Company A, Arizona Rangers
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (October 2009) |
Company A, Arizona Rangers | |
---|---|
Active | 1862–1865 |
Country | Confederate States |
Allegiance | Arizona Territory |
Branch | Confederate States Army |
Type | Cavalry |
Size | Company |
Part of | Herbert's Battalion, Arizona Cavalry |
Engagements | American Civil War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Capt. Granville Oury |
The Company A, Arizona Rangers (also known as "Oury's Company, Herbert's Battalion, Arizona Cavalry") was a cavalry formation of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Origin of the Arizona Rangers
After the establishment of the Confederate Arizona Territory, Governor
Hunter's Company consisted of about 75 men for the most part residents of the Confederate Territory of Arizona. They were armed with
Arizona Campaign against the California Column
On February 10, 1862 Company A was ordered to occupy
Company A arrived in Tucson on February 28, with the loss of only one life; Corporal Benjamin Mayo who had died of exposure at San Simon Stage Station on the 25th. The invasion of Arizona by the
When news of the capture of McCleave got back to Fort Yuma, a larger force under Captain
Captain Calloway returned to the Pima Villages and started work on a permanent camp, throwing up earth works around the flour mill of Ammi White, who had been taken away with McCleve to Mesilla by the rebels a few weeks before. This earth work was named "Fort Barrett" in honor of their comrade killed at Picacho Pass.
Confiscation of the wheat and burning of hay now forced a halt at the villages while new supplies were gathered. It required several weeks for the main elements of the "Column" to get to Pima Villages, due to the time needed to gather more hay along the route. Further delay occurred because only detachments of less than four companies could move over the desert routes within twenty-four hours of each other, due to the scarcity of water. The net effect of the Arizona Rangers' actions was to delay the advance of the California Column for over a month, which probably saved the Confederate Army of New Mexico, now retreating back to Mesilla from its defeat at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, from being intercepted and destroyed by the California Column during April 1862.
After the battle at Picacho Pass, Captain Hunter wrote to Governor Baylor, requesting a reinforcement of at least 250 men, with which he felt he could hold Tucson. When no reinforcements were forthcoming, Hunter decided to evacuate Tucson. Company A left Tucson on May 14, leaving behind a small detachment under the command of Lieutenant James Henry Tevis to watch for the approach of Union forces.
Unknown to the Confederates, on that same day, the Union California Column finally left its bivouac at the Pima Villages for its final advance on Tucson. On May 15, Colonel West and his advance California detachment moved out of the Pima Villages for Tucson, going through Rattlesnake Springs to old Fort Breckenridge, and camped that night in the "Canyon de Oro". The next day, May 19, a short march of fifteen miles was made, and the party camped within ten miles of Tucson. Early on the morning of the 20th, the command moved forward until it arrived within two miles of the town. Captain Emil Fritz, Company B, 1st Cavalry, was ordered take his first platoon to make a detour and come in on the east side of the town; the second platoon, under Juan Francisco Guirado, was to charge in on the north side, while the four companies of infantry were to come in on the road from the west. Lieutenant Tevis and his detachment were surprised and almost captured when the Yankee cavalry charged into town on May 20. The three California columns arrived at the plaza at the same moment, the cavalry at the charge and the infantry at the double quick, but found no enemy. Tevis and his men had managed to escape, and rejoined the main body of Company A a few days later.
During the retreat to Messilla, Company A clashed twice with the Apache. First, in the
With the Army of New Mexico and the Sibley Brigade
After Hunter's Company A retreated from Tucson and arrived in
After their arrival in
On December 2, 1862, General Sibley was ordered to New Iberia, Louisiana, to take over command of his Brigade. On December 25 he found that most of the brigade had been ordered to Galveston, but Herbert's Battalion was there in Louisiana actively scouting in the vicinity of Plaquemine and the Mississippi River. In February 1863, shortly after the arrival of the Sibley Brigade in Louisiana, Captain Robert L. Swope resigned as commander of Company A. First Lieutenant James Henry Tevis took command, but was not promoted to the rank of captain at the time.
In April 1863, the Sibley Brigade including Herbert's Arizona Battalion was among the men with which General
Arizona Scout Company in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas
By the end of May 1863 the Arizona Battalion had been reduced by losses and it was broken up. Company A still had enough men to continue as a viable company, and was kept in being but renamed as the independent Arizona Scout Company, attached to Green's Brigade. The other two companies of the Battalion were disbanded and the men consolidated with those of Company A to form the Arizona Scout Company.
In June 1863 the Scouts participated in the
In late December 1863, while near Galveston, the Second and Third Texas–Arizona Cavalry Regiments were reassigned to the Texas Cavalry Brigade commanded by Brigadier General James Patrick Major and the Scouts were assigned to that brigade also, However, in February 1864, the Arizona Scouts were among the companies detached from Texas Cavalry Brigade to form a Scouting Battalion under the command of Major William Saufley. Captain Tevis's Arizona Scout Company became Company E of the Battalion. During January and February 1864 the company operated as part of a command under Colonel James Duff 33rd Texas Cavalry near Indianola, Texas.
During the
After the Red River Campaign, the Texas Cavalry Division, under Major General John A. Wharton, was among the units ordered northward into Arkansas. Arizona Scouts, went with them and for the rest of 1864 fought minor skirmishes and conducted routine picket duty and scouting. In November 1864, Captain Tevis (who by that time had recovered from his wounds) returned to command of the Arizona Scouts until General Edmund Kirby Smith, surrendered all Confederate forces west of the Mississippi River on May 26, 1865.
See also
References
- ^ Martin Hardwick Hall, The Confederate Army of New Mexico, Austin, Texas: Presidial Press, 1978, pp. 353–55, 367–69. [ISBN missing]
- ^ L. Boyd Finch, Confederate Pathway to the Pacific: Major Sherod Hunter and Arizona Territory, C.S.A., Tucson, AZ: Arizona Historical Society, 1996, p. 171.[ISBN missing]
Sources
- L. Boyd Finch, "Sherod Hunter and the Confederates in Arizona," Journal of Arizona History, Spring 1969.
- L. Boyd Finch, "The Civil War in Arizona: The Confederates Occupy Tucson," Arizona Highways, January 1989.
- L. Boyd Finch, "Arizona in Exile: Confederate Schemes to Recapture the Southwest," Journal of Arizona History, Spring 1992.
- L. Boyd Finch, Confederate Pathway to the Pacific: Major Sherod Hunter and Arizona Territory, C.S.A., Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Historical Society, 1996.
- Calvin P. Horn and William S. Wallace, Confederate Victories in the Southwest, Albuquerque, New Mexico: Horn and Wallace, 1961.
- Martin Hardwick Hall, The Confederate Army of New Mexico, Austin, Texas: Presidial Press, 1978.
- The California Military Museum; The California Column