Across The Fence: Victory at Valverde and on to Glorieta

In the aftermath of the gallant charge and subsequent defeat of the Texas Lancers at the Battle of Valverde, Col. Canby ordered his New Mexico brigade of volunteers to attack the Confederate left flank. Col. Christopher "Kit" Carson, in command of the newly formed and untested New Mexico brigade, moved his men to an advance position across the Rio Grande where they were supported by an artillery battery under the command of one Capt. McRae. As Col. Carson's Union troops were assembling, two companies of Confederate troops under Major Raguet launched an attack against Col. Carson's command but were pushed back by the superior numbers of New Mexico volunteers. Reinforced with the remaining troops of the 4th Mounted Regiment the Confederate forces overran the Union troops and hit the Union lines at the point where Capt. McRae had positioned his artillery.

As the Texans charged the Union lines Capt. McRae's artillery fired repeated rounds of grapeshot into the Confederate troops. Despite their heavy losses the Texas Brigade poured into the Union lines and engaged the Union troops in savage, hand-to-hand combat and captured the Union artillery. Capt. McRae, along with nearly half of his command, died in defense of their position. A full eighty percent of the total Union losses in the Battle of Valverde occurred in that final skirmish.

Having captured the Union position, the Confederate troops turned the Union cannon against the defeated troops as they abandoned the field and fled back across the Valverde ford, throwing their weapons to the ground as they ran away to the fortifications at Fort Craig. As Confederate commanders rallied the troops and began to assemble for another offensive, Col. Canby sent a delegation of officers under a flag of truce. Col. Green, who had taken command of the Confederate troops, assumed that Col. Canby was surrendering but in fact he asked only for a ceasefire in order to bury the dead and tend to their wounded. The request was granted and the Battle of Valverde came to an end on Feb. 21, 1862

The Confederate troops, under the dubious command of Gen. Sibley, had won a decisive battle and gained a significant foothold toward their strategic plan to capture Santa Fe, the gold fields of Colorado and the ultimate conquest of California. Although actual numbers are not easily confirmed it is generally believed that on the field of battle, more than 200 Union soldiers lay dead alongside the bodies of approximately 180 Confederate troops. A total of more than 300 soldiers from both sides were seriously wounded, many of which would become fatalities in the days to follow. From the hastily mustered and inexperienced Union volunteers about 200 would be classified as missing in action, mostly deserters. And, although the battle was a Confederate victory, Fort Craig remained intact and under Col. Canby's command of Union troops.

Col. Canby reportedly believed that he was outnumbered by the Confederate troops and therefore did not organize an offensive rear action. Gen. Sibley did not consider Col. Canby's defeated army as a threat and deemed it more important to advance toward their objective rather than attack the fortifications at Fort Craig.

Because of a heavy loss of horses and mules, Gen. Sibley was forced to destroy some needed supplies and abandon several supply wagons. He was also forced to place a significant number of Cavalry troops afoot. Although having only five days rations for men and horses, Gen. Sibley and his commanders decided to march up the Rio Grande to Albuquerque where they hoped to capture sufficient supplies from Union stores. Sibley's troops arrived in Albuquerque on March 2, 1862, and took possession of the city in the name of the Confederacy. Unfortunately, they found that the Union troops had removed or destroyed all military supplies that had been held there. Even so, Gen. Sibley raised the Confederate flag over the town plaza and set up his headquarters and hospital in the abandoned Federal depot. After establishing the headquarters he ordered a search and seizure of the village for any available supplies. Additionally he sent an advance party from the 2nd and 5th Texas Mounted Regiments to Santa Fe for the purpose of occupying the city and capturing any supplies that might be found there.

The advance guard to Santa Fe found the same conditions as had been found in Albuquerque. There were hardly any useful provisions to be found due to the abandonment of nearby Fort Marcy and the move of the territorial government to the protection of Fort Union. However, despite the lack of abundant supplies, Sibley's troops, by confiscation and purchase, were able to gather more than a months worth of provisions from the local citizens. Mother Magdalen Hayden of the Loretto Academy wrote:

"Our poor and distant territory has not been spared. The Texans, without any provocation, have sacked and almost ruined the richest portions and have forced the most respectable families to flee from their homes, not precisely by bad treatment, but by obliging them to deliver to them huge sums of money ... The terror which I felt is inexpressible."

On March 13, 1862 Maj. Pyron and the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles raised the Confederate flag over the Palace of Governors in the capital city of Santa Fe.

Satisfied that the Texas troops were sufficiently supplied Gen. Sibley remained at his headquarters in Albuquerque with about half of the Texas 5th Regiment and a company of the 4th to guard the recently acquired supplies. While remaining at headquarters, General Sibley ordered the 2nd Texas Regiment to proceed up the Santa Fe Trail toward Fort Union and on the 12th of March, ordered the remaining forces of the 4th Mounted Regiment and the 7th to move from the Sandia Mountains and on to the Santa Fe Trail.

By late March 1862 more than 1,000 men under Maj. Charles Pyron and Lieutenant Col. William Scurry were marching toward Fort Union with a full compliment of artillery and wagons loaded with the needed munitions and provisions. However, before reaching Fort Union the Confederate troops would have to traverse the narrows of Apache Canyon and cross the Sangre De Christo's at Glorieta Pass.

While Sibley's army marched north toward Fort Union, Colorado's First Regiment of Volunteers, under Colonel John Slough, headed south out of Denver on a 400-mile, 13-day forced march to Fort Union. Arriving at Fort Union Colonel Slough's 950 volunteers joined forces with the 800 troops already there. The following day, March 22, Col. Slough led 1,300 troops out of Fort Union, down the Santa Fe Trail toward Glorieta Pass. On the 26th of March the two opposing forces would meet.

Sibley's troops had stashed their 80 supply wagons in the narrow confines of Apache Canyon, certain that the steep and rugged canyon walls would prevent any flanking attack and the front and rear guards could easily defend the position. Along with the supply wagons, Gen. Sibley had also left his surviving wounded from the battle at Valverde ford.

Maj. John M. Chivington, commanding a force of 400 Colorado volunteers discovered the Confederate wagons and launched a full-scale assault from the top of the canyon walls. While Maj. Chivington and his aides watched from above, the Colorado volunteers tumbled down the canyon walls, some sliding, some falling in headlong somersaults, and others rappelling down with ropes. The outnumbered Confederate troops quickly surrendered while Maj. Chivington's men plundered the wagons, taking all ammunition, arms and supplies they could carry and burning all the rest. Some historians maintain that Maj. Chivington ordered all prisoners, including the wounded, to be shot.

As the main battle continued at Glorieta Pass the Confederate troops continued to rout the Union troops and push them from the field. Due to the rugged terrain and thick timber fighting was close in and small clusters of skirmishers replaced the sweeping battle lines found more commonly in the east. By mid-day on the 28th the fighting was concentrated at the pass and the Texas Mounted Rifles had successfully routed the Union forces. The following day was spent caring for the wounded and burying the dead.

Though a tactical victory for the Confederacy, the loss of supplies forced the retreat of Gen. Sibley's troops and they began a long and grueling journey back to San Antonio. The southwest remained in Union hands for the duration of the war and no further attempts were made by the Confederacy to wrestle it away. By July 1862 there were no Confederate troops remaining in the Southwest regions of New Mexico and Arizona.

From March 26-28. 1862, Union and Confederate forces skirmished along the Santa Fe Trail alternately gaining and losing strategic ground. The battles fought were fierce and deadly and each inch of ground, gained or lost, was drenched in the blood of those who fought, without heed to the color of their uniforms.

Union casualties were 51 killed, 78 wounded and 15 captured. Confederate troops counted 48 killed, 80 wounded and 92 captured.

M. Timothy Nolting is an award-winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. Reach him via email at

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