George H. Pettis, Brevet Capt., U. S. V., late Lieutenant commanding Company K 1st California Infantry, and Lieutenant and Adjutant 1st New Mexico Infantry.
The buffalo hunt
1 of
Captain John R. Baylor culminated on his reaching
El Paso (
Franklin),
Texas, on the border of
New Mexico, in the first week in July, 1861, with about three hundred men of his regiment, the 2d Texas Mounted Rifles, C. S. A., and occupying
Fort Bliss, across the river, which had been abandoned by the regular troops.
He was warmly welcomed by the few secessionists in that neighborhood, prominent among whom were
Colonel B. Magoffin,
Judge Simeon Hart, and
Judge  |
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Cavalry orderly.
From a photograph. |
J. F. Crosby, who were the wealthiest persons in that vicinity.
On the 23d of July
Captain Baylor, with about two hundred and fifty men, advanced up the
Rio Grande, crossing to the west side of the river at
San Tomas, and proceeding to
La Mesilla.
On the afternoon of the 25th
Major Isaac Lynde, 7th U. S. Infantry, who was in command at
Fort Fillmore, a post about four miles distant from
Mesilla, proceeded against the rebels with about four hundred men,--artillery, cavalry, and infantry,--and after a desultory attack on the town, involving a loss, of three men killed and two officers and four men wounded, he cowardly returned to the adobe walls of
Fort Fillmore.
On the morning of the 27th
Lynde evacuated the fort without reason, and commenced a retreat for
Fort Stanton, having about five hundred men. When near
San Augustine Springs,
Baylor appeared in his rear with less than three hundred men; and without a shot on either side
Lynde surrendered his entire force, which consisted of seven companies of the 7th Regular Infantry and three companies of Mounted Rifles.
2
In the meantime,
Fort Buchanan, situated near
Tubac, and
Fort Breckinridge, on the north side of the
San Pedro River and above its confluence with the
Gila, had been abandoned, and the troops ordered to
Fort Fillmore.
Upon reaching
Cook's Cañon, this command, consisting of
Captain Isaiah N. Moore, 1st Dragoons, with four companies, were informed of
Major Lynde's disgraceful surrender, whereupon they destroyed a large amount of Government stores which they had in charge, as well as private property at the eastern end of the cañon, and fled precipitately to
Fort Craig.
On the 1st of August
Captain Baylor issued a proclamation organizing all that part of the
Territory of
New Mexico lying south of the thirty-fourth parallel
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of north latitude as the
Confederate territory of Arizona, the seat of government being at
Mesilla, and the authority of governor being assumed by himself.
August 2d,
Fort Stanton, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin S. Roberts, 3d U. S. Cavalry, was abandoned, all the public stores that could not be carried away being destroyed.
During the month of September
Baylor sent several small parties northerly toward
Fort Craig, who had a number of skirmishes with the
Union troops, in which the latter were usually worsted.
On the 8th of July, 1861, the Confederate Government at
Richmond authorized
General H. H. Sibley (who had formerly been a major in the army, and had recently served in
New Mexico) to proceed to
Texas and organize a brigade of troops for the conquest of
New Mexico.
On the 18th of November
Sibley was ready to move from
San Antonio, Texas.
His brigade consisted of
Colonel John R. Baylor's regiment of Texas Mounted Rifles (then in
New Mexico),
Reily's 4th Regiment,
Green's 5th, and
Steele's 7th Regiment of
Texas mounted troops, and he arrived at
Fort Bliss on the 14th of December, and assumed command of all the “forces of the
Confederate States on the
Rio Grande at and above
Fort Quitman, and all in the territory of
New Mexico and
Arizona,” and his command was designated as the “Army of New Mexico.”
By General Orders, No. 97, November 9th, 1861, the
United States Department of New Mexico was reestablished and placed under the command of
Colonel E. R. S. Canby, 19th U. S. Infantry, who had previously relieved
Colonel W. W. Loring, commanding the regiment of Mounted Rifles, who had tendered his resignation to the
President, and had left his station before its acceptance.
After
Lynde's surrender,
New Mexico, south of the
Jornado del Muerto, was in possession of the rebels, and
Canby set about enlisting and reorganizing the militia of the
Territory.
He also caused
Fort Craig to be strengthened by throwing up earth-works, while Fort Union, in the north-eastern part of the
Territory, was changed from its old location under the mesa, and moved about a mile into the plains, and converted into a field-work, all the quarters, both officers' and men's, being made bomb-proof.
The
Indians in the meantime were causing much trouble to both the
Union and rebel commanders in their respective districts.
The
Mescalero Apaches, Kiowas, Comanches, and Navajoes were constantly making forays on
Canby's district, while in the southern district the
Gila River and Chiricahua Apaches were causing trouble for
Baylor.
During the first week in January, 1862,
Sibley commenced the march up the
Rio Grande with his command, and arrived at
Fort Thorn.
On the 7th of February he left
Fort Thorn for
Fort Craig.
On the 16th a reconnoissance in force was made to within two miles of the post, which was met by the dispatch of a force of cavalry, whereupon the
Confederates withdrew a short distance down the river, and on the 19th crossed over to the eastern bank.
On the 20th a considerable force of Union troops left the fort, and, crossing the river, made a feint of attack on the
Confederate camp near the river crossing.
The Confederates immediately placed all their artillery in
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Map of the campaign and of Sibley's retreat. |
battery and commenced firing, whereupon the
Union artillery and cavalry returned to the fort, leaving the infantry to watch the enemy, who that night made a “dry camp” in the sand-hills directly opposite to and within sight of
Fort Craig, at a distance of less than two miles. No operations were attempted by either party during the night, with the exception of “Paddy”
Graydon's mule attack upon the
Confederate camp.
3
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Early on the morning of the 21st
Sibley made a demonstration toward the fort, while the main part of his command, having abandoned a number of wagons at the camp with their contents, proceeded northerly, passing near the eastern end of the
Mesa de la Contedera, and approaching the river again at
Valverde.
Sibley's command in this region consisted of about two thousand men.
Colonel Canby's command consisted of 3810 men, composed of 5 companies of the 5th, 3 of the 7th, and 3 of the 10th Regular Infantry; 2 companies of the 1st and 5 of the 3d Regular Cavalry;
McRae's and
Hall's batteries; and
Ford's company of Colorado Volunteers.
The
New Mexico troops consisted of
Kit Carson's 1st regiment, 7 companies of the 2d, 7 companies of the 3d, 1 of the 4th, 2 of the 5th,
Graydon's Spy Company, and some unorganized militia.
As the enemy commenced its movements at about 8 o'clock A. M.,
Colonel Benjamin S. Roberts with the regular and volunteer cavalry, two sections of
McRae's (provisional) battery,
Hall's section of 24-pounder howitzers,
Captain David H. Brotherton's company of the 5th,
Captain Charles H. Ingraham's company of the 7th, and two (Mortimore's and
Hubbell's) selected companies of volunteers were sent from the fort to intercept them should they attempt to approach the river at
Valverde.
McRae's battery was composed of men of Company G of the 2d, and Company I of the 3d Regular Cavalry.
Captain Alexander McRae, 3d Cavalry, was in command, with
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Lyman Mishler, 5th Infantry, and
I. McBell, 2d New Mexico Volunteers, as lieutenants.
Graydon's Spy Company, and five hundred mounted militia under
Colonels Pino and
Robert H. Stapleton, had already been sent to the eastern side of the river to watch the movements of the enemy.
Colonel Roberts was too late to prevent the
Confederates from reaching the river: when he arrived at the ford at the foot of the
Mesa de la Contedera he found them already there.
The action was immediately begun by sending
Major Duncan with his regular cavalry across the river, who were dismounted and skirmished on foot.
The enemy were soon driven back, the batteries were established on the western bank, and
Roberts crossed his command to the eastern side.
The action commenced at 10 o'clock A. M., and consisted of artillery firing on both sides, charging and counter-charging, and by 12 o'clock the
Confederates had been driven from all the positions they had taken, and were forced to move their heavy guns to a position higher up the river.
During these hours the
Confederates kept coming upon the field in companies
and parts of companies, being strung out on their march.
At 12 o'clock
Colonel Roberts was reenforced by
Captain Dick Selden's battalion of regular infantry and
Colonel Carson's regiment of New Mexico Volunteers.
These new troops were soon placed in position by
Colonel Roberts, and every movement made by him up to this time was successful.
Several parties of the enemy had been driven from their positions, to take up new ones farther away, and the superior service of the
Union guns, under the skill and conduct of
Captain McRae and
Lieutenant Hall, silenced the Confederate batteries and seemed to assure victory to the
Union forces.
Thus matters stood when
Colonel Canby reached the field and assumed command at 2:45 P. M. The enemy had been driven by
Colonel Roberts from all their positions, and had retired behind a high drift of sand, where they re-formed undiscovered, and prepared to storm the two Union batteries.
After a short lull in the action, the two storming parties, armed with shot-guns, squirrel rifles, revolvers, and lances, and on foot, made a charge with great fury.
The force that charged on
Hall's battery, on the
Union right, met with such a gallant resistance from the battery's support, consisting of
Captain Brotherton's company,
Major Duncan's dismounted cavalry,
Captain Wingate's battalion of regular infantry, and
Kit Carson's regiment of volunteers, that they were repulsed with great slaughter, and fled from the field.
But the result was different on the
Union left.
McRae's battery, though held with heroic determination, with the loss of every horse, and more than one-half the gunners
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killed or disabled, was taken by the enemy.
Captain McRae and
Lieutenant Mishler were both killed at the guns.
The Confederate charge was made on foot, and was led by the gallant
Major S. A. Lockridge, of
Colonel Green's 5th Regiment, who was the foremost to reach the battery.
As he approached the battery
Captain McRae was standing at one of the guns, with his left hand upon the knob of the cascabel.
Lockridge placed his left hand upon the muzzle of the same piece and demanded
McRae's surrender.
Both raised their revolvers, which were not more than three feet apart, and fired together, and both dropped dead in their tracks.
After the enemy reached the battery, there was a short hand-to-hand fight, in which revolvers, clubbed rifles, and sponge staffs were used, but the support soon fell back and crossed the river in retreat.
A panic now ensued among the New Mexicans, but the regulars and the Colorado Volunteers were all withdrawn across the river in comparatively good order.
The captured guns of
McRae's battery were manned by the
Confederates, turned to the rear, and assisted in producing the disorder that ensued.
Canby retreated to the adobe walls of
Fort Craig, having sustained a loss on the field of 3 officers and 65 men killed, 3 officers and 157 men wounded, and I officer and 34 men prisoners.
The enemy's loss was about 40 killed and 200 wounded. In will be observed that while
Colonel Roberts was in command of the
Union troops everything was moving in their favor, but when
Canby assumed command the tide of battle turned, until finally the
Union forces were beaten and in retreat.
It was the almost unanimous opinion of the officers engaged at
Valverde, that if
Canby had remained at
Fort Craig on that day the
Confederates would have commenced their retreat at that time for
San Antonio, Texas.
After remaining two days at
Valverde, to bury the dead and give needed rest to his men,
Sibley moved up the river to
Albuquerque, leaving his sick and wounded at
Socorro.
Sibley found, upon his arrival at
Albuquerque, that
Captain Herbert M. Enos,
assistant-quartermaster,
U. S. A., who was in command there, had destroyed the larger part of the
Government stores at that place and had retreated with his command toward Santa Fe. On the 4th of March,
Major J. L. Donaldson,
quartermaster,
U. S. A., commanding at
Santa Fe, destroyed the
Government stores at that place, and retreated with his command to Fort Union.
The enemy soon after occupied
Santa Fe.
In the first week in March, 1862,
Colonel John P. Slough, commanding the 1st Regiment Colorado Volunteers, arrived at Fort Union, having made some extraordinary marches, and relieved
Colonel G. R. Paul, 4th Regiment New Mexico Volunteers, of the command of the Northern District of
New Mexico.
Colonel Slough, who was a thorough fighting-man, proceeded to form a command, composed of his own regiment, with what regulars and New Mexico Volunteers he found at Fort Union, for the purpose of operating against the
Confederates, whose next movement was supposed to be toward Fort Union; or of forming a junction with
Canby's force, which was supposed to have left
Fort Craig.
His command numbered 1342 officers and men, with a battery of 4 guns, under command of
Captain J. F. Ritter, 15th
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Infantry, and a battery of 4 mountain howitzers commanded by
Captain Ira W. Claflin, 3d Cavalry.
Slough left Fort Union on March 22d.
On the 26th, when at Bernal Springs, he dispatched
Major Chivington, of the 1st Colorado Volunteers, with 200 cavalry and 180 infantry, toward Santa Fe. The enemy were encountered at Johnson's Ranch, in Apache Cation, about fifteen miles from Santa Fe. An engagement followed, in which both sides claimed the victory: the
Union loss was 5 killed and 14 wounded, while the
Confederate loss was 32 killed, 43 wounded, and 71 prisoners.
Chivington fell back to Pigeon's Ranch, and
Major Pyron, who had commanded the
Confederates, was reenforced during the night by
Colonel W. R. Scurry and his command, who had been encamped at Galisteo.
On the 27th
Colonel Slough arrived at Koslowski's Ranch; on the 28th he moved toward Apache Canon, and at 11 o'clock A. M. the enemy's pickets were encountered.
This was a terrible place for an engagement — a deep gorge, with a narrow wagon-track running along the bottom, the ground rising precipitously on each side, with huge bowlders and clumps of stunted cedars interspersed.
The batteries on both sides were brou ght forward, the
infantry thrown out upon the flanks, and the firing soon became general.
Colonel Slough had been informed that the entire baggage and ammunition train of the
Confederates was at Johnson's Ranch, and before the action began
Major Chivington's command was sent direct over the mountain, unobserved by the enemy, came down upon their camp, which was guarded by some two hundred men, and fell upon their train, consisting of sixty wagons, which, with their entire contents and a 6-pounder gun, were completely destroyed.
Two Confederate officers and fifteen men were taken prisoners.
This loss was the most serious that the enemy had met with in the whole of their campaign, as all their ammunition, baggage, and provisions — of which they were already short — were destroyed, and it was accomplished without the loss of a single Union man. The fight in the caton continued until late in the afternoon, when
Colonel Slough moved back to Koslowski's Ranch.
This engagement is known in Union reports as “
Apache caton,” and at the
South as the “battle of
Glorietta.”
The Union loss was I officer and 28 men killed, 2 officers and 40 men wounded, and 15 prisoners; the
Confederate, 36 killed, 60 wounded, and 17 prisoners.
Colonel Scurry returned to
Santa Fe in a completely demoralized condition, while
Colonel Slough, having accomplished all that was desired, returned to Fort Union.
On April 1st
Colonel Canby, who still remained at
Fort Craig, left that post with a force consisting of 860 regulars and 350 volunteers, and arrived
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at or near
Albuquerque on the afternoon of the 8th.
His intention was to effect a junction with the Fort Union troops.
He made a feint of attack on
Albuquerque by sending in Paddy
Graydon's company, supported by a few regular cavalry under
Major Duncan.
The Confederates were ready to receive them, and fired a few rounds, when
Canby retired and passed through Carnuel Cañon to the little adobe village of
San Antonio on the east side of the
Sandia Mountain, where he soon was joined by
Colonel G. R. Paul and his command from that post.
When news was received at
Santa Fe that
Canby had attacked
Albuquerque,
Colonel Scurry with his entire force started for that town.
General Sibley was now in straitened circumstances.
Forts Union and
Craig contained all the subsistence stores in the territory, with the exception of what was in the hands of the people, all of which was
cached, or hidden away.
He had no money to purchase with, except Confederate bills, which were valueless.
He could not advance to Fort Union, as
Colonel Slough could withstand any force that he could send in that direction, and he was not strong enough to attack
Fort Craig.
Accordingly, he determined upon retreating from the territory if
Canby would allow him to do so. On the morning of April 12th, the evacuation of
Albuquerque commenced by the crossing to the west side of the river of
Scurry's and
Steele's regiments,
Pyron's battalion, and a part of the artillery.
Green's regiment moved down on the east side of the river to
Peralta, where it crossed over, after a serious skirmish with some of
Canby's troops, in which the
Confederates lost 6 killed, 3 wounded, and 22 prisoners. On the 15th and 16th the two commands moved down the river, on either side, in view of each other, and most of the time within easy cannon-range.
Although
Canby's force was double that of the enemy, he would not cross over the river and capture
Sibley's forces, as he easily could have done, for he considered it more expedient to allow them to retreat out of the territory and through the wilderness to
San Antonio, Texas, than to capture the entire party and be forced to subsist them.
This action of
Canby caused great discontent in his command, and the
Union men of the territory never forgave him. On the evening of the 16th both forces went into camp on the river between Sabinal and La Joya.
On the morning of the 17th reveille was sounded in
Canby's camp, but no move could be observed in the enemy's, although their camp-fires were burning brightly.
After waiting a long time for them to commence their march,
Canby sent some scouts across, who soon returned with the information that the
Confederate camp was vacant, and that it had been abandoned during the night.
It was soon ascertained that
Sibley had left the river, leaving behind all his wagons, thirty-eight in number, with their contents, and had proceeded to the westward in the direction of the northern end of the
Sierra Madelena.
Canby now proceeded leisurely down the river, and arrived at
Fort Craig on the afternoon of the 22d.
Sibley's retreat was a most desperate one.
He passed on the west side of the
Sierra Madelena, through the Sierra de
San Mateo, until he reached the dry bed of the
Rio Palomas, down which he continued until he reached the
Rio Grande, where supplies had been sent from
Mesilla
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to meet him. His command was entirely worn out, and nearly famished.
The distance from where he left the
Rio Grande until he reached it again was over one hundred miles, and the
Confederates were ten days accomplishing this distance with five days of poor rations.
The route was through the worst country in that territory, with no guides, trail, or road.
What artillery they got through with was dragged uphill and lowered by the men, who used long ropes for that purpose.
The undergrowth and brush were so dense that for several miles they were forced to cut their way through with axes and
bowie-knives.
Nearly all the ammunition was abandoned on the way, as was nearly everything else, except what the men carried upon their persons.
On passing over the route of these unfortunate men, nearly a year after, I not infrequently found a piece of a gun-carriage, or part of a harness, or some piece of camp or garrison equipage, with occasionally a white, dry skeleton of a man. At some points it seemed impossible for men to have made their way. During this retreat the
Confederates were unmolested by the
Union troops, with the exception of the ubiquitous
Captain Graydon,
4 who, with his company, followed them alone for a long distance, picking up a large amount of serviceable articles which they had abandoned on their way.
Sibley himself arrived at
Fort Bliss in the first week of May, while his command was strung out for fifty miles to the rear.
He remained here but a few days, and upon hearing that the “
California column,” under the command of
Colonel James H. Carleton, was rapidly approaching from
Southern California, he commenced his farther retreat for
San Antonio, Texas.
His force was entirely demoralized, and moved on its way without discipline or command, every man for himself, until all finally arrived.
Sibley's command, when he reached
Fort Bliss, in 1861, numbered nearly or quite 3700 men; when he returned it was less than 2000, making a loss of over 1700 men, the bones of a large number of whom were left on the arid plains of
Arizona,
New Mexico, and
Texas.
