Civil War in the Far West

The Confederacy looked to occupying the Far West in 1861,  Texas was part of the South and a jumping off point to the rich mines of Colorado and Nevada, as well as the lands in California.  Pioneers could form a potential guerrilla army for the South - at least that was the plan.

The Southern feeling was strong in New Mexico Territory.  In 1861 a group of settlers from the village of Mesilla declared themselves (and all of southwestern New Mexico) to be Confederate States of America.  This included Arizona as they saw it.  In the minds of the Confederacy, if this sentiment could spread to the mountains, then sweep from there further west, they could have access to the much needed gold and silver to finance the war, plenty of room for slavery expansion, and an outlet to the Pacific Ocean.

First, however, the South had to gain complete control of Texas.  The General in charge was Major General David E Twiggs who evacuated federal outposts in Texas and brought Texas fully into Confederate control without a shot being fired. When the federal government began abandoned western outposts to strengthen the eastern war front, the Confederacy stepped in.  Confederate Colonel John Baylor raised a 250-man army of Texan volunteers, called The Texas Mounted Rifles in July 1861 and moved into New Mexico territory.  Approaching Fort Filmore the Confederate army met 500 Union soldiers.  The Union general panicked, however and ordered total evacuation while his troops filled their canteens with liquor and proceeded to drink.  When the Texans arrived the drunken soldiers were more than ready to surrender rather than fight. 

Score one for the South in the West.

Next time..The Battle of Fort Union
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On November 9, 1872, fire rips through Boston destroying hundreds of building and killing 14 people.  The fire started in a warehouse burning most of the wooden buildings from rooftop to rooftop.  The result was the city establishing an entirely new system of firefighting and prevention.  The Boston financial district was created as well.