1 March 1861
The San Elizario Spy (Scout) Company is organized in El Paso. The majority of the
members are Arizona men.
16 March 1861
The citizens of the Territory convene in La Mesilla and pass an Ordinance of Secession
which aligns the Territory of Arizona with the Confederacy. The Confederate Territory of Arizona encompasses all the
land south of the 34th parallel from Texas to the Colorado River.
28 March 1861
A second secession convention was held in Tucson. The delegates at this meeting
confirmed the ordinance of secession and the elections held at La Mesilla.
17 May 1861
Captain George M. Frazer, authorized by the citizens of La Mesilla to raise a company
of Rangers to 'chastise the Apaches", leads his recruits into the plaza in La Mesilla. There, they accept
a "very neat and beautiful flag of the Confederate States from Miss Guadalupe and Miss Patton."
8 June 1861
Henry H. Sibley, W.W. Loring, James Longstreet, Cadmus Wilcox, Lawrence Baker, Joseph
Wheeler, and George Crittenden, all recently resigned from Federal service, pass through La Mesilla. All would later
become Confederate Generals.
25 July 1861
Confederate troops under the command of Lt. Colonel John R. Baylor defeat the Union garrison
at Fort Fillmore near La Mesilla and take possession of the lower Rio Grande Valley.
27 July 1861
Confederate troops pursue the retreating Union forces from Fort Fillmore and catch them
at San Augustine Pass, capturing more than 700 officers and men and considerable arms and supplies.
28 July 1861
Albert Sidney Johnston and his party, traveling east to join the Confederacy, stop at
La Mesilla.
1 August 1861
Lt. Colonel John R. Baylor issues a proclamation establishing a military government for
the territory with himself as governor.
5 August 1861
Granville Henderson Oury is elected as the Territory's delegate to the Confederate Congress.
Oury later serves in the Confederate Army as a Captain.
8 August 1861
The Arizona Rangers are formally inducted into Confederate Service At La Mesilla.
January 1862
General Sibley sends Colonel James Reily to Chihuahua City to encourage Mexican oppostion
to any attempt by US troops to cross Mexican territory, to gain formal permission for Confederate troops to pursue Apache
raiders across the border and to obtain permission for the purchase of arms and supplies in Chihuahua.
27 January 1862
General Henry H. Sibley, with the concurrence of Lt. Colonel Baylor, orders Company A,
Arizona Rangers under the command of Captain Sherod Hunter to Tucson.
14 February 1862
President Jefferson Davis signs the bill passed by the Congress creating the Territory
of Arizona. 50 years later, the US Congress admits Arizona as the 48th State on 14 February 1912. (This is no coincidence!)
21 February 1862
General Sibley's Army of New Mexico attacks Union forces at Fort Craig under the command
of Colonel E.R.S. Canby, winning a victory and capturing the famous "Valverde Battery".
22 February 1862.
While encamped at the San Simone stage station, Private Benjamin John Mays of Company
A dies of pleurisy. He is the first trooper lost in what is now Arizona.
28 February 1862
Captain Hunter raises the Stars and Bars over the plaza at the Presidio in Tucson.
3 March 1862
Colonel James Reily once again undertakes a diplomatic mission to Mexico. Escorted
by troopers commanded by Lt. James H. Tevis, Colonel Reily attempts to negotiate with the Governor of Sonora for the purchase
of arms and supplies and to establish permission for the Confederate Navy to use the port at Guaymas.
10 March 1862
Confederate forces enter and take possession of the City of Santa Fe, capital city of
the Union Territory of New Mexico. Albuquerque is already in Confederate hands.
28 March 1862
Advancing toward Fort Union on the Santa Fe Trail, Sibley's Army fights a battle at Glorieta
Pass. While a Confederate victory, members of the Colorado Volunteers manage to attack and destroy Sibley's supply train,
forcing a retreat to Santa Fe and ultimately a withdrawal to El Paso.
30 March 1862
A detachment from Company A fights a skirmish with Union troopers at Stanwyx Station
along the Gila River. Three of Captain McCleave's Federal soldiers are captured.
15 April 1862
Confederate pickets engage a Union cavalry patrol in battle at Picacho Pass. Three
Yankees including the patrol leader, Lieutenant Barrett are killed. Three Confederates are captured.
5 May 1862
A foraging party from Company A is attacked at Dragoon Springs Station by hostile Apache
warriors. Four troopers are killed in action. Three Yankee POWs with the party help fight off the attack.
These are the only Confederate combat deaths in Arizona. The troopers are Captain John Donaldson, Sergeant Sam Ford,
a private named Ricardo and an unknown Son of the South. More than 30 horses and mules are lost to the Apaches.
9 May 1862
In an effort to recover the lost mounts, Captain Hunter sends a patrol eastward to look
for the Apache raiders. They find a party of the Chiricahua and kill five of them. The horses and
mules are recovered.
14 May 1862
Under pressure from the advance of the California Column from Yuma consisting of more
than 2500 soldiers, and a lack of logistical support, Captain Hunter abandons his post at Tucson and returns to Texas.
Members of Company A rejoin the Arizona Brigade and fight in the Trans-Mississippi until
the end of the war.
Source: Confederate Pathway to the Pacific: Major Sherod Hunter and Arizona
Territory CSA. by L. Boyd Finch.
