Carson took part in the February 21, 1862, Battle of Valverde, the first major Civil War engagement on New Mexico soil, but he spent most of the war dealing with Indians. Major General James H. Carleton, who had been given command of the Department of New Mexico in September 1862, was intent on pacifying the Navajos and Mescalero Apaches. Carson was ordered to subdue both tribes as soon as possible and then take them to their new reservation at the Bosque Redondo in eastern New Mexico Territory.
While Carson's campaign of 1863-64 was considered a success, it took a tremendous toll on the Indians. In recent years he has been accused of actions that were not his own. Carleton masterminded the command, and any atrocities committed against the Navajo prisoners were done against Carson's direct orders. Although he did his best to keep order within his ranks, the fact was that his best soldiers were back East fighting the war. Many of his volunteers drank heavily and were disreputable. It can be argued that he failed to maintain military discipline.
Kit Carson's most glorious moment came in late November 1864, in Texas, when he led some 325 soldiers and 75 Ute scouts against at least 1,500 Apaches, Comanches, Kiowas and Arapahos in the Battle of Adobe Walls. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer would face similar bad odds at the Battle of the Little Bighorn a decade later. Unlike Custer, however, Carson, with the help of 10 mountain howitzers, successfully fought off the enemy. Carson eventually headed back to New Mexico with most of his force intact. Carson's performance at Adobe Walls particularly impressed General Carleton. "This brilliant affair adds another green leaf to the laurel wreath which you have so nobly won in the service of your country," Carleton wrote to Carson. Carleton also forwarded a copy of his letter to the adjutant general, who was constantly receiving glowing reports of Carson's exploits.
William T. Ranney
Kit Carson
1854
oil on canvas
A few days after the Battle of Adobe Walls, Colonel John M. Chivington led the infamous massacre of Cheyennes at Sand Creek in Colorado Territory (see story in December 1998 Wild West). Chivington gloated, "I have eclipsed Carson and posterity will shortly speak of me as the great Indian killer." Carson was livid: "To think of that dog Chivington, and his hounds, up thar at Sand Creek! Whoever heerd of sich doins among christians! Them pore Injuns had our flag flyin' over 'em....Well, here come along that durned Chivington and his cusses. They'd bin out huntin' hostile Injuns, and couldn't find non....So they just pitched into these friendlies, and massa-creed them...in cold blood....And ye call these civilized men Christians and the Injuns savages, du, ye?...I never yit draw a bead on a squaw or papoose, and I loath and hate the man who would. 'Taint natural for brave men to kill women and little children."
In March 1866, Kit Carson was brevetted a brigadier general, but by then, his health was rapidly failing. He was pale, haggard and obviously in pain. He tried to leave the military, but wasn't allowed to do so. On April 21 he was given command of Fort Garland, north of Taos in Colorado Territory. There was another Indian problem. Major General John Pope wrote General Sherman: "Carson is the best man in the country to control these Indians and prevent war....He is personally known and liked by every Indian...no man is so certain to insure it as Kit Carson."
Carson was mustered out of the army in November 1867. By then, it was apparent that he was quite ill. He moved his family to Boggsville (near present-day Las Animas, Colo.). In January 1868, General Kit Carson, frontiersman, was appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs for Colorado Territory, and he soon traveled to Washington with a group of Ute chiefs to negotiate a treaty. He also consulted with a number of doctors on the East Coast about chest pains and other health problems.
Kit Carson returned home in time for the birth of his seventh child, Josefita, in April 1868. It was a difficult birth, however, and his beloved Josefa died within two weeks. The general lost the will to live. He made arrangements for his children, wrote his will and then died at Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, on May 23, one month to the day after his wife's death. Theirs had been one of the great love stories of the American frontier, and their final resting place was near their old home in Taos.
S.J. Reidhead
Additional Sources:
campuspress.colorado.edu
www.historynet.com
www.museumtrail.org
www.nexusgames.com
216.74.109.125
klesinger.com
www.slvdweller.com
www.leg.state.nv.us
www.sfmuseum.org
www.mrsedivy.com
www.historichwy49.com
www.cozine.com
www2.worldbook.com
www.artnet.com
www.lbbcarson.com
www.rmpbs.org
personal.readysoft.es
www.niulib.niu.edu
www.koolpages.com
www.longcamp.com
home.earthlink.net/ ~travel180
www.tias.com
hex.oucs.ox.ac.uk