No, I'm not doing the moral equivalancy thingie. Troopers after the Civil War were by and large the worst of the worst and it showed. Chivington's men weren't even up to that level. Many were recruited from the bars and shantytowns of Denver. They DID have a right to be outraged at what the Indians were doing around Denver. Scum + outrage = atrocity.
The nation was aghast at what happened at Sand Creek. I think that the broad reaction was a better reflection of the state the country's morals than what a few drunken bums did at Sand Creek.
Wasn't directed at you in particular, just some of the posts in general on this thread.