On this day in 1862, Union forces by a stroke of luck halted the Confederate Invasion of New Mexico, at that time including Arizona.
The Confederates hoped to capture New Mexico and other parts of the West. There were other reasons, but the cash-strapped Confederacy wanted the western mines for the gold and silver. From San Antonio, the Rebels moved into southern New Mexico and captured the towns of Mesilla, Doña Ana and Tucson. General Henry H. Sibley, with 3,000 troops, primarily Cavalry, moved north against the Fort Craig on the Rio Grande. Interestingly, one of the regiments carried lances, like [maxbutton id=”4″ url=”http://localhost:8888/curt” text=”Watch Trailers, Get the books signed and mailed to you” ]
soldiers in the Crimean War.
Sibley’s force defeated the Union troops at Valverde near Fort Craig on February 21, even though Sibley was probably very drunk.
Sibley left parts of his army to occupy Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and continues on toward Santa Fe along the Pecos River. Their next target was the Union garrison at Fort Union, At Pigeon’s Ranch near Glorieta Pass, they defeated a Yankee force of 1,300 Colorado volunteers under Colonel John Slough. The battle began in late morning, and the Federal force was thrown back before taking cover among the adobe buildings of Pigeon’s Ranch. A Confederate attack pushed the Union troops further down the pass. Unfortunately for the Confederates, Union troops under Major John Chivington led an attack on the Confederate supply train, burning 90 wagons and killing 800 animals.
In the desert with no food, nor water, the Confederates were forced to turn back. In a set of ongoing, sporadic fights, one of which ended because of a dust storm and thus saved the Rebels from defeat, Sibley’s force retreated to Texas.
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