THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

Chosen The Stage As A Profession.

 

 

 

He Would Always Time His Actions So As To Be Found Apparently Asleep

By A Little Camp-Fire On The Bank Of Pawnee Fork, Crooked, Mulberry,

Or Walnut Creeks, All Of Which Streams Intercepted the Trails Running

North And South Between The Several Military Posts During The Indian

War, When He Would Seem Delighted and Astonished, Or Else Simulate

Suspicion.  Then He Would Either Murder The Unsuspecting Scout With

His Own Hands, Or Deliver Him To The Red fiends Of His Band To Be

Tormented.

 

 

 

The Government Offered a Reward Of Five Thousand Dollars For Bent'S

Capture, Dead Or Alive.  It Was Reported currently That He Was At Last

Killed in a Battle With Some Deputy United states Marshals, And That

They Received the Reward; But The Whole Thing Was Manufactured out Of

Whole Cloth, And If The Marshals Received the Money, Uncle Sam Was

Most Outrageously Swindled.

 

 

 

The Facts Are That He Died of Malarial Fever Superinduced by A Wound

Received in a Fight With The Kaws, Near The Mouth Of The Walnut And

Not Far From Fort Zarah.  His "Dog-Soldiers" Were Whipped by The Kaws,

And His Band Driven Off.  Bent Lingered for Some Time And Died.

Chapter XI (La Glorieta)

New Mexico, At The Breaking Out Of The Civil War, Was Abandoned by

The Government At Washington, Or At Least So Overlooked that The

Charge Of Neglect Was Merited.  In the Report Of The Committee On

The Conduct Of The War, Under Date Of July 15, 1862, Brevet

Lieutenant-Colonel B. S. Roberts Of The Regular Army, Major Of The

Third Cavalry, Who Was Stationed in the Territory In 1861, Says:

          It Appears To Me To Be The Determination Of General Thomas[37]

          Not To Acknowledge The Service Of The Officers Who Saved

          The Territory Of New Mexico; And The Utter Neglect Of The

          Adjutant-General'S Department For The Last Year To

          Communicate In any Way With The Commanding Officer Of The

          Department Of New Mexico, Or To Answer His Urgent Appeals

          For Reinforcements, For Money And Other Supplies, In

          Connection With His Repudiation Of The Services Of All The

          Army There, Convinces Me That He Is Not Gratified at Their

          Loyalty And Their Success In saving That Territory To

          The Union.

 

 

 

If Space Could Be Given To The Story Of The Carefully Prepared plans

Of The Leaders Of Secession For The Conquest Of All The Territory

South Of A Line Drawn From Maryland Directly West To The Pacific

Coast, In which Were California, Arizona, And New Mexico, It Would

Reveal Some Startling Facts, And Prove Beyond Question That It Was

The Intention Of Jefferson Davis To Precipitate The Rebellion A

Decade Before It Actually Occurred.  The Basis Of The Scheme Was To

Inaugurate A War Between Texas--Which, When Admitted into The Union,

Claimed all That Part Of New Mexico East Of The Rio Grande--And The

United states, In which Conflict Mississippi And Some Of The Other

Southern States Were To Become Participants.  The Plan Fell Flat,

Because, In 1851, Mr. Davis Failed of A Re-Election To The Governorship

Of Mississippi.

 

 

 

So Confident Were Many Of Mr. Davis' Allies In regard To The

Contemplated rebellion, That They Boasted to Their Friends Of The

North, Upon Leaving Washington, That When They Met Again, It Would

Be Upon A Southern Battle-Field.

 

 

 

I Have Alluded incidentally To What Is Known As The Texas Santa Fe

Expedition, Inaugurated by The President Of What Was Then The Republic

Of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar.  It Was Given Out To The World That

It Was Merely One Of Commercial Interest--To Increase The Trade

Between The Two Countries; But That It Was Intended for The Conquest

Of New Mexico, No One Now, In the Light Of History, Doubts.

It Resulted in disaster, And Is A Story Well Worthy The Examination

Of The Student Of American Politics.[38]

 

 

 

In 1861 General Twiggs Commanded the Military Department Of Which

Texas Was An Important Part.  It Will Be Remembered that He Surrendered

To The Confederate Government The Troops, The Munitions Of War,

The Forts, Or Posts As They Were Properly Termed, And Everything

Pertaining To The United states Army Under His Control.  It Was The

Intention Of The Confederacy To Use This Region As A Military Base

From Which To Continue Its Conquests Westward, And Capture The Various

Forts In new Mexico.  Particularly They Had Their Eyes Upon Fort Union,

Where There Was An Arsenal, Which John B. Floyd, Secretary Of War,

Had Taken Especial Care To Have Well Stocked previously To The Act

Of Secession.

 

 

 

But The Conspirators Had Reckoned without Their Host; They Imagined

The Native Mexicans Would Eagerly Accept Their Overtures, And Readily

Support The Southern Confederacy.  Mr. Davis And His Coadjutors Had

Evidently Forgotten The Effect Of The Texas Santa Fe Expedition,

In 1841, Upon The People Of The Province Of New Mexico; But The

Natives Themselves Had Not.  Besides The Loyalty Of The Mexicans,

There Was A Factor Which The Confederate Leaders Had Failed to

Consider, Which Was That The Majority Of The American Pioneers Had

Come From Loyal States.

 

 

 

Of Course, There Were Many Secessionists Both In colorado And

New Mexico Who Were Watching The Progress Of Rebellion In eager

Anticipation; And It Is Claimed that In denver A Rebel Flag Was

Raised--But How True That Is I Do Not Know.

 

 

 

John B. Floyd, Secretary Of War, Was One Of The Leading Spirits Of

The Confederacy.  A Year Before The Civil War He Placed in command

Of The Department Of New Mexico A North Carolinian, Colonel Loring,

Who Was In perfect Sympathy With His Superior, And Willing To Carry

Out His Well-Defined plans.  In 1861 He Ordered colonel G. B. Crittenden

On An Expedition Against The Apaches.  This Officer At Once Tried to

Induce His Troops To Attach Themselves To The Rebel Army In texas,

But He Was Met With An Indignant Refusal By Colonel Roberts And

The Regular Soldiers Under Him.  The Loyal Colonel Told Crittenden,

In The Most Forcible Language, That He Would Resist Any Such Attempt

On His Part, And Reported the Action Of Colonel Crittenden To The

Commander Of The Department At Santa Fe.  Of Course, Colonel Loring

Paid No Attention To The Complaint Of Disloyalty, And Then Colonel

Roberts Conveyed the Tidings To The Commanding Officers Of Several

Military Posts In the Territory, Whom He Knew Were True To The Union,

And Only One Man Out Of Nearly Two Thousand Regular Soldiers

Renounced his Flag.  Some Of The Officers Stationed at New Mexico

Were Of A Different Mind, And One Of Them, Major Lynde, Commanding

Fort Filmore, Surrendered to A Detachment Of Texans, Who Paroled

The Enlisted men, As They Firmly Refused to Join The Rebel Forces.

 

 

 

Upon The Desertion Of Colonel Loring To The Southern Confederacy,

General Edward R. S. Canby Was Assigned to The Command Of The

Department; Next In rank Was The Loyal Roberts.  At This Perilous

Juncture In new Mexico, There Were But A Thousand Regulars All Told,

But The Territory Furnished two Regiments Of Volunteers, Commanded by

Officers Whose Names Had Been Famous On The Border For Years.

Among These Was Colonel Ceran St. Vrain, Who Had Been Conspicuous

In The Suppression Of The Mexican Insurrection Of 1847, Fifteen Years

Before.  Kit Carson Was Lieutenant-Colonel; J. F. Chaves, Major; And

The Most Prominent Of The Line Officers Captain Albert H. Pfeiffer,

With A Record As An Indian Fighter Equal To That Of Carson.

 

 

 

At The Same Time Colorado Was Girding On Her Armour For The Impending

Conflict.  The Governor Of The Prosperous Territory Was William Gilpin,

An Old Army Officer, Who Had Spent A Large Part Of His Life On The

Frontier, And Had Accompanied colonel Doniphan, As Major Of His

Regiment, Across The Plains, On The Expedition To New Mexico In 1846.

 

 

 

Colonel Gilpin At Once Responded to The Pleadings Of New Mexico For

Help, By Organizing Two Companies At First, Quickly Following With

A Full Regiment.  This Colorado Regiment Was Composed of As Fine

Material As Any Portion Of The United states Could Furnish.

John P. Slough, A War Democrat And A Lawyer, Was Its Colonel.

He Afterwards Became Chief Justice Of New Mexico, And Was Brutally

Murdered in that Territory.

 

 

 

John M. Chivington, A Strict Methodist And A Presiding Elder Of

That Church, Was Offered the Chaplaincy, But Firmly Declined, And,

Like Many Others Who Wore The Clerical Garb, He Quickly Doffed it

And Put On The Attire Of A Soldier; So He Was Made Major, And His

Record As A Fighter Was Equal To The Best.

 

 

 

The Commanding General Knew Well The Plans Of The Rebels As To Their

Intended occupation Of New Mexico, And, Notwithstanding The Weakness

Of His Force, Determined to Frustrate Them If Within The Limits Of

Possibility.  To That End He Concentrated his Little Army, Comprising

A Thousand Regular Soldiers, The Two Regiments Of New Mexico

Volunteers, Two Companies Of Colorado Troops, And A Portion Of The

Territorial Militia, At Fort Craig, On The Rio Grande, To Await

The Approach Of The Confederate Troops, Under The Command Of

General H. H. Sibley, An Old Regular Army Officer, A Native Of

Louisiana, And The Inventor Of The Comfortable Tent Named after Him.

 

 

 

Sibley'S Brigade Comprised some Three Thousand Men, The Majority

Of Them Texans, And He Expected that Many More Would Flock To His

Standard As He Moved northward.  On The 19Th Of February, 1862,

He Crossed the Rio Grande Below Fort Craig, Not Daring To Attack

Canby In his Intrenched position.  The Union Commander, In order

To Keep The Texas Troops From Gaining The High Points Overlooking

The Fort, Placed portions Of The Fifth, Seventh, And Tenth Regulars,

Together With Carson'S And Pino'S Volunteers, On The Other Side Of

The River.  No Collision Occurred that Day, But The Next Afternoon

Major Duncan, With His Cavalry And Captain M'Rae'S Light Battery,

Having Been Sent Across To Reinforce The Infantry, A Heavy Artillery

Fire Was Immediately Opened upon Them By The Texans.  The Men Under

Carson Behaved splendidly, But The Other Volunteer Regiments Became

A Little Demoralized, And The General Was Compelled to Call Back

The Force Into The Fort.  Sibley'S Force, Both Men And Animals,

Suffered much From Thirst, The Latter Stampeding, And Many, Wandering

Into Our Lines, Were Caught By The Scouts Of The Union Forces.

The Next Morning Early Colonel Roberts Was Ordered to Proceed about

Seven Miles Up The River To Keep The Texans Away From The Water At

A Point Where It Was Alone Accessible, On Account Of The Steepness

Of The Banks Everywhere Else.

 

 

 

The Gallant Roberts, On Arriving at The Ford, Planted a Battery There,

And At Once Opened fire.  This Was The Battle Of Valverde, The Details

Of Which, However, Do Not Belong To This Book, Having Been Only

Incidentally Referred to In order To Lead The Reader Intelligently

Up To That Of La Glorieta, Apache Canyon, Or Pigeon'S Ranch, As It

Is Indifferently Called.

 

 

 

Valverde Was Lost To The Union Troops, But Never Did Men Fight More

Valiantly, With The Exception Of A Few Who Did Not Act The Part Of

The True Soldier.  The Brave M'Rae Mounted one Of The Guns Of His

Battery, Choosing To Die Rather Than Surrender.

 

 

 

General Sibley, After His Doubtful Victory At Valverde, Continued

On To Albuquerque And Santa Fe.  The Old City Offered no Resistance

To His Occupation; In fact, Some Of The Most Influential Mexicans

Were Pleased, Their Leaning Being Strongly Toward The Southern

Confederacy; But The Common People Were As Loyal To The Union As

Those Of Any Of The Northern States, A Feeling Intensified by Their

Hatred for The Texans On Account Of The Expedition Of Conquest In

1841, Twenty-One Years Before.  They Contributed of Their Means To

Aid The United states Troops, But Have Never Received proper Credit

For Their Action In those Days Of Trouble In the Neglected territory.

 

 

 

The Confederate General Was Disappointed at The Way In which Affairs

Were Going, For He Had Based great Hopes Upon The Defection Of The

Native Residents; But He Determined to March Forward To Fort Union,

Where His Friend Floyd Had Placed such Stores As Were Likely To Be

Needed in the Campaign Which He Had Designed.

 

 

 

From Santa Fe To Fort Union, Where The Arsenal Was Located, The Road

Runs