Near Watrous in Mora County, New Mexico — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Ready to Repel the Confederates
Civil War in New Mexico
Fort Union National Monument
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
1. Ready to Repel the Confederates Marker
Soon after a Confederate army from Fort Bliss, Texas invaded southern New Mexico in July 1861, over 200 men found themselves here, working 4-hour shifts, day and night. With picks and shovels they raised a new Fort Union surrounded by earthworks. The threat was real. In early 1862, 3,500 Confederate troops advanced up the Rio Grande Valley, intent on taking over the riches of the West.
The first Fort Union (1851-1861) had been a typical western frontier Army post no wooden stockade or fortified walls. Such an arrangement worked well to protect the Santa Fe Trail and surrounding settlements against Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache raids. But to keep Confederate hands off the goldfields of California and Colorado, this new star-shaped fort had to be capable of standing up to an enemy armed with powerful cannon.
You can still see the outline of some of the Civil War-era entrenchments that the U.S. Army built on the open ground ahead.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • Patriots & Patriotism • War, US Civil • Wars, US Indian. In addition, it is included in the Santa Fe Trail series list. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1861.
Location.
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Northern New Mexico. It is also in the American Southwest, in the Mountain West, and on the Santa Fe Trail Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Dust Bowl, and the Republic of Texas.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The First Ten Years: 1851-1861 (a few steps from this marker); The First Fort Union (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fort Union: 1866 (about 400 feet away); The Third Fort Union (about 500 feet away); The Six Mule Army Wagon (about 500 feet away); Rank Has its Privileges (about 500 feet away); Home for the Commandants (about 700 feet away); Fort Union and the Santa Fe Trail (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Watrous.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Fort Union National Monument
Also see . . . New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War (Wikipedia). In 1861, the Confederacy claimed the southern half of the vast New Mexico Territory as its own Arizona Territory and waged the ambitious New Mexico Campaign in an attempt to control the American Southwest and open up access to Union-held California.
2. Marker detail: The New Mexico Volunteers
Men of the New Mexico Volunteers like Captain Rafael Chacσn made up 11 of the 19 companies of 1,325 troops that garrisoned Fort Union in 1861-1862. Most of the New Mexico Volunteers had been citizens of Mexico before 1848.
Their loyalty to the Union helped keep the southwestern territories under the authority of the President and Congress working in Washington, D.C. and not their rivals in Richmond, Virginia.
Captain Juliαn Espinosa
Colonel Kit Carson
Captain Rafael Chacσn
ABREL ALARM ALIREZ AMOURS APODACA ARAGΣN ARCHULETA ARMIJO BACA BERGMAN BERNEY BORREGO BRADY CANDELARIO CΑRDENAS CARSON CASADOS CASILLOS CHACΣN CHΑVEZ CHIVINA COCA COOLEY CRUZ CUMMINGS DURΑN EATON ESPINOSA EVERETT EYERS FERNΑNDEZ GABALDΣN GALLEGOS GONZΑLEZ GRAYDON GUADALUPE HODT HOLMES HUBBELL JARAMILLO LENTΝN LUCERO MACHOWITZ MARTΝNEZ MCALLISTER MCCABE MCCRAE MEDINA MEINHOLD MONDRAGΣN MONTOYA MORRISON ORTEGA ORTIZ PACHECO PACK PADIA PINO QUINTANA QUINTO ROMERO RUIBAL SALAZAR SΑNCHEZ SANDOBAL SENA SERAZO SHAW SHOEMAKER SHOUT TAFOYA TAPIA TENORIO THOMPSON TRUJILLO URBAN VALDEZ VARELA VΑSQUEZ VIDAL VIGIL
Their loyalty to the Union helped keep the southwestern territories under the authority of the President and Congress working in Washington, D.C. and not their rivals in Richmond, Virginia.
Colonel Kit Carson
Captain Rafael Chacσn
ABREL ALARM ALIREZ AMOURS APODACA ARAGΣN ARCHULETA ARMIJO BACA BERGMAN BERNEY BORREGO BRADY CANDELARIO CΑRDENAS CARSON CASADOS CASILLOS CHACΣN CHΑVEZ CHIVINA COCA COOLEY CRUZ CUMMINGS DURΑN EATON ESPINOSA EVERETT EYERS FERNΑNDEZ GABALDΣN GALLEGOS GONZΑLEZ GRAYDON GUADALUPE HODT HOLMES HUBBELL JARAMILLO LENTΝN LUCERO MACHOWITZ MARTΝNEZ MCALLISTER MCCABE MCCRAE MEDINA MEINHOLD MONDRAGΣN MONTOYA MORRISON ORTEGA ORTIZ PACHECO PACK PADIA PINO QUINTANA QUINTO ROMERO RUIBAL SALAZAR SΑNCHEZ SANDOBAL SENA SERAZO SHAW SHOEMAKER SHOUT TAFOYA TAPIA TENORIO THOMPSON TRUJILLO URBAN VALDEZ VARELA VΑSQUEZ VIDAL VIGIL
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
3. Ready to Repel the Confederates Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on March 11, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 27, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 484 times since then and 33 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 29, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
