Arizona silver belt., 1894-02-24
THE rAlIrnt.rrY or HISTORY.

verifying incidents of which the author has no persoaal knowledge, aSd it is not surprising, therefore, that the value Of many pretentious works the accrsd- tied records of momentous events m the affairs of q country and careers of bh6lio men--is seriously impaired by fslsehood and fiction.
 The senior eiitor, whose recollection of events in New Mexico and Arizona during tho formative period dating from before the war of the rebellion, is clear in his memory, has diseoyerd fiany Inaccuracies in she record of shose eventful days contained in Bar eroft's History of Arizona and New Mexico, time when the repeated ir- ruption of hostile Indians and the calamity of civil war, paralyzed every effort in the march of civilization and progress Bancroft's history bears the imprint of careful and methodical com pilstion, and relates much real histo. ry, and tha. discrepancies mar its pages is unfortunate.
 One incident will suffice to show the fallibility of history: It is recorded that, in the autumn of 1860 and spring of 1861, attempts were made by Col. W. H. Loring, in command of the Department of New Mexico and Ari- zona (whose authority extended to Fort Bliss on the border of Texss) with the aid of Col. Geo. B. Crittenden, to at- taeh the New Mexico troops to the Confederate cause, and although unsuc- eessiul in the attempt to win over the rank and file which remained loyal to the Union, many officers, including Boring, CrittepdeA and Major H. H. Sibley, espoused the Southern cause
 On July 27th, 1861, Major Isaac Lynde, of the 7th Infantry, in com HssEd of the southern district of New Mexico, stationed atFort Fillmore with a force of 700 men, surrendered to lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor with Texan force. Bancroft says that whether Lynde was "traitor or 0 cow ard is not quite clear;'' and in the foot notes, page 6SS, the surrender is de- clared to have been 'disgraceful The historian does Lynde great injustice Lynde was Northern man, loyal and vsiorous, and his surrender was fsrced by the exigency and confusion incident to the abandonment of Fort Fillmore, Tn obeyance to the order of General CaAby, which order included the aban- donment of Fort Stanton, also, and of forts Buchanan and Breckenridge in Arizona. Bancroft charges that ''the men were given all the whiskey they wanted, and ''were mostly drunk" when they met the Texan force to which they surrendered The facts are that orders were given to She troops to fill sbsir cantesus with water to serve them on their long march to Fort Craig, and in the hurry of the mo- 1nent, unknown to the commander, the soldiers surreptitiously filled their can teens with whiskey, and after march Jf about 32 miles, overcome by the sdiskey and heat, the command halted at spring east of the Organ noun Sains, now known as Shedd's ranch, Ehere they were surprised by Baylor, md, after 6 conference of Lynde and his staf. the order of surrender was gisen Baneroft's account of the af- fsiy Iapbss thst the abandonment of sbs ioft xao either traitorous or cow srdiy shen in fact. it wos ordered by 3asby. and had Lynde retained in bis possession the order of abandonment, eis dismissal from the army would not, ta'an Likelihood, have resulted. That ouportant paper (the order) vas subse- 4uaDtiy found in Maj Lynde's desk at Fost Fillmore, end we were shown and zead it
 Ths cause of the abandonment Of the segera5 posts mentioned, was that they were isolated and insuhiciently ger, asoped and equipped to resist singly sbs attscks of the invading Conieder- asess superior in numbers, and for the further reason that the supplies for the districs were stored at Fort Union, where t was the intention to concen- sfete She Federal forces to protect the supplies and oppose the invasion of aorthern New Mexico. That this course Sus yell taken by Gen. Cauby was proven by subsequent eyepts. The Sonfederates advanced north, one de- taohment occupying Santa Fs and, flushed with success, the main division, under Gen Sibley, pressed on toward Fort Union. In the meantime the gar sison. at Fort Union had been strength ened by Che arrival of the Colorado ''Pikes Peakers" under command of Col J P Slough, and Major J. M Chiyington, the hero of the events which followed Upon their arrival at Fort Union, Col Slough assumed com anand of the post and with the united army numbering l342, marched toward