10. The New Mexico Campaign
In early 1861, the New Mexico territory consisted of several small settlements, for the most part, isolated from the territorial government in Santa Fe. Tucson and the community of Mesilla formed secession committees and voted to join the newly formed Confederacy, calling up militia to enforce their decisions. When word of their alignment with the Confederacy reached Texas, cavalry was dispatched to Mesilla to support them. It was followed by an Army of New Mexico, formed by the Confederate government in Richmond, to occupy New Mexico and Arizona and invade the Union Territory of Colorado, under the command of General Sibley.
Sibley’s (and the Confederacy’s) strategy included the seizure of Colorado, severing the Oregon Trail and isolating the Union from the wealth of the west, as well as the seizure of Nevada and California. After securing the western lands Sibley intended to take the Mexican states along the current US southern border, either through negotiation, purchase, or military conquest. Though the plans seem grandiose to modern eyes, the lands were for the most part sparsely settled, and Mexico was at the time occupied by French troops, and the possibility of a treaty between the Confederacy and France was very real. Stopping Sibley was the mission of the Colorado troops.