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Second Battle of Mesilla

Coordinates: 32°16′N 106°48′W / 32.267°N 106.800°W / 32.267; -106.800
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Second Battle of Mesilla
Part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the
American Civil War
DateJuly 1, 1862
Location
Result Union victory
Belligerents
Confederate States of America Confederate States United States United States
Commanders and leaders
Confederate States of America Captain Sherod Hunter unknown
Strength
Company A, Herbert's Battalion of Arizona Cavalry
7th Texas Infantry
New Mexican guerillas
California Column
Casualties and losses
none, lost several horses and their equipment none known
Mesilla in 1854

The Second Battle of Mesilla was an engagement of the American Civil War. It was fought on July 1, 1862, and was the last engagement between Union and Confederate forces in the Arizona Territory.

A skirmish outside of Confederate Arizona's capital of Mesilla between a confederate party and local pro-Union New Mexican guerrillas resisting the Confederate foraging expedition, resulted in a United States victory. Various accounts report from seven to twelve Confederates killed, including their commander Capt. Cleaver of the 7th Texas Infantry and as many as 40 of the local guerrillas.[1]

The arrival of the advance party of the California Column on the west bank of the Rio Grande on July 4, 1862, prompted the rebel army to begin withdrawal to Franklin and then San Antonio three days later, covered by Herbert's Battalion of Arizona Cavalry acting as rearguard.

Mesilla, location of the engagement
Mesilla c.1885-1886

See also

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References

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Notes

  1. ^ Kiser p. 188

Bibliography

  • Finch, L. Boyd (1996) Confederate Pathway to the Pacific: Major Sherod Hunter and Arizona Territory, C.S.A., Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Historical Society. pp. 164–66
  • Hall, Martin Hardwick (1978)The Confederate Army of New Mexico, Austin, Texas: Presidial Press. pp. 363
  • Kiser, William S. (2011)Turmoil on the Rio Grande: History of the Mesilla Valley, 1846–1865, College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. pp. 187–88
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32°16′N 106°48′W / 32.267°N 106.800°W / 32.267; -106.800