Battle of Albuquerque
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Plaque of the battle on the gazebo
Union General Edward Canby photo during the Civil War
CSA General Henry Sibley in 1865
Map and route of Union and Confederate forces during the New Mexico Campaign
Map of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories and the portions that joined the Confederacy
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Confederates were on the retreat from New Mexico Territory after the Battle of Glorieta Pass. On April 8, Sibley's 4th, 5th and 7th Texas Mounted Volunteers occupied Albuquerque for a second time as they retreated southeast to Texas. Colonel Canby moved his army up from Fort Craig to ascertain the strength of the Confederates in Albuquerque.
Canby's artillery opened fire at long range from the edge of town for two days. The Union artillery ceased firing when a local citizen informed Canby the Confederates would not permit the civilians to seek shelter. Canby felt he had accomplished his mission; he knew the Rebels were still willing to put up resistance. The Union demonstration also caused Colonel Tom Green to hastily pull out of Santa Fe and move to Sibley's aid, hoping to counter attack in the morning. Under cover of darkness Canby's forces slipped away without the rebels' knowledge.
Lacking the resources to take a large force captive, Canby hoped the Confederates would concentrate their forces together and move out of New Mexico in one unit. The rebels did indeed end their occupation of Albuquerque a few days later on April 12. Sibley left behind the sick and wounded along with eight mountain howitzers, buried near the edge of town.
Sources
Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J.: Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001.
Heyman, Max L., Jr.: Prudent Soldier: A Biography of Major General ERS Canby, 1817-1873, Frontier Military Series III, Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1959.
Filson Historical Society Library: MS #118. "Canby, Edward Richard Sprigg, 1819[sic]-1873. Papers, 1837-1873." A\C214 (1 box, 146 items; includes contemporary newspaper accounts regarding General Canby's death and its aftermath).
Jones Archer (11 May 2010). Civil War Command And Strategy: The Process Of Victory And Defeat. Simon and Schuster.
United States. War Dept; Robert Nicholson Scott; Henry Martyn Lazelle; George Breckenridge Davis; Leslie J. Perry; Joseph William Kirkley; Fred Crayton Ainsworth; John Sheldon Moodey (1897). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 875.
Kerby, Robert L., The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona, 1861–1862, Westernlore Press, 1958.
Thompson, Jerry D., Civil War in the Southwest: Recollections of the Sibley Brigade, TAMU Press, 2001.
Thompson, Jerry D., Henry Hopkins Sibley: Confederate General of the West, Northwestern State University Press, 1987.
Whitlock, Flint, Distant Bugles, Distant Drums: The Union Response to the Confederate Invasion of New Mexico, University Press of Colorado, 2006.
Posgate, Natalie (August 23, 2008). "Go West, Young Confederacy". The New York Times.
Hall, Martin Hardwick (1960). Sibley's New Mexico Campaign. Alburquerque, NM: UNM Press.
Colton, Ray Charles, "The Civil War in the Western Territories"Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press 1959
Frazier, Donald S. Blood & Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest.' Texas A&M University Press; College Station, Texas, 1995.