Silas Soule

Silas Soule
Captain Silas Soule c. 1864
Birth name	Silas Stillman Soule
Born	(1838-07-26)July 26, 1838 Bath, Maine, United States
Died	April 23, 1865(1865-04-23) (aged 26) Denver City, Colorado Territory, United States
Cause of death	assassination by gunshot
Buried	Riverside Cemetery (Denver, Colorado)
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	U.S. Army (Union Army)
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Captain Brevet Major (posthumous)
Unit	1st Colorado Infantry 1st Colorado Cavalry
Commands	Company D, 1st Colorado Cavalry
Battles / wars	American Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass Indian Wars Sand Creek massacre
Spouse(s)	Hersa A. Coberly ​ (m. 1865)​
Other work	Provost marshal, Denver City, Colorado Territory (1865)

Silas Stillman Soule (/soʊl/ SOHL; July 26, 1838 – April 23, 1865) was an American abolitionist, teenage conductor on the Underground Railroad, military officer, and early example of what would later be called a whistleblower. He is honored as a hero for disobeying orders to participate in a massacre of Native Americans, and then giving evidence against his commander despite threats on his life.

As a Kansas Jayhawker, he supported and was a proponent of John Brown's movement in the time of strife leading up to the American Civil War. During the War, Soule joined the Colorado volunteers and rose to the rank of captain in the Union Army. Soule was present at the Sand Creek massacre in 1864, commanding the 1st Colorado Cavalry, Company D, but refused to take part in the killing, and ordered his men not to harm the Native Americans. Afterwards he testified about the massacre at a military hearing. Another soldier murdered Soule two months later, in what some believed was retaliation. Soule's assassination at age 26 brought a tide of outrage on his behalf and sympathy for his widow.

Early life

Silas Soule was born into a family of abolitionists in Bath, Maine, descended from Mayflower passenger George Soule. He was raised in Maine and Massachusetts. Soule was a "friendly, intelligent, and good-natured young man, full of practical jokes, [and] tall tales[.]" In 1854, his family became part of the newly formed New England Emigrant Aid Company, an organization whose goal was to help settle the Kansas Territory and bring it into the Union as a free state. His father and brother arrived in the vicinity of modern day Lawrence in November 1854, and became one of the town's founding families. The teenage Silas, his mother, and two sisters came the following summer.

Shortly after the family's arrival at Coal Creek located a few miles south of Lawrence, Silas's father, Amasa, established his household as a stop on the Underground Railroad. At the age of 17, Silas escorted escaped slaves from Missouri north to freedom.

Strife in Kansas

Main articles: Bleeding Kansas and The Immortal Ten

The "Immortal Ten": the John Doy rescue party, 1859. Twenty-year-old Silas Soule is the second man from the right.

During the late 1850s, pro-slavery forces from Missouri and abolitionist forces from Kansas were engaged in open warfare. The conflict was over whether Kansas would be admitted to the Union as a slave or free state. This period was often called "Bleeding Kansas". On January 25, 1859, twenty pro-slavery men had crossed into Kansas to look for escaped slaves. They located and ambushed an Underground Railroad party led by Dr. John Doy, a physician in Lawrence, who was escorting 13 former slaves to Iowa. The men from Missouri arrested Dr. Doy and sold the former slaves.

Doy, meanwhile, was tried and convicted of abducting slaves and sentenced to five years in a Missouri penitentiary. Because he was awaiting transfer to the prison at the jailhouse in St. Joseph, Soule and a group of men from Lawrence decided they would free him. Soule went into the jail and convinced the jailkeeper that he had a letter from Doy's wife. The note in fact read: "Tonight, at twelve o'clock." Later that night they overpowered the jailer and helped Doy escape back to Kansas. Thereafter known as "The Immortal Ten", when they reached Lawrence they had their photo taken (above left).

Later that year, after John Brown was captured following the raid on Harper's Ferry, Soule once again found himself planning a jailbreak. Brown had been tried, convicted, and sentenced to death by hanging, when, in November 1859, Soule visited him and offered to help him escape. Brown told Soule, however, that he had already decided to become a martyr for the abolitionist cause and would willingly allow himself to be hanged, hoping his death would help bring on a war between North and South. This frustrated Soule's planned rescue attempt. Nonetheless, pastor and Secret Six member, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, an associate of Soule's, put together a rescue attempt of two men who had also been incarcerated along with Brown, Albert Hazlett and Aaron Dwight Stevens. As part of this plan, Soule posed as a drunken Irishman, got himself arrested for brawling, and was put into the Charles Town jail for the night. He managed to convince the jailer into letting him out of his cell for a short while during which he contacted Brown and the two men. Brown, Hazlett, and Stevens all refused to be sprung from the jail, choosing instead to become martyrs for the cause.

After his release from the Charles Town jail, Soule traveled to Boston, where he often met with various abolitionists and befriended the poet Walt Whitman.

Life in Colorado and the Civil War

In May 1860, Soule—along with his brother William, and his cousin, Sam Glass—went to the gold fields in Colorado where he dug for gold and worked in a blacksmith shop.

First page of 1862 letter from Silas Soule to Walt Whitman

In 1861, after the start of the Civil War, Soule enlisted in Company K; 1st Colorado Infantry, and took part in the New Mexico campaign of 1862, including the key Battle of Glorieta Pass. In November 1864, he was assigned the command of Company D, 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment.

The Sand Creek Massacre

Main article: Sand Creek massacre

On November 29, 1864, at Sand Creek, in what was then the southeastern corner of Colorado Territory, Colonel John Chivington ordered the Third Colorado Cavalry to attack Southern Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle's encampment of Southern Cheyenne.

Capt. Soule (kneeling front row, far right) with Major Edward W. Wynkoop (front row, left) and Southern Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle at the Camp Weld meeting September 28, 1864.

Before the attack, Soule told other officers “any man who would take part in [such] murders, knowing the circumstances as we did, was a low lived cowardly son of a bitch.” Several lieutenants also objected to Chivington's plans. Lt. Joseph Cramer and Soule went directly to Major Scott Anthony, Chivington's superior.

As the attack began, Soule reminded his troops that the supposed "enemy" was a peace chief's band, and some responded that they "would not fire a shot today". His company did not follow the orders given to them to enter the creek bed leading to the settlement but moved up and down the banks and observed the slaughter. Soule and the men under his command did not participate in the killings.

After the attack, in Chivington's telegram reporting his "victory" he condemned Soule for "saying that he thanked God he killed no Indians, and like expressions, proving himself more in sympathy with the Indians that the whites."

The U.S. Congress created a congressional committee to investigate the Sand Creek Massacre due to a nationwide outrage of the incident. Soule's and others' verbal and written testimonies about the Sand Creek Massacre contributed to Colorado's Second Territorial Governor, John Evans’, dismissal, and the U.S. Congress refusing the U.S. Army's repeated requests for a general war against the Plains Indians.

Personal life and family

Soule dressed for his wedding, April 1, 1865, 22 days before his murder

Described as a "[h]andsome and headstrong" young man, Soule was "a great favorite with the men of his own military company" and could express a "devilish sense of humor", being able to "slither under the thickest skin of pro-slavery or Union supporter alike, with his sharp tongue, cynical nature and charming wit; [being] wise beyond his years and able to separate the wheat from the chaff on matters of politics".

On April 1, 1865, Soule married Hersa Coberly; the marriage lasted just twenty-two days before he was murdered. Following his death, his widow remarried. She and her second husband, Alfred Lea, became the parents of the adventurer, author, and geopolitical strategist Homer Lea.

Death

An 1864 view toward site of Soule's murder the following year, at the corner of F (now 15th) (running horizontally at the far intersection) and Arapahoe Streets (foreground)

On April 23, 1865, two months after testifying before a U.S. military commission investigating the Sand Creek Massacre, Soule was on duty as provost marshal in Denver City, when he went to investigate guns being fired. At around 10:30 p.m., with his pistol out, Soule faced Charles Squier; the two men eventually standing only about four feet apart. The final act of Soule's life perhaps was intended to be an act of mercy; Soule fired a shot that wounded only Squier's left arm. Squier then fired a bullet that entered Soule's right cheek, mortally wounding him. The murder occurred on what is now 15th Street between Lawrence and Arapahoe Streets. Soule was dead before help could arrive. Squier dropped his pistol and, with an accomplice, ran before he could be arrested by the authorities. Soule's death occurred two weeks after the end of the Civil War and eight days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Squier was eventually caught and brought back to Denver City for a court-martial. However, the officer who captured Squier was found dead in a hotel with what was presumed to be a staged drug overdose, and Squier escaped to New York, where his influential family lived. Once there he held various jobs, and tried to rejoin the Army, but was rejected. Squier then fled to Central America to avoid the law. His legs were crushed in a railroad accident, and he died from gangrene in 1869. Despite his crime, he was buried in New York with honors.

Remembrance

Soule's funeral on April 26, 1865, was attended by a large crowd, with military and civil dignitaries. A journalist described the funeral as "the finest ever seen in this country." In 1867, Soule was posthumously brevetted to the rank of major, in recognition of his meritorious service.

Marker at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic site in Colorado, USA

Soule was first buried at Denver City Cemetery (now the location of Cheesman Park). A large memorial stone was erected above his grave. The cemetery later closed and many bodies, including Soule's, were transferred to Riverside Cemetery in Denver. Soule's body was transferred to the Grand Army of the Republic portion of Riverside in May 1886, where he is still buried. Soule's large memorial stone was not moved with his remains, and he now has a standard soldier's gravestone. His widow is buried in a different section at Riverside Cemetery, with her second husband.

Recognition in Congress

On October 6, 1998, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado spoke in the U.S. Senate about the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act of 1998, specifically honoring Silas Soule, with these remarks:

"Finally, on this occasion I want to pay a long overdue tribute to one young Coloradan, Captain Silas S. Soule, whose actions over one hundred and thirty years ago saved many innocent Cheyenne and Arapaho lives on that fateful day at Sand Creek. . . .

"While the Sand Creek Massacre was at first hailed as a great victory, Captain Soule was determined to make the horrific truth of the massacre known. . . . Soule refused to compromise himself and made his voice heard through reports that reached all the way from Colorado to Washington, and even to the floor of the U.S. Senate. . . .

"During hearings in Denver, Captain Soule's integrity and unwavering testimony turned the tide against the once popular Chivington and the other men who participated in the massacre and mutilations at Sand Creek. Captain Soule fully realized that telling the truth about the massacre could cost him his life, even telling a good friend that he fully expected to be killed for his testimony. He was right. . . . Silas Soule's funeral, held just a few weeks after his wedding, was one of the most attended in Denver up until that time. While Captain Silas Soule's name has largely faded into history, he stands out as one of the few bright rays of light in the moral darkness that surrounds the Sand Creek Massacre. He should be remembered."

Recognition in Colorado

From 1998 to 2018 a Spiritual Healing Run/Walk was held in November to honor those killed at Sand Creek. It began at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado and concluded on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol. Starting in 2010, a memorial ceremony was also held at Soule's grave site and at a Denver high-rise building, where a memorial plaque honoring Soule was installed, adjacent to Skyline Park, near the location of his murder. The marker is 100 feet from 15th Street and about 100 feet from Arapahoe Street, behind a black pillar supporting the building at that location.

The inscription on the memorial plaque says:

"At this location on April 23, 1865, assassins shot and killed 1st Colorado Cavalary Officer Capt. Silas S. Soule. During the infamous Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864, Soule had disobeyed orders by refusing to fire on Chief Black Kettle's peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho village. Later, at Army hearings, Soule testified against his commander, Col. John M. Chivington, detailing the atrocities committed by the troops at Sand Creek. His murderers were never brought to justice."

Legacy

Soule's grave at Riverside Cemetery in Denver

Soule's name has been proposed as a replacement name for several locations in Colorado. Soule was among several proposals submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename Mount Evans. The USBGN chose the name Mount Blue Sky. A creek in Chaffee County (whose name previously included an offensive slur) was also proposed to the USBGN to be named for Soule, but the USBGN chose the name for a nearby geological site. In 2022, Soule’s name was also submitted to the USBGN to replace Pingree Park, Pingree Road and Pingree Hill after Colorado State University renamed its nearby campus Colorado State University Mountain Campus.

See also

• Hugh Thompson Jr., credited with intervening in, and later exposing, the 1968 My Lai massacre.

Further reading

• Bensing, Tom. Silas Soule: A Short, Eventful Life of Moral Courage. Dog Ear Publishing, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4575-1306-0.
• Hoig, Stan. The Sand Creek Massacre. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977. ISBN 978-0-8061-1147-6.
• Kelman, Ari. A Misplaced Massacre: Strugging Over the Memory of Sand Creek. Harvard University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-674-04585-9.
• Kraft, Louis. Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway . University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. ISBN 978-0-8061-64830.
• Turner, Carol. Forgotten Heroes and Villains of Sand Creek. History Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-59629-943-6.

External links

• Testimony of Captain Silas S. Soule before the military commission investigating the massacre of Cheyenne Indians at Sand Creek, Colorado, in 1864
• Silas Soule, Soldier, Abolitionist, Friend of the Cheyenne and Arapaho
• The Sand Creek Massacre » Silas Soule
• The Life of Silas Soule – Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
• Webpage by the author of Soule's biography, Tom Bensing
• Pension Application File for Hersa A Coberly Soule, Widow of Silas S Soule, Company D, 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment (Application No. WC72533)
• SILAS SOULE PAPERS, Denver Public Library
• S. Soule, Two Letters Regarding the Sand Creek Massacre