Dublin Core
Title
Battle of Valverde Confederate Monument, Fort Craig, New Mexico
Description
The Western United States during the Civil War offered the Confederacy hope. With not many resources in the South, "In 1862, flush with a grandiose plan to conquer the New Mexico Territory and perhaps to secure for the Confederacy the vast mineral resources of the Rocky Mountains and California, Confederate Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley crossed the border from El Paso with an army of nearly 2,600 Texans." On their journey westward, on February 21, 1862, “Fort Craig was host to the largest U.S. Civil War battle in the Southwest. It was the epicenter of a battle that involved thousands of Union and Confederate troops, many of them New Mexico volunteers under the command of Kit Carson.” The Battle of Valverde was the major reason the Confederates were not able to capture the Southwest.
The Battle of Valverde was costly for the Confederates. Many accounts reported different numbers of men lost, but the Texan Confederates lost “... 200 men, with approximately 70 of these being killed or dying of their wounds. Approximately 50 percent of the Texas cavalry mounts were killed, necessitating one cavalry regiment being converted to an infantry regiment. Many leaders were listed among the casualties….” The Confederates did not expect to lose this many men, and what made matters worse was that many high ranking soldiers were lost.
There was one major problem that arose for the Confederates after the victory at Valverde. Needing time to recover, “The Texans spent several days at Valverde recuperating from the battle. Still believing his forces incapable of a successful assault on Fort Craig, Sibley directed his command northward towards Albuquerque and much needed supplies of rations and ammunition.” Using much of their resources during the Battle of Valverde, the Confederates did not have enough supplies to capture Fort Craig, so the Confederates decided to push northward instead to try and obtain supplies from somewhere else. As the Confederates pushed north “... the Federals abandoned Albuquerque and Santa Fe, burning their own supplies…After the destruction of their wagons in Glorieta, the Texans were in dire straits. Within the week Sibley chose to abandon Santa Fe– so long the centerpiece of the dream of southern empire.”
The Battle of Valverde, albeit of it being a Confederate victory, changed the history of the Southwest United States. Losing more men than anticipated and using up most of their resources during the Battle of Valverde, the Confederates had to change their plans. Those changes of plans ended up getting the last of the Confederate supplies destroyed during the Battle of Glorieta. After the Battle of Glorieta, the Confederates abandoned New Mexico. The Confederates claimed that their losses were not because they were defeated out on the battlefield, but rather, the Union had more supplies and men and that is why the Confederates gave up on New Mexico and lost the Civil War. The excuses given by the Confederates is known as the Lost Cause narrative.
The Battle of Valverde was costly for the Confederates. Many accounts reported different numbers of men lost, but the Texan Confederates lost “... 200 men, with approximately 70 of these being killed or dying of their wounds. Approximately 50 percent of the Texas cavalry mounts were killed, necessitating one cavalry regiment being converted to an infantry regiment. Many leaders were listed among the casualties….” The Confederates did not expect to lose this many men, and what made matters worse was that many high ranking soldiers were lost.
There was one major problem that arose for the Confederates after the victory at Valverde. Needing time to recover, “The Texans spent several days at Valverde recuperating from the battle. Still believing his forces incapable of a successful assault on Fort Craig, Sibley directed his command northward towards Albuquerque and much needed supplies of rations and ammunition.” Using much of their resources during the Battle of Valverde, the Confederates did not have enough supplies to capture Fort Craig, so the Confederates decided to push northward instead to try and obtain supplies from somewhere else. As the Confederates pushed north “... the Federals abandoned Albuquerque and Santa Fe, burning their own supplies…After the destruction of their wagons in Glorieta, the Texans were in dire straits. Within the week Sibley chose to abandon Santa Fe– so long the centerpiece of the dream of southern empire.”
The Battle of Valverde, albeit of it being a Confederate victory, changed the history of the Southwest United States. Losing more men than anticipated and using up most of their resources during the Battle of Valverde, the Confederates had to change their plans. Those changes of plans ended up getting the last of the Confederate supplies destroyed during the Battle of Glorieta. After the Battle of Glorieta, the Confederates abandoned New Mexico. The Confederates claimed that their losses were not because they were defeated out on the battlefield, but rather, the Union had more supplies and men and that is why the Confederates gave up on New Mexico and lost the Civil War. The excuses given by the Confederates is known as the Lost Cause narrative.
Creator
The United Daughters of the Confederacy
Source
[1] Taylor, John McLellan. Bloody Valverde: A Civil War Battle on the Rio Grande, February 21,
1862. 1st ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995.
[2] U.S Department of The Interior Bureau of Land Management. “Fort Craig Historic Site.”
https://www.blm.gov/visit/fort-craig-historic-site#:~:text=Fort%20Craig%20was%20host%20to,the%20command%20of%20Kit%20Carson.
[3] Perrine, David D. “Battle of Valverde, New Mexico Territory, February 21, 1862.” Journal of
the West 19, no. 4 (1980): 26-38.
[4] Perrine, “Battle of Valverde, New Mexico Territory, February 21, 1862.”
[5] Nelson, Megan Kate. “Death in the Distance: CONFEDERATE MANIFEST DESTINY
AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR NEW MEXICO, 1861–1862.” In Civil War Wests: Testing the Limits of the United States, edited by Adam Arenson and Andrew R. Graybill, 1st ed., 33–52. University of California Press, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt13x1gqn.6.
1862. 1st ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995.
[2] U.S Department of The Interior Bureau of Land Management. “Fort Craig Historic Site.”
https://www.blm.gov/visit/fort-craig-historic-site#:~:text=Fort%20Craig%20was%20host%20to,the%20command%20of%20Kit%20Carson.
[3] Perrine, David D. “Battle of Valverde, New Mexico Territory, February 21, 1862.” Journal of
the West 19, no. 4 (1980): 26-38.
[4] Perrine, “Battle of Valverde, New Mexico Territory, February 21, 1862.”
[5] Nelson, Megan Kate. “Death in the Distance: CONFEDERATE MANIFEST DESTINY
AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR NEW MEXICO, 1861–1862.” In Civil War Wests: Testing the Limits of the United States, edited by Adam Arenson and Andrew R. Graybill, 1st ed., 33–52. University of California Press, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt13x1gqn.6.
Date
1 June 1936
Contributor
Kevin Gomez
Language
English
Identifier
Hist. 402 A Fall 2023
Coverage
Fort Craig, New Mexico
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
JPEG