Union and Confederate claims in Arizona and New Mexico during 1861-1865. The 1863 date reflects the establishment of the US Arizona Territory.

History

Before the start of the war the land of the current states of New Mexico and Arizona was part of the New Mexico Territory. As early as 1856, concerns had been raised about the ability of the territorial government in Santa Fe to effectively govern the southern part of the territory, which was separated by the Jornada del Muerto—a difficult stretch of desert.

In July 1860, a convention of settlers from the southern part of the territory was held in Tucson. The convention drafted a constitution for a "Territory of Arizona" to be organized out of the New Mexico Territory south of 34° N (i.e., along an east-west line, rather than the current north-south division). The convention elected Lewis Owings as the territorial governor, and elected a delegate to Congress. The proposal, however, did not succeed in Congress because of opposition from anti-slavery Congressmen, who feared the new territory might eventually become a slave state.

After the start of the Civil War, support for the Confederacy was strong in the southern part of the New Mexico Territory, largely due to its neglect by the United States government. In March 1861, the citizens of Mesilla, New Mexico, convened a secession convention to separate themselves from the United States and join the Confederate States of America. On March 16, the convention adopted a secession ordinance citing the region's common interests and geography with the Confederacy, the need of frontier protection, and the loss of postal service routes under the United States government as reasons for their separation.^[1] The ordinance proposed the question of secession to the western portions of the territory, and on March 28 a second convention in present day Tucson, Arizona, also met and ratified the ordinance. The conventions subsequently established a provisional territorial government for the Confederate "Territory of Arizona." Owings was again elected as provisional governor and Granville Henderson Oury was chosen as a delegate to petition for the territory's admission into the Confederacy.

In July 1861, a force of Texans under Lt. Colonel John Baylor arrived in El Paso, Texas, across the border from Mesilla. With support from the secessionist residents of Mesilla, Baylor's 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles entered the territory and took a position in the town on July 25. Union forces under Major Isaac Lynde at nearby Fort Fillmore prepared to attack Baylor. On July 27 the two armies met outside of town at Battle of Mesilla in a brief skirmish in which the Union troops were defeated. Major Lynde then abandoned Fort Fillmore and began a march north to join the troops at Fort Craig under Edward R. S. Canby. However, he was pursued by Baylor and forced to surrender at San Agustin Springs, in the Organ Mountains.^[2]

On August 1, 1861, the victorious Baylor proclaimed the existence of a Confederate Arizona Territory, which comprised the area defined in the Tucson convention the previous year. He appointed himself as permanent governor. Among his cabinet members was Mesilla attorney Marcus H. MacWillie, who served as the territorial attorney general.

The proposal to organize the territory was passed by the Confederate Congress in early 1862 and proclaimed by President Jefferson Davis on February 14, 1862. Efforts by the Confederacy to secure control of the region led to the New Mexico Campaign. In 1862, Baylor was ousted as governor of the territory by Davis, and the Confederate loss at the Battle of Glorieta Pass forced their retreat from the territory. The following month, the small Confederate garrison at Tucson fought to a draw with a Union cavalry patrol from California in the so-called Battle of Picacho Pass, marking the westernmost extent of Confederate military activity in the CSA. By July 1862, Union forces were approaching the territorial capital of Mesilla, and the government vacated to Texas. The territorial government relocated to San Antonio, Texas, and remained there in exile, althought MacWillie continued to represent the territory in the First and Second Confederate Congresses. Resistance in Arizona continued at the partisan level, and Confederate units under the banner of Arizona fought until the end of the war in the West in May 1865.

Notes

References

• Kerby, Robert Lee, The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona, Westernlore Press, 1958. ISBN 0-87026-055-3

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