The Second Battle of Mesilla
Date: July 1, 1862
Location: Mesilla, 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, with its capital as Mesilla.
Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley & Confederate Colonel John R. Baylor
Since the Confederate victories of 1861, 1862 had seen Baylor's army repeatedly thrown back from western Arizona by the massive Union force arriving from California, the California Column. 1862 had also seen Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley attempt to invade the remainder of the New Mexico Territory, only to have his army decisively defeated at Glorieta Pass by Union forces from New Mexico and Colorado.
By the summer of 1862, the presence of the Confederates in and around Mesilla was deeply unpopular with the locals, and on July 1st, with vanguard units of the California Column just a few days' march away, events finally came to a head.
Confederate Captain Sherrod Hunter
Having arrived a few days prior from a retreat from Tucson, Confederate Captain Sherrod Hunter ordered a small force to forage and requisition supplies from the locals. This Confederate force was ambushed by pro-Union New Mexican militia, and soon Mesilla was plunged into the throes of battle. After hours of guerilla warfare and vicious street fighting, the New Mexican militia pushed the Confederates to the outskirts of the town. With the arrival of the California Column on the banks of the nearby Rio Grande on July 4th, the remaining Confederates withdrew from Mesilla and retreated east towards Confederate Texas.
After serving as the Confederate capital of the Arizona Territory for almost a year, the American flag was raised once again over Mesilla. Its capital fallen, territory recaptured, and armies on the run, the Confederate domain known as the Arizona Territory ceased to exist, once again becoming a part of the New Mexico Territory and the Union.
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