[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 74 (Thursday, May 14, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E712-E713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING NEW MEXICO CIVIL WAR SITES

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 14, 2015

  Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today 
to recognize the landmark locations in New Mexico where thousands of 
Spanish speaking New Mexico Hispanos fought valiantly during the Civil 
War.
  When the U.S. Territorial Governor issued a call for service in 1861, 
4,000 men aged 18 to 45 from Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Taos, Mora, Chaperito 
and other surrounding villages answered the call and were organized 
into five regiments known as the New Mexico Volunteers.
  Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley led Confederate troops into 
New Mexico in an attempt to capture Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Fort Union 
and the Santa Fe Trail so his army

[[Page E713]]

could take control of the gold and silver mines in Colorado. His plan 
was to eventually arrive at the coast of California in order to 
replenish the South's depleted funds.
  The Battle at Valverde took place on February 20th and 21st, 1862, 
near Fort Craig in southern New Mexico with the Union Army under the 
command of Colonel Edward Canby. Union forces blocked the passage of 
Confederates at the river ford until reinforcements arrived and a 
fierce battle ensued. During the engagement 68 Union soldiers and 36 
Confederate soldiers were killed with over 300 wounded. In the end, the 
battle was a victory for the South.
  Union forces returned to Fort Union and the Confederate forces 
captured Albuquerque and Santa Fe before also moving on towards Fort 
Union over Glorieta Pass, where the armies were destined to collide.
  The Battle of Glorieta Pass took place March 26th through March 28th, 
1862, in Apache Canyon with the bulk of Union forces in head-to-head 
combat with Confederate troops. During the battle, a group of New 
Mexico Volunteer scouts under the command of Lt. Colonel Manuel Chavez, 
and Captain Rafael Chacon, Corporal Albino Garcia, Innocencio 
Arellanes, and Anastasio Duran detected the Confederate supply train 
near Johnson's Ranch and destroyed eighty supply wagons and drove off 
500 horses and mules.
  At the end of the Battle of Glorieta Pass the Union lost 51 soldiers 
with 78 wounded, and the Confederates lost 50 soldiers with 80 wounded. 
Although Confederates won the battle on the field, the loss of supplies 
and livestock completely crippled them and they were forced to make 
their way back to Texas in defeat.
  In 1993, the Congressional Civil War Sites Advisory Commission was 
tasked with identifying the nation's historically significant battle 
sites and the Battle of Glorieta Pass received a Priority 1, Class A, 
as one of the principle strategic operations having a direct impact on 
the course of the war--Gettysburg and Antietam received the same 
distinction.
  Portions of the Glorieta Pass Battlefield have become a part of the 
National Park System and it is also designated as a National Historic 
Landmark. It is fitting and proper to erect a memorial at the site of 
the Battle of Glorieta, honoring the Hispanic Civil War Veterans who 
lost their lives and those that fought with courage and honor for their 
country.

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