Part III – This the third in a series about the great Chiricahua chief, Cochise, and his role in the fascinating history of Southern Arizona. The thrust of this feature is about how Tucson became a Confederate town with the Stars & Bars flying proudly over our Presidio. While the title says nothing about Cochise, the events chronicled in this feature lead directly to conflict with the Chiricahua Apaches. As you will see if you read to the end.
Click here to read Part II – Cochise and the Battles of Dragoon Springs and Apache Pass or if you missed Part I – Cochise becomes a “Reservation Indian.”
With the 1860 presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, 7 states seceded from the Union. Texas soon joined them. Many early Arizona pioneers had migrated from Texas and even more had southern relatives. Confederate leadership, and these southern sympathizers in the Territory, wanted to see slavery expanded throughout the American Southwest and the Confederacy extended all the way to the valuable ports and gold fields of California.
On March 16, 1861, a group of prominent Arizonans met in convention at Mesilla, NM (near present-day Las Cruces) to announce that Arizona Territory was seceding from the United States of America and request annexation into the Confederate States of America.
About two weeks later, a second convention was convened at Tucson to ratify the declarations of the Mesilla convention and to elect a delegate to the Congress of the Confederate States of America.
In August 1861, 250 Confederate cavalrymen under the command of Lt. Colonel John Baylor invaded the Territory of New Mexico that, at that time, still included both New Mexico and Arizona. They quickly overwhelmed the Union forces at Fort Fillmore near Mesilla. (Arizona did not officially become a separate Territory of the United States of America until February 1863.) Baylor assumed the office of Governor of the Confederate Territory of Arizona.
At the beginning of the Civil War, the Union Army need all the soldiers that had been stationed in the West to fight Indians to come back east and fight the Rebels. The abandonment of Federal forts in the territory left the white settlers at the mercy of the Apaches, who quickly gained control of the area, forcing most of the Anglos and Mexicans to seek refuge in the villages of Tucson and Tubac.
Battle of Glorieta Pass
To reinforce Baylor’s cavalry and take absolute control of New Mexico/Arizona Territory, Henry Sibley, once a Union officer, convinced the Confederate government to support his plan to organize a force of 3,500 Texans and drive out all Union forces all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It didn’t happen that way because the Federal’s Colorado Volunteers destroyed the Texan’s supply train at the Battle of Glorieta Pass (NM) in February 1862.
Yet Baylor continued his effort to control the Territory for the Confederacy. Company A of Baylor’s Regiment of Arizona Rangers, 120 cavalrymen, was sent to Tucson under the command of Captain Sherod Hunter. They arrived in the Old Pueblo on February 28, 1862. On March 1st, they held a ceremony and raised the Stars & Bars above the Presidio. Tucson was now the capital of the Western District of the Confederate Territory of Arizona, comprising all of present-day Southern Arizona and Southern New Mexico from the Rio Grande to the Rio Colorado.
To counter this threat, Union leaders organized a brigade of about 1,800 California Volunteers at Fort Yuma. From Yuma on the Colorado River, they headed east across the Sonoran Desert toward Tucson. They were led by Brig. Gen. James Carleton, a capable veteran of the Regular Army. With cavalry, infantry, and artillery, their principle goals were to (1) keep the Texas Rebels out of California; (2) reestablish the Overland Mail route that had been abandoned when the war started; and (3) drive the Rebels back to the Rio Grande.
Battle of Picacho Peak
On their way to Tucson, a small advance contingent of California Volunteers, led by Lt. James Barrett, was ambushed by a few Confederate pickets at Picacho Peak (actually in Picacho Pass), about 50 miles northwest of Tucson, on April 15, 1862.
Today, the Battle of Picacho Peak is often referred to as “The Westernmost Battle of the American Civil War”. Actually, war historians always refer to it as a skirmish, not a battle. Moreover, the westernmost skirmish took place at Stanwix Station, a stage stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail coaches on the Gila River 80 miles east of Yuma.
(Oddly, “picacho” means “peak” in Spanish. So to refer to this dominant geological feature as Picacho Peak is a silly redundancy … “Peak Peak”.)
At Picacho Pass, a 90 minute skirmish ensued, leaving Barrett and 2 of his men dead. Several more were wounded, but 3 Confederates were captured.
Note: The reenactments of the Battle of Picacho Peak and the Battle of Glorietta Pass take place at Picacho Peak every year in March. Click here for our slideshow of these battles.
The Battle for Tucson Does Not Happen
The main body of California Volunteers continued to march toward Tucson expecting a bloody battle for control of the town. It didn’t happen. Captain Hunter knew that the closest Confederate Army at the Rio Grande was too distant to supply his troops. And he now knew that his Rebels were hopelessly outnumbered by the advancing California Volunteers. So he and his men abandoned Tucson without a fight and headed east via Dragoon Springs where, on May 5th, they encountered Cochise and his Chiricahua warriors. Suffice it to say, it was a bad day for the Rebels.
For more information on the Apaches and the history surrounding the Apache Wars, see our page on the Local History of the Apaches
