Memorial Day Weekend: Civil War Dispatches from Arizona

 

Picacho Peak is located on the west side of Interstate 10 about 45 miles north of Tucson. Drivers making the trip between Phoenix and Tucson, unless they visit Picacho Peak State Park, may not realize that Union and Confederate forces fought the westernmost skirmish of the Civil War in what was then the location of an isolated Butterfield stagecoach station.

Our loneliness … [was] indescribable. We were cut off from all communication with the civilized world, in a desert and inhospitable country. Ahead of us was an enemy of whose numbers we knew little, and behind a forbidding desert … To add still more to our loneliness, as the sound of the pick and shovel were heard, was the dismal howl of the wild coyote … The graves being dug, without a word or a prayer we rolled the bodies in their blankets and laid them to rest.”

The words of J. C. Hall, a Union private in the 1st California Infantry.

The Confederacy wanted to have access to the Pacific Ocean and the plan was to control a route from Texas to San Diego. They hoped to incite an insurrection in San Diego to obtain a Pacific port. Both sides would also battle the Apache. The Apache wars started in 1849 and lasted until 1886, and smaller skirmishes in Arizona didn’t end until 1924, 12 years after Arizona gained statehood.

In late February 1862 the Confederacy’s Stars and Bars were raised above the Presidio of Tucson by Company A of Capt. Sherod Hunter’s Arizona Rangers. The local population welcomed these 100 or so trail-worn, hardened frontiersmen, likely out of fear of Indian attacks rather than any inherent loyalty to the Southern cause. About half of the Rangers entering town were Texans, the others were from the surrounding region unofficially known as Arizona, but actually the Southern half of New Mexico Territory.

Union forces had been moved out of Arizona to take part in battles in the East and the South. Apache bands took advantage of the lack of troops and intensified their attacks on settlers. I consider the siege of Tubac a Civil War battle even though Arizona Rangers were fighting Apaches and bandits from Mexico that had banded together to attack Tubac. The attack occurred sometime in August 1861. The Rangers could not hold the settlement and evacuated everyone. Tubac was not resettled until 1908. The Rangers entered Tubac flying the Stars and Bars even though the Presidio in Tucson was not flying the Stars and Bars.

The map that displays the movements of Union and Confederate forces follows the Butterfield Stage route. Water and hay for the horses could be found at these stage stations.

The battle:

Picacho Peak.JPG

Photo by John Hunnicut II

Picacho Peak dominates the surrounding Sonoran desert filled with saguaro cacti. This landmark is an ancient, eroded volcano plug. A Butterfield Overland Stage station sat at the base of the impressive hill at what was also known to travelers as Picacho Pass.

In early April, Capt. Hunter ( Confederacy) placed Sgt. Henry Holmes and nine other Rangers at Picacho to give warning of any advancing Union force. The Rangers camped at the abandoned stage station and from the pass watched the road for their oncoming enemy.

Calloway, (Union) now at the Pima Villages some 40 miles to the north, got word of the Texans at Picacho. His orders were to capture Tucson and free Capt. McCleave, and on April 14th his command left the Pima Villages. His plan was to have two 12-man cavalry squads, led by Lieutenants James Barrett and Ephraim C. Baldwin, circle behind the Rebels while his main column attacked the camp frontally.

According to Calloway, Lt. Barrett acting alone rather than in concert, surprised the Rebels and should have captured them “without firing a shot, if the thing had been conducted properly.” Instead, in mid-afternoon the lieutenant “led his men into the thicket single file without dismounting them. The first fire from the enemy emptied four saddles, when the enemy retired farther into the dense thicket and had time to reload … Barrett followed them, calling on his men to follow him.”

Three Southerners surrendered immediately. Barrett had secured one of the prisoners and remounted his horse when a bullet struck him in the neck, killing him instantly. The fierce and confused fighting surged among the mequite and arroyos for more than an hour, with two more Union fatalities and three wounded troopers. Exhausted and leaderless, the Californians broke off the fight and the Rangers, minus three as prisoners, taking advantage of the lull, mounted up and fled. That eliminated any chance of a Union surprise attack on Tucson.

Late that afternoon, Captain Calloway’s column arrive on the scene, but the Rebels had retired to Tucson. Calloway interrogated the prisoners, but still uncertain of the number of Rebels in Tucson, he set up camp and placed his mountain howitzer battery on some high ground to await a counterattack that never came.

Calloway subsequently retreated back to the Pima Villages to await the Union main column; he remained a month at that location. Although Hunter’s Arizona Rangers achieved their objective of delaying the Union force, the Californians took Tucson without firing a shot on May 20, 1862.

Aware of the nearby Federal troops, Capt. Hunter had implored his commander to send reinforcements. However, Gen. Sibley had been defeated at Glorieta Pass in late March and had stealthily retreated toward Texas. No assistance was forthcoming, and on May 14, 1862, Capt. Sherod Hunter’s Company A, Arizona Rangers, abandoned Tucson and proceeded to Mesilla, New Mexico Territory. That, coupled with Sibley’s retreat, ended the possibility of capturing the American Southwest and ultimately and ocean-to-ocean Confederacy.

Years after the American Civil War, troops stationed in Tucson were sent to Picacho Pass to recover the bodies of the Union soldiers buried there. Only two were found. The body of Lt. Barrett was never recovered. Likely, his remains are still buried in an unmarked grave presiding over the battlefield where he sacrificed his life for the unification of our great nation. Today, Picacho Peak State Park hosts an annual reenactment commemorating the southwestern battles of Picacho Peak, Glorieta Pass and Valverde.

A special thanks to The Civil War Trust.

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  1. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Great post, Doug, and great picture of Picacho Peak.  Is it your own picture?

    I’ve been to a re-enactment of the battle, as a spectator, not a participant.  I actually gave some thought to becoming a Civil War re-enactor, at the time, but did not pursue it.  Sadly, on looking it up, it appears that the re-enactment hasn’t been held since 2017, due to lack of funding.

    As I’ve heard the story, the battle was not re-enacted in the original location.  The original battle was near the site of the Dairy Queen, on the east side of I-10.  Or so I was told.

    I haven’t been to Picacho Peak for a number of years, though my wife and some kids have.  We know the family that owns the Rooster Cogburn ostrich ranch, which is also a petting zoo.  They’ve long had ostrich, deer, and lorikeets, and have recently added stingrays.

    Sounds like a bizarre Arizona adventure, doesn’t it?  Go to a re-enactment of a Civil War battle, then drop by the DQ, then go feed the ostrich and pet the stingrays.  Fun for the whole family!

     

    • #1
  2. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Great post, Doug, and great picture of Picacho Peak. Is it your own picture?

    I’ve been to a re-enactment of the battle, as a spectator, not a participant. I actually gave some thought to becoming a Civil War re-enactor, at the time, but did not pursue it. Sadly, on looking it up, it appears that the re-enactment hasn’t been held since 2017, due to lack of funding.

    As I’ve heard the story, the battle was not re-enacted in the original location. The original battle was near the site of the Dairy Queen, on the east side of I-10. Or so I was told.

    I haven’t been to Picacho Peak for a number of years, though my wife and some kids have. We know the family that owns the Rooster Cogburn ostrich ranch, which is also a petting zoo. They’ve long had ostrich, deer, and lorikeets, and have recently added stingrays.

    Sounds like a bizarre Arizona adventure, doesn’t it? Go to a re-enactment of a Civil War battle, then drop by the DQ, then go feed the ostrich and pet the stingrays. Fun for the whole family!

    The photo is attributed to John Hunnicut II, Discover Marana has used this photo. There is a back road off of I-10 at Picacho Peak that I used to get to Catalina rather than going further south to Marana.

     

    • #2
  3. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Tubac is now an artists colony and retirement area. There is yard art, but there are some very serious artists, to include tile work and furniture. Touring Tubac is best during Fall and Spring. The heat is brutal during the summer months.

    • #3
  4. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    A half century ago, I was stationed at Ft Huachuca for a year.  I drove to Tucson fairly often, always wondering how back in earlier eras people decided to live in that area and survive. 

    • #4
  5. Buckpasser Member
    Buckpasser
    @Buckpasser

    I’ve also been to a re-enactment at Picacho Peak.  Knew some of the re-enactors.  

    • #5
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