As a commander of militia, he gave the order to torture and murder Apache chief Mangas Coloradas, who had come to meet with him under a flag of truce to discuss terms of peace.

During the Civil War he entered the Union Army as lieutenant of the First Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, in 1861; he was promoted to the rank of colonel and brigadier general.

In January 1863, Mangas Coloradas decided to personally meet with U.S. military leaders at Fort McLane, near present-day Hurley in southwestern New Mexico.

Accompanied by cavalry commander Maj-Gen Wesley Merritt, he led the division from Shreveport, Louisiana, to San Antonio, Texas, in July 1865 for Reconstruction duty and as a counter to Imperial Mexican forces along the Rio Grande.

[2] In a letter proposing to remove West's name from the school, Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote, "As a commander, he gave the order to torture and murder Apache chief Mangas Coloradas, who had come to meet with him to discuss terms of peace.