The California Column

 

By the beginning of the 1850's, residents of Southern New Mexico Territory and the Gadsden Purchase began petitioning Washington to create a new territory.  Southerners were especially supportive because of the prospects for a Southern Transcontinental Railroad.  However, because of the issue of whether the new territory would be slave or free, the bill quickly died.

Following the beginning of the Civil War, secessionists in the southern part of the New Mexico Territory called upon the Confederate Congress to accept the “Provisional Territory of Arizona” into the Confederacy.  But, despite secessionist tendencies, this land was still largely occupied, albeit sparsely, by Union Soldiers and it was therefore awkward to claim independence without some supportive military.

In order to solidify the Confederate Hold in the region, several hundred members of the Second Texas Mounted Rifles under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Baylor engaged Union Forces in the First Battle of Mesilla on July 25, 1861.  Union Forces, under the command of Major Issac Lynde, were forced to retreat and abandon their post at Fort Fillmore. 

Following this victory, Colonel Baylor appointed himself Governor of the Confederate Arizona Territory, solidifying the Secessionist Rule.  On February 14, 1862, President Jefferson Davis, approved by Confederate Congress, proclaimed the official creation of the Confederate Territory of Arizona out of the Southern Half of the New Mexico Territory with territorial seat in Mesilla (near modern day Las Cruces).  Officially, the territory was all land south of the 34^th Parallel.   

General Henry Sibley - CSA

At this same time (early 1862), an army of Confederate Troops 3000 strong came out of Texas under the command of General Henry Sibley.  The purpose of this army was to push Union control out of Northern New Mexico near Santa Fe, solidify secessionist control in the Territory - including suppressing the Apache threat - push into California and Colorado, and even seize control of the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Baja California.

In order to prevent this, Colonels George Wright and James Carleton in California wrote to the Federal War Department for permission to assemble regiments of California Volunteers and push through the Arizona Frontier to Mesilla and the Rio Grande removing the Confederate threat and providing relief for General Edward Canby’s forces in Santa Fe.  

Colonel Edward Canby - U.S. Army

This order was immediately approved by Washington and troops from California were then forwarded to Fort Yuma along the Colorado River thus creating the “California Column”

The following is a list of the composition of the column and their command

• 10 Companies, First California Infantry  – Col. J. H. Carleton
• 5 Companies, First California Cavalry – Lt. Col. E. E. Eyre
• Light Battery A, U.S. artillery – Lt. J. B. Shinn       
• Company B, Second California Cavalry – Cpt. J. C. Cremoney
• 10 Companies, Fifth California Infantry – Col. G. W. Bowie

In total, the California Column number 2350 Strong.

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**Muster at Fort Yuma**
Go to Sunrise Point Park near Yuma, AZ.  It is across the street from the Fort Yuma Indian Hospital which is on the site of the original Fort Yuma

Park in the Lot off of Levee Road near the restrooms.
From the restrooms walk south along a dirt road a the base of a bluff, passing the Vital Native Trees are on the right.
Contine and bear right at the Y.
Pass 2 green in-ground boxes on the left, stopping at a single grey in-ground box.
From the left edge of the road, alongside the grey box, sight 230 degrees and walk 13 steps, stopping on the right edge of the road.
From here sight 320 degrees and walk upslope 20 steps to a creosote bush.  Box is on the uphill side under a small SPOR.

Thanks to AZRoadie and Desert Flower for planting this box
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From Ft. Yuma, the Column would have to march over 900 miles from the Colorado to the Rio Grande across the arid and sparse Sonoran Desert.  As such, the Column could not march as a single unit like their Eastern counterparts as that many men and horses would rapidly deplete what water was present.  Instead, the column had to march in small groups at intervals of several days. 

Largely, the column followed the preexisting route of the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach, a mail service that was canceled at the beginning of the war.  Union sympathizers would then assist the soldiers by collecting food and fodder at predetermined stations.

One such station was Stanwix Station near the current city of Gila Bend.  This sight is also frequently referred to as Grinnel’s Station, Grinnel’s Ranch, or Flap-Jack Ranch.  Near this location on March 29, 1862, members of Captain McCleave’s Company A, First California Cavalry encountered roughly 10 Confederate soldiers under the command of Lt. J. W. Swilling burning hay along the route.  Because the Confederates were outnumber (there were roughly 3 Companies of Union soldiers numbering 272 nearby), they fired a volley at the picket and then ran.  Chase was given, but to no avail.  In the end, one member of the Union line was injured, marking the westernmost skirmish in the entire Civil War.

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**Skirmish at Stanwix Station**
From Interstate 8, take exit 78, Spot Road.
On the north side take the Frontage Road east for approximately 1 mile and then turn north onto Avenue 76 E. 
Drive north about 7 miles on a single lane dirt road.  Suitable for most 2-wheel drive cars unless there have been recent rains.
As you drop down in the Gila River area, there will be a brown kiosk on the left, continue to the end of the road at Sears Point BLM site.
According to research done by a Yuma Eagle scout, this is the approximate location of Stanwix Station, see sources.

From the Visitor Log, walk west to the third Carsonite (brown) BLM stake.
Sight at 240 degrees and walk 62 steps to a large, flat, leaning boulder. (at 55 steps you will be between 2 creosote bushes)
Box is under the NW corner of the boulder, tucked underneath and behind a single, fist-sized rock.

There are two other boxes located along this route.
Thanks to AZRoadie and Desert Flower for planting this box.

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The Confederate Soldiers engaged at Stanwix Station were members of Company A of the Arizona Rangers, a small detachment based out of Tucson, Arizona under the leadership of Captain Sherod Hunter.  Hunter’s men, by orders of General Sibley, were instructed to delay the California Column while protecting the Secessionist from Apaches.

Monument at Picacho Peak State Park, AZ

This conflict came to a head by the middle of April, 1862.  Following the skirmish at Stanwix Station, Company I, First California Infantry under command of Captain Calloway along with detachments of Company K, 1^st Infantry, and Companies A and D, 1^st cavalry made their way without event to Amni White’s Mill (Mr. White being a union sympathizer) near the Pima Villages along the Gila River.  From this point, Calloway was instructed to march onto Tucson and oust Hunter from there.

As they moved south and approached Picacho pass, Indians reported that confederate soldiers were in the immediate front.  A detachment was sent to go wide around the peak to flank the enemy while the main body was to head through the pass and assault the enemy head on. 

On April 15, 1862, Lt. James Barrett and a detachment of 11 cavalry men from Company A engaged a detachment of 10 Confederate cavalry men under direction of Sergeant Henry Homes.  This minor skirmish resulted in 3 killed on the Union side, including Lt. Barrett and 3 wounded and 3 Confederates captured.  The remaining Confederates escaped to Tucson where they alerted Capt. Hunter of the coming Column

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**Skirmish of Picacho Pass**
Go to Picacho Peak State Park just off the I-10, exit 219, 40 miles North of Tucson.  
There is a 7$ day-use fee.

After the entrance station, make two immediate lefts onto Memorial Loop.  Here there are several monuments, memorials, and informational signs about the Skirmish.  

South of the Ramada, take the Nature Trail/Calloway Trail.  At the next signed intersection, continue on the Calloway Trail and again at the second intersection.  Go until you find a white trail sign at a left turn.  From the sign, count 13 wooden steps.  Standing on the 13th step, go 25 steps at 50 degrees magnetic to a juvenile saguaro cactus.  About 10 feet north of the cactus is a large boulder.  The box is in a crevice on the North-East side.
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Following the Battle, Captain Calloway and his entire command retreated from Picacho pass, believing that there was a much larger force of Confederates in Tucson than actually was.  Calloway led his troops back to the Pima Villages eventually meeting up with Colonel J. R. West and his detachment (1 company of cavalry and 4 infantry).  There, believing that Tucson was heavily defended, West ordered the creation of an earthworks to protect White’s Mill.  This site became known as Fort Barrett after the Lieutenant who died at Picacho.

However, Captain Hunter was short staffed.  And, after the battle of Picacho Peak, he saw that a direct assault upon Tucson was imminent.   Hunter requested 250 soldiers from Governor Baylor to be sent post haste, but the New Mexico front could not spare any men on account of the far more imminent threat of Union soldiers around Santa Fe.  As such, Hunter and his 80 men retreated from Tucson to the Rio Grande, leaving behind only a small squad for observational purposes only.  In his retreat one of Hunter's squads was ambushed on May 5th by Apache Raiders near Dragoon Springs and the Butterfield stage coach near there.

The confederates were greatly outnumber (reports stated that there were about 100 Apaches) and retreated quickly, leaving behind a large number of cattle, horses, and mules and four dead†.  Hunter ordered his men to make a couterattack on May 9th to reclaim the livestock and the dead.  The soldiers were successful in their attack, killing 5 Apaches at no loss of their own.  They then buried their dead near the stagecoach and pressed on to the Rio Grande.  Thus marked the furthest (known) Confederate casualties of the Civil War and only casualties to occur within contemporary Arizona.

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**Ambush at Dragoon Springs**
 From the I-10, take the Dragoon Road exit 318.  Follow the road three miles east into the town of Dragoon.  After crossing the railroad tracks, make an immediate right onto N Old Ranch Road.  This is a pseudo maintained dirt road, and high clearance is recommended but not required.  Follow Old Ranch Road 2.3 miles to a signed junction that reads "Jordan Canyon. Stage Station".  Park and walk or drive down this road about 1 mile to the Dragoon Station sign. 

Follow the trail North through the fence and to the station and graves.  From the southern corner of the station look south-south east for a group of Yucca.  The box lies under the SE side.

Please be respectful to those buried here.  Unlike their Union counterparts, who (with the exception of Lt. Barret whose grave couldn't be located) were moved to and buried with honors in San Francisco, these men rest in general anonymity on the ground they died on.
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Colonel Joseph West - U.S. Army

After receiving some advice from Colonel Carleton still at Fort Yuma, Colonel West made plans to attack Tucson under the belief that it was still heavily defended, even though he had information that suggested otherwise.  West intended to leave Fort Barrett with Companies B, 1^st Cavalry, and C, I, and K, First Infantry, and B and G, Fifth Infantry, leaving behind Lt. Col. Eyre with four companies to defend Fort Barrett.  Because of a lack of water along the Butterfield Route, and the danger of an attack from the west, West’s plan was to march east from the Pima Villages to the abandoned Fort Breckenbridge at the confluence of the San Pedro and Gila Rivers.  From there, the army would march south through the Canyon de Oro and attack Tucson from the North and East (the belief being that a direct attack from the Butterfield Route and thus the West, would be too heavily defended).

On May 14^th, West and his command left for Fort Breckenbridge and from there carried out their maneuvers without event.  On May 20^th, 1862, Captain Emil Fritz and Company B, 1^st Cavalry entered Tucson from the North and East while four of the infantry companies entered the city from the West.  The city was found to be abandoned as Hunter had left a week before and the residents had been warned off by Hunter, most likely hiding to the south in Sonora, Mexico.  2000 men invaded; no shots were fired.

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**Capture of Tucson**

Go to Fort Lowell Park at the corner of Glen Street and Craycroft Road in Tucson. Fort Lowell was the successor to the post established by the Union soldiers.
Continue East on Glenn to the second entrance into the park. The sign should say access to Ramadas 5-7. As you reach the parking lot, take a right across a small bridge to the back lot. Park here.
At the north east corner of the lot, there will be a pebbled trail, follow this down to Ramada 7. Near the Ramada are 2 white poles, behind the eastern most pole is a trail going down. Follow this trail. (You should be approaching the Pantano Wash)
You will eventually come across a sandy clearing with an bench to your left with a piece of rock art behind it. 

Follow a sandy trail north keeping the Pantano Wash on your right.   When the White Pole and the old windmill are aligned, go up the steep slope to a group of 4 Mesquite.  The box is under a SPOR.

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Colonel James Carleton - U.S. Army

Colonel Carleton, by this time had made it with the Rear Guard to Fort Barrett, leaving Colonel Bowie in command at Fort Yuma.  From there he instructed Col. West to deploy troops to Fort Buchanan (found destroyed) in the south and continued occupation of Fort Breckenbridge. 

Aside from these orders, which were eventually rescinded on account of the obsoleteness of both forts, the California Column could continue no further.  The summer heat would make it both difficult and dangerous for the Column to press on to the Rio Grande.  What food there was had to be brought up from Mexico or trucked hundreds of miles from Ft. Yuma.   Additionally, there was no word from the Rio Grande.  Communication between Col. Carleton in Tucson and General Canby near Santa Fe was non-existent. 

 

However, in an act of both heroism and luck, a sole man, expressman John Jones, managed to make it to the Rio Grande and get word to General Canby that the California Column was coming.  This was done in spite of his group being killed by Apaches and himself being captured by the rebels.

Then, on the 21^st of June, the advanced guard under the command of Col. Eyre left Tucson for the Rio Grande.  This group made it to Fort Thorn on the Rio Grande (Near present day Hatch, NM) by the 4^th of July and would have then descended upon Mesilla and the rebels if not for restricting orders from General Canby’s men.

Mangas Coloradas - Ally to Cochise (never photographed)
Chiricahua Apaches

On July 9^th, Captain Thomas L. Roberts with Company E, First Infantry, some men of Company H, First Infantry, and Captain Cremony with Company B, Second Cavalry left Tucson on the Butterfield Route to reinforce and supply Col. Eyre and his group.  On July 15, as the command crossed Apache Pass, they were attacked by a large band of Chiricahua Apache warriors under the command of Cochise and Mangas Coloradas.  But, with the aid of two mountain howitzers, Capt. Thompson was able to repel his attackers at the expense of 2 killed and 3 wounded.

This attack, and many similar events, prompted Carleton (by then promoted to Brigadier General) to establish a permanent fort at Apache Pass.  This fort was known as Fort Bowie.
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**Battle of Apache Pass**

NOTE-Although the box is near the NHS, it is not on National Park Land.

Go to the Fort Bowie National Historic Site.  It is most easily accessibly by taking AZ Route 186, 22 Miles SE of Willcox, AZ.  You can also reach the site and box coming from Bowie, AZ.

Between mile markers 7 and 8 and west of the trail head to Fort Bowie, there is a turnout on the North side of the road.  Park, and follow the Lookout Trail on the south side of the road to an information sign.  From the sign, follow the wildcat trail generally south 93 steps to where the trail crosses over a boulder.  Eleven steps uphill from this point is a split boulder.  The box is in the crack.
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Over the next week, the remaining troops in Tucson were reassigned to duty along the Rio Grande with Carleton’s command eventually reaching Fort Thorn by August 7^th.   

The rebels by this point had left the Arizona Territories.  As Col. Eyre arrived at Fort Thorn, Col. Steele and what remained of the Mesilla defenders retreated into Texas.  Sibley’s Brigade, although initially successful, had been beaten by Col. Canby at the Battle of Glorieta Pass.  The rebel threat in the west was essentially non-existent.

General Carleton eventually received Col. Canby’s position as Head of the Department of New Mexico.  The Column was then dispersed across the vast territory.  Although there was often rumor of another Texas Brigade invading the territory, there was little if not no further contact with the rebels and the Column spent most of its time defending themselves and locals against Apaches.

After given command over the Department of New Mexico, Carleton wrote the following about and to the California Column.

“General Orders No. 85.

                In entering upon the duties that remove him from immediate association with the troops constituting the ‘Column from California,’ the Commanding General desires to express his grateful acknowledgment of the conduct and services of the officers and men of that command.  Traversing a desert country, that has heretofore been regarded as impracticable for the operations of large bodies of troops, they have reached their destination and accomplished the object assigned them, not only without loss of any kind, but improved in discipline, in morale, and in every other element of efficiency.  That patient and cheerful endurance of hardships, the zeal and alacrity with which they have grappled with, and overcome obstacles that would have been insurmountable to any but troops of the highest physical and moral energy, the complete abnegation of self, and subordination of every personal consideration, to the great object of our hopes and efforts, give the most absolute assurance of success in any field or against any enemy.

                California has reason to be proud of the sons she has sent across the continent to assist in the great struggle in which our country is now engaged.  The commanding General is requested by the officer who preceded him in the command of this department [Colonel Canby], to express for him the gratification felt by every officer and soldier of his command at the fact that troops from the Atlantic and Pacific slope, from the mountains of California and Colorado, acting in the same cause, inspired by the same duties, and animated by the same hopes, have met and shaken hands in the center of this great continent.

                (Signed) James H. Carleton.

                Brigadier General U.S. Volunteers. Commanding Department”

 

As always, Double Bag and rehide well. 

If any of the clues are confusing or out of date please alert me.

†There is possible evidence that only two rebels (S. Ford and Ricardo) died at Dragoon Springs and that the remaining two graves are those of 3 Butterfield workers massacred in 1858 with 2 buried in one grave.

Sources:

Pettis, George Henry. (1908). “The California Column: Its Campaigns and Services in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas During the Civil War” Historical Society of New Mexico.

The War of Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. IX. Chapter LXII Parts 1 & 2 Operations on the Pacific Coast. January 1, 1861-June 30, 1865.

Wikipedia Articles

http://www.yumasun.com/features/local-boy-scout-pinpoints-civil-war-skirmish-site/article_8677060a-6eb2-11e3-8268-0019bb30f31a.html