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 . After the establishment of the Confederate Arizona Territory , Governor John Robert Baylor decided he needed to supplement existing militia companies with a regiment of Rangers like the Texas Rangers . He intended this regiment would consist of several companies of cavalry . On January 25 , 1862 , its first company , Company A , Baylor ' s Regiment of Arizona Rangers commanded by Captain Sherod Hunter , was mustered into the Confederate service at the town of Dona Ana located just north of modern Las Cruces , New Mexico . Hunter ' s Company consisted of about 75 men for the most part residents of the Confederate Territory of Arizona . They were armed with revolvers and Model 1847 smoothbore musketoon s , probably taken from Fort Fillmore after it surrendered in August 1861 . The company was enlisted for three years , or the duration of the war . They were picked for their skills and experience with the hardships of frontier life . Arizona Campaign against the California Column . On February 10 , 1862 Company A was ordered to occupy Tucson , the largest town in the western Confederate Territory of Arizona . Tucson was located on the Butterfield Overland Mail road , the only one between California and the Rio Grande and Mesilla valleys , and an ideal location for an advanced post to observe and delay the advance of Union forces gathering under Col . James Henry Carleton at Fort Yuma . By taking possession of Tucson , Baylor would also protect the citizens and secure the Confederate claim to possession of western Arizona , which had been abandoned by Union troops in 1861 . Company A arrived in Tucson on February 27 . The invasion of Arizona by the California Column would have come much sooner but for the tactics of Captain Hunter and Company A . At White ' s Mills , near the Pima Villages , about twenty miles south of present Phoenix , Captain Hunter captured without firing a shot , a scouting party of nine men of Company A , 1st Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry under Captain William McCleave . Following their surprise of McCleave they destroyed caches of hay stored at the Butterfield stage stations along the barren route from Fort Yuma to the Gila River . At the villages of the Pima Indians on the Gila River , ( about 30 miles south of present - day Phoenix , Arizona ) , Hunter also discovered 1 , 500 sacks of flour from wheat purchased from the Pima by federal purchase agent Ammi M . White . It had been ground into flour and stored in his mill in anticipation of the advance of the Union forces . Hunter ' s men arrested White , disabled the mill and confiscated the flour . However , because of insufficient transport Hunter could not remove the flour , so Sherod gave it back to the Pima for them to use . When news of the capture of McCleave got back to Fort Yuma , a larger force under Captain William Calloway was sent along the same route with orders to find and free Captain McCleave and his men . Calloway ' s force clashed with Elements of Company A burning hay at Stanwix Station and after a brief skirmish , the Arizona Rangers retreated to Tucson . Afterward Calloway reached the Pima Villages , the main supply point between Fort Yuma and Tucson and after a short rest , set out toward Tucson . As they approached Picacho Pass , Indian scouts brought in information that Confederate pickets were just ahead . Lieutenant James Barrett and a small group of his Company A , First Cavalry were ordered to make a wide detour to strike them on the flank , while Calloway would make a frontal attack with the main party . In the following Battle of Picacho Pass the Barret ' s California cavalry engaged alone and suffered defeat in a brisk engagement . The Confederates watched the California cavalry retreat , then they fell back to Tucson , to warn Tucson ' s garrison of the approaching Union army . Captain Calloway returned to the Pima Villages and started work on a permanent camp , throwing up earth works around the flour mill of Ammi White , who had been taken away with McCleve to Mesilla by the rebels a few weeks before . This earth work was named " Fort Barrett " in honor of their comrade . Confiscation of the wheat and burning of hay now forced a halt at the villages while new supplies were gathered . It required several weeks for the main elements of the " Column " to get to Pima Villages , due to the time needed to gather more hay along the route . Further delay occurred because only detachments of less than four companies could move over the desert routes within twenty - four hours of each other , due to the scarcity of water . The net effect of the Arizona Rangers ' actions was to delay the advance of the California Column for over a month , which probably saved the Confederate Army of New Mexico , now retreating back to Mesilla from its defeat at the Battle of Glorietta Pass from being intercepted and destroyed by the California Column during April 1862 . After the battle at Picacho Pass , Captain Hunter wrote to Governor Baylor , requesting a reinforcement of at least 250 men , with which he felt he could hold Tucson . When no reinforcements were forthcoming , Hunter decided to evacuate Tucson . Company A left Tucson on May 14 , leaving behind a small detachment under the command of Lieutenant Tevis to watch for the approach of Union forces . Unknown to the Confederates , on that same day , the Union California Column finally left its bivouac at the Pima Villages for its final advance on Tucson . On May 15 , Colonel West and his advance California detachment moved out of the Pima Villages for Tucson , going through Rattlesnake Springs to old Fort Breckenridge , and camped that night in the " Canyon de Oro " . The next day , May 19 , a short march of fifteen miles was made , and the party camped within ten miles of Tucson . Early on the morning of the 20th , the command moved forward until it arrived within two miles of the town . Captain Emil Fritz , Company B , 1st Cavalry , was ordered take his first platoon to make a detour and come in on the east side of the town ; the second platoon , under Juan Francisco Guirado , was to charge in on the north side , while the four companies of infantry were to come in on the road from the west . Lieutenant Tevis and his detachment were surprised and almost captured when the Yankee cavalry charged into town on May 20 . The three California columns arrived at the plaza at the same moment , the cavalry at the charge and the infantry at the double quick , but found no enemy . Tevis and his men had managed to escape , and rejoined the main body of Company A a few days later . During the retreat to Messilla , Company A clashed twice with the Apache . First , in the Battle of Dragoon Springs , where four of its soldiers were killed and some of its stock were lost . In the Second Battle of Dragoon Springs they had the best of the encounter . With the Army of New Mexico and the Sibley Brigade . After Hunter ' s Company A retreated from Tucson and arrived in Mesilla on May 27 , 1862 , it was organized with two Arizona militia companies , the Arizona Guards of Pinos Altos and the Arizona Rangers of Mesilla , under Herbert ' s Battalion of Arizona Cavalry under the command of Lt . Colonel Philemon T . Herbert . It served as rearguard to the remnants of the Army of New Mexico as it withdrew from El Paso to San Antonio , in July 1862 . After their arrival in San Antonio , Herbert ’ s Battalion was formally assigned to the " Sibley Brigade " , the name given the former Army of New Mexico . Colonel Thomas Green was in command in place of Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley , who was away in Richmond until December , 1862 . On October 2 , 1862 , Sherod Hunter was promoted Major and joined Second Cavalry Regiment , Arizona Brigade under Colonel George Wythe Baylor . First Lieutenant Robert L . Swope , was promoted to Captain and assumed command of the Company A . On December 2 , 1862 , General Sibley was ordered to New Iberia , Louisiana , to take over command of his Brigade . On December 25 he found that most of the Brigade had been ordered to Galveston but Herbert ’ s Battalion was there in Louisiana actively scouting in the vicinity of Plaquemine and the Mississippi River . In February 1863 , shortly after the arrival of the Sibley Brigade in Louisiana , Captain Robert L . Swope resigned as commander of Company A . First Lieutenant James Henry Tevis took command , but was not promoted to the rank of Captain at the time . In April 1863 , the Sibley Brigade including Herbert ’ s Arizona Battalion was among the men with which General Taylor confronted the Yankee army under General Nathaniel Banks at Fort Bisland , on the Bayou Teche . The Battle of Fort Bisland was a defeat for the Confederates , and General Taylor ordered a retreat . General Sibley , in command of the rear guard , nearly lost his command at Franklin , Louisiana , when he ordered the last bridge across the Bayou burned before his men had made their escape . Fortunately they saw the flames behind them and quickly disengaged and fled across the bridge before it was fully engulfed in flames . Sibley was court - martialed for this and removed from command of the Brigade . Colonel Thomas Green , who had led the brigade previously , was promoted to Brigadier General and placed in command of the Brigade . Arizona Scout Company in Arkansas , Louisiana , Texas . By the end of May 1863 the Arizona Battalion had been reduced by losses and it was broken up . Company A still had enough men to continue as a viable company , and was kept in being but renamed as the independent Arizona Scout Company , attached to Green ' s Brigade . The other two companies of the Battalion were disbanded and the men consolidated with those of Company A to form the Arizona Scout Company . In June 1863 the Scouts participated in the Bayou Teche Campaign . The surrender of the Confederate bastion at Port Hudson , Louisiana in July 1863 led to the retreat of Green ' s Brigade to the region of Shreveport , Louisiana . In November 1863 , the Arizona Scouts fought with Green ' s Brigade against a Union invasion up the Bayou Teche . In early December 1863 the brigade was recalled to Texas , in response to a threatened assault on Galveston which never materialized . In late December 1863 , while near Galveston , the Second and Third Texas - Arizona Cavalry Regiments were re - assigned to the Texas Cavalry Brigade commanded by Brigadier General James Patrick Major and the Scouts were assigned to that brigade also , However in February 1864 , the Arizona Scouts were among the companies detached from Texas Cavalry Brigade to form a Scouting Battalion under the command of Major William Saufley . Captain Tevis ’ s Arizona Scout Company became Company E of the Battalion . During January and February 1864 the company operated as part of a command under Colonel James Duff 33rd Texas Cavalry near Indianola , Texas . During the Red River Campaign , the Arizona Scouts again fought as part of Major ' s Texas Cavalry Brigade which was combined with Green ' s Brigade , and a brigade of Louisiana regiments to form a Cavalry Division under Major General Tom Green . The Arizona Scouts fought in the major battles at Wilson ' s Farm ( April 7 , 1864 ) , Mansfield and Pleasant Hill , and in numerous other skirmishes throughout the campaign . On May 1 , 1864 the Arizona Scouts under Lt . John M . Smith assisted in the capture Union transport , the U . S . S . Emma near Wilson ’ s Landing on the Red River . Captain Tevis wounded earlier in the campaign , served under the command of First Lieutenant John M . Smith for the rest of the campaign . After the Red River Campaign , the Texas Cavalry Division , under Major General John A . Wharton , was among the units ordered northward into Arkansas . Arizona Scouts , went with them and for the rest of 1864 fought minor skirmishes and conducted routine picket duty and scouting . In November 1864 , Captain Tevis ( who by that time had recovered from his wounds ) returned to command of the Arizona Scouts until General Edmund Kirby Smith , surrendered all Confederate forces west of the Mississippi River on May 26 , 1865 .