Henry Hopkins Sibley had resigned from the U.S. Army in the New Mexico Territory to join the Confederacy. He traveled to Richmond to convince President Jefferson Davis that he could conquer southern New Mexico, or the unofficial Confederate Territory of Arizona, from Texas to California.
Sibley explained that he would raise a cavalry force that would join with Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor’s Texans, on their way to invade New Mexico. This combined force would capture the Federal forces in New Mexico and Arizona, living off Federal rations and recruiting volunteers along the way. This would give the Confederates access to the valuable gold mines in California. Sibley would then take advantage of Mexico’s fragile political situation by moving south and capturing Chihuahua, Sonora, and Baja California. According to Sibley, “The state of affairs in Mexico made it an easy thing.”
On the 8th, Davis approved Sibley’s plan, promoted him to brigadier general, and authorized him to organize a cavalry brigade to get the job done. Davis also authorized Sibley to set up a military government once the territory was secured. Brigadier General Earl Van Dorn, commanding the Department of Texas, and Texas Governor Edward Clark were notified of Sibley’s mission.
While Sibley began the long journey back to Texas, Colonel Baylor’s expedition, publicly referred to as a “buffalo hunt,” proceeded. Baylor had been given the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles, 1,000 men strong, by General Van Dorn back in May. But by this month, Baylor had only 258 men left, the rest having deserted. Baylor arrived at Fort Bliss in mid-July. From there he planned to continue up the Rio Grande to take control of the Mesilla Valley.
Colonel Edward R.S. Canby, commanding the Federal Department of New Mexico, learned that Baylor sought to conquer the territory and ordered a concentration of 500 troops at Fort Fillmore, near Mesilla and the Texas border. Baylor received word of this concentration and planned to attack. On the 23rd, Baylor’s Confederates crossed the Rio Grande at San Tomas and camped 600 yards from Fillmore. This marked the first Confederate invasion of a U.S. territory in the war.
Bibliography
- Cutrer, Thomas W., Theater of a Separate War: The Civil War West of the Mississippi River. The University of North Carolina Press, (Kindle Edition), 2017.
- Faust, Patricia L. (Patricia L. Faust ed.), Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville. New York: Vintage Books, 1958.
- Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971.
- United States War Department, War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series 1 – Vol. 4. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1880-1902.