USA > Texas > A comprehensive history of Texas, 1685-1897 > Part 37
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General Sibley, having assumed command at seven p. M., ordered the pursuit of the Federal army to be abandoned.
The victory of the Texans was complete, and, supplied with water from the river and food from the haversacks abandoned by the Federals in their flight. they bivouacked on the field. The brigade lost thirty-nine killed and one hundred and sixty-nine wounded. Among the killed were Captain Von Hoedel, of the Fourth Regiment, and Lieutenant David H. Hubbard, of Company A, of the Fifth Regi- ment. Captain Lang died of his wounds at Socorro a few days later. The Federals lost one hundred and twenty-nine killed, six hundred and nineteen wounded. and thirty missing. Many of the New Mexican militia shortly afterwards deserted, from the panic caused by their first meeting with the Texans, who, they said, "fought not like men but like devils."
This battle was called "Valverde" (green valley), from the name of the ground on which it was fought. Iving in a bend of the Rio Grande on its left bank, about seven miles above Fort Craig. Soon after the battle an artillery company was formed to man the six picces captured on the field of Valverde. This' bat- tery was placed in command of Captain Joseph D. Sayers, who had served up to that time as first lieutenant and adjutant of the Fifth Texas Cavalry, on Colonel Green's staff. It was called the " Valverde Battery" in honor of the Confederate
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victory gained on the 21st of February, 1862 ; and in placing Sayers in command of it, Colonel Green said he knew the Confederate captain would stand by it as long as the Union captain had done, -that was "until death."
In addition to the six pieces of artillery, about three hundred Minie muskets were also captured on the battle-field. These arms were of good use, as they were immediately issued to the men, replacing as far as they would go the shot-guns and hunting-rifles with which the Confederates had been previously armed. The Fed- erals, having retreated seven miles down the river along the right bank, sent in a flag of truce just before sunset asking permission to bury their dead, which request was granted. Under cover of darkness they recovered a part of their cannon which had not yet been secured by the victors. The Confederates biv- ouacked on the field of battle, having reached the river and obtained water in plenty, though at the cost of blood and life. Remaining one day (Saturday) on the field of Valverde, on the morning of the 23d (Sunday) the Confederates began an advance movement up the Rio Grande, having crossed over to the right bank and leaving Fort Craig unreduced in their rear. They proceeded up the river to a small village called Socorro, where they established a hospital and left all their wounded who were not able to travel, and continued their march to Albuquerque, where they arrived in a few days without any serious opposition.
On March 26, 1862, Major Charles Pyron, with a small force composed of some of Baylor's men and two pieces of artillery, halted in Apache Canon, twenty miles from Santa Fé on the road to Fort Union, and Companies A, B, C, and D, of the Fifth Texas Cavalry, under Major Shropshire, had marched out from Santa Fé and bivouacked at the mouth of the canon. Pyron and Shropshire's force combined amounted to about two hundred and fifty men. About ten o'clock, Major Chivington, of the First Colorado Volunteers, with four hundred and eighteen men moving towards Santa Fé from Fort Union, captured Pyron's pickets and sur- prised the advance in the Apache Canon. The Confederate battery opened on the Federals, and thus warned Shropshire's battalion, which, without waiting for further orders, fell into line on foot and marched at once to Pyron's assistance. Coming up with the artillery at a point to which Pyron had fallen back, Shropshire divided his men and sent two companies on cach side of the cation up the side of the moun- tain, deployed as skirmishers to meet the enemy, who had already adopted similar tactics. Some of the men, from Company A for the most part, advanced on the right considerably beyond the main body of Pyron's men with the artillery in the canon, and the artillery being hard pressed by the Federals retreated, together with the troops supporting the battery. Company F, of the Colorado Volunteers, made a charge on horseback down the canon, and, being followed by the infantry, swept around to the right and left, cutting the Confederate line in two, and took each party in the rear. Thus the day was lost to the Confederates ; being outflanked, outnumbered, and outgeneralled. they fell back to their camp at the mouth of the canon, near Johnson's Ranch, in some disorder. The Federals only held the field long enough to gather up what prisoners they could find, and then under cover of night fell back about seven miles to Pigeon's Ranch and awaited reinforcements. The Federal loss in this skirmish was reported by Major Chivington to be five killed and fourteen wounded. The Confederates had two killed and three wounded,
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besides seventy-one who had been surrounded and taken prisoners. Company A, of the Fifth Texas Cavalry, being farthest in advance, suffered most severely. After the skirmish, Pyron, who was in command as the senior officer, held his ground and sent couriers to Green and Scurry for reinforcements. Lieutenant-Colonel Scurry, being nearest, only sixteen miles away, at Gallisteo, arrived on the morn- ing of the 27th, and awaited all day for the Federals to attack, but they did not appear.
Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. R. Scurry having arrived at Pyron's camp at three o'clock on the morning of March 27, as soon as it was light made a thorough examination of the ground to ascertain the situation of his own forees and the posi- tion of the Federals. He so disposed his troops as to be ready for an attack, and thus remained until the morning of the 28th. Then he left a small guard with his wagons and advanced to meet the enemy. He had under his command a portion of nineteen companies, amounting to about a thousand men. Of these, however, owing to the number on detail and sick and disabled, only about six hundred were fit for duty and actively engaged in the ensuing combat. At about ten o'clock in the forenoon the two small armies came into collision at a point in Glorietta Canon about one mile west of Pigeon's Ranch. Colonel Slough, of the First Colorado Infantry, had left Kozlowski's Ranch at about eight o'clock the same morning with about thirteen hundred and fifty effective men ; having in the mean time sent Major Chivington with four hundred and thirty picked men to march around the mountain and to capture and burn the Confederate wagon-train. As soon as the respective forces met, the Confederate cavalry under orders retired slowly and, dismounting, came into action on foot. The artillery, consisting of four pieces, was advanced rapidly to a slight elevation in the cañon, and immediately opened fire upon the advancing Federals. The Confederate infantry was rapidly deployed into line, extending from a fence on the left to a pine forest on the right, across the road which led through the narrow defile, and completely blocking the way and driving in the Federal pickets. The Federals then brought up their artillery, consisting of two batteries, cight pieces, -six twelve-pounders and two six-pounders. The infantry were at the same time thrown out upon the flanks, taking positions on the mountain-sides to the right and left. During the whole day the Confederates were acting on the aggressive and the Federals on the defensive. The Federal left wing under Colonel Tappan, occupying a position covered with trees and large boulders. was especially difficult to dislodge, and offered a stubborn resistance. It was at this point that the Confederates charged under the gallant Major John S. Shropshire, who was killed, and Captain D. W. Shannon, of Company C, of the Fifth Regiment, was at the same time captured. Shropshire fell by the hands of Private Pierce, of Company F, First Colorado Volunteers. On the fall of Shropshire his men retired, but renewed the charge successfully later in the day. On the Confederate left Colonel Scurry directed the operations in person, Major Raguet commanding the centre and Major Pyron the right. A large body of Federals, availing themselves of a gulch that ran up the centre of an enclosed field on their right, sought to turn the Confederate left flank ; but Scurry, perceiving the movement, advanced his men, charging through the clearing some two hundred yards under a heavy fire, and fell upon the Federals in the gulch with knives and pistols. For a short time a
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most desperate and deadly hand-to-hand conflict ensued, when the steady courage of the Confederates prevailed, and their antagonists broke and fled in the wildest disorder and confusion. Major Raguet charged rapidly down the centre, driving the Federal artillery before him ; however, the Federal batteries made a stubborn resistance, took a new position, and renewed the contest three several times before they finally lost the day.
Lieutenant Bradford of the Confederate artillery having been wounded and carried off the field, and his battery having no other officer to command, it was hastily withdrawn. Colonel Scurry seeing this, ordered the battery to again advance, and made a pause to reunite his forces, which had in the action become somewhat scattered. When again ready to advance, which was not long after, he found the Federals strongly posted behind a long adobe wall that ran nearly across the canon, and a large ledge of rocks in the rear. The artillery having returned to the front under Sergeant Patrick and Private Kirk, again opened fire on the enemy. Major Shropshire was sent to the right and Major Raguet to the left, with orders to advance through the pine timber and attack the Federals on both the flanks. The centre having been posted on the road, with orders to charge as soon as they heard the sound of their comrades' guns on the flanks, Scurry sent Pyron to the assistance of Raguet, and he went to the left to find Shropshire and learn the cause of the delay in making the assault. Colonel Scurry, finding that Shropshire had been killed, at once assumed immediate command of the right wing and attacked the Federals at the ranch ; at the same time Major Raguet and Major Pyron opened a galling fire on the left from the rocks on the mountain-side, and the centre charging down the road, the Federals were driven from the adobe wall to the ledge of rocks in the rear, where they made their final stand. Here their batteries of eight guns opened a furious fire of shell, grape, and canister upon the advancing Confederates, who, heedless of the iron storm, pressed bravely on in a heroic effort to capture the batteries. Mecting here a strong force of infantry, the conflict waxed hotter than it had been before. The Confederate right and centre united on the left. The heroic Scurry, the intrepid Raguet, the courageous Pyron, pushed for- ward, followed by their men, until the muzzles of the guns of the opposing lines touched each other. Inch by inch the Federals held their ground until their artil- lery and their splendid train of a hundred wagons had time to escape. Then the Federal infantry broke ranks and fled from the field. In their precipitate flight they cut loose the teams and set fire to two of their wagons. The Confederates kept up the pursuit until they were forced to halt from the extreme exhaustion of the men. The battle lasted from ten in the morning till five in the afternoon, about seven hours, and during this time great valor was displayed on both sides. The artillery took position right along with the infantry and fought in close quarters. A solid shot from the Federal battery struck a cannon of the Confederates full in the muzzle and disabled it. The dress of the Coloradoans and the Texans was so similar that they could hardly tell each other apart even at close quarters.
The Federals retired under cover of the darkness to Kozlowski's Ranch, whence they had started out that morning to capture Sinta Fe. But this victory of the Confederates was not unattended with disaster. The wily mountaineers had a general in command. Slough had sent Chivington to the rear, where he with a
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force of four hundred picked men fell upon the wagon-guard of the Confederates, consisting of about two hundred sick and disabled men commanded by Chaplain L. H. Jones, and defeated them, capturing sixteen of their number and driving off the rest towards Santa Fe. The wagons were all burned, and Rev. Mr. Jones, while holding a white flag in his hand and offering to surrender, was shot and dangerously wounded by the cart-burners. Doubtless Chivington would have attacked Scurry in the rear had it not been for the circumstance that about the time the wagons were consumed a party of five Federal prisoners arrived from the front and were recaptured. They told Chivington of Scuriy's victorious advance, so he beat a hasty retreat by the same route which he had taken in the morning, giving orders that the prisoners should be shot in case he should be attacked in his flight.
The Federal loss in the battle of Glorietta, according to the best information at command, was forty-four killed, sixty-four wounded, and thirty missing. The Confederate loss was thirty-six killed, sixty wounded, and sixteen captured. But among the slain the Texans mourned the daring and impetuous Major Shropshire and the accomplished and heroic Major Raguet ; the former of whom fell early in the day, and the latter in the last and most desperate of the charges. The gallant Captain Buckholts and Lieutenant Mills, after fighting gallantly all day, fell near the close of the conflict. Major Pyron's horse was shot under him and Colonel Scurry's cheek was twice grazed by whizzing bullets. Colonel Scurry having lost his supply- train was in great straits for subsistence, but he permitted the Federals to bury their dead, and remaining upon the field during the 29th, performed the same sad service for the fallen Texans, and on the night of the 29th countermarched to Santa Fé to procure supplies and transportation.
During the campaign in New Mexico the soldierly qualities of Captain William P. Hardeman were conspicuously displayed. On the route from Valverde up the Rio Grande he observed with much anxiety the demoralization likely to ensue from the fact that a large portion of the horses in the Fourth Regiment had been lost and killed in battle. Knowing that discipline and organization could not be maintained with a part of the men mounted and a part on foot, he proposed to Colonel Scurry, who was in command, to dismount the Fourth Regiment and turn over their horses to the other regiments and the battery just formed. Through his influence, backed by the eloquence of Scurry, this change was effected, to the great gratification of General Sibley, who in his report speaks of the self-denial of the men of the Fourth Regiment in the highest terms. Again when it was necessary for the new-made infantry to cross the river, which was encrusted with ice near the banks half an inch thick, the men hesitated until Hardeman, the oldest man in the regiment, led the way, when all plunged in waist-deep with a cheer for " Old Gotch" that made the valley ring. General Sibley, finding that Captain Hardeman could control his men, placed him with his company on police duty at Albuquerque to preserve order and protect private property.
When the rest of the army moved on towards Santa Fe and Fort Union, Hardeman was left in command at Albuquerque, to garrison the town and preserve the commissary stores, on which the whole Confederate force depended for subsist- once. About the 8th day of April Canby moved up from Fort Craig with about fifteen hundred men, and knowing that Hardeman only had about two hundred men
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all told, including about forty convalescents from the hospital, he supposed that the Confederates would at once either retreat or surrender.
Canby's column marched right on up to the town without even halting the baggage-wagons, until they were greeted by a six-pound shot from Hardeman's artillery. The Federals then retired a short distance and made an attempt to enter the town by the road from the east. But " Old Gotch" moved his guns behind the adobe walls and gave Canby another greeting from his battery. The Federals then drew off and camped, and placing their twenty-four pounder in position shelled the town, although it was full of women and children supposed to be friendly to the Union cause.
They invested Albuquerque for five days and nights, shelling the town and driving in the pickets, but not assaulting in force. During all this time Hardeman and his company lay on their arms and did not remove their clothing for an hour's sleep. But they saved the town and the commissary stores on which Sibley depended to feed his men. Had these stores been lost, the whole Confederate outfit would have been compelled to surrender.
Though in point of bloodshed this engagement appears insignificant in com- parison with others occurring in this Territory during the Confederate occupation, the heroic determination which characterized the struggle, and the results achieved, entitle it to particular mention.
Leaving Albuquerque on the 12th of April, Sibley's army took its course down the Rio Grande, the Fourth Regiment crossing over to the right bank and the Fifth remaining on the left bank of the stream. For three days they continued marching in this fashion, as if despising their antagonists or inviting attack. A small party of Kit Carson's regiment of Mexicans killed a couple of stragglers of the Fourth Regiment, and were in turn attacked by the " Brigands" (a company of Californians in the Confederate service), who killed two of them and captured twenty-five.
In the mean time General Canby with a force from Fort Craig had formed a junction with Colonel Paul from Fort Union at Tijeras, on the 13th, and, turning quickly, marched thirty-six miles and arrived at Peralta before Colonel Green knew of his approach. A mountain howitzer and seven wagons loaded with supplies, having been detained by the deep sands of the roads and the weakness of the teams, were captured by the Federals. The escort of the train made a stubborn resistance, which resulted in a loss to the Confederates of six men killed, two wounded, and twenty-two captured. In the mean time, Sibley, learning that Green had been attacked, sent Scurry with the Fourth Regiment to his relief. Colonel Paul with his column and three companies of the Third United States Cav- alry attacked Green's men, but they made no impression on them except to drive. in their skirmishers, with a loss to the Federals of one killed and three wounded. The fighting continued all day, both with small-arms and artillery, but neither party deemed itself strong enough to attack the other in their improvised breast- works behind ditches and adobe walls. The only loss sustained by the Confeder- ates was one man wounded accidentally by a shot from a comrade. The Federal loss was not ascertained.
During the night Colonel Green crossed over the river and joined the main
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body of the Confederates on the left bank of the Rio Grande. Though Green was taken unawares he stood his ground bravely, and though Canby had the Texans almost surrounded with a greatly superior force, he lacked the nerve to attack them.
After the fight at Peralta, Sibley's army marched leisurely along down the Rio Grande on the right bank, Canby's forces following on the left, in sight of each other. General Sibley states that it was at first his intention on leaving Albu- querque to push on by the river route, being two days in advance of Canby, and attacking Fort Craig before his arrival to demolish the fort. This design appears to have been defeated by the rapid movements of the Federals after effecting a junction of the forces from Fort Craig and Fort Union at Tijeras on the 13th of April, and their sudden appearance at Peralta on the morning of the 15th, before the Fifth Texas Cavalry had succeeded in crossing the river.
It being deemed impracticable to attack Fort Craig in the crippled condition in which Sibley found his command at this time, it was determined to leave the river and seek a route through the mountains, and thus reach Donna Anna below Fort Craig without the hazard of another general engagement. Major Bethel Coop- wood, who was familiar with the topography of the country, was selected for "the difficult and responsible task of guiding the little army through this mountainous and trackless waste." Accordingly, on the night of the 17th of April, all the wagons, amounting to thirty-eight in number, which could be dispensed with, and all sur- plus supplies, were abandoned or burned, seven days' rations were packed on mules, and the weary and perilous march through the mountainous desert was begun. The Confederates left the Rio Grande, and, after marching over a very rough country more than seven hours, came to the head of a canon, which they followed down until nearly daylight, making a distance of about fourteen miles, and bivouacked without water. Eight miles farther on they reached water, which was very brackish, and here the advance waited for the rear to come up. On the 19th the Texans resumed their march,-five miles to the head of Salt Creek and twenty more to Bear Spring, which were covered by the infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Along this route it was necessary for the men to tie ropes to the cannon and drag them up the mountains. Scurry set the example by dismounting and taking hold of the ropes himself. Each regiment had a battery to pull along, and divided out the guns among the several companies. The men cheerfully surrendered their horses for use in the artillery carriages and put their own shoulders to the wheels in the steepest places. Conspicuous among those who toiled at this self- imposed task was Major William P. Hardeman, of the Fourth Texas Cavalry, who by the force of his example was worth a hundred men. Passing along narrow defiles, toiling up precipitous hills and mountains, crossing tremendous canons, the weary, starving Texans pursued their march hour by hour and day by day. Now and then a herd of antelope would cross their track only to fall before their unerring rifles and replenish their depleted commissary stores ; water was only to be had at long and weary intervals, and then in insufficient quantities and sometimes scarcely palatable.
On Friday, April 25, the weary, dispirited soldiers arrived at the valley of the Rio Grande at the north of Sheep Canon, a point about five miles below Alamosa
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and forty miles below Fort Craig, after nine days of incredible hardships and priva- tions and a journey of one hundred and fifty miles through a wilderness of mountain peaks and almost bottomless cañons.
This was a wonderful retreat in more than one respect. The patience and for- titude of the men were as remarkable as the misfortunes which they had to encoun- ter. Had Canby followed up the retreat with the mounted men he had just received from Colorado, he must have succeeded in capturing the entire Confederate force, or, if he had confronted the toil-worn Confederates when they turned in to seek the Rio Grande again below Fort Craig, he could have compelled an immediate and uncon- ditional surrender. The subordinate officers and the men among the Texans cannot be praised too highly for their courage, fidelity, patience, and fortitude, and every soldierly quality, except discipline.
General Sibley having reunited the remnants of his little army along the Rio Grande about Fort Fillmore, in the latter days of April, 1862, began his prepara- tions to evacuate the Territory of New Mexico. By the first days of August the last of the Confederates had left New Mexico and Fort Bliss, Texas, and Sibley's brigade had reached San Antonio and been furloughed to rest, recruit, and re-equip themselves with clothing, blankets, and such supplies as they could obtain from their friends and relatives at home.
The short furlough given to the members of the brigade after their return from New Mexico having expired, the several regiments were ordered to rendezvous in the vicinity of Hempstead on the 28th of October. This order was promptly obeyed, and the men returned to duty with renewed energy and refreshed patriot- ism. Most of them had been re-outfitted with arms and horses furnished by them- selves or their friends at home, but they were wholly without tents or uniforms, and many of the necessary munitions of war were wholly lacking.
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