California Column
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The California Column, a regiment of nearly 2,000 Union volunteers, marched from April to August 1862 over 900 miles from California, across most of the New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and then into western Texas. At the time, this was the longest trek through desert terrain ever attempted by the U.S. military. The objective of their commander, Colonel James Henry Carleton (promoted to brigadier general while the column was en route) was to drive Confederate troops out of New Mexico. The soldiers of the California Column, both infantry and cavalry, often traveled by foot wearing wool uniforms in 120°F heat. Much like the Confederate Army of New Mexico(also known as the Sibley Brigade), which had invaded New Mexico from Texas in December 1861, they traveled in small groups at intervals of a few days so that men and horses would not exhaust the springs and wells along the way.
Confederates managed to destroy supplies along the Column's route, making its progress extremely slow going. Most of Carleton's attempts to send messages to General E. R. S. Canby, the Union's beleaguered departmental commander of New Mexico, were intercepted. It was not until late June that a scout named John W. Jones was able to get a message to Canby: "The Column from California is really coming." By the time the California Column reached the Rio Grande, the Confederates had retreated from the territory.
The Column engaged Confederates in two skirmishes, first at Stanwix Station near the end of March 1862 and then, in mid April, at Picacho Pass. Additionally, 140 men of Company E, 1st California Infantry, and Company B, 2nd California Infantry, fought the famous Apache leader Cochise at Apache Pass in July.
[edit] References
- The California Column.
- Hunt, Aurora, James Henry Carleton, 1814-1873, Western Frontier Dragoon, Western Military Series II, Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1958.
