (2008-11-21)
"U.S. Flag carried by the 1st Regiment of Colorado Volunteers during th".
"The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) April 3, 1903 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection".
"The Elk Mountain Pilot May 27, 1902 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection".
"The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) May 28, 1904 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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