The Battle of Pecos River
Date: January 4, 1864
Location: Pecos River, New Mexico Territory
After the establishment of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories in February 1863, Military Governor James Henry Carleton, the General of the California Column that defeated the Confederates in Arizona, and now governor of New Mexico, issued an order to the Navajo: Surrender to the Union Army, leave your homeland, and relocate to the reservation at the Bosque Redondo by July 20, 1863. Noncompliance would be dealt with, severely.
Union Colonel Kit Carson & Military Governor James Henry Carleton
Anticipating resistance, Carleton ordered Colonel Kit Carson to begin a scorched earth campaign against the Navajos, Mescalero Apaches, Kiowas, and Comanches, his soldiers skirmishing with war parties, burning their dwellings and crops, executing those who resisted, and rounding up the survivors to forcibly send to the Bosque Redondo.
The Bosque Redondo
Several months later into this conflict, a war party of approximately 100 Navajos raided the livestock pens at the Bosque Redondo, capturing over 50 horses and cattle. The Navajos and their spoils of war escaped into a valley confluent with the Pecos River, closely tracked by almost 100 Union scouts, infantry and cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Newbold. Realizing they wouldn’t be able to outrun their pursuers without ditching their captured livestock, the Navajos decided to stay and fight, taking up positions and lying in wait along the frozen banks of the river and snowy hillsides.
By the frigid morning of January 4, 1862, Newbold's men had tracked the Navajos to the river valley, and began their advance at around 11:00 AM. The Navajos emerged from their positions and opened fire, the Union soldiers running for cover, and returning fire in kind. After skirmishing at long range, Newbold ordered a charge across the valley to drive the Navajos from their positions. Bitter fighting continued until nightfall. Running low on ammunition, and with the rifles for both sides malfunctioning in the extreme cold, the Navajo resorted to using bows and arrows. With the freezing weather and frostbite taking its toll, and temperatures dropping rapidly after sundown, the Navajos withdrew from the valley, leaving behind the livestock they had captured.
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