The New Mexico Volunteers

The New Mexico Volunteers. . Had you stood here at Fort Craig on a cold February morning in 1862, while the Civil War Battle of Valverde began to take shape a few miles away, you probably would have found yourself amidst throngs of volunteer soldiers, in a virtual beehive of hectic wartime activity. You would hear horses nervously stamping and neighing; weapons being loaded; wagons being hitched; and the excited voices of the men from companies of Colonel Kit Carson's 1st New Mexico volunteer regiment, along with 17 additional companies of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th New Mexico Volunteers, as they prepared to set out in response to the barked instructions of their superiors., The New Mexico Volunteers were created after the Civil War broke out in the East, necessitating the recall of many regular army units from their stations in the West and Southwest to the Eastern battle grounds. New Mexico communities were encouraged to create their own volunteer regiments to help with the war effort and provide protection for settlers and travelers from Indian attack., The pay was good, $13 a month, and a bonus of $100 for three-year stints. Enlistment in the New Mexico Volunteers grew by leaps and bounds. But money wasn't the only reason men joined so eagerly. They also saw military service as a way to escape from the peonage system, in which, as workers, they were bound in servitude to a landlord creditor. Many a landlord was later heard to demand that his "property" be returned, only to learn with dismay that it was impossible to obtain the release of a peon once he had enlisted in the Union army. Some New Mexicans joined the New Mexico Volunteers because of their deep-seated hatred for the Confederate Texas Volunteers, based upon an earlier foray of Texans into New Mexico as they tried to push the Texas border to the Rio Grande., Life in the New Mexico Volunteers was far from peaceful. Hostility arose from all quarters. The language barrier strained relations between Hispanic and Anglo troops. Professional officers and soldiers often looked down on the volunteers. Hispanics viewed Anglos as conquerors who were overrunning their land and destroying their culture. Even so, the New Mexico Volunteers continued to provide invaluable service to the Union army throughout the Civil War.