Episode 60 – –The Civil War and Texas – The Battle of Glorieta

I’m your host and guide Hank Wilson and as always, the broadcast is brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information.

We are smack dab in the middle of telling about the history of Texas during the Civil war. There’s no exact count of how many battles and skirmishes that were fought in Texas. In fact, most of the Texans who fought for either the confederacy or the union took part in battles in Tennessee, Virginia, or elsewhere in the South. There were however four notable battles that did take place in Texas, well the first actually was in New Mexico, but it started in Texas. They are on March 28, 1862, Battle of Glorieta, the Battle of Galveston October 4, 1862. the battle of Sabine Pass, on September 8, 1863, The Battle of Palmito Ranch, was the last battle of the civil war on May 13, 1865.

What I want to talk about today is one of what many historians consider to be a key (while not necessarily a major battle) is known as the Battle of Glorieta, which occurred on March 28th, 1862. Now it actually took place, not in Texas, but in New Mexico at Glorieta Pass which is in Far West New Mexico.

The Confederate force, named Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley's Army of New Mexico, actually consisted primarily of men from Texas. The “army” invaded New Mexico, which was Union Territory and captured Fort Fillmore which was located close to the  settlement of Mesilla. The “army” then won another skirmish at Valverde in February of 1862. After that they moved northwest, moving along the banks of the Rio Grande, and by early March they occupied Albuquerque and Santa Fe. After their successful mini invasion, they stopped to gather supplies and rest while they planned their attack on Fort Union which was the Federal Supply Center. It was about 100 miles northwest of Santa Fe and was a major stop for travelers who were on their way to the gold fields in Colorado.

Meanwhile, Colorado attorney Colonel John Slough put together a group of volunteers from the gold fields and joined together with detachments of cavalry and infantry from Fort Union to create a force of about 1,300 men. Then on March 22nd, Slough led the group on a march to engage the Texans near Santa Fe.

Simultaneously, Sibley moved his main column of men towards Fort Union. Meanwhile, a confederate force of men led by Major Charles Pyron who stayed in Santa Fe, decided to move towards the east along the Santa Fe trail.in an attempt to find and engage with the union forces.

He led his troops from Cañoncito in the early morning hours of the 26th of March and almost immediately ran into Slough's advance guard. Slough guard had just about 420 men and was led by Maj. John M. Chivington.  The two forces see each other, the Texans decide to form a traditional straight ahead battle line that blocked passage. The Union forces simply outflanked them by climbing up the hills that bordered the trail. Seeing they were about to lose, the confederate forces retreated back towards a small valley that is known as Apache Canyon. This valley had multiple fields that had been cultivated for farming and it was there they decided to setup another similar battle line, much like the one they had abandoned.

Once again Chivington simply ran a flanking action and  this time, since it was more open, he also had his cavalry charge the Texans. As a result, at least 70 Confederates were captured, it is estimated that 4 others were killed, and about 20 were wounded. After this setback, Pyron retreated back to his main camp at Cañoncito from where he dispatched a messenger asking the main Texan force to send him reinforcements. Meanwhile Major Chivington, who also suffered some casualties, 5 men killed and 14 wounded, decided to return to the main Union camp which was 12 miles away at a station known as Koslowski's Ranch.

A couple of days later,