Battle of Glorieta Pass The Battle of Glorieta Pass , fought from March 26 to 28 , 1862 in northern New Mexico Territory , was the decisive battle of the New Mexico Campaign during the American Civil War . Dubbed the " Gettysburg of the West " ( a term that " serves the novelist better than the historian " ) by some authors , it was intended as the killer blow by Confederate forces to break the Union possession of the West along the base of the Rocky Mountains . It was fought at Glorieta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in what is now New Mexico , and was an important event in the history of the New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War . There was a skirmish on March 26 between advance forces from each army , with the main battle occurring on March 28 . Although the Confederates were able to push the Union force back through the pass , they had to retreat when their supply train was destroyed and most of their horses and mules killed or driven off . Eventually , the Confederates had to withdraw entirely from the territory back into Confederate Arizona and then Texas . Glorieta Pass thus represented the peak of the campaign . New Mexico Campaign . The Confederacy had organized the Confederate Arizona Territory in 1862 , a claim that included the southern halves of modern Arizona and New Mexico , after secession moves by residents . The territory had its capital at Mesilla , outside modern Las Cruces . The strategic aim was to capture the gold and silver mines in California and Colorado Territory and the ports in Southern California . The commanders of the New Mexico Campaign were the Confederate Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley , and the Union Colonel Edward Canby . Sibley , whose mission was to capture Fort Craig , outmaneuvered Canby at the Battle of Valverde in February and drove Canby back to his fort , but failed to force Canby ' s surrender . Instead , Sibley bypassed the fort , and advanced up along the Rio Grande Valley to seize Santa Fe on March 10 . Canby remained at Fort Craig to cut Sibley ' s logistical support from Texas and to await further reinforcements before resuming the offensive . Sibley set up his headquarters at the abandoned Union storehouse at Albuquerque . In March , Sibley sent a Confederate force of 200 to 300 Texans under the command of Major Charles L . Pyron on an advance expedition over the Glorieta Pass , a strategic location on the Santa Fe Trail at the southern tip of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains southeast of Santa Fe . Control of the pass would allow the Confederates to advance onto the High Plains and to make an assault on Fort Union , the Union stronghold along the invasion route northward over Raton Pass . Sibley also intended for six companies under the command of Colonel Tom Green to block the eastern end of Glorieta Pass , turning any Union defensive position in the Sangre de Cristos . Battle . Opposing forces . The Confederates were led by Charles L . Pyron and William Read Scurry . During the battle on March 26 , Pyron had his battalion of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles , four companies of the 5th Texas Mounted Rifles under Maj . John Shropshire , and two cannons . Scurry ' s force included nine companies of the 4th Texas Mounted Rifles under Maj . Henry Raguet , five companies of the 7th Texas Mounted Rifles under Maj . Powhatan Jordan , and three additional cannons . The Union forces were led by Col . John P . Slough of the 1st Colorado Infantry , with units under the command of Maj . John M . Chivington . In the action on March 26 , Chivington had three infantry and one mounted companies of the 1st Colorado and a detachment of the 1st and 3rd U . S . Cavalry regiments . During the main battle on the 28th , Slough commanded in person nine companies of the 1st Colorado , a detachment from the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd U . S . Cavalry regiments , and two artillery batteries . Chivington commanded five companies of the 5th U . S . Infantry , one company from the 1st Colorado , James Hobart Ford ' s Independent Company from the 2nd Colorado , and some New Mexico militia . Prior to the battle , Union forces performed a forced march from Denver , over Raton Pass , to Fort Union , and then to Glorieta Pass , covering the distance of 400 miles in 14 days . Combat commenced shortly after their arrival at the battlefield , leaving them little time to recuperate . Apache Canyon . Pyron ' s force of 300 camped at Apache Canyon , at one end of Glorieta Pass , leaving a picket post of fifty men at the summit of the pass . Chivington led 418 soldiers to the Pass and on the morning of March 26 moved out to attack . After noon , Chivington ’ s men captured the picket post and then found the main force behind them . Chivington advanced on them , but their artillery fire threw him back . He regrouped , split his force to the two sides of the pass , caught the Confederates in a crossfire , and soon forced them to retire . Pyron retired about a mile and a half ( not quite two and a half kilometers ) to a narrow section of the pass and formed a defensive line before Chivington ’ s men appeared . The Union forces flanked Pyron ’ s men again and punished them with enfilade fire . Pyron ordered another retreat , but the withdrawal of the artillery caused the Confederates to become disorganized and start fighting in separate clusters of men . Chivington ordered a mounted Colorado company to make a frontal charge against the artillery ; this charge succeeded in capturing several Confederates and scattering the rest . Not knowing if Confederate reinforcements were nearby , Chivington then retired and went into camp at Kozlowski ’ s Ranch to await Slough with the main body . His small victory was a morale booster for Slough ' s army . No fighting occurred the next day as reinforcements arrived for both sides . Scurry ' s troops arrived at 3 am on March 27 , swelling the Confederate force to about 1 , 100 men and five cannons ; as senior officer present , Scurry took command of the entire Confederate force . Thinking that Slough would attack again and expecting Green to arrive in the Union rear at any time , Scurry chose to remain in place for the day , digging rifle pits . Slough arrived early in the morning of March 28 with about 900 more men , bringing the Union strength to 1 , 300 . Glorieta Pass . Both Scurry and Slough decided to attack on March 28 and set out early to do so . Expecting the Confederates to remain in Apache Canyon , Slough sent Maj . Chivington with two infantry battalions , under Lewis and Wynkoop , out in a circling movement with orders to go hide out at Glorieta Pass and hit the Texans in the flank once Slough ' s main force had engaged their front . Chivington did as ordered and his men waited above the Pass for Slough and the enemy to arrive . But instead of remaining at Apache Canyon as Slough had expected , Scurry advanced down the Canyon more rapidly than Slough had anticipated . Scurry expected the Union force was retreating back to Fort Union ; he intended to attack them until Green arrived . One cannon and a small detail was left at Johnson ' s Ranch , the rest of the Confederate force , with more than a thousand men , marched eastwards along the Santa Fe trail . When Slough found the Texans so far forward , he launched an attack , hitting the Texans around 11 : 00 am about a half mile from Pigeon ' s Ranch . A provisional battalion of four companies from the 1st Colorado under Lt . Col . Samuel Tappan , supported by both batteries , deployed across the trail . The Confederates dismounted and deployed in a line across the canyon but the terrain caused some companies to become intermingled . Tappan was initially successful in holding his ground for a half hour , but the Confederates ' numerical superiority enabled them to outflank the Union line by noon . The Federals were thrown back in confusion before taking position around the adobe ranch buildings . Slough reformed his men a few hundred yards closer to Pigeon ' s Ranch , with four companies under Tappan and an artillery battery on a hill to the left , the other battery supported by two companies in the center across the road , and the other two companies on the ridge to the right . Scurry then launched a three pronged attack on the Union line : Pyron and Raguet were ordered to attack the Union right , Shropshire the Union left , with the remainder of the Confederate force under himself attacking the Union center , supported by the artillery . The attack on the Union left was routed , with Shropshire killed , the attack in the center stalled , while the artillery was forced to withdraw after one cannon was disabled and a limber destroyed . The attack along the line then stalled , with the Confederates fighting by squads " with a desperation unequaled by any engagement of the war . " At around 3 : 00 pm , the Confederates managed to outflank the Union right , but Raguet was mortally wounded . From the ridge ( known after the battle as " Sharpshooters Ridge " ) , the Confederates started to pick off the artillerymen and infantry below them , while Scurry started to press the Union center again . This made the Union position untenable , forcing Slough to order a retreat ; Tappan organized the companies on the left flank into a rear guard . Slough then reformed his line a half mile east of Pigeon ' s Ranch , where both sides skirmished until dusk . Slough retreated back to Kozlowski ' s Ranch , leaving Scurry in possession of the field . Johnson ' s Ranch . Meanwhile , the leader of the New Mexican volunteers , Lt . Col . Manuel Chaves of the 2nd New Mexico Infantry , informed Chivington that his scouts had detected the Confederate supply train nearby at Johnson ' s Ranch . After watching them for an hour , Chivington ' s force descended the slope and attacked , routing or capturing the small baggage - guard with few casualties on either side . They then looted and set afire eighty supply wagons and spiked the cannon , and either killed or drove off five hundred horses and mules before returning to Kozlowski ' s Ranch . With no supplies with which to sustain his advance , Scurry had no choice but to retreat to Santa Fe , the first step on the long road back to San Antonio , Texas . The Federals thereby stopped further Confederate incursions into the Southwest . Glorieta Pass was the turning point of the war in the New Mexico Territory . One of Chaves ' scouts was Anastasio Duran . Duran was stationed with the Union Army at Fort Union . He was a resident of Chaperito , New Mexico . Duran was considered a " Comanchero " by U . S . Army officers ; and was renowned for his hunting skills . He was intimately familiar with the terrain . Duran was the lead scout that led Union forces to attack Confederate forces behind Confederate lines at the Battle of Glorieta Pass . Parts of the battlefield are preserved in Pecos National Historical Park . Controversy . Many New Mexicans disputed the view that Chivington was the hero of Johnson ' s Ranch . Some Santa Feans credited a Bureau of Indian Affairs official , James L . Collins , with suggesting the roundabout attack on the supply train . The truth is that Chivington had been sent out in the hope of making a flank attack , and the discovery of the supply train was a lucky accident . But Chivington was accused of almost letting the opportunity slip . The New Mexico Territorial Legislature adopted a resolution on January 23 , 1864 , that did not mention Chivington but asked President Lincoln to promote William H . Lewis and Asa B . Carey , both Regular Army officers , for " distinguished service " in the battle . On March 8 , the Rio Abajo " Press " of Albuquerque editorialized against " Col . Chivington ' s strutting about in plumage stolen from Captain William H . Lewis " . ( It did not mention Carey . ) The editorial claimed that " Some one of the party " suggested the attack , that Chivington agreed after " two hours persuasion " , and that Lewis led the attack while Chivington was " viewing the scene from afar " . A rather more serious allegation made against Chivington was that if he had hurried to reinforce Slough as soon as he heard the gunfire coming from Pigeon ' s Ranch , his 400 men might have swung the battle in favor of the Federals – especially if he had led them against Scurry ' s flank , as ordered . Effects of the Federal victory . In the end , the Battle of Glorieta Pass proved remarkably important . First , despite the fact that the Confederates took the field , they were forced to retreat back to Santa Fe due to the destruction of their supplies and eventually abandon New Mexico Territory . Second , the battle at Glorieta foiled Sibley ' s plan to obtain his key objective : the capture of the major Federal base at Fort Union . The fall of Fort Union would have broken Federal resistance in New Mexico , and compelled Union forces to retire north of Raton Pass and back into Colorado Territory . In the end , the dreams of a Confederate stronghold in the Southwest were impractical ; New Mexico did not provide enough food or sustenance for any prolonged Confederate occupation . Furthermore , the approach of the Federal " California Column " eastward through the New Mexico Territory during the summer of 1862 would have seriously jeopardized Confederate control of the region . Battlefield preservation . In 1993 , the Congressionally appointed Civil War Sites Advisory Commission issued its " Report on the Nation ’ s Civil War Battlefields . " The Commission was tasked with identifying the nation ’ s historically significant Civil War sites , determining their importance , and providing recommendations for their preservation to Congress . Of the roughly 10 , 500 actions of the U . S . Civil War , 384 ( 3 . 7 % ) were identified by the Commission as principal battles and rated according to their significance and threat of loss . The Battle of Glorieta Pass received the highest rating from the Commission , Priority I ( Class A ) . Class A battlefields are principal strategic operations having a direct impact on the course of the war . With this rating the Commission placed Glorieta Pass on the same level with battles such as Gettysburg and Antietam . The Priority I rating identified Glorieta Pass as being not only one of the most important , but also one of the most highly endangered battlefields in the country . Only 10 other battlefields received the Priority I ( Class A ) rating . The Commission recommended that Congress focus its preservation efforts on Priority I , nationally significant battlefields . Since 1993 portions of the Glorieta Pass Battlefield have become a unit of the National Park Service . The Glorieta Pass unit ( Pigeon ’ s Ranch ) comprises roughly 20 % of the total battlefield . The remaining 80 % is in private ownership . Glorieta Pass Battlefield is managed by Pecos National Historical Park and supported by the Glorieta Battlefield Coalition , a non - profit citizens ' organization . The Glorieta Pass Battlefield is also designated as a National Historic Landmark – a site possessing exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States . Fewer than 2 , 500 historic places in the nation bear this distinction . Depictions in popular culture . The battle is described in the historical novel " Glorieta Pass " by P . G . Nagle . The 1966 Sergio Leone film " The Good , the Bad and the Ugly " refers obliquely to the battle , setting one scene during the post - battle retreat of Sibley ' s men . The events at Johnson ' s Ranch are depicted in Elmer Kelton ' s 2009 novel , " Many A River " , with some changes to fit it to his plot . In an episode focused on the Albuquerque area and the Sandia mountains , the television show " Distant Roads " erroneously refers to a Civil War skirmish being fought in New Mexico in " 1882 " , which would be 17 years after the war ended . This may be a reference to the events of Glorieta Pass in 1862 .