Life…Death…Iron

For over 150 years Coloradans and Wild West history buffs have discussed the case of “The Reynolds Gang” a band of nine men who robbed stagecoaches along the old Fairplay-to-Denver road back in July 1864.  Every written account identifies the men as simple bushwackers- Just rowdy outlaws rasing hell and terrorizing the locals before meeting their grim fate at the end of a firing squad.

The Reynolds Gang Unmasked- The Legend, The Truth, The Treasure

I have worked tirelessly for the last six years to disprove the accepted version of events and prove conclusively that “The Reynolds Gang” were in fact Confederate soldiers riding from Texas to carry out military orders nearly 500 miles behind enemy lines- A remarkable feat that they DID accomplish in the summer of 1864.

My upcoming book “The Gray Ghosts of Colorado” which will hopefully be in print this year will cover all aspects of the case of “The Reynolds Gang” from start to finish. But in the mean time here is the “proof of the pudding” which has been overlooked, disregarded, ignored, and denied for over 150 years by “historians”-

The enlistment records of every member of “The Reynolds Gang” who rode into Colorado in July of 1864. These are the twenty-two Texas Cavalrymen that left Fort Belknap, Texas in mid-June 1864 on orders from Brigadier General Douglas Hancock Cooper to raid and disrupt Union supply and mail columns and recruit for the south in New Mexico and Colorado Territories. The twenty-two men identified below represent 50% of the total strength of Company A, Wells’ Battalion, 3rd Texas Cavalry Regiment, or two full platoons per regulation of the Confederate order of battle for units operating within the Indian Territory and Texas frontier commands.

The Reynolds Gang Unmasked- The Legend, The Truth, The Treasure

Over half of the men identified below were early Colorado prospectors and pioneers who either left  Colorado willingly to join the Confederate Army or were forced out of Colorado by anti-southern pressure in 1861-1862.

All twenty-two men reached Colorado in July of 1864 breaking into two separate platoons near present-day Branson, Colorado. One platoon under the leadership of Sergeant Abraham C. Brown conducted recruiting missions in and around the Greenhorn River, Arkansas River and Spanish Peaks region. The second group under “Captain” Jim Reynolds carried out robberies along the Fairplay-Denver stagecoach road and became known as “The Reynolds Gang.”

Sergeant Brown’s platoon safely returned to Fort Belknap, Texas in the fall of 1864 and served honorably until the Confederate surrender in May of 1865. Many men of Sergeant Brown’s platoon were present when Wells’ Battalion laid down their arms and surrendered at Hempstead, Texas in late May of 1865.

“Captain” Reynolds platoon engaged in a brief skirmish with local Colorado militia in Geneva Gulch above present-day Grant, Colorado on July 31, 1864. Private Owen Singletary was killed in the firefight, Jim Reynolds was severely wounded.  The men of the Reynolds platoon scattered after the fight, six were later captured, John Reynolds and Addison F. Stowe escaped safely to New Mexico. Thomas Holloman aided his Union captors in tracking down the rest of the platoon near Canon City, Colorado and was freed in exchange for his help. The five men captured near Canon City were tried in a false court, then illegally executed near Russellville, Colorado. However, two (John Andrews and Thomas Knight) of the five supposedly executed that day survived the ordeal and escaped.

The Reynolds Gang Unmasked- The Legend, The Truth, The Treasure

John Andrews after surviving his own execution recovered from his wounds with the aid of the Confederate underground in Colorado and reunited with John Reynolds and Addison F. Stowe in New Mexico a few weeks later. While attempting to return to their unit at Fort Belknap in the fall of 1864, Addison F. Stowe and John Andrews were killed following a botched attempt to steal horses in northeastern New Mexico. John  Reynolds disappeared from history in 1864 following the failed attempt to return to Fort Belknap with Stowe and Andrews. Reynolds resurfaced under the name “Will Wallace” in Taos in 1871 where he confessed his true identity on his deathbed.

Thomas Knight who survived his own execution appears to have been nursed back to health by the Cheyenne Indians. He died in 1910 in Kiowa County, Oklahoma.  Thomas Holloman who was freed after he led the Union posse to the platoon hiding near Canon City went north, modified his name to “Holman” and died in Linn County, Oregon in 1876.

The Reynolds Gang Unmasked- The Legend, The Truth, The Treasure

The Reynolds Gang Unmasked- The Legend, The Truth, The Treasure

The Reynolds Gang Unmasked- The Legend, The Truth, The Treasure

The Reynolds Gang Unmasked- The Legend, The Truth, The Treasure