Soule's two letters, written in December 1864 and January 1865, reveal several important issues at the center of the government's Sand Creek Massacre inquiries, which took place three months later.
1. The number of Indians killed. Soule inspected the battle site on January 1, 1865, with a detachment of about 30 First Regiment soldiers led by Captain Booth, Chief of Cavalry In the Upper Arkansas District. In his letter, Soule puts the number of dead Indians at 130 but lowered that to 69 in his testimony before the military inquiry. He also mentions that "most" were women and children. The testimonies of nearly all First Regiment soldiers and officers gave varied Indian casualty estimates between 50 and 200, while Chivington and his Third Regiment soldiers and officers reported much higher numbers ranging from 400 to 600. The inconsistency continued on the matter of women and children killed, with First Regiment men reporting approximately two-thirds, while Third Regiment men claimed a lower percentage. Chivington himself claimed he saw very few women or children killed. Historical records now estimate Indian casualties at approximately 200, with two-thirds being women and children.
2. Soldier casualties. Soule writes that 40 soldiers were wounded and 12 killed. This number has consistently remained in historical records.
3. The brutality of the attack. Soule's lament of watching children begging for their lives and "have their brains beat out like dogs," and his comment about all of the dead being scalped is consistent with later testimonies given by other First Regiment soldiers.
4. The alleged conspiracy against Chivington. Soule comments, "I hope the authorities at Washington will investigate the killing of those Indians. I think they will be apt to hoist some of our high officials . . ." He also mentions that the Indians at Sand Creek were friendly, and there were soldiers trading at the camp at the time of the attack. These comments, all later corroborated by other witnesses, provide more evidence of military impropriety than a political conspiracy. At the time of Soule's letters, Wynkoop was conducting interviews of soldiers who were at Sand Creek, and rumors were in the air that Tappan and others were pressing Washington for an investigation. These reactions appear more indicative of a genuine concern that a militia, sanctioned by the government and led by a Union officer, had inappropriately attacked Indians later proven to have surrendered as prisoners of the Army.
5. The murder of Silas Soule during the investigation of Sand Creek. In his letters, Soule unwittingly foreshadowed his own death in his comment about Chivington's animosity toward him. Several witnesses testified that Chivington threatened Soule before the Sand Creek attack, when Soule protested Chivington's plan. Soule writes in his letter that Chivington also threatened him with a dishonorable discharge for Soule's refusal to allow his company to fire on the Indians. Some "historical" accounts on the Internet, and in one poorly researched book, claim that Chivington arrested Soule and several others after Sand Creek. These accounts have no historical basis in fact. It is further reasonable to assume that Soule himself would have mentioned an arrest in one of these letters. Verified accounts prove that Soule (as he suggests in his letter) was mustered out of the Army soon after Sand Creek, and then joined the Veteran's Service and assigned to the Denver Provost Guard. Soule was a Provost Marshal when he testified against Chivington at the military investigation in the spring of 1865. Prior to his testimony, he received numerous threats from Chivington supporters, and narrowly escaped one assassination attempt. Shortly after his testimony, Soule was murdered on a Denver street by Charles Squire, a known criminal who was enlisted as a private in the Colorado Second Regiment. Rumors abounded that Squire, who fled Colorado after killing Soule, was hired by Chivington, but no evidence has ever emerged to connect Chivington to the murder. Another rumor pervaded that Squire, with no known ties to the Sand Creek controversy, committed the crime because of an unrelated incident with Soule. A more plausible theory points to Squire's crime as a random criminal act fueled by alcohol. Witnesses reported that Squire confessed to killing Soule without stating any reason other than a convoluted rambling about self defense. Squire was later arrested in New Mexico and brought back to face a military court martial for the murder, but he escaped with the help of two confederates shortly before his trial giving further rise to rumors of a Chivington conspiracy. Historical evidence, however, points to the likelihood that Squire's escape may have been arranged by a family member who feared that Squire would be killed by supporters of the popular Soule.
Sources:
Stan Hoig: The Sand Creek Massacre
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961.)
Gary L. Roberts: Sand Creek, Tragedy and Symbol.
(Norman: University of Oklahoma University Microfilms Intnl.,1984. Available at the Denver Public Library Western History Department - call: C970.3 C428rob)
Tom Bensing: Silas Soule: A Short, Eventful Life of Moral Courage
(Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 2012)
Go to BIBLIOGRAPHY for citation
Read other Letters of Silas Soule
The letters of Silas S. Soule 1861 – 1864 Recounting His Experiences in the Colorado Territory Transcribed from his actual letters in Denver Library Western History Dept. Some misspellings are left as it from originals