The History Book Club discussion
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
>
NEW MEXICO CAMPAIGN - CAMPAIGN OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
UNION GENERALS: (COMMANDERS)
Edward Canby
Isaac Lynde
CONFEDERATE GENERALS: (COMMANDERS)
Henry H. Sibley
Thomas Green
OTHER DETAILS:
Strength
5,142 (USA) 2,515 (CONFEDERATES)
Casualties and losses
UNION:
~166 killed,
~246 wounded,
~222 missing or captured
CONFEDERATES:
~400 killed or wounded,
~500 missing or captured
New Mexico Campaign:
Battle of Valverde – Battle of Glorieta Pass – Battle of Albuquerque – Battle of Peralta
Mod
Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley
Confederate States of America
National Archives, Washington, DC
Photo Archives
Palace of the Governors
Mod
[image error]
Gen. Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (1817-1872)
United States of America
ca.1863, Neg No. 54169
Photo Archives
Palace of the Governors
One good book that covers this area of the Civil War is "Blood & Treasure" by Donald Frazier. I have a copy of his book sitting un-read in my library at the moment.Blood & Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest (no cover) by Donald S. Frazier
Maybe a suggested title for a group read?
Mod
It's great to see this theater of the war getting some attention. It really was an important segment of the Civil War, and a lot of people are unaware of it. If I can suggest two really good books on the topic.The Battle of Glorieta Pass: A Gettysburg in the West, March 26-28, 1862Thomas S. Edrington
Distant Bugles, Distant DrumsFlint Whitlock
Thanks Tom. Don't forget the book covers and appropriate author links when citing a book.
by Thomas S. Edrington
by Flint WhitlockAppreciate the recommendations.
The Civil War in Arizona
by Andrew E. Masich (no photo)Synopsis:
Bull Run, Gettysburg, Appomattox. For Americans, these battlegrounds, all located in the eastern United States, will forever be associated with the Civil War. But few realize that the Civil War was also fought far to the west of these sites. The westernmost battle of the war took place in the remote deserts of the future state of Arizona.
In this first book-length account of the Civil War in Arizona, Andrew E. Masich offers both a lively narrative history of the all-but-forgotten California Column in wartime Arizona and a rare compilation of letters written by the volunteer soldiers who served in the U.S. Army from 1861 to 1866. Enriched by Masich’s meticulous annotation, these letters provide firsthand testimony of the grueling desert conditions the soldiers endured as they fought on many fronts.
Civil War in the American West
by Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (no photo)Synopsis:
As most Americans of the 1860s fixed their attention on the battlefields of Shiloh and Manassas, another war raged on the largely unsettled Western frontier. This splendid work by the author of The Patriot Chiefs restores this "other" Civil War to its true, epic proportions. With formidable scholarship and irresistible narrative ease, Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., tells of the Yankee armada that foundered in the Louisiana bayous; of the bloody fighting on the ridges and prairies of the border states. where a Cherokee guerrilla leader was the last Confederate general to surrender -- two months after Appomattox: and of the U.S. Army's brutal campaigns against the Plains Indians in theaters as far apart as Minnesota and Colorado.
Mod
Mod
by Donald S. Frazier (no photo)Synopsis:
For decades before the Civil War, Southern writers and warriors had been urging the occupation and development of the American Southwest. When the rift between North and South had been finalized in secession, the Confederacy moved to extend their traditions to the west–a long-sought goal that had been frustrated by northern states. It was a common sentiment among Southerners and especially Texans that Mexico must be rescued from indolent inhabitants and granted the benefits of American civilization.
Blood and Treasure, written in a readable narrative style that belies the rigorous research behind it, tells the story of the Confederacy's ambitious plan to extend a Confederate empire across the continent. Led by Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor, later a governor of Arizona, and General H. H. Sibley, Texan soldiers trekked from San Antonio to Fort Bliss in El Paso, then north along the Rio Grande to Santa Fe. Fighting both Apaches and Federal troops, the half-trained, undisciplined army met success at the Battle of Val Verde and defeat at the Battle of Apache Canyon. Finally, the Texans won the Battle of Glorieta Pass, only to lose their supply train--and eventually the campaign. Pursued and dispirited, the Confederates abandoned their dream of empire and retreated to El Paso and San Antonio.
Frazier has made use of previously untapped primary sources, allowing him to present new interpretations of the famous Civil War battles in the Southwest. Using narratives of veterans of the campaign and official Confederate and Union documents, the author explains how this seemingly far-fetched fantasy of building a Confederate empire was an essential part of the Confederate strategy. Military historians will be challenged to modify traditional views of Confederate imperial ambitions. Generalists will be drawn into the fascinating saga of the soldiers' fears, despair, and struggles to survive.
Mod
by Walter Earl Pittman (no photo)Synopsis:
Although the New Mexico Territory was far distant from the main theaters of war, it was engulfed in the same violence and bloodshed as the rest of the nation. The Civil War in New Mexico was fought in the deserts and mountains of the huge territory, which was mostly wilderness, amid the continuing ancient wars against the wild Indian tribes waged by both sides. The armies were small, but the stakes were high: control of the Southwest. Retired lieutenant colonel and Civil War historian Dr. Walter Earl Pittman presents this concise history of New Mexico during the Civil War years from the Confederate invasion of 1861 to the Battles of Valverde and Glorieta to the end of the war.
Mod
by Ray Charles Colton (no photo)Synopsis:
Between 1861 and 1865 the violent struggles of the Civil War extended into the Western Territories, where they were complicated by the involvement of the Indians. The Confederate leaders had planned to annex a corridor from the Rio Grande in Texas to the California coast. Thus they would have had a pathway to the Pacific Ocean, areas rich in minerals, new territory for the expansion of slavery, and valuable military stores and equipment. They soon found that the land was more difficult to conquer than they had anticipated. The people of the Western Territories for the most part remained loyal to the Union, and the Confederate vision of empire failed to materialize.
The emphasis in this book is on the Union campaigns against the Confederates and the Indians who sought to take advantage of the confusion of the Civil War. Yet it is also shown that the Western Territories came of age as a result of the conflict. When the Confederate invasion had been repelled, the Union leaders undertook vigorous campaigns for extermination or settlement of the Indians on reservations. Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah all acquired their present boundaries and patterns of state government during the Civil War period.
Mod
by Martin Hardwick Hall (no photo)Synopsis:
Now available only from the UNM Press, this long out-of-print and hard-to-find classic tells the story of the Texas invasion of New Mexico during the American Civil War. In early 1862, Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley marched thirty-four hundred coarse Texas farmboys, cowhands, and frontiersmen into New Mexico and up the Rio Grande Valley. Although seriously bloodied, they repulsed Union troops at the Battle of Valverde. As the poorly supplied Texans pushed northward, New Mexicans stripped the land bare of food, fodder, and livestock. East of Santa Fe at Glorieta, Union volunteers defeated Sibley's Confederates and burned their quartermaster trains, and the starving Texans retreated back down the Rio Grande to El Paso.
Henry Hopkins Sibley: Confederate General of the West
by
Jerry D. ThompsonSynopsis:
Although there is no description of this book in the GR data base, it has gotten some good reviews. Obviously it is a biography of General Sibley who led the New Mexico Campaign for the CSA.
I have just started studying this theater war glad others are interested also. Awesome!
Great, Joseph, it is a theater that I do not know much about.
Bryan sorry I didn't respond sooner. But I'm totally with you , I don't know a lot about it either. I got some books I'm my kindle that I know will help me learn more about this section of the civil war. One is Blood and Treasure. Another is a new book called Civil War West. It goes to show you there is always more to learn.
Absolutely, Joseph, you forget that this war was fought in many parts of the U.S.Oh, don't forget to cite the book you mentioned:
by Donald S. Frazier (no photo)Is this the second one?
by Duane Shaw (no photo)
I will cite them. My computer bit the dust so as soon as she comes home I'll fix it thanks
Ouch, sorry to hear it, Joseph. Thanks for following up when you can.
Edward Camby(no image) Edward Canby by Jesse Russell (no photo)
Synopsis:
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (November 9, 1817 - April 11, 1873) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War, Reconstruction era, and the Indian Wars. He was the only United States general to be killed during the latter wars, and he died when assassinated at a peace talk with the Modoc in Northern California.
The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico
by Helen Haines (no photo)Synopsis:
The outbreak of the Civil War completely diverted the attention of the Federal government from its Mexican acquisitions, which were generally regarded throughout the East rather as distant colonies than as important portions of the republic. When the military divisions westward of the Alleghanies were being made in 1861 the Department of Mexico, which only included New Mexico, was intrusted to Colonel Edward R. S. Canby; but no money was appropriated or men enlisted for its defense, the Far West as a possible point of attack not being considered. Yet this was precisely the quarter which was menaced, and the loyalty of the New Mexicans saved the nation from overwhelming calamity.
Mod
A Civil War History of the New Mexico Volunteers and Militia
by Jerry D Thompson (no photo)Synopsis:
The Civil War in New Mexico began in 1861 with the Confederate invasion and occupation of the Mesilla Valley. At the same time, small villages and towns in New Mexico Territory faced raids from Navajos and Apaches. In response the commander of the Department of New Mexico Colonel Edward Canby and Governor Henry Connelly recruited what became the First and Second New Mexico Volunteer Infantry. In this book leading Civil War historian Jerry Thompson tells their story for the first time, along with the history of a third regiment of Mounted Infantry and several companies in a fourth regiment.
Thompson's focus is on the Confederate invasion of 1861-1862 and its effects, especially the bloody Battle of Valverde. The emphasis is on how the volunteer companies were raised; who led them; how they were organized, armed, and equipped; what they endured off the battlefield; how they adapted to military life; and their interactions with New Mexico citizens and various hostile Indian groups, including raiding by deserters and outlaws. Thompson draws on service records and numerous other archival sources that few earlier scholars have seen. His thorough accounting will be a gold mine for historians and genealogists, especially the appendix, which lists the names of all volunteers and militia men.
An excellent book on this almost forgotten battle.Heroes of Glorieta Pass
by Brad E. Hainsworth (no photo0Synopsis:
Heroes of Glorieta Pass is a compelling, unforgettable story of love, loyalty, intrigue, and war, set in America's western territories during the Civil War. The Confederacy attempted to split California from the Union, controlling access to the West by blocking commerce and immigration along the Platte River Trails, and gaining access to the mineral wealth of the Southwest. These efforts affected the lives of many, including Latter-day Saints, testing their vision of the future and their loyalty to the Constitution and to their war-torn nation. This story of those people and times concludes with a critical--and thrilling--battle fought between Union and Confederate forces high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico, along the Santa Fe Trail at Glorieta Pass. This page turner presents a fascinating new perspective on the Civil War.
Glorieta Pass
by P.G. Nagle (no photo)Synopsis:
It's called the "Gettysburg of the West,", the battle for control of Glorieta Pass, near Santa Fe. At stake is a route to Colorado's gold and San Francisco's unblockadable sea coast, two goals that would give the Confederate States a vital edge. General H.H. Sibley's Texas Confederates are opposed by a Union army under Colonel E.R.S. Canby.
Before the war, Sibley and Candby were on the same side. Now there's just no winning in this bloody battle between countrymen torn apart by money, politics, and geography.
An eye witness account of the Civil War in New Mexico.The Civil War in Apacheland: Sergeant George Hand's Diary
by George Hand (no photo)Synopsis:
The publication of Whiskey, Six-Guns and Red-Light Ladies in 1994 introduced readers to the ribald 1870s diary of frontier saloon keeper, George Hand. More than a decade earlier, George Hand kept another spirited journal, this one recording his service with the Union Army. Marching from California through Arizona, West Texas and southern New Mexico, Sergeant Hand and the other volunteers of the California Column protected the southwest from further invasions by the Texas Rebels. Their hardships and adventures are recorded in Hand's salty journal; heat, dust, thirst and cold; ethnic tensions, frontier whiskey, and Apache depredations; bad food and disease; and imperious officers whom enlisted man Hand does not hesitate to cuss.
George Hand also hunted ducks and quail in a pristine Southwest, pulled huge catfish from the Rio Grande, and rescued a damsel in distress. The Civil War in Apacheland provides an intimate view of a little-known theater of the Civil War, and is the first-hand chronicle of an army that contributed mightily to the American settlement of the Southwest.
A major battle in the west, a theater which doesn't get a lot of attention.Bloody Valverde: A Civil War Battle on the Rio Grande
by John M. Taylor (no photo)Synopsis:
When Jefferson Davis commissioned Henry H. Sibley a brigadier general in the Confederate army in the summer of 1861, he gave him a daring mission: to capture the gold fields of Colorado and California for the South. Their grand scheme, premised on crushing the Union forces in New Mexico and then moving unimpeded north and west, began to unravel along the sandy banks of the Rio Grande late in the winter of 1862. At Valverde ford, in a day-long battle between about 2,600 Texan Confederates and some 3,800 Union troops stationed at Fort Craig, the Confederates barely prevailed. However, the cost exacted in men and mat riel doomed them as they moved into northern New Mexico.
Carefully reconstructed in this book is the first full account of what happened on both sides of the line before, during, and after the battle. On the Confederate side, a drunken Sibley turned over command to Colonel Tom Green early in the afternoon. Battlefield maneuvers included a disastrous lancer charge by cavalry--the only one during the entire Civil War. The Union army, under the cautious Colonel Edward R. S. Canby, fielded a superior number of troops, the majority of whom were Hispanic New Mexican volunteers.
I just started reading about this theater last year. I went to Albuquerque and while there visited the Glorieta Pass battlefield, the Pecos National Historical Park. This was quite disappointing as there isn't much coverage on the Civil War events in this area, no driving tour and a very small historical display with some artifacts along with a short film.This book is a very dull read. It includes a lot of long letters and reports from the campaign which slows down the book a lot.
by Charles G. Anderson (no photo).
Mod
Here is how you format a book with no bookcover and no author's photo:
(no image) Confederate General: Willam R. "Dirty Neck Bill" Scurry by Charles G. Anderson (no photo)
Bentley wrote: "Sorry that your book was not the best. I am sure that there are many more that will pique your interest. I think the National Parks are sorely underfunded and you might be seeing the results of tha..."I've updated my post with the Book Cover that I provided via an alternate edition that I own.
I'll probably pick up one of the campaign books mentioned here. I also have the bio of Henry Hopkins Sibley who was in command of this theater. I read mostly biographies of Generals. I have a few from the Western Theater.
by
Jerry D. Thompson
Mod
Mod
by Martin Hardwick Hall (no photo)Synopsis:
Now available only from the UNM Press, this long out-of-print and hard-to-find classic tells the story of the Texas invasion of New Mexico during the American Civil War.
In early 1862, Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley marched thirty-four hundred coarse Texas farmboys, cowhands, and frontiersmen into New Mexico and up the Rio Grande Valley.
Although seriously bloodied, they repulsed Union troops at the Battle of Valverde. As the poorly supplied Texans pushed northward, New Mexicans stripped the land bare of food, fodder, and livestock. East of Santa Fe at Glorieta, Union volunteers defeated Sibley's Confederates and burned their quartermaster trains, and the starving Texans retreated back down the Rio Grande to El Paso.
For the UNM Press edition, Civil War historian Jerry Thompson has corrected the few factual errors in the original edition and has added a new map.
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Sibley's New Mexico Campaign (other topics)Henry Hopkins Sibley: Confederate General of the West (other topics)
Confederate General: Willam R. "Dirty Neck Bill" Scurry (other topics)
Confederate General: Willam R. "Dirty Neck Bill" Scurry (other topics)
Bloody Valverde: A Civil War Battle on the Rio Grande, February 21, 1862 (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Martin Hardwick Hall (other topics)Jerry D. Thompson (other topics)
Charles G. Anderson (other topics)
Charles G. Anderson (other topics)
John M. Taylor (other topics)
More...
"The New Mexico Campaign was a military operation of the American Civil War from February to April 1862 in which Confederate Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley invaded the northern New Mexico Territory in an attempt to gain control of the Southwest, including the gold fields of Colorado and the ports of California.
Historians regard this campaign as the most ambitious Confederate attempt to establish control of the American West and to open an additional theater in the war. It was an important campaign in the war's Trans-Mississippi Theater, and one of the major events in the history of the New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War.
The Confederates advanced north along the Rio Grande from Fort Bliss in Texas. After winning the Battle of Valverde but failing to capture Fort Craig and forcing the surrender of the main Union Army in the territory, they continued north across the border towards Santa Fe and Fort Union.
Leaving that Union force in their rear. At Glorieta Pass, the Confederates defeated another Union force from Fort Union but were forced to retreat following the destruction of their wagon train containing most of their supplies.
Confederate success in this campaign would have denied the Union a major source of the gold and silver necessary to finance its war effort, and the Union navy would have had the additional difficulty of attempting to blockade several hundred miles of coastline in the Pacific.
A Confederate victory would have also diverted Union troops which, following the invasion, were used to fight Native American tribes on the plains and in the Rockies."
Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexi...
DETAILS:
Date February 1862 – April 1862
Location Confederate Arizona, New Mexico Territory
Result Union strategic victory, Confederate tactical victory
Full Confederate retreat from New Mexico Territory completed by early 1862.
Full Confederate retreat from Arizona Territory completed by mid 1863.