The Civil War in West Texas and New Mexico (SOUTHWESTERN STUDIES) - Softcover

Wilson, J. P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0874042836 ISBN 13: 9780874042832

Publisher: Texas Western Press, 2001

Synopsis

After 23 years in the US Army, much of it stationed in New Mexico, Sibley resigned his commission in May 1861 and started home to Virginia. Somewhere on the way he contrived the idea of conquering New Mexico for the new-born Confederacy, with the ultimate goal of extending it to San Francisco. The invasion failed miserably, but details of it have been lacking until now. Veteran Civil War writers Wilson and Thompson put the first-hand account into historical perspective. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

Synopsis

In 1862, far from the bloodied fields of Virginia and Tennessee, the Civil War raged in the desert Southwest. General Henry Hopkins Sibley marched what became the Army of New Mexico across the Texas Trans-Pecos to Fort Bliss. Driving north into the Mesilla Valley, Sibley hoped to overrun the Union's Fort Craig, push up the Rio Grande, seize the supply depot at Albuquerque, raise the Stars and Bars over Santa Fe, and march on Fort Union, another vital supply depot and the gateway to Colorado. The ultimate objective of the campaign purportedly was the eventual conquest of California, since a continental Confederate States of America stretching from Richmond to San Francisco might well speed diplomatic recognition by Great Britain and France, a vital necessity for the independence of the infant southern republic. This volume provides details of Sibley's grandiose and ill-fated dreams for a Confederate empire in the Southwest. Of the 147 letters in the letterbook, only eight have been published in the Official Records.

In particular, the letters show how Sibley organized his small army, enlisted officers at the brigade and regimental levels, and sought to supply it with arms and equipment. In addition, as many as 150 individuals, many of them well known, are named in the letterbook. This new study makes for important reading for anyone interested in the Civil War.

Edition details

• Publisher: Texas Western Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874042836
• ISBN 13: 9780874042832
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 197