HOUSE MEMORIAL 50

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Jim R. Trujillo

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO SEEK APPROVAL OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO GRANT A WAIVER TO THE FRIENDS OF THE PECOS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK TO ERECT A MONUMENT AT THE GLORIETA PASS CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD HONORING NEW MEXICO SOLDIERS AND VOLUNTEERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE.

     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, and 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 Texas confederate forces planned to conquer Fort Union and then march to Colorado to take over the mines located there; and

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

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

     WHEREAS, the Texas 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 Texans had no other 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; and

     WHEREAS, the proposed monument would honor Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Chavez and the New Mexico volunteers who participated in the battle of Glorieta pass on March 26-28, 1862; and

     WHEREAS, the proposed monument would be located at the Glorieta pass battlefield site in the immediate vicinity of the current monuments honoring the Colorado volunteers and the Texas volunteers;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to introduce a congressional resolution requesting that the national park service grant a waiver and give permission to the friends of the Pecos national park to erect a monument honoring New Mexico soldiers and volunteers at the Glorieta pass battlefield in the immediate vicinity of current monuments honoring Colorado volunteers and Texas volunteers; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Chavez and New Mexico volunteers at the battle of Glorieta pass be honored at the proposed memorial site; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation, the secretary of the United States department of the interior, the director of the national park service, the superintendent of the Pecos national historical park and the nonprofit organization, the friends of the Pecos national historical park.