The high Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico seemed 
an unlikely site for a desperate Civil War battle, but 
on March 28, 1862, the army of Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley, 
seeking to conquer the West for the Confederacy but 
dangerously short of supplies, fought a costly battle at 
Glorieta Pass with Federal forces.


The Rebels seemed to have won, and Union units withdrew, 
but as fate would have it, Federal cavalry under Col. 
John Chivington unexpectedly found the Confederate supply 
train and destroyed it, leaving the Southern soldiers 
isolated and defenseless.


After a few additional skirmishes, the dispirited and 
disorganized Rebels straggled back to Texas and abandoned 
their quest for expansion into the Southwest. The Battle 
of Glorieta marked the Confederacy's farthest advance 
northward in the Far West.


Combining documentary history and first-person accounts 
with field research and discovery of artifacts, Don E. 
Alberts provides clear detail on the battle, including 
the precise locations of events and of particular units. 
He marshals evidence to reach the startling, yet now 
inevitable, conclusion that the Battle of Glorieta was 
indeed a clear and significant Union victory.


The Battle of Glorieta offers a full, detailed, 
and accurate history of this blind, groping struggle in 
the smoke-filled mountain valley.


_________________________________________________________


DON E. ALBERTS, a professional historian working in 
Rio Rancho, New Mexico, has published four books and many 
articles on military and Civil War history. He served as 
consulting historian to the archaeological dig that recovered 
the remains of Civil War soldiers killed in the Battle of
Glorieta.


Number Sixty-one: Texas A&M University Military History Series