Page 157 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

patrol had proceeded west to determine the progress of the Union column from Forts Buchanan
"Hank” Smith, who was a member of the patrol, madenomentionofthemorofanyFight. Smithdid note that the sick and the “camp followers” were still at the spring (without supplies) and that the artillery was still partially intact. He correctly surmised that it was Massie, released a few days earlier, who had warned Moore’s command. There was an abun- dance of good food and strong drink left, so the Confederates enjoyed themselves before salvaging what they could and heading back. Johnston, upon learning the news, dispatched 200 men to the San Diego crossing at old Fort Thorn but failed to get
1* there in time to intercept any of the Federals.
On August 1, 1861, Baylor declared himself Gover- nor of the Territory of Confederate Arizona, created by dividing the Union Territory of New Mexico horizontally at the 34th parallel, and proclaimed
1*S
Mesilla the new Capitol.
Mounted Riflemen taken prisoner with the Fort Fillmore garrison were probably equally unimpressed by this proclamation and by General Order number 55, issued 9 days later, changing their official regimental designation from Mounted
119 Riflemen to the Third Cavalry.
After approximately a month of captivity. Mills escaped from Fort Bliss and proceeded to Fort Craig. Colonel Benjamin Stone Roberts offered to either secure him a captain’s commission with Kit Carson’s (Figure 40) New Mexico Volunteers or to appoint him a first lieutenant on Roberts’ staff as an
1"
aide-de-camp. Mills chose the latter.
On the other side of the political fence, Mills’
Confederate friend, P. T. Herbert, became even more at odds with Hart over his extremist activities. The Mesilla Times reported:
Colliding Affair - A rencontre took place on Tuesday morning the 20th inst., [August] in the public Plaza of El Paso, between the Hon. P.T.HerbertandJudgeSimeonHart. The former armed with a cow-hide [whip], and the latter with a cudgel offormidable dimensions.
The cause of the affair we believe grew out of personal animosity, and an intermeddling on Hart’s part. The result was much to Hart’s discomfiture, for he not only received a sound thrashing with the Col’s, cow-hide, but was
severely drubbed about the head and shoulders
and Breckenridge.
Massie on the road, but he cominced them that he was only going to Picacho to visit his parents who lived in that small community. The patrol nearly- encountered the Federal column they were looking for and retreated to the hills in an effort to observe Moore’s strength and progress. Smith later reported that he thought there were about 4 com- panies of Infantry, 2 troops of Dragoons, an artillery battery, and about 40 wagons.
The patrol returned to Baylor with the news Moore’s progress and assisted in the construction of a hidden battery at the point where the mail road dropped down from the mesa toward Picacho and the Rio Grande. The Confederates intended to use the artillery to force Moore
destroyed. Smith and some of the patrol then returned to monitor Moore’s activities. The march- ing command must have been living comfortablv because Smith reported finding empty champagne
14
They met Moore’s messenger
bottles and cigar boxes at their campsites.* Moore’s Command arrived at Cooke’s Spring
on August 3 and discovered several fresh trails of the Confederate scouting parties. He decided to camp there and sent four soldiers and a guide to determine what was happening along the river. They returned in an hour, after meeting Massie who had the news of Lynde’s surrender and information that Moore’s command would be the next probable target for Baylor’s Texans. Moore immediately ordered everything burned except for personal arms and enough ammunition, clothing, and food for ten days. The men’s private property, Grant’s and the government’s wagons, and two pieces of artillery were destroyed, or so Moore thought. The Con- federates observed the situation from nearby hills, aided by the light of the burning wagons that ‘‘made
1*"
everything as bright as day.”
Moore and most of the other officers, including Dr.
Irwin and Lieutenant Lord, mounted their mules and proceeded over the mountains to Fort Craig, arriving there August 11. He left Captain Gurden Chapin, Assistant Surgeon Kirdey Ryland, about 6 or 7 sick soldiers, and 16 laundresses with 2 wagons and an escort of 25 men to proceed to Fort Craig, if possible, by the river route.**"
Apparendy the escort deserted the noncombatants when a Confederate patrol approached, because
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with his own cudgel.
1^1
of
to capitulate or be
The company of
Chapter 5