The Southerners had rested about 1 minute when Chivington's men entered the upper entrance. The Confederates, even though exhausted, immediately opened fire. Both sides broke into skirmish lines, and the battle raged. Major Chivington, in what could be called his finest moment, rode to the front of his Cavalry troops. He had a pistol in each hand, one under each arm, and one on each hip, yelling "God save our country, God save Colorado!" and led a charge. The mounted troops jumped the arroyo and engaged the enemy. The Texans panicked and fled down the trail. They then held up at a small ridge and the battle stagnated.
The battle had taken approximately three and one half-hours, and darkness began to fall. Both sides were tired and withdrew when it became completely dark. The toll for the day was 50 Confederate killed, as compared to 5 dead on the Colorado side. During the night 400 Coloradans were sent back to establish a line at the battlefield.
March 27th was a quiet day as both sides recovered from the previous day's battle, taking care of their wounded. The Texans believed that due to their not being attacked, they had possibly decimated the Union troops. They prepared to march the next day and conquer Fort Union. They were unaware that General Canby was restudying his intelligence, and planning strategy during the lull.
On the evening of March 27th there was a high level meeting at General Canby's camp. Major Chivington proposed an outrageous plan, that they split the Union troops. One part was to engage the enemy in the Pass, the other to travel along the top of the canyon and drop down behind the Confederates. Chivington would lead 400 mounted men that could travel quickly and conduct this second action. The plan was adopted due to its novel approach, and a high success rate. On March 28th at approximately 4:30 AM, Major Chivington took off with his mounted troops. Approximately 1,000 infantrymen then departed down the pass to engage the enemy. Scouts were sent ahead, and engaged enemy troops before the last of the men had pulled out of the Union camp. The fighting was so intense that soon the canyon was filled with smoke, making it hard to see. Confusion reigned and several attacks by both sides were repulsed. The Confederates lost 3 cannons to union fire, severely limiting artillery support.
The battle raged on for approximately 3 hours, and at this time the Coloradans were being pushed back up the pass. Both sides faced each other across open ground, and 5 Confederate charges were stopped. The Coloradans then attacked and were beaten back. It now was nearly 4 PM, and both sides were fatigued from battle. The Coloradans felt victory was imminent and became upset when they were ordered back to Kozlowski ranch. What they did not know was that General Canby had been advised of an extremely large army headed for Fort Union. What he did not realize was that his men were presently engaged in battle with that army.
As the disgruntled Coloradans were preparing to follow orders an ambulance with white flag approached from the Confederate side. Major Alexander M. Jackson, Assistant Adjutant to General Sibley, pulled up and requested an eighteen-hour suspension of hostilities to take care of the dead and wounded. This was agreed to, and was also extended another eight. The final casualty count was the South was 281 dead, with 203 wounded. The North lost 49 dead and 64 wounded.
Meanwhile Major Chivington was blessed with a stroke of luck, which ended the Confederates bold move toward Colorado. Major Chivington's troops overshot the main force of General Sibley, and arrived above his base camp. A small token force was on hand, along with teamsters. Major Chivington decided to have his men rappel down the cliff and engage the token force. They took over the base camp with minor fighting, and most of the teamsters escaped on horseback. He then was able to appraise what he had seized. There were approximately 500 horses, which Major Chivington ordered destroyed. The wagons and supplies were overturned, stacked and burned. A cannon was spiked to keep the Confederacy from recovering and using it. Major Chivington had to do this, as he had no way of taking these items back with him.
The Confederate troops returned to their camp believing that they had won a victory that day. On reaching the camp it was realized that any hope they had of victory at Glorietta pass had gone up in smoke. General Sibley then made a hard decision, and determined to return to Santa Fe during the cease-fire. Within 24 hours his men were safely in Santa Fe, with the exception of wounded troops left behind. Many historians have seen this as a cowardly move, however as General Sibley and General Canby were close, Sibley knew that Canby would care for his less fortunate troops. This was a delaying tactic on the part of Sibley.
General Canby ordered the Coloradians back to Fort Union, to prepare for the attack. Major Chivington was made full Colonel due to his heroic actions in battle, and the resignation of a senior officer. General Canby then received better intelligence, and realized the main attack force had been repelled at Glorietta Pass. He then decided to leapfrog ahead of the Confederate force, and try to finish them off. He was faced with the problem of what to do with captured troops.
During this time it was acceptable to make the conquered men swear to cease hostilities against the United States, and let them loose. There were a couple minor skirmishes during the Texans retreat, however it became apparent that General Canby was content with following the Texans back to the Texas line. Many troops saw this as cowardly, however as oaths were given to prisoners who were then released, it seems that General Canby felt it cost effective to simply hound the Texans out of New Mexico.
Losses
The total losses of the Western Expeditionary Force were extremely high, even by Civil War standards. Accurate records are unavailable, however approximately 1200 men were killed, and 1100 wounded. 192 were captured, and another 1100 had deserted. The dead and wounded amounted to sixty percent of Sibley's force. The Union suffered far less losses. It is estimated that the Union lost 800 casualties, of which 300 were from Colorado. This amounted to twenty-five percent casualties.
Did General Sibley's men suffer from AMS during the battle of Glorietta Pass? This remains a possibility. General Sibley certainly had a plan, which would have given the South the resources to fight a better war, and possibly changed the outcome. It was unfortunate for General Sibley that when he proposed his idea of the Western Expeditionary Force, the South had concentrated its troops in the East. If there had been a larger expedition we might be whistling Dixie.
References
Scott, Robert. Glory, Glory, Glorietta: the Gettysburg of the West. Boulder: Johnson Printing Company, 1992.
Whitford, William C. The Battle of Glorietta Pass. Glorietta, New Mexico: The Rio Grande Press, 1971
Boyd, Leroy. "Thunder on the Rio Grande." Colorado Magazine, July 1947
Josephy, Alvin. War on the Frontier: the Trans-Mississippi West. New York:Time- Life, Inc., 1986
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