The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958 Page: 384
591 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
had accomplished. In Baylor's opinion the "vast mineral resources
of Arizona, in addition to its affording an outlet to the Pacific"
made its acquisition by the Confederate government of consider-
able importance. Now that he had taken possession of the terri-
tory, the colonel expressed the hope that a "force sufficient to
occupy it . [would] be sent by the Government, under some
competent man."4
The Confederacy had already found a "competent" man, for
while Baylor was engaged in his campaign in the Mesilla Valley of
New Mexico, Henry Hopkins Sibley, a veteran cavalryman, dis-
tinguished in appearance with long sideburns and bushy mus-
tache, was commissioned a brigadier general in the army of the
Confederacy with instructions to raise a brigade and invade the
territory of New Mexico."
Sibley was originally from Louisiana. From 1838, the date of
his graduation from the United State Military Academy, until his
resignation, Sibley had served with distinction in the regular
army. As a young lieutenant of the 2nd Dragoons, he had taken
part in the Seminole wars in Florida. Later he fought in the
Mexican War, attaining the rank of captain in 1847. Sibley was
present at the siege of Vera Cruz, the skirmish of Medelin, the
battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey,
and the capture of Mexico City. Because of his "gallant and meri-
torious conduct" at Medelin, Sibley received the rank of brevet
major. He was stationed in Kansas during the antislavery conflict,
and he later took part in two Utah expeditions to quell the Mor-
mon disturbances. He then marched to New Mexico in i86o to
engage in a campaign against the Navajo Indians." While stationed
in New Mexico in 1852, Sibley superintended the building of
Fort Union, the post which came to be the most important mili-
tary base in New Mexico when the war broke out.7 Aside from
his military exploits, Sibley also achieved success as an inventor,
4Baylor to Van Dorn, August 14, 1861, ibid., 23.
sHubert H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, z530o-888 (San
Francisco, 1889), 688.
OTheophilus F. Rodenbough (comp.), From Everglade to Canion with the Sec-
ond Dragoons (New York, 1875), 453.
7William C. Whitford, Colorado Volunteers in the Civil War: The New Mexico
Campaign in x862 (Denver, 19o6), 32.384
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958, periodical, 1958; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101164/m1/466/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.