ColorizedPast
Corporal
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2016
- Location
- Hangzhou, China (Wisconsin, USA)
Brigadier General John Potts Slough (USV)
John Potts Slough was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 1 February 1829. He practiced law in Cincinnati before being elected to the Ohio General Assembly, where he struck a fellow assemblyman and was expelled. In 1860, he moved to Denver, Colorado, becoming a distinguished lawyer.
In 1861, Slough joined the 1st Colorado "Pike's Peakers" Infantry Regiment as a captain but had to overcome his fellow soldiers' skepticism about his loyalty to the Union cause as a Democrat. In August, he was commissioned colonel of the regiment. In 1862, he marched his regiment to Fort Union in New Mexico Territory to assist forces there against a Confederate invasion. As senior ranking officer, he assumed command of the fort.
Colonel Edward R. S. Canby, commanding the Department of New Mexico, ordered Slough to remain at Fort Union. However, Confederates under William Read Scurry were moving to capture Fort Union. Disobeying his orders, Slough took the garrison to Glorieta Pass to intercept Scurry. The Battle of Glorieta Pass initially saw the Texans pushing the Coloradans back, but the Union gained the upper hand when Slough sent Major John M. Chivington on a flank attack, which destroyed the Confederate supply train.
Following the battle, Canby order Slough to return to Fort Union immediately. Worried he had already disobeyed orders by leaving Fort Union, he resigned his commission. He went to Washington D.C., where he was given command of a brigade in the Shenandoah Valley during Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862. His forces stationed near Harpers Ferry saw little action. He was appointed brigadier general of volunteers on 25 August 1862 and became military governor of Alexandria, Virginia. He commanded the District of Alexandria for the rest of the war. In December, he sat on the court-martial that convicted Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter of disobedience and misconduct.
When the war ended, President Andrew Johnson appointed Slough Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. He was appointed to fight corruption. Many sought his removal as he worked to break down the system of patronage characteristic of New Mexican courts.
William Logan Rynerson, a member of the Territorial Legislative Council, took part in a campaign to remove Slough, leading Slough to slander Rynerson publicly. The next day, Rynerson drew a gun on the judge in Santa Fe demanding he rescind the slander. Slough exclaimed, "Shoot and be damned!" Rynerson fired mortally wounding Slough, who drew a derringer but was unable to fire. Slough died a day later 17 December 1867. Rynerson was found not guilty by reason of self-defense; many thought the proceedings corrupt, but federal officials didn't intervene.
Bringing the