Battle of Dragoon Springs
Encyclopedia
The First Battle of Dragoon Springs was a minor skirmish between a small troop of Confederate
dragoon
s, of Governor
John R. Baylor's Company A, Arizona Rangers
, and a band of Apache
warriors during the American Civil War
. It was fought on May 5, 1862, near the present-day town of Benson
, Arizona
, in the Confederate Arizona Territory.
' New Mexico Territory
, which included what are now the U.S. states of New Mexico
and Arizona
, and the southern part of Nevada
.
In 1861 conventions held at Mesilla
and Tucson
advocated the separation of the parts of the New Mexico Territory territory below the Gila River
, which would be named "Arizona" and would be aligned with the Confederacy. This aim became a reality following the Confederate victory at the Battle of Mesilla
on July 25, 1861. On August 1, 1861, Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor, commanding the victorious Confederate troops at Mesilla, issued a proclamation declaring the creation of a provisional Confederate Territory of Arizona, to include all of the former United States Territory of New Mexico south of the 34th parallel north
. He named himself as governor, and set up a functioning territorial government which would continue in operation until the Confederates were forced out of New Mexico in July 1862.
This Territory of Arizona was officially declared by Confederate President Jefferson Davis
on February 14, 1862, and shortly thereafter Confederate forces were deployed on the ambitious New Mexico Campaign
to gain control of the Southwest
.
In order to make good the Confederacy's claim to the western portion of the New Mexico Territory, Confederate soldiers, commanded by Captain Sherod Hunter
were ordered to occupy Tucson, arriving there on February 28, 1862. They occupied the town until May 14, 1862, and it was a detachment of these troops which were involved in the fight at Dragoon Springs on May 5.
stagecoach
station and spring in the Dragoon Mountains
, about sixteen miles from the present-day town of Benson
and near Dragoon, Arizona
. A force of about 100 Chiricahua
Apache
warriors, commanded by the war chiefs Cochise
and Francisco
, ambushed the party. Four Confederate soldiers were killed, while the rest escaped from the ambush. The Apaches succeeded in capturing a large number of livestock and horses.
This minor skirmish is noted for causing the Confederacy's westernmost battle deaths, and is the only known engagement in which Confederate soldiers were killed within the modern confines of Arizona. It can be seen as related to the Apache Wars
fought between Apaches and the Americans between 1851 and 1900.
ordered his men to take back the captured herd of cattle and horses, as well as to get revenge for their fellow ambushed soldiers. The Confederates succeeded, recapturing the stolen animals and killing five Apaches for no loss of their own. The four dead soldiers were buried near the Dragoon Springs stage station, where they remain today near its well preserved remains.
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s, of Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
John R. Baylor's Company A, Arizona Rangers
Company A, Arizona Rangers
Company A, Arizona Rangers was one of the Confederate military units raised in the Confederate Arizona Territory.- Origin of the Arizona Rangers :...
, and a band of Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
warriors during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It was fought on May 5, 1862, near the present-day town of Benson
Benson, Arizona
-Transportation:Benson Airport is located 3 miles north west of the city.Benson is served by Interstate 10 to the north, which travels directly to downtown Tucson....
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, in the Confederate Arizona Territory.
Background
Confederate Arizona was established out of growing dissatisfaction with the territorial government of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
, which included what are now the U.S. states of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, and the southern part of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
In 1861 conventions held at Mesilla
Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla is a town in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,180 at the 2000 census...
and Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
advocated the separation of the parts of the New Mexico Territory territory below the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
, which would be named "Arizona" and would be aligned with the Confederacy. This aim became a reality following the Confederate victory at the Battle of Mesilla
Battle of Mesilla
The First Battle of Mesilla, fought on July 25, 1861 at Mesilla in what is now New Mexico, was an engagement between Confederate and Union forces during the American Civil War. The battle resulted in a Confederate victory and led directly to the official establishing of a Confederate Arizona...
on July 25, 1861. On August 1, 1861, Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor, commanding the victorious Confederate troops at Mesilla, issued a proclamation declaring the creation of a provisional Confederate Territory of Arizona, to include all of the former United States Territory of New Mexico south of the 34th parallel north
34th parallel north
The 34th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 34 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean....
. He named himself as governor, and set up a functioning territorial government which would continue in operation until the Confederates were forced out of New Mexico in July 1862.
This Territory of Arizona was officially declared by Confederate President Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
on February 14, 1862, and shortly thereafter Confederate forces were deployed on the ambitious New Mexico Campaign
New Mexico Campaign
The New Mexico Campaign was a military operation of the American Civil War from February to April 1862 in which Confederate Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley invaded the northern New Mexico Territory in an attempt to gain control of the Southwest, including the gold fields of Colorado and the...
to gain control of the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
.
In order to make good the Confederacy's claim to the western portion of the New Mexico Territory, Confederate soldiers, commanded by Captain Sherod Hunter
Sherod Hunter
Sherod Hunter was the commander of the Confederate unit operating against Union Army forces in present day Arizona during the American Civil War...
were ordered to occupy Tucson, arriving there on February 28, 1862. They occupied the town until May 14, 1862, and it was a detachment of these troops which were involved in the fight at Dragoon Springs on May 5.
Battle
On May 5, 1862, a small mounted Confederate foraging party was gathering stray cattle in the area around an abandoned Butterfield Overland MailButterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
station and spring in the Dragoon Mountains
Dragoon Mountains
Dragoon Mountains are a range of mountains located in Cochise County, Arizona. The range is about 25 mi long, running on an axis extending south-south east through Willcox.- Geography :...
, about sixteen miles from the present-day town of Benson
Benson, Arizona
-Transportation:Benson Airport is located 3 miles north west of the city.Benson is served by Interstate 10 to the north, which travels directly to downtown Tucson....
and near Dragoon, Arizona
Dragoon, Arizona
Dragoon is an unincorporated community in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Dragoon is east-northeast of Benson. Dragoon has the ZIP Code of 85609; in 2000, the population of the 85609 ZCTA was 297....
. A force of about 100 Chiricahua
Chiricahua
Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
warriors, commanded by the war chiefs Cochise
Cochise
Cochise was a chief of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache and the leader of an uprising that began in 1861. Cochise County, Arizona is named after him.-Biography:...
and Francisco
Francisco
Francisco is a Spanish and Portuguese male name form of the name "Francis".In Spanish, people with the name Francisco sometimes are nicknamed "Paco": San Francisco de Asís was known as Pater Comunitatis when he founded the Franciscan order, "Paco" is a short form of "Pater Comunitatis"...
, ambushed the party. Four Confederate soldiers were killed, while the rest escaped from the ambush. The Apaches succeeded in capturing a large number of livestock and horses.
This minor skirmish is noted for causing the Confederacy's westernmost battle deaths, and is the only known engagement in which Confederate soldiers were killed within the modern confines of Arizona. It can be seen as related to the Apache Wars
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States and Apaches fought in the Southwest from 1849 to 1886, though other minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The Confederate Army participated in the wars during the early 1860s, for instance in Texas, before being...
fought between Apaches and the Americans between 1851 and 1900.
Aftermath
A few days later, on May 9, 1862, after hearing of the attack, Captain Sherod HunterSherod Hunter
Sherod Hunter was the commander of the Confederate unit operating against Union Army forces in present day Arizona during the American Civil War...
ordered his men to take back the captured herd of cattle and horses, as well as to get revenge for their fellow ambushed soldiers. The Confederates succeeded, recapturing the stolen animals and killing five Apaches for no loss of their own. The four dead soldiers were buried near the Dragoon Springs stage station, where they remain today near its well preserved remains.
Sources
- Finch, L. Boyd. Confederate Pathway to the Pacific: Major Sherod Hunter and the Arizona Territory, C.S.A. Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Historical Society Press, 1996.
- Horn, Calvin P., and William S. Wallace, Editors. Confederate Victories in the Southwest: Prelude to Defeat. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Horn and Wallace, 1961.
- Kerby, Robert Lee. The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona, 1861–1862. Tucson, Arizona: Westernlore Press, 1958.
- Rodgers, Robert L. "The Confederate States Organized Arizona in 1862." Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 28 (1900).
- Sonnichsen, Charles Leland. Tucson: The Life and Times of an American City. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982.
- Sweeney, Edwin R. Cochise: Chiricahua Apache Chief. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.
- Walker, Charles S. "Confederate Government in Dona Ana County As Shown in the Records of the Probate Court, 1861–1862, New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. VI (1931), pp 253–302.