Hispano New Mexicans in the US Civil War

The men this panel counts fought in their own language. The New Mexico Volunteer regiments drilled in Spanish, carried arms left over from the Mexican War, and enlisted for a $100 bounty; when pay ran months late in the winter of 1862, many deserted. People here called the fight la guerra contra los Tejanos. At Glorieta on March 28, Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Antonio Chaves guided the Union flanking column over the mesa to the Confederate wagons at Johnson's Ranch, close to this spot. A monument to the New Mexico Volunteers was dedicated at the battlefield in 2018.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Hispano New Mexicans In The US Civil War In 1862, the U.S. Civil War reached New Mexico. At the Battle of Valverde near Socorro, the Texan Confederates delivered a resounding defeat upon Union forces. When Union volunteers arrived to bolster New Mexico's army, the balance tilted in their favor. Of approximately 8,000 Union soldiers, about 6,000 were Spanish-speaking Hispanos who had roots in New Mexico reaching back 300 years. Men with surnames like Chavez, Ortiz, Lovato, and Romero joined ranks with men who came west from New York, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Pecos National Historical Park — 8.0 mi
  The red walls of a 1717 mission church inside the foundations of a far larger one, beside the kiva Pecos people dug in front of the old church during the revolt of 1680.
• Palace of the Governors — 11 mi
  The long adobe on the north side of the Santa Fe plaza, called the oldest public building in continuous use in the country, though its own founding date is in dispute.
• Bandelier National Monument — 29 mi
  Rooms carved into soft volcanic tuff in Frijoles Canyon, named for a Swiss scholar who was led there in 1880 by a man from Cochiti Pueblo.

More markers nearby

• Cañoncito at Apache Canyon — steps away
• Route 66 — 3.0 mi
• Glorieta Pass Battlefield — 4.3 mi
• Seton Village — 6.1 mi