The First Battle of Dragoon Springs
Date: May 5, 1862
Location: Dragoon Mountains, Confederate-occupied New Mexico Territory
Following several victories against Union forces in the New Mexico Territory (USA), the Confederate commander Colonel John R. Baylor, established the Arizona Territory (CSA) on August 1, 1861, a Confederate domain consisting of the southern halves of Arizona and New Mexico. To further establish control and legitimacy amongst the colonizers in the western section of this territory, Baylor dispatched Confederate forces under the command of Captain Sherrod Hunter to occupy the town of Tucson in Southern Arizona and patrol the area.
Confederate Colonel John R. Baylor & Confederate Captain Sherrod Hunter
At around the same time, warriors Cochise and Mangas Coloradas led an Apache uprising in reaction to thousands of people from the eastern US flooding the Pinos Altos Mountains after the discovery of gold in 1860 and the Bascom Affair in early 1861, successfully attacking several Confederate units and settlements in the vicinity.
Mangas Coloradas' son (no known photographs exist of Mangas Coloradas)
Several months later, a small group of Confederates tasked with escorting Union prisoners and foraging for stray livestock began traveling east along the Butterfield Overland Mail route towards Texas. Along the route, they found an abandoned station and spring, located in a narrow box canyon in the Dragoon Mountains, and decided to set up camp there on May 5th, 1862.
Unbeknownst to them, Cochise and a war party of approximately 100 Apaches were nearby, and ambushed the Confederate camp.
After suffering four casualties, the Confederates retreated from their camp into the desert brush, leaving behind numerous horses, livestock, and supplies for the victorious Apaches.
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