Author Note: Below is more information from Colorado State Archives on the 3rd Colorado Infantry which became the 2nd Colorado Calvary.
Excerpted from article by Elswick for the Colorado State Archives
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Colorado became a territory just a few weeks before the firing on Fort Sumpter signaled the official beginning of the Civil War. Although sentiments were somewhat divided in the early days of the war, Colorado was a Union territory. When President Lincoln called for volunteer soldiers to supplement the regular army, Colorado responded. Eventually, nearly 4,000 men from the Colorado Territory served in the volunteer Union forces authorized by the United States War Department. Hundreds more served in militia companies, authorized by the territorial governor, most of which were formed to fight Indians rather than Confederates.
The 3rd Colorado Infantry was raised by "General" William Larimer, one of the founders of Denver, in the fall of 1862. Because of the competition for recruits, Larimer only managed to raise five complete companies and part of a sixth. He resigned in December, 1862, and was replaced as colonel by James H. Ford, the First Major of the 2nd Colorado Infantry. This incomplete regiment marched to Pilot Knob, Missouri in April 1863, where they remained on guard and fatigue duty until combined with the 2nd Colorado Infantry to eventually become the 2nd Colorado Cavalry. The Colorado State Archives has casualty records from this regiment; enlistment records are found with the records of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry.
The 2nd Colorado Cavalry was formed in November 1863, by consolidation of the incomplete 2nd Colorado Infantry and 3rd Colorado Infantry. The first and only colonel of the regiment was James H. Ford; Theodore Dodd was the lieutenant colonel. At the time of consolidation, Company A of the 2nd Colorado Infantry (Dodd's former company) became Company B of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry. Company B of the 2nd Colorado Infantry (originally Ford's Independent Company) became Company A of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, in a move which has confused researchers for more than a century. Abstracts of records of men who served in the independent companies, infantry regiments, and the cavalry regiment generally list all three affiliations.
In January, 1864, the 2nd Colorado Cavalry was ordered to the Missouri border counties of Jackson, Cass, and Bates, (part of the new Department of Kansas), to relieve Kansas troops defending against Confederate "bushwhackers," loosely-organized guerillas. Beginning in late April, 1864, the regiment fought several skirmishes with bushwhackers throughout the summer months, while John Evans, the new governor of Colorado Territory, pleaded for their return to Colorado. Just as the 2nd Colorado prepared to return for Indian-fighting duty in Colorado, the Confederate General Sterling Price began his invasion of Missouri. The 2nd Colorado was attached to the Union force raised to repel the invasion, and took part in the battles of the Little Blue, Westport, Marias des Cygnes, and Mine Creek in October, 1864. When Price withdrew, the 2nd Colorado was part of the pursuit, meeting him for the last time near Fayetteville, Arkansas, in November, 1864.
The 2nd Colorado Cavalry was moved to Fort Leavenworth (Kansas) in December, 1864, where Colonel Ford, with the brevet rank of Brigadier General, commanded the military District of the Upper Arkansas. As the first companies of the regiment began to muster out in December, the remaining troops moved to Fort Riley, Kansas. As the Indian war which began the previous summer continued, the 2nd Colorado was largely devoted to escorting supply and wagon trains across Kansas, and occasional skirmishes with Indians.
The Independent Battery raised at the same time as the 2nd Infantry regiment remained with the 2nd Colorado after the summer of 1864, until it mustered out in August 1865. The last troops of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry were mustered out in September 1865. Records of this regiment in the Colorado State Archives include muster rolls, transcripts of records, and casualty records.
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