New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War
Union states in the American Civil War |
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The
In 1861, the Confederacy claimed the southern half of the vast New Mexico Territory as its own
Prelude to war
The New Mexico Territory was organized as a U.S. territory in 1850, and for many years its precise boundaries and internal administration remained undefined. In 1853, the territory was expanded south of the Gila River in the Gadsden Purchase. Proposals for a division of the territory and the organization of a separate Territory of Arizona were advanced as early as 1856. The first proposals for a separate Arizona Territory were not based on the modern east–west division but rather a north–south division. These proposals arose from concerns about the effectiveness of the territorial government in Santa Fe to administer the newly acquired southern portions of the territory.[3]
The first proposal dates to a conference held in
In February 1858, the New Mexico territorial legislature adopted a resolution in favor of the creation of the Arizona Territory, but with a north–south border along the 109th meridian, with the additional stipulation that all the Indians of New Mexico would be removed to northern Arizona.[3] In April 1860, impatient for Congress to act, a convention of thirty-one delegates met in Tucson and adopted a constitution for a provisional territorial government of the area south of 34 degrees north. The delegates elected Dr. Lewis S. Owings as provisional governor.[4]
However, due to the small number of inhabitants in the proposed territory, the U.S. Congress continued to refuse to recognize any proceedings from any of the conventions being held in the area. Making matters worse, on March 2, 1861, the U.S. government formally revoked a contract with the
Politics
Having been only recently annexed from Mexico following the Mexican–American War, many New Mexicans were apathetic to the ongoing secession crisis in the United States. Aside from their distinct ethnicity and cultural identity, which was primarily Hispanic, the prior experiences of the territory's inhabitants had generated considerable alienation from and even animosity toward Texans.[6] In early 1861, Texans overwhelmingly voted to secede from the Union and the state subsequently joined the Confederacy. As a result, when a side had to be chosen, much of the population of the New Mexico Territory sided with the Union.[6] Many settlers in the region carved out by the Gadsden Purchase willingly joined the Confederate States of America, while much of the rest of the territory remained loyal to the Union. While the people of the southern portion of the territory had closer ties to the South, the more populous northern section had strong ties to Northern trade via the Santa Fe Trail, which connected the region with Kansas and Missouri.[7][8][9]
Reflecting Southern sentiment in the southern portion of the territory, a convention was held at Mesilla on March 16, 1861, that adopted an ordinance of secession and called on the citizens of the western portion of the territory (now southern Arizona) to "join us in this movement". Subsequently, a second convention was held in Tucson on March 28, chaired by
Early in the war, the Confederacy regarded the Arizona Territory as a valuable route by which to potentially access the Pacific Ocean, with the specific intention of capturing California. In July 1861, a small Confederate force of Texans, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor, captured Mesilla, in the eastern part of the territory. When the town fort was abandoned by its Union garrison, Baylor's force cut off the fleeing Union troops and forced them to surrender. On August 1, Baylor issued a "Proclamation to the People of the Territory of Arizona", which declared that he was taking possession of the territory for the Confederacy, with Mesilla as the capital and himself as the governor.[11]
The social and political condition of Arizona being little short of general anarchy, and the people being literally destitute of law, order, and protection, the said Territory, from the date hereof, is hereby declared temporarily organized as a military government until such time as Congress may otherwise provide. I, John R. Baylor, lieutenant-colonel, commanding the Confederate Army in the Territory of Arizona, hereby take possession of said Territory in the name and behalf of the Confederate States of America. For all purposes herein specified, and until otherwise decreed or provided, the Territory of Arizona shall comprise all that portion of New Mexico lying south of the thirty-fourth parallel of north latitude.
— Lt. Colonel John R. Baylor, CSA[12]
Baylor's subsequent dismantling of the existing Union forts in the territory left the white settlers at the mercy of local Apache Indians, who quickly gained control of the area and forced many of the settlers to seek refuge in Tucson. Even so, the people of Arizona remained firm in their support of Baylor, and held another convention on August 28, 1861, in Tucson, ratifying Baylor's proclamation. Once again, G.H. Oury was re-elected as a congressman to the Confederate States Congress. Governor Baylor approved the proceedings, and Delegate Oury was sent off to Richmond, Virginia on October 1, 1861.[13]
Delegate Oury was not initially seated in the Congress, but met with Confederate leaders as well as President
I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, do issue this, my proclamation, declaring said "Act to organize the Territory of Arizona" to be in full force and operation, and that I have proceeded to appoint the officers therein provided to be appointed in and for said Territory.
— President Jefferson Davis[16]
The following month, in March 1862, the U.S. House of Representatives, now devoid of the southern delegates and controlled by Republicans, passed a bill to create its own version of the Arizona Territory, using instead the north–south border of the 107th meridian. The use of a north–south border rather than an east–west one had the effect of denying a de facto ratification of the Confederate Arizona Territory. The house bill stipulated that Tucson was to be capital. It also stipulated that slavery was to be abolished in the new territory. The Arizona Organic Act passed the Senate in February 1863 without the Tucson-as-capital stipulation, and was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on February 24, which became the date of the official organization of the U.S. Arizona Territory. The first capital was at Fort Whipple, followed by Prescott, in the northern Union-controlled area.[17]
At the start of the Civil War, the New Mexico territorial governor was Abraham Rencher; although a Democrat from North Carolina, he refused to support secession, and called out the territorial militia to counteract the Confederate invasion of July 1861. That month he was replaced by Henry Connelly, a native of New Mexico who would serve as governor for the remainder of the war. Under his leadership, the slavery laws of the territory were repealed and the Indian tribes of the territory were moved onto reservations.[18]
Military actions
New Mexico campaign
A significant Confederate offensive to seize the New Mexico Territory in more than just name resulted in the
As the war dragged on and Union troops were withdrawn to fight elsewhere, famed explorer and frontiersman Kit Carson helped organize and command the 1st New Mexico Cavalry, a militia unit, to engage in campaigns against the Apache, Navajo, and Comanche in New Mexico and Texas, as well as participated in the earlier Battle of Valverde against the Confederates.
Other actions
Federal troops left Arizona early in 1861 to reinforce operations in the east, the territory had been left open to Apache attack. Most notably, Mangas Coloradas and Cochise led a series of raids on white civilians that left dozens dead and spread fear and terror across the territory. The Apache appeared to show equal hostility to both Union and Confederate forces, and both armies attempted to control them; the resulting engagements are often considered part of both the Civil War and the American Indian Wars. The remaining Union troops in the New Mexico Territory were concentrated in forts along and near the Rio Grande; the commander of the Union Department of New Mexico, Colonel Edward R.S. Canby, started raising regiments of New Mexico volunteers and militia to replace the regular army units which had been ordered east.[22]
Captain Sherod Hunter, at the head of the Confederate Arizona Rangers, occupied southern Arizona during the spring of 1862. He bore orders from Governor Baylor to lure the Apache into Tucson for peace talks and then to exterminate the adults. Hunter's frontiersmen spent most of their time expelling Union supporters and skirmishing with Federal troops, so the order was never enforced. A detachment of Hunter's force traveled along the Butterfield Overland Mail route and destroyed caches of hay to prevent their use by Union forces; it traveled to within eighty miles of Fort Yuma.[23]
In April 1862, a small party of Confederates moving northwest from Tucson met a Union cavalry patrol near
The
Aftermath
Peralta, New Mexico, razed in the Battle of Peralta by weapons fire, was rebuilt and is inhabited today. The territorial legislature arranged for a monument commemorating the Union war dead and condemning the Confederacy to be erected in the Santa Fe Plaza.
See also
References
Informational notes
Citations
- ^ American Civil War Research Database statistics
- ^ "N.M. had big role in the Civil War - Albuquerque Journal". www.abqjournal.com. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
- ^ a b Colton, p. 198.
- ^ New York Times archive.
- ^ Discover Arizona website.
- ^ a b Nott, Robert (12 August 2023). "Territory's Hispanics were key to Union during Civil War in New Mexico". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
In some ways, the Civil War in New Mexico was not so much about North versus South, but New Mexico versus Texas. That's one reason the territory's local population primarily fought on the side of the Union during the war, when two major battles and several skirmishes took place in New Mexico.
- ^ Colton, p. 192.
- ^ Twitchell, pp. 357–358.
- ^ Alberts, p. 5.
- ^ Frazier, p. 34; Arizona Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
- ^ Colton, pp. 198–200.
- ^ Branigan Cultural Center
- ^ Frazier, pp. 62, 115.
- ^ Colton, p. 201.
- ^ Enchanted Learning site.
- ^ Sons of Confederate Veterans, Arizona Chapter.
- ^ Colton, pp. 202–203.
- ^ Colton, pp. 191–197.
- ^ Frazier, pp. 32–34, 146, 228.
- ^ Frazier, pp. 70, 226–227
- ^ Josephy, p. 85.
- ^ Frazier, pp. 54–56.
- ^ Frazier, pp. 132, 206–207.
- ^ Frazier, pp. 207, 258.
- ^ Colton, pp. 198, 203.
Bibliography
- Alberts, Don E. The Battle of Glorieta: Union Victory in the West. Texas A&M University Press, 1998. ISBN 1-58544-100-7
- Cheek, Lawrence W. Arizona. Oakland, CA: Compass American Guides, 1995. ISBN 1-878867-72-5
- Colton, Ray C. The Civil War in the Western Territories: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
- Curtis, Charles A. Army Life in the West (1862–1865). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017. ISBN 978-1545458785.
- Department of New Mexico Headquarters, Santa Fe. General Orders No. 25, September 22, 1863.
- Frazier, Donald. Blood & Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-89096-639-7.
- Josephy Jr., Alvin M. The Civil War in the American West. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. ISBN 0-394-56482-0.
- Kerby, Robert Lee, The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona, Westernlore Press, 1958. ISBN 0-87026-055-3
- Masich, Andrew E. The Civil War in Arizona; the Story of the California Volunteers, 1861–65. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006.
- Masich, Andrew E. Civil War in the Southwest Borderlands, 1861–67. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017.
- ISBN 0-8165-1515-8.
- Twitchell, Ralph E. The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, Vol. II. The Torch Press, 1912.[ISBN missing]