In the predawn hours of November 29, 1864, troops from the Colorado Third Volunteers, derisively called “The Bloodless Third,” under the command of Colonel John Chivington, attacked the peaceful camp of the Black Kettle Band of Cheyennes on the banks of Big Sandy Creek, on the plains of southern Colorado. The troops plunged in, firing indiscriminately, and all the troops participated with relish. All except Company D of the First Colorado Calvary, under the command of Captain Silas Soule, and a company from Fort Lyon under the command of Lieutenant Joseph…
