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The World War
The story of Colorado's participation in the
events which have occurred since the United States' entrance into the
present World War is one of patriotism and pride. The state has
accomplished great things in preparation and has not only given freely of
her youth, but has given money continually and liberally. The future
historian of the State of Colorado will have a larger and greater story to
tell of the state's share in the great struggle overseas, as now the
accomplishments have been directed toward the war preparations and other
tasks necessary for the insurance of success. In the columns of the Rocky
Mountain News, Governor Julius C. Gunter stated:
"Colorado is
shaped for war. The state is organized to meet any demand the nation may
make. At the threshold of the New Year (1918) Colorado faces the war
problem of future months with a council of defense in every county of the
state. This means that our state is well advanced in preparation to bear
its part and to do its share in all of the services President Wilson had
in mind when he said: 'It is not an army we must shape and train for war;
it is a nation,' and it further means that Colorado's people, zealous to
give their abilities and resources to the cause of the world's democracy
and liberty, are coordinated and unified in organizations that can quickly
and effectively translate into action the policies of their chief
executives, state and nation. Thus prepared, Colorado will bend its
energies in concentration upon the performance of its work.
"Our
state began its loyal action before even the declaration of war. First an
appropriation in the regular session of the Legislature, in anticipation
of the possibility of war. Again, on March 29, 1917 four days before our
President delivered his historic address at the joint session of Congress,
and eight days before the issuance of the official proclamation declaring
the existence of a state of war with Germany, the chief executive of this
state called together a voluntary group of citizens to advise and aid in
the direction of Colorado's war activities. From then until now that group
of volunteers, since enlarged as conditions have demanded, has been
laboring continuously and zealously to meet fundamental needs." This
organization is now known as the Colorado Council of Defense which, with
its auxiliary, the Woman's Council of Defense, has done such laudable
work.
Prior to the outbreak of the war the National Guard of
Colorado was considered one of the best state organizations in the
country. This body of men was well equipped, well trained and every way
ready for instant call to the colors. The state National Guard aggregated
about forty-two hundred men when mustered into the United States service
on August 5, 1917. The mustering was directed at that time by Capt. I. L.
Hunsaker of the regulars, who had been de-tailed by the War Department as
senior mustering officer for Colorado. Previously, on July 7th, the troops
had been mobilized by Governor Gunter's orders and encamped while awaiting
formal muster. By the close of the year practically all of the companies
and regiments had been transported to national camps. The First and Second
Regiments of Infantry and the First Regiment of Cavalry were stationed at
Camp Kearney, Linda Vista, California; also a Signal Corps Company was
there. The First Battalion of Field Artillery was despatched to Camp
Mills, Long Island, New York, there becoming a part of the Sunset
Division. The Field Hospital Company of the Colorado National Guard is now
upon French soil, being part of the famous Rainbow Division.
Something of the war activities of Colorado during the year may be learned
from the following figures:
Number of officers and men of the
Colorado National Guard in the United States service 4,250
Number of
Colorado citizens drafted and sent to the national camps 4,753
Red
Cross funds subscribed by the state $1,570,000
Red Cross funds
subscribed by Denver City $714,500
Colorado's subscription to First
Liberty Loan $18,000,000
Denver's subscription to First Liberty Loan
$12,900,000
Colorado's subscription to Second Liberty Loan $23,017,850
Denver's subscription to Second Liberty Loan $14,913,600
Total
registration in state under selective conscription law 83,847
Total
registration of Denver 18,468
While Colorado boys are going to war
to fight for democracy, echoes come of that old conflict back in the '60s
when other Colorado boys, some of them fathers of those who are now going
to the front, were fighting for an undivided nation and the right to open
western America to the white man.
A document of interest to state
historians has recently come from one of those who helped to write the
early chapters of the history of Colorado in war time. Sylvester Gilson,
private of Company B, Second Colorado Cavalry, now living in Los Angeles,
has added to the archives a copy of the parting address of Capt. J. C. W.
Hall as he bade his comrades farewell and retired from the service with
the reorganization of the regiment in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on
November 15, 1864.
Colorado was nearly a thousand miles from the
seat of the conflict, isolated by untracked prairies stretching from the
mountains to the Mississippi, yet its troops did valiant service in
heading off raiding guerrilla bands and played a part in the defense of
St. Louis from capture by Confederates. The long hike those early day
Colorado soldiers took gives them a unique place in the history of the
Civil war.
The address of the retiring captain in part recites
this march, but the achievement can better be appreciated when one
considers that the route of the regiment wove from Denver through New
Mexico to Honey Springs, Arkansas, to Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee nation;
to St. Louis and back to Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth.
Regiments Consolidated As Cavalry Unit
The Second and Third Colorado regiments were filled with their full
complement of men and it was decided to consolidate them and make them
cavalry instead of infantry. This was effected at Benton Barracks, near
St. Louis, and it was then that a readjustment of the official roster
became necessary and Captain Hall retired.
James H. Ford became
colonel, T. H. Dodd, lieutenant colonel, S. S. Curtis, J. Nelson Smith and
Jesse L. Pritchard, majors of the new cavalry regiment, which under the
consolidation became a regiment of twelve squadrons magnificently mounted
and armed. Colonel Ford was placed in command of the district of central
Missouri; Captain Hall became his provost marshal.
The troops had
frequent skirmishes with bands of Missouri bushwhackers, the most
harassing and perilous form of warfare which had been known to that time,
and invariably the men from the mountains of Colorado acquitted themselves
with credit.
The address of their retiring commander recites some
of their deeds as general orders No. 40:
Unflinching Bravery Praised By Officer
"The captain
commanding announces to the members of his company that he this day leaves
you as your company commander, and in leaving you he leaves a company
which is a pride to its adopted territory and his pride to command, and
whose gallantry and good deportment now forms a part of their country's
history.
"You were the first soldiers to leave Colorado in defense
of your country; you were the only representatives of Colorado at the
battle of Val Verde, New Mexico, February 21, 1862, and your participation
in that conflict has been a theme of praise.
"You nobly sustained
your reputation in the different skirmishes, long and toilsome marches
through snow, wind and sandstorms, in driving the Texan army from the soil
of New Mexico.
"Your footprints in the sands and the sweat of your
brows while on the march from Fort Union, New Mexico, to Fort Blunt,
Cherokee Nation, a distance of over twelve hundred miles, and your conduct
at the battle of Cabin Creek, Cherokee Nation, July i and 2, 1863; your
forced march and the unflinching bravery manifested in the hard-fought
battle of Honey Springs, July 17, 1863; the untiring energy with which you
performed the duties of provost guard and guarded for so long a time a
large number of prisoners at Fort Blunt, will long be remembered.
"Your march from Fort Blunt, Cherokee Nation, to St. Louis, Missouri,
thence across the state to Kansas City, Missouri, in the dead of winter;
your many toilsome and dangerous scouts after bushwhackers in the district
of central Missouri; your efficiency as provost guard at Kansas City,
Missouri, incurring the love as soldiers and as a company of all citizens
who knew you, and finally, your bravery and devotion to your country's
cause in volunteering after the term of service of the larger portion of
you had expired, and joining your regiment in the hard-fought battles of
Little Blue, Missouri, October 21, 1864; Big Blue and Westport, Missouri,
October 22 and 23, 1864, and your conduct in the many skirmishes and night
marches in driving Price's army with marked rapidity to the State of
Texas, and the cheerfulness with which you have marched over five thousand
miles as infantry, and performed every required duty as infantry and
cavalry soldiers, forms a part of a most worthy history.
Heroic Dead Are Lauded For Sacrifice
"Your territory honors you, and it is with pride that your friends speak
of you as soldiers of Company B, Second Colorado Cavalry. The price of
your good name is shown in the records of your comrades who have been
wounded, and who have laid down their lives as a sacrifice to their
country's honor and integrity, to the perpetuity of her institutions and
of the Union.
"The sad dreams of the past bring mournfully to our
minds the names of Privates West, Hicks, Brown, Woodward, McKee, George,
Eastland and Dickason as having a place among the heroic dead of our
commonwealth, besides many others who have their names upon the list of
those wounded and maimed for life.
"I would say to you, as a
parting request, remember and appreciate the compliments and kindness
awarded you by your colonel, James H. Ford, your commanding generals,
Canby, Carleton, Blunt, Curtis and Brown. To those of the company who are
soon to indulge in a citizen life, I would say, encourage and uphold the
institutions of our Government, and encourage a vigorous prosecution of
the war.
"To those of the company who are to continue in the
service, I would say, stand by the principles you first enlisted upon,
stand by your country, and when the contest comes between you and the
enemy of the Union, strike and battle with will and determination until
the last foe has fled who would sever and destroy this glorious Union, and
the true and wise will sustain you, and the patriotic will honor you."
Fort Logan
Early in the year 1887,
Henry R. Wolcott, Sen. N. P. Hill, David H. Moffat and other wealthy men
proposed to donate a tract of land sufficient for the establishment of a
large garrison near Denver. The real leader of the movement was Maj. W. S.
Peabody, who acted as agent for the men interested and for the Chamber of
Commerce, and who also aided in drafting the bill which went through the'
lower House of Congress. On February 28, 1887, Congress passed an act
authorizing the secretary of war to establish a military post near Denver;
the same act appropriated $100,000 to be expended under the secretary's
direction for the necessary construction work. The State of Colorado was
required to cede jurisdiction over the tract of ground used by the post.
Gen. Phil Sheridan came to Denver and selected the present location from a
great number offered, and after it had been accepted by the War
Department, Gen. George K. Brady, with two companies of the Eighteenth
Infantry, was ordered to proceed to the ground and erect temporary
quarters, the site to be known as "Camp near the City of Denver." In
November of the same year (1887) Capt. L. E. Campbell, of the
quartermaster's department, was ordered to Denver to begin the
construction of permanent quarters. At the end of three years the post was
an accomplished fact, and Col. H. C. Merriam, with six companies of the
Seventh Infantry, took possession. For some time the post was called Fort
Sheridan, but the people of Chicago, Illinois, had given their post the
name of Fort Logan. When the matter was submitted to General Sheridan he
switched the titles and the new Colorado post became known by its present
name, Fort Logan.
Fort Logan is not, at the present time, a
regular training post of the U. S. A., although strong efforts have been
made to have it created as such. The post is used as a receiving station;
however, for thousands of enlisted and drafted men, and here they are
outfitted and given some preliminary training before being assigned to
permanent training camps.
History of Colorado
Source: History of Colorado, Wilbur
Fisk Stone, Editor, Volume I, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing
Company, 1918 |
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