HOUSE MEMORIAL 111

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Jim R. Trujillo

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

CELEBRATING THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW MEXICO VOLUNTEERS MONUMENT IN COMMEMORATION OF THE ONE-HUNDRED-FIFTY-SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF GLORIETA PASS.

 

     WHEREAS, on March 24, 2018 the one-hundred-fifty-sixth anniversary of the battle of Glorieta pass near Pecos, New Mexico, will be commemorated; and

     WHEREAS, a monument will be dedicated in memory and honor of Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Antonio Chaves and a contingent of New Mexico volunteers who fought alongside union regulars and Colorado volunteers and spearheaded a union flanking movement at the battle of Glorieta pass on March 26-28, 1862; and

     WHEREAS, the flanking movement ultimately caused the confederate forces to retreat to Texas and to give up on the effort to annex the entire west and parts of northern Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, in January 1862, confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley, with a brigade of two thousand six hundred Texans, invaded the territory of New Mexico with the intention of claiming the territory and the west for the confederacy; and

     WHEREAS, the volunteers of the Texas confederate forces were victorious in defeating the union forces at the battle of Valverde on February 21, 1862; shortly afterwards, on February 25, 1862, they captured Socorro; and on March 7, 1862, Albuquerque was captured; and

     WHEREAS, the confederate forces captured Santa Fe on March 10, 1862, the capital having been moved earlier by the New Mexico territorial governor, the honorable Henry Connelly, to Las Vegas, New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, following these battlefield successes, the confederate forces planned to conquer Fort Union and then march to Colorado to take over the mines located there; and

     WHEREAS, from there, the confederate forces intended to form an alliance with the Mormons and together take over the gold fields of California, which would have provided much needed capital for the confederacy; and

     WHEREAS, the conquest of California would have additionally provided two sorely needed ports, free of union blockades; and

     WHEREAS, the fulfillment of the confederate plans would have severed the western territories from the union and strengthened the position of the confederacy; and

     WHEREAS, the confederate forces next planned to take over the Mexican states of Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua, which had the potential to gain much needed recognition by foreign countries; and

     WHEREAS, the confederate forces were met in a skirmish and fought two battles with the union forces at Glorieta pass on March 26 to 28, 1862; and

     WHEREAS, even though the confederate forces were victorious in these two battles, they were forced to abandon their dream of taking over Fort Union and conquering the west when their supply of sixty to eighty wagons, loaded with weapons, medical supplies, food and blankets, was burned and four hundred mules and horses were captured by a contingent of United States regular army forces from Fort Union and volunteers from Colorado and New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, after this tremendous loss, the confederate forces had no choice but to abandon General Sibley's dream and retreat back to Santa Fe, then to Albuquerque and eventually out of New Mexico and back to Texas; and

     WHEREAS, this turning point in the confederate campaign in New Mexico, the battle of Glorieta pass, is referred to by some historians as the Gettysburg of the west; and

     WHEREAS, although the loss of men killed, wounded or missing in the Civil War battles fought in New Mexico may seem insignificant compared to the carnage of the Civil War battles that were fought in the east and south, the importance and significance of this battle cannot be overstated, as the ultimate outcome helped hold the union together and assured its survival in what we now know as the United States of America;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the March 24, 2018 dedication of the New Mexico volunteers monument in commemoration of the one-hundred-fifty-sixth anniversary of the battle of Glorieta pass be celebrated; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to members of the New Mexico congressional delegation, the national park service, the superintendent of Pecos national historical park and the friends of Pecos national historical park.

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