Arizona Territory (Confederate States)
The Confederate Arizona Territory was a territory claimed by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . It consisted of the part of the New Mexico Territory south of 34 north latitude and included parts of modern states New Mexico and Arizona . Its capital was Mesilla on the southern border. The Confederate Territory overlapped the Arizona Territory created by the Union government in 1863 , which made up the western part of the New Mexico Territory.
After the Confederate victory at Mesilla , the Confederate Arizona Territory was created on August 1, 1861. The further advance of Confederate troops into the New Mexico Territory came to an end with defeat at the Battle of Glorieta Pass during the New Mexico campaign . In July 1862, the seat of government was the Confederate Arizona Territory to El Paso ( Texas relocated), where it remained until the war ended. The territory was continuously represented in the Confederate Congress and Confederate troops fought under the Arizona flag until the end of the war.
history
Origin of the secession
Before the outbreak of war, the territory of the modern states of New Mexico and Arizona was part of the New Mexico Territory and the Gadsden Purchase , which was also part of William Walker 's Republic of Sonora . As early as 1856, the territorial government in Santa Fe was concerned about its ability to effectively rule the southern part of the territory, which was separated by the Jornada del Muerto - an impassable vast desert.
In February 1858, the New Mexico Territory Legislature passed a resolution to create the Arizona Territory. However, a north-south border along the 32nd degree of longitude west of Washington was established with the additional clause that all Indians from New Mexico would be relocated to northern Arizona.
Impatient about a decision by the US Congress , a convention was convened in Tucson in April 1860 , where 31 delegates met. In July 1860, the convention drafted a constitution for an Arizona Territory, which should consist of the part of the New Mexico Territory south of the 34th parallel north. The convention elected Lewis Owings as territorial governor and a delegate to the US Congress.
However, the application was rejected in the US Congress because of opposition from anti-slavery congressmen. Many people in the Territory were advocates of slavery with southern business connections . In addition, the new territory was below the old Missouri Compromise line. As a result, anti-slavery Congressmen feared that the new territory might eventually become a slave state .
Since the convention resolutions passed in Tucson were never ratified by the US Congress, the Provisional Territory never became a legal entity . However, for a time there was a de facto , if not de jure , government for the intended Arizona Territory. Dr. Lewis Owings acted as territorial governor during this time and called James Henry Tevis to raise the first territorial militia to protect the territory from marauding Apaches and bandits. It consisted of three companies , two were excavated in the Pinos Altos miners' camp and the third in Mesilla.
secession
After the outbreak of the American Civil War, support for the Confederate States was stronger in the southern part of the New Mexico Territory - in large part because of the neglect of the US government. The low troop strength should be mentioned here, which was insufficient to fight the Apaches in Traditional Arizona . Another reason was the closure of the Butterfield Overland Mail stations, which connected the settlements in the border area of Arizona with the east and California in the west. The people of Arizona felt abandoned, which fueled dissatisfaction for the federal government.
In March 1861, the citizens of Mesilla convened a Convention of Secession to secede from the United States and join the Confederate States.
On March 16, the convention passed an Ordinance of Secession , citing regional public interests as reasons for leaving, including geographical proximity to the Confederate States, the need for border guards, and the federal government's loss of stagecoach routes. In the decree, secession was requested from the western parts of the territory. The ordinance was ratified at the second convention on March 28th in what is now Tucson.
Then a provisional government was established for the Confederate Arizona Territory. Owings was re-elected Provisional Governor and Granville Henderson Oury was elected as a delegate to petition for territorial admission to the Confederate States.
Civil War
The Confederate Arizona Territory took on a significant role during the American Civil War due to its location in the New Mexico Territory - mainly because it gave the Confederates access to California . As a result, several important battles ( Trans-Mississippi theater of war ) took place there.
After the outbreak of war, the Confederates established the Fort Yuma military post on the bank of the Colorado River adjacent to the Union army post of the same name on the other bank of the river in California. The Confederate cavalry troops , which consisted mostly of Irish immigrants, but had to vacate their position again due to the arrival of the marching column from California . The only way they avoided capture by the Union soldiers was to flee to Mexico , 10 miles away . In July 1861 a force led by Lieutenant Colonel John Baylor El Paso reached after crossing the border at Mesilla. That same month, Baylor introduced the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles into the territory and took a position in the city on July 25 with the support of secessionist residents of Mesilla. Meanwhile, Union forces under Major Isaac Lynde set out from nearby Fort Fillmore to attack Baylor. On July 25, the two armies met outside the city for the First Battle of Mesilla. After his defeat, Major Lynde gave up Fort Fillmore and marched north to join forces at Fort Craig under Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby . However, Lynde had to stop because of the intense heat so that Baylor could overtake him. Lynde then handed over his command at San Augustine Springs ( Organ Mountains ) without firing a shot.
On August 1, 1861, Baylor proclaimed the Confederate Arizona Territory. It consisted of the area defined by the Tucson Convention the previous year. In addition, he appointed himself governor. His cabinet members included the Attorney in Mesilla Marcus H. MacWillie - who served as Territorial Attorney General .
The following month there was a small skirmish between Baylor's men and a Union unit at the Village of Canada Alamosa , which ended in a Confederate victory.
The motion to establish the Confederate Arizona Territory was passed in early 1862 by the Confederate Congress and proclaimed on February 14, 1862 by Confederate President Jefferson Davis . This day was chosen to commemorate that event 50 years later when Arizona became the 48th state to join the United States.
Confederate efforts to gain control of the region led to the New Mexico campaign . Davis deposed Baylor as territorial governor in 1862. The Confederates suffered a defeat that same year at the Battle of Glorieta Pass , which forced them to withdraw from the territory. The following month there was fighting between a small Confederate outpost north of Tucson and an equally small Union cavalry patrol from California ( battle at Picacho Pass ). Before that, the battle took place at Stanwix Station . When Union troops stood in front of the territorial capital Mesilla in July 1862, the Confederates withdrew to Texas.
The territorial seat of government was relocated to El Paso, while some Arizona Confederate military units were relocated to San Antonio . The government-in-exile remained in Texas until the end of the war, although MacWillie continued to represent the territory in the 1st and 2nd Confederate Congresses . Resistance in Arizona continued at the partisan level and the Confederate units continued to fight under the Arizona flag until the end of the war in May 1865.
Apache Wars
In 1862 the marching column from California, which took part in the fighting at Stanwix Station and Picacho Pass, fought against 500 Apaches ( Battle of the Apache Pass ).
There were also several skirmishes between Apaches and Confederates. The battle at Dragoon Springs is the only known Confederate combat with fatalities in modern Arizona. Additional skirmishes took place at the Siege of Tubac , Cookes Canyon , the Florida Mountains, and Pinos Altos , as well as a number of other minor skirmishes and massacres.
Confederate units in the Arizona Territory
1860
- Arizona Guards from Pinos Altos Mining Camp, Arizona Territorial Militia
- Minute Men from Pinos Altos Mining Camp, Arizona Territory Militia
- Arizona Rangers from Mesilla, Arizona Territory Militia
1862
-
Herbert's Battalion of Arizona Cavalry
- A. Company, Arizona Rangers
- Company B
- Company C
literature
- Robert Lee Kerby: The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona. Westernlore Press, 1981, ISBN 0-87026-055-3 .
Individual notes
- ↑ The 32nd degree of longitude west of Washington corresponds approximately to the 109 ° 02'48 ″ degree of longitude west of the prime meridian in Greenwich .
- ↑ James Henry Tevis. In: Arizona State University Library, Hayden Pioneer Biographies Collection, p. 1.
- ^ Ordinance of Secession. ( Memento from July 31, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Handbook of Texas online.