Blood, thunder and Carson

I enjoyed reading the article “Scrubbing Kit Carson,” (Telegraph, Dec. 28, 2023.) The Hampton Sides book “Blood and Thunder” is definitely worth the read. It shows all sides of a complicated man and the times he lived in.  

Trivia: At the Battle of Val Verde in 1862, along the Rio Grande near Socorro, N.M., Carson and his small band of U.S. Army troops held up and delayed the Confederate Army from Texas that intended to invade Colorado. The Confederate Army captured Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but was defeated at Glorietta, N.M., just northeast of Santa Fe. Yes, the Civil War was also fought in New Mexico. 

 

Colorado volunteer leader and Union Army officer John Chivington was instrumental in the Union victory at Glorietta. Two years later, he commanded the troops that committed the Sand Creek Massacre east of Denver. 

Anyway, do read “Blood and Thunder.”