TIMELINE
1848
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded the land that would become New Mexico. However, New Mexico did not become a territory of the United States until the Compromise of 1850.
1860
The U.S. Census documents 80,000 residents in the territory, mostly living along the major rivers: the Rio Grande, the Pecos, the Canadian.
March 2, 1861
Texas becomes the 7th state to secede from the Union.
March 1861
Baylor declares the portion of the territory below the 34th parallel to be the Confederate Territory of Arizona.
April 12, 1861
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter. Lincoln declares war.
April 28, 1861
Henry Hopkins Sibley resigns commission in the U.S. Army.
June 11, 1861
Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby takes over command of the U.S. Military Department of New Mexico.
Early July 1861
Fort Bliss, near El Paso, is abandoned by Union forces. Sibley meets with Jefferson Davis and pursuades him to authorize a Confederate invasion of New Mexico Territory.
July 25, 1861
Union Major Isaac Lynde abandons Fort Fillmore. He surrenders to Confederate Lt. Col. John Robert Baylor at San Augustine Pass on July 27th.
July 1861
The new star fort at Fort Union takes shape, designed to block the Santa Fe Trail from Confederate advance.
September 9, 1861
U.S. Territorial Governor Henry Connelly issues proclamation urging New Mexicans to arms.
Late October 1861
Sibley has formed and trained a 3,200-man brigade of four regiments.
October 21, 1861
Sibley's Brigade parades through San Antonio.The 7th Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers marches north and the rest of the brigade follows.
January 1862
Union forces total 4,500, including 1,500 regulars and 3,000 volunteers and militia untested by battle.
February 7, 1862
The 5th Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers heads towards Fort Craig and the Union Army.
February 9, 1862
Canby sends the women of Fort Craig north.
February 16, 1862
Confederate forces form line of battle and advance toward Fort Craig. Union's Canby stations battery of guns and howitzers outside south-facing walls. Confederates call off attack and withdraws.
February 19, 1862
Sibley moves north to control ford at Valverde, hoping to draw Canby from fort.
February 20, 1862
Canby's forces were driven back to Fort Craig to meet Confederate forces.
February 21, 1862
Battle of Valverde, a tactical victory for the Confederacy, but Fort Craig remains in Union hands.
February 23, 1862
Confederate forces break camp, leaving Union forces at their backs, and capture Socorro.
March 2, 1862
Confederate forces enter Albuquerque. Union Army fires supply depot before abandoning.
March 3, 1862
Confederacy captures Federal ammunition depot at Cubero.
March 4, 1862
First reports of the Battle of Valverde reach Denver and galvanize Colorado Volunteers.
March 4, 1862
Union garrison in Santa Fe evacuates to Fort Union. U.S. Governor Connelly moves territorial capital to Las Vegas, New Mexico.
March 11, 1862
Colorado Regiment, under command of Col. John Slough, reaches Fort Union after a forced march from Denver.
March 13, 1862
Confederate advance enters Santa Fe.
March 20, 1862
Confederate column leaves Albuquerque, heading north.
March 22, 1862
Slough's Union forces leave Fort Union and march toward Santa Fe.
March 25, 1862
A second Confederate column leaves Santa Fe and heads toward Fort Union.
March 25, 1862
Union forces arrive at Kozlowski's Ranch, at the eastern end of Glorieta Pass.
March 26, 1862
Battle of Apache Canyon, a Union victory. Union Major John Chivington and 400 men fight Confederate Major Pyron's four companies. Union forces return to Pigeon's Ranch. Confederate forces set up camp at Johnson's Ranch.
March 27, 1862
Confederate reinforcements reach Johnson's Ranch. Union reinforcements reach Kozlowski's Ranch.
March 28, 1862
Battle of Pigeon's Ranch, a tactical victory for the Confederacy and logistical victory for the Union. Confederate forces advance and battle Union forces near Pigeon's Ranch. Chivington, with 400 men, slips around and destroys Confederate supplies.
April 7 1862
Confederacy abandons Santa Fe.
April 8-9, 1862
Union forces, under Canby, engage in feint attack against confederacy in Albuquerque, then withdraw east to meet up with force from Fort Union.
April 12, 1862
Union forces reoccupy Santa Fe.
April 12, 1862
Confederate forces abandon Albuquerque.
April 14, 1862
Union forces from Fort Union meet up with forces from Fort Craig in the village of San Antonio and turn south toward Albuquerque.
April 15, 1862
Battle of Peralta. The 5th Texas Mounted Volunteers, with 500 men, camp near Governor Connelly's ranch. Standoff skirmish with a few localized firefights. Confederate forces escape during dust storm.
Late April
Confederate forces retreat around the San Meteo Mountains to avoid Fort Craig.
May 1, 1862
Confederate forces straggele into Mesilla. Sibley's Brigade, which started with some 3,200 men, is reduced to 1,500 men by the end of the campaign.
April 9, 1865
The Confederacy surrenders at Appomattox Court House.
