California Column
The California Column was a force that covered over 900 miles during the Civil War . Their route ran from California through New Mexico to the Rio Grande and then through west Texas .
At the time, it was the longest route the military had ever made through desert areas. The California Column was en route from April to August 1862 and was made up of volunteers from the Northern States.
Lineup
The California Column originally consisted of 10 companies from the California First Infantry , five companies from the First Regiment of the California Volunteer Cavalry , Company B, the Second Regiment of the California Volunteer Cavalry and a battery from the Third US Artillery .
This command consisted of 1,500 men. Lt. Col. George W. Bowie's Fifth California Infantry, resulting in the force of 2,350 men.
expedition
The goal of their Commander Colonel James Henry Carleton (who was later appointed Brigadier General) was to drive the Confederate troops out of New Mexico, which had been occupied by them for over a year.
California Column soldiers took off from Fort Yuma and marched along the Gila River . Like the Confederate Army of New Mexico (also known as the Sibley Brigade), they traveled in small groups at intervals of a few days so that the men and horses were not too exhausted.
They followed the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail . The post offices had stored supplies and grain that northern spies had hoarded there prior to the invasion.
Fight in Arizona
Arizona Confederate volunteers destroyed supplies along the California Column route, weakening and slowing it down.
The attempts by Colonel James Carleton to send messages to General ERS Canby, Commander of the Northern States of New Mexico, failed. In addition, a patrol at the White Mill was intercepted by Confederates.
The California Column and the Confederates faced each other in two skirmishes , one at Stanwix Station and the other at Picacho Pass . The Column then made rapid progress on its way to Tucson so that it almost reached the Confederate rearguard.
It was only at the end of June that a scout named John W. Jones managed to leave the Apaches chasing him behind and convey the message to General Canby that the California Column was on its way.
On the march to the Rio Grande, 140 men from Company E of the First California Infantry and Company B of the Second California Infantry fought the famous Apache leader, Cochise, at the Apache Pass. By the time the California Column reached the Rio Grande, the Confederates had already withdrawn to Texas.
The services of the California Column lay, in addition to the fighting against the Apaches and the Navajo, primarily in the occupation of settlements and forts in the New Mexico area and Franklin in Texas.
Web links
- Column Butterfield on books.google.at
- California and the Civil was on militarymuseum.org