Glorietta Pass

**Scenario briefing**

*In February, 1862, Confederate brigadier general Henry H. Sibley, in command of Army of New Mexico, invaded north from Fort Thorn up the valley of the Rio Grande, towards Santa Fe and the Union storehouses at Fort Union. His strategic goal was to gain control of the Southwest, including the gold fields of Colorado and the ports of California. While the main force was moving North, a small party was sent West to capture Tucson.*

*The Confederate army reached Fort Craig, where the Union garrison of 3,800 men under colonel Canby was subsequently engaged in the Battle of Valverde. However, Canby refused to surrender the garrison, and Sibley had insufficient forces for a siege. Sibley continued towards Santa Fe, while Canby detached cavalry from the garrison to harass the Confederate advance. On March 2 Sibley reached Albuquerque and Santa Fe on March 13, but failed to capture most of the Union supplies in those towns.*

*Due to the slow Confederate advance, colonel John Slough and his reinforcements from the Colorado Territory reached Fort Union before the Confederates. Slough took command of all the Union forces at Fort Union and soon marched out to meet the Confederates with 1,342 men. The route from Fort Union towards Santa Fe passed through Glorieta Pass, where the two armies engaged on March 26, 1862.*

*The Battle of Glorieta Pass was actually three separate engagements, fought on March 26 and 28. In the first engagement at Apache Canyon, a detachment under major Chivington from Slough's forces pushed back the advance elements of the Confederate army, capturing some 75 of their enemies, before falling back due to stiffened resistance. On March 28 both sides gathered their forces and decided to attack. The Union force was divided into two columns, a main column to attack through Glorieta Pass and a flanking column under major John M. Chivington, which, guided by Manuel Antonio Chaves, moved on another route South of Glorieta Pass to flank the Confederates. The Confederates left only a small unit and one cannon to guard their supply train at Johnson's Ranch, west of Apache Canyon, with the main body of four regiments of Texas volunteers and three cannons moving up the Glorieta Pass to give pursuit, as the Union force was believed to be falling back to Fort Union.*

*The Union main column and the Confederate main force clashed unexpectedly near Pigeon's Ranch. While the Confederates deployed to attack, Chivington's flanking party reached Johnson's Ranch and the Confederate supply train. The two fights, for Pigeon's Ranch and Johnson's Ranch, were to be fought concurrently on March 28, 1862. But, as the Confederates ultimately lost their supply train, Sibley was forced to retreat. His New Mexico Campaign would later come to an end, pursued by Canby and Sibley, and after the arrival of units from the California Column, who had marched 900 miles from the West, retook Tucson and pushed to Fort Thorn. After the failed campaign, the Confederates no longer had the forces to move West, and Sibley was eventually demoted to directing supply trains.*

## Set-up

### Battlefield

For a more in depth look at the Glorietta Pass battlefield, see its associated battlefield page.