Civil War in the Southwest: Recollections of the Sibley Brigade

223 Pages·2001·1.986 MB·English

by  Jerry Thompson

Civil War in
the Southwest
Number Four:
Canseco-Keck History Series
Jerry Thompson, General Editor

C W
ivil ar
in the
S
outhwest
Recollections of the Sibley Brigade
Edited and with an Introduction by Jerry Thompson
Foreword by Donald S. Frazier
Texas A&M University Press
College Station
Copyright © 2001 by Jerry Thompson
Manufactured in the United States of America
All rights reserved
First edition
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, z39.48-1984.
Binding materials have been chosen for durability.
(cid:1)(cid:2)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Civil War in the Southwest : recollections of the Sibley Brigade /
edited and with an introduction by Jerry Thompson. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Canseco-Keck history series ; no. 4)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn1-58544-131-7
1. Confederate States of America. Army. Sibley Brigade. 2. New
Mexico—History—Civil War, 1861–1865. 3. Texas—History—
Civil War, 1861–1865—Regimental histories. 4. United States—
History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Regimental histories. I. Thompson,
Jerry D. II. Series.
e580.4.s5 c58 2001
973.7(cid:1)82—dc21 2001000716
Contents
List of Maps vii
Foreword by Donald S. Frazier ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1.
Organization of the Sibley Brigade 3
William Davidson
Chapter 2.
The March to New Mexico 9
William Davidson
Chapter 3.
From El Paso to Valverde 18
William Davidson
Chapter 4.
Battle of Valverde 27
William Davidson
Chapter 5.
Battle of Valverde 44
P. J. “Phil” Clough
Chapter 6.
Battle of Valverde 50
Phil Fulcrod
Chapter 7.
Battle of Valverde 61
W. P. Laughter
Chapter 8.
Battle of Valverde 65
Three Privates
Chapter 9.
Valverde to Socorro 71
William Davidson
Chapter 10.
From Valverde to Albuquerque 75
Phil Fulcrod
Chapter 11.
From Socorro to Glorieta 78
William Davidson
Chapter 12.
From Albuquerque to Glorieta 87
Phil Fulcrod
Chapter 13.
Battle of Glorieta 92
Three Privates
Chapter 14.
Santa Fe to Albuquerque and Peralta 99
William Davidson
Chapter 15.
Battle of Peralta 110
Three Privates
Chapter 16.
Retreat through the Mountains 118
William Davidson
Chapter 17.
Retreat through the Mountains 122
Three Privates
Chapter 18.
Doña Ana to San Antonio 127
William Davidson
Appendix 133
Notes 139
Bibliography 169
Index 187
vi contents
Maps
The Valverde Campaign page 22
The Battle of Valverde 30
The Battle at Glorieta Pass 95
The Battle at Peralta 113

Foreword
W
illiam Lott Davidson was an interesting character. Coming to
Texas as a teenager, he settled along the Texas frontier and as a
young man made a name for himself as an Indian fighter while earning a
living as a lawyer. When the Civil War began, he was among the first to
heed the call of his state. Seeing service in New Mexico, Texas, and Loui-
siana, Davidson survived the war and resumed a civilian’s life in Texas af-
terward. As a mature man he, with the encouragement and assistance of fel-
low veterans from the Texas brigade, determined to write for posterity a
history of the Texas brigade organized and led by Brig. Gen. Henry Hop-
kins Sibley. Published serially in an East Texas newspaper during the 1880s,
these reminiscences together compose a treasury of primary sources that
highlight the role Texans played in the New Mexico Campaign of 1862.
The veterans’ writings reveal a romantic view of the world and their dedi-
cation to the cause that consumed Davidson’s youth. However, never gath-
ered into the book Davidson and his comrades hoped to publish, the ar-
ticles thereafter remained all but forgotten for over a century.
In1988IstartedgraduateschoolatTexasChristianUniversityafterhav-
ing worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for four years. While search-
ing for a topic of scholarly inquiry, I became fascinated by Sibley’s Brigade,
Tom Green, and the Civil War in New Mexico and Louisiana. One of the
books I happened across in my explorations was the thin edited dairy of
Pvt. William Craig entitled West of the River with Waller’s 13th Texas Cav-
alry Battalion, CSA,published some years before by Hill College Press. The
work only covered a half-year of the war, the diarist chronicling the for-
mation of the 13th Texas Battalion and its early service in Louisiana. I con-
tacted the editor, Dr. Charles Spurlin of Victoria College, to inquire if he
had additional material on the unit. He did.