Los Angeles Mounted Rifles
Encyclopedia
The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was a company of the California State Militia
formed in 1861. It was the only California state unit to serve the Confederacy
.
for the formation of militia companies "to preserve order" just before the start of the American Civil War
. In mid-February 1861, after the secession of several Southern States, a petition was presented to Los Angeles County Judge Dryden to "open a book" to enroll a volunteer militia company. The petition was signed by George Washington Gift
and seven other prominent Angelenos:
Maryland-born Judge Dryden approved the petition and, on February 25, Gift announced the opening of the enrollment book. Enrollments proceeded rapidly and with 80 to 85 enrolled, an organizational meeting for the company was held at the Los Angeles County Courthouse at 7:00 PM on March 17, 1861. Gift acted as chairman of the meeting and Joseph Huber, Jr., acted as secretary. The name "Los Angeles Mounted Rifles" was selected and officers for the company elected. The company was mustered into service under Captain Alonzo Ridley and First Lieutenant Joseph Cattick. One of its two Second Lieutenants was Tomas Avila Sanchez
(Los Angeles County Sheriff). Its muster roll had eight non-commissioned officers, and 64 privates. From its inception, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was known to be pro-Southern and a worry to Union authorities. Its organizer, George Washington Gift, and Captain Alonzo Ridley both in later years acknowledged that the unit's purpose was to serve the Confederacy
.
After the news of the Battle of Fort Sumter
and the beginning of the war reached Los Angeles on April 24, Ridley believed that the unit should cross the deserts to Texas
. He arranged for the departure of the Rifles despite nervous and watchful Union authorities. However a more rushed departure was forced on him when Albert Sidney Johnston
and Lewis Addison Armistead
joined the party, fearful of arrest by the authorities. Ridley had planned for the Rifles to leave for Texas on June 30, but now the departure was moved up to June 17, but to deceive the authorities word was circulated that it had been delayed to June 25.
on May 26. With other Southern sympathizers forming a party of thirty five they followed the Butterfield Overland Mail
route east toward Fort Fillmore
, Texas. They cautiously approached Fort Yuma
and their scout found that the officers at Fort Yuma were sick and that night they found that loyalties in the garrison were in doubt.
During their first night there, their first sentinel, Lewis Armistead, had been approached by a sergeant and some men from the fort with the proposal that a number of the garrison would be willing to desert and join with the Rifles, seize and plunder the fort. Most of the Rifles were in favor of this. However Johnston dissuaded them, saying that since the Company was not yet mustered into Confederate service and that none of them as yet held Confederate commissions, it would be like an act of piracy. They camped within sight of the fort for the next three days to rest and make repairs, unmolested despite the fact that orders had been issued to capture Johnston and any with him.
Leaving Yuma on July 7, the Rifles move up the valley of the Gila River
, across to the Pima villages just south of present-day Phoenix, Arizona
, then up the Santa Cruz Valley to Picacho Pass
and down to Tucson on July 18. Tucson made the Rifles welcome. In March 1861, Tucson had held a convention "seceding" as the Arizona Territory. Federal troops had abandoned Fort Breckinridge and had burned the town's only grist mill enroute to Fort Buchanan
. About 30 Tucsonians wanted to combine with the Rifles to attack the Federal troops but Johnston again counseled against this action with the same argument he had used at Yuma. His advice was again followed.
After three days in Tucson, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles left and were joined by three citizens of Tucson. Fort Buchanan's commander had orders to intercept them, and Apache
under Cochise
were on the warpath. It was essential that they reach Dragoon Springs, where the trail to Fort Buchanan intersected the road east, ahead of Union troops evacuating the fort lest they be cut off. After two and a half days hard marching over 85 miles without water on the route they beat the advance scouts of U. S. dragoons. They reached the wells and found them foul and noxious with dead rats. The Rifles cleaned the wells and slaked their thirst.
After only a brief rest, they pushed on to Apache Pass
some 40 miles east. Here a party of Texas Unionists headed for California disputed the right to use of the water. Tired, thirsty, and in ill temper, the Rifles took the water by force. Some of the Rifles then proposed that the Company remain here and surprise the evacuating Federal forces in the pass, so that, cut off from water, they would be forced to surrender. Johnston again persuaded them not to do so with his usual argument, and they resumed their march before noon on July 25.
Over the next two days they made a 105 mile march to Cooke's Spring, encountering burned wrecks of two stagecoach
es and the bodies of fourteen killed by the Apache. From Cooke's Spring it was 60 miles to the Rio Grande
which the Rifles reached on the afternoon of the 27th, just seven miles north of Mesilla. Fearing Fort Fillmore
only eight miles south of Mesilla was still well-garrisoned with Union troops, they approached with caution and stopped two miles short of the river. They captured a local Mexican who told them that all of the Fort Fillmore troops had been captured. They did not believe him and after explaining that they were the advance party for Major Lord's U.S. command, let him go with a caution to tell nobody of their arrival. The Mexican went straight to the rebels and told them.
Shortly after, a prisoner was brought in that had sneaked in to spy upon the camp. Enrique D'Hamel was a Cuban member of Captain Bethel Coopwood
's Spy Company of Col. John Robert Baylor's command of Texans and Arizonan militia. He also said that Fort Fillmore had been captured. Ridley knew Coopwood who had been Assistant District Attorney in San Bernardino County. He had left California earlier in 1861 and in early July enlisted the San Elizario Spy Company
, composed mostly of Californians, for John Baylor.
Ridley sent D'Hamel to inform Coopwood that he and a party of Californians had arrived. Soon Coopwood arrived. The next day, they met Baylor's troops at Mesilla, New Mexico
, on July 28, 1861. On August 1, Baylor proclaimed the Confederate Territory of Arizona with himself as its Governor. After a delay of two weeks, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles were completely disbanded as a unit.
then went to Texas to fight there. In August 1861 Gift was hanged in effigy in Sacramento as a traitor, and the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles were mustered out of the California State Militia in the latter part of 1861.
California Army National Guard
The California Army National Guard is the land force component of the California National Guard, one of the reserve component United States Army and is part of the United States National Guard. The California Army National Guard is composed of about 20,000 soldiers...
formed in 1861. It was the only California state unit to serve the Confederacy
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...
.
Formation
The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was formed in response to a call by Governor John G. DowneyJohn G. Downey
John Gately Downey was an Irish-American politician and the seventh Governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862. Until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, Downey was California's only foreign-born governor...
for the formation of militia companies "to preserve order" just before the start of 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...
. In mid-February 1861, after the secession of several Southern States, a petition was presented to Los Angeles County Judge Dryden to "open a book" to enroll a volunteer militia company. The petition was signed by George Washington Gift
George Washington Gift
George Washington Gift , U. S. Navy officer, writer, banker, civil engineer, politician, Confederate Navy officer, businessman, and newspaper editor.- Early life :...
and seven other prominent Angelenos:
- Joseph Lancaster BrentJoseph Lancaster BrentJoseph Lancaster Brent , lawyer, politician in California and Louisiana, Confederate Brigadier General.-Early Life:...
, a wealthy attorney and former state legislator. - Attorney Meyers J. Newmark, a scion of a leading mercantile family.
- Jose Antonio Sanchez, a baker and a leader of the city's large Mexican community.
- Joseph Huber, a German-born vintner.
- Alonzo RidleyAlonzo RidleyAlonzo Ridley, , 49er, Undersheriff of Los Angeles County, Confederate Army officer from California, who led the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles on their epic march across the Southwestern deserts to Texas in 1861.- Early Life :...
, Undersheriff of Los Angeles County. - A. J. Henderson.
- Francisco Martinez.
Maryland-born Judge Dryden approved the petition and, on February 25, Gift announced the opening of the enrollment book. Enrollments proceeded rapidly and with 80 to 85 enrolled, an organizational meeting for the company was held at the Los Angeles County Courthouse at 7:00 PM on March 17, 1861. Gift acted as chairman of the meeting and Joseph Huber, Jr., acted as secretary. The name "Los Angeles Mounted Rifles" was selected and officers for the company elected. The company was mustered into service under Captain Alonzo Ridley and First Lieutenant Joseph Cattick. One of its two Second Lieutenants was Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez , Californio soldier and public official. He served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and served as Los Angeles County Sheriff.-Biography:...
(Los Angeles County Sheriff). Its muster roll had eight non-commissioned officers, and 64 privates. From its inception, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was known to be pro-Southern and a worry to Union authorities. Its organizer, George Washington Gift, and Captain Alonzo Ridley both in later years acknowledged that the unit's purpose was to serve the Confederacy
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...
.
After the news of the Battle of Fort Sumter
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On...
and the beginning of the war reached Los Angeles on April 24, Ridley believed that the unit should cross the deserts to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He arranged for the departure of the Rifles despite nervous and watchful Union authorities. However a more rushed departure was forced on him when Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texas Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army...
and Lewis Addison Armistead
Lewis Addison Armistead
Lewis Addison Armistead was a Confederate brigadier general in the American Civil War, who was wounded, captured, and died after Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.-Early life:...
joined the party, fearful of arrest by the authorities. Ridley had planned for the Rifles to leave for Texas on June 30, but now the departure was moved up to June 17, but to deceive the authorities word was circulated that it had been delayed to June 25.
Journey across the desert
Only twenty six of the Rifles gathered at Warner's RanchWarner's Ranch
Warner's Ranch near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line...
on May 26. With other Southern sympathizers forming a party of thirty five they followed the Butterfield Overland Mail
Butterfield 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,...
route east toward Fort Fillmore
Fort Fillmore
Fort Fillmore was a fortification established by Col Edwin Vose Sumner in September of 1851 near Mesilla in what is now New Mexico, primarily to protect settlers and traders traveling to California. Travelers in the Westward Migration were under constant threat from Indian attack, and a network of...
, Texas. They cautiously approached Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma is a fort in California that is located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Fort Yuma Indian School and a...
and their scout found that the officers at Fort Yuma were sick and that night they found that loyalties in the garrison were in doubt.
During their first night there, their first sentinel, Lewis Armistead, had been approached by a sergeant and some men from the fort with the proposal that a number of the garrison would be willing to desert and join with the Rifles, seize and plunder the fort. Most of the Rifles were in favor of this. However Johnston dissuaded them, saying that since the Company was not yet mustered into Confederate service and that none of them as yet held Confederate commissions, it would be like an act of piracy. They camped within sight of the fort for the next three days to rest and make repairs, unmolested despite the fact that orders had been issued to capture Johnston and any with him.
Leaving Yuma on July 7, the Rifles move up the valley of 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:...
, across to the Pima villages just south of present-day Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, then up the Santa Cruz Valley to Picacho Pass
Picacho Peak State Park
Picacho Peak State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, surrounding Picacho Peak. The park is located between Casa Grande and Tucson near Interstate 10 in Pinal County. Its centerpiece spire is visible from downtown Tucson, a distance of . The summit rises to above mean sea level...
and down to Tucson on July 18. Tucson made the Rifles welcome. In March 1861, Tucson had held a convention "seceding" as the Arizona Territory. Federal troops had abandoned Fort Breckinridge and had burned the town's only grist mill enroute to Fort Buchanan
Fort Buchanan, Arizona
Fort Buchanan, was a United States Army post founded in 1856 three miles west of present day Sonoita, Arizona in what is now called Hog Canyon. The fort was located on the east slope of the canyon and under constant attack by native Americans. It was officially abandoned in 1861 but during the...
. About 30 Tucsonians wanted to combine with the Rifles to attack the Federal troops but Johnston again counseled against this action with the same argument he had used at Yuma. His advice was again followed.
After three days in Tucson, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles left and were joined by three citizens of Tucson. Fort Buchanan's commander had orders to intercept them, and 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...
under 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:...
were on the warpath. It was essential that they reach Dragoon Springs, where the trail to Fort Buchanan intersected the road east, ahead of Union troops evacuating the fort lest they be cut off. After two and a half days hard marching over 85 miles without water on the route they beat the advance scouts of U. S. dragoons. They reached the wells and found them foul and noxious with dead rats. The Rifles cleaned the wells and slaked their thirst.
After only a brief rest, they pushed on to Apache Pass
Apache Pass
Apache Pass is a historic passage in the U.S. state of Arizona between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains, approximately 32 km E-SE of Willcox, Arizona.-Apache Spring:...
some 40 miles east. Here a party of Texas Unionists headed for California disputed the right to use of the water. Tired, thirsty, and in ill temper, the Rifles took the water by force. Some of the Rifles then proposed that the Company remain here and surprise the evacuating Federal forces in the pass, so that, cut off from water, they would be forced to surrender. Johnston again persuaded them not to do so with his usual argument, and they resumed their march before noon on July 25.
Over the next two days they made a 105 mile march to Cooke's Spring, encountering burned wrecks of two 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...
es and the bodies of fourteen killed by the Apache. From Cooke's Spring it was 60 miles to the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
which the Rifles reached on the afternoon of the 27th, just seven miles north of Mesilla. Fearing Fort Fillmore
Fort Fillmore
Fort Fillmore was a fortification established by Col Edwin Vose Sumner in September of 1851 near Mesilla in what is now New Mexico, primarily to protect settlers and traders traveling to California. Travelers in the Westward Migration were under constant threat from Indian attack, and a network of...
only eight miles south of Mesilla was still well-garrisoned with Union troops, they approached with caution and stopped two miles short of the river. They captured a local Mexican who told them that all of the Fort Fillmore troops had been captured. They did not believe him and after explaining that they were the advance party for Major Lord's U.S. command, let him go with a caution to tell nobody of their arrival. The Mexican went straight to the rebels and told them.
Shortly after, a prisoner was brought in that had sneaked in to spy upon the camp. Enrique D'Hamel was a Cuban member of Captain Bethel Coopwood
Bethel Coopwood
Bethel Coopwood was a soldier in the Mexican American and Civil Wars, lawyer, judge, and historian.-Early Life:Coopwood was born on May 1, 1827, in Lawrence County, Alabama. He moved to Texas in 1846 and fought in a cavalry regiment in the Mexican-American War. In 1854 he moved to California,...
's Spy Company of Col. John Robert Baylor's command of Texans and Arizonan militia. He also said that Fort Fillmore had been captured. Ridley knew Coopwood who had been Assistant District Attorney in San Bernardino County. He had left California earlier in 1861 and in early July enlisted the San Elizario Spy Company
San Elizario Spy Company
The San Elizario Spy Company or Coopwood Spy Company was an Independent Volunteer Company of cavalry formed by Captain Bethel Coopwood and mustered into Confederate service on July 11, 1861 in El Paso, Texas. It had four officers, eight NCOs and 36 personnel, some from California but most from the...
, composed mostly of Californians, for John Baylor.
Ridley sent D'Hamel to inform Coopwood that he and a party of Californians had arrived. Soon Coopwood arrived. The next day, they met Baylor's troops at Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla is a town in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,180 at the 2000 census...
, on July 28, 1861. On August 1, Baylor proclaimed the Confederate Territory of Arizona with himself as its Governor. After a delay of two weeks, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles were completely disbanded as a unit.
Aftermath
Most of the former Rifles served in Texas units while Armistead and Johnston went east to serve as generals. George Washington Gift was commissioned as an officer of the Confederate Navy in December 1861. Captain Alonzo Ridley remained with Johnston as captain of his bodyguard through the Battle of ShilohBattle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...
then went to Texas to fight there. In August 1861 Gift was hanged in effigy in Sacramento as a traitor, and the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles were mustered out of the California State Militia in the latter part of 1861.