During the Civil War, the Second Colorado Volunteer Regiment played a vital and often decisive role in the fight for the Union on the Great Plains—and in the westward expansion of the American empire. Christopher M. Rein’s The Second Colorado Cavalry is the first in-depth history of this regiment operating at the nexus of the Civil War and the settlement of the American West. Composed largely of footloose ’59ers who raced west to participate in the gold rush in Colorado, the troopers of the Second Colorado repelled Confederate invasions in New Mexico and Indian Territory before wading into the Burned District along the Kansas border, the bloodiest region of the guerilla war in Missouri. In 1865, the regiment moved back out onto the plains, applying what it had learned to peacekeeping operations along the Santa Fe Trail, thus definitively linking the Civil War and the military conquest of the American West in a single act of continental expansion. Emphasizing the cavalry units, whose mobility proved critical in suppressing both Confederate bushwhackers and Indian raiders, Rein tells the neglected tale of the “fire brigade” of the Trans-Mississippi Theater—a group of men, and a few women, who enabled the most significant environmental shift in the Great Plains’ history: the displacement of Native Americans by Euro-American settlers, the swapping of bison herds for fenced cattle ranges, and the substitution of iron horses for those of flesh and bone. The Second Colorado Cavalry offers us a much-needed history of the “guerilla hunters” who helped suppress violence and keep the peace in contested border regions; it adds nuance and complexity to our understanding of the unlikely “agents of empire” who successfully transformed the Central Plains.

Union horse soldiers in the far west Curiously for a work that is at least in part the regimental history of a cavalry unit, its author was a woman, Ellen Williams, who was not only a mere chronicler of the horse soldiers fortunes but who also campaigned with them as the wife of a bugler of the regiment. This remarkable camp follower recounts the activities of the Colorados in combination with her own first hand experiences which illuminate the text with a unique female perspective. The 2nd Colorado Cavalry's campaigns during the American Civil War involved combats with the Confederate Army, guerrillas and the hostile Indians of the western frontier. Organised in St Louis, Missouri in late 1863, the regiment was principally put to use as detached companies working in concert and numbers as the task required. For example three companies were despatched to Fort Lyon in the Colorado territory and then to various posts before being assigned to the protection of the Kansas border region from depredations by guerrillas which put them perpetually on the firing line until late 1864. Other companies were involved in the scout from Pleasant Hill, the expedition into Missouri, the scout to Lafayette and Jackson county and more. The principal engagements of the regiment against the Confederates were the battles of Camden Point, Second Lexington, Little Blue River, Second Independence, Byram's Ford, Westport, Marais des Cygnes, Mine Creek and Second Newtonia. The regiment then moved to the District of the Upper Arkansas to engage in operations against hostile Indians around Forts Riley, Zarah, Ellsworth and Larned. It took part in numerous skirmishes including Godfrey's Ranch, Pawnee Rock and Plum Butte whilst also protecting the overland stage route from Denver to Julesburg until September of 1865. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

Originally published in 1885, this is the recounting of the history of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry during the Civil War.

The Colorado 2nd Cavalry Regiment was organized at St. Louis, Missouri in October, 1863 by consolidation of the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Regiments. In January 1863, Companies F, G, H, and K were on duty in the Colorado Territory at Fort Lyon and other areas until November 26, 1863. From Fort Lyon they stayed at Fort Riley, Kansas, between November 26 and December 25, 1863. They marched to Kansas City, Missouri, reaching Kansas City on January 6, 1864. They went through Kansas City to Dresden January 16, 1864. After staying at Dresden from February 15 to 20 they marched back to Kansas City. As the 2nd Cavalry they were assigned to duty in 4th Sub-District of Central Missouri, consisting of Cass, Johnston, Bates and Vernon Counties, Mo., and engaged in protecting borders of Kansas and operations against guerrillas, with almost constant fighting by detachments, until October 1864.

Sometimes called "The Chivington Massacre" by those who would emphasize his responsibility for the attack and "The Battle of Sand Creek" by those who would imply that it was not a massacre, this event has become one of our nation’s most controversial Indian conflicts. The subject of army and Congressional investigations and inquiries, a matter of vigorous newspaper debates, the object of much oratory and writing biased in both directions, the Sand Creek Massacre very likely will never be completely and satisfactorily resolved. This account of the massacre investigates the historical events leading to the battle, tracing the growth of the Indian-white conflict in Colorado Territory. The author has shown the way in which the discontent stemming from the treaty of Fort Wise, the depredations committed by the Cheyennes and Arapahoes prior to the massacre, and the desire of some of the commanding officers for a bloody victory against the Indians laid the groundwork for the battle at Sand Creek.