The Civil War battle of Valverde in New Mexico

General Henry Hopkins Sibly

A Civil War battle was fought 150 years ago today (February 21, 1862) in the Rio Grande valley halfway between Albuquerque and El Paso near Fort Craig. It is called the Battle of Valverde, so named for the village and river ford by that name. It was one of the biggest battles of the Civil War fought in the west. Confederate Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley intended to invade New Mexico, defeat the Union forces, capture Santa Fe and then go west to conquer California thereby adding it to the Confederacy. His forces gathered in El Paso. Fort Craig, 140 miles north of El Paso was his first objective. The Federal army at Ft. Craig was under the command of Colonel Edward Canby. January 3, 1862, Sibley left El Paso with three regiments and one partial regiment of mounted Texans comprising 2,510 officers and men. Canby waited at Ft. Craig with 3,800 men, mostly infantry. Only 1,200 of Canby's men were seasoned soldiers. The remainder consisted of 2,000 New Mexican volunteers, 100 Colorado volunteers, and 500 militia. Kit Carson commanded the First Regiment of New Mexican volunteers almost entirely Hispanics. Sibley arrived fifteen miles south of Fort Craig February 13. Deciding Ft. Craig was too strong to be taken, Sibley deployed his men outside the fort hoping to lure the Federals into the open, but Canby, not trusting his volunteer troops, refused to attack. Sibley ordered the army to cross the Rio Grande and move up the eastern side of the river near the village ofValverde, six miles north of Fort Craig. February 21,



Colonel Edward Canby

Sibley sent an advance party consisting of four companies of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles under the command of Major Charles Pyron to the Valverde ford, with the 4th Texas Mounted Rifles under Lieutenant Colonel William Read Scurry following behind. The rest of the brigade remained in camp. Union scouts informed Canby of the Confederate movements towards the north. Canby then sent a mixed force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery to the ford under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Roberts of the 5th New Mexico Infantry. When the Confederates under Pyron arrived at the eastern side of Valverde ford they found that Union forces were already there blocking their passage. Pyron sent for reinforcements from the 4th Texas while his men took cover in an old river bed, which served as an excellent defensive position. When Scurry arrived, he deployed his regiment to Pyron's right, with the regimental artillery on the Confederate left. Although they had gained a numerical superiority, the Confederates were mostly armed with short range shotguns and pistols, which couldn't reach the Union positions three hundred yards away. Meanwhile, Canby ordered most of the remaining garrison at Fort Craig to march to Valverde, leaving behind some militia to guard the fort. When he arrived, Canby moved most of his command, including the artillery, to the eastern bank, leaving the First New Mexico Volunteers under Carson and and the Second New Mexico Volunteers under Colonel Miguel Piño on the western bank as a reserve. By early afternoon, the remainder of the Confederate force, the 5th Texas Mounted Rifles under Colonel Tom Green and a battalion of the 7th Texas Mounted Rifles under Lieutenant Colonel John Sutton, arrived at the battlefield, much in need of water and denied access to the river by the defending Union forces. Around 2:00 pm, Green authorized a Confederate lancer company to attempt a charge on what they thought was an inexperienced New Mexico company on the Union extreme right; however, the Union soldiers turned out to be a Colorado company which was able to defeat the charge without breaking. By 4 p.m., the Union appeared to have the advantage in the battle. Canby decided that a massive frontal assault would fail and instead decided to attack the Confederate left; to do so, he ordered one of his batteries on his right to redeploy closer to the Confederate line and moved several companies to his right, including Carson's First New Mexico Regiment which crossed the river and took its place in line. However, this repositioning of the troops weakened the center of the Union line and the battery on Canby's left. At this time, Green ordered the Confederate right wing under the command of Scurry to charge the Union center and the battery on its left; the attack force of 750 men was arranged into three successive waves. Not the least of the motivation of the Confederates was their desperate need for water which could only be reached by dislodging the Union troops blocking their access to the Rio Grande.

The shock of the Confederate charge caused over half of the battery's supporting force to rout which soon turned into a panic-stricken retreat of both regular troops and New Mexico volunteers. Sibley was about to order another attack, when Canby sent a white flag asking for a truce to remove the bodies of the dead and wounded, to which Sibley gentlemanly agreed. Canby managed to reorganize his men, minus about 200 deserters from among the New Mexico volunteers, and ordered a retreat back to Fort Craig leaving the road northward toward Santa Fe open to the Confederates.

Left in possession of the battlefield, the Confederates claimed victory but had suffered heavy casualties, losing 230 men killed and wounded out of 2,590 men engaged. Sibley decided to continued northwards towards Albuquerque and Santa Fe, where he hoped to capture much needed supplies. Canby had also lost heavily during the battle, suffering a 17 percent casualty rate, including deserters, of 475 men out of 2,800 men engaged. Considering himself to be outnumbered, he chose not to pursue Sibley, instead sending mounted detachments of New Mexico volunteers against the Confederates' rear for harassment.

Neither Sibley nor Canby received high marks for their generalship during the battle. Canby blamed the New Mexican volunteers for his loss but his decision to reinforce his right while weakening his center and left was the real cause of the Union defeat. The battle represented Canby's low point in his military career and Sibley's high point. Both men would go opposite directions to the terms of reputation after the battle.