Commander, Company K, 1st Regiment
of Infantry, California Volunteers
Immediately after the first battle of Bull
Run on July 24, 1861, Governor John G. Downey received from the
Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, a communication which said: "The
War Department accepts, for three years, one regiment of infantry
and five com panies of cavalry to guard the Overland Mail Route
from Carson Valley to Salt Lake City and Fort Laramie." This
was the first official action towards organizing troops in California,
and it required but a short time to raise the required number
of men, and as fast as the companies were mustered in at the Presidio,
near San Francisco they were transported across the bay to Camp Downey (in present day Oakland).
The First California Volunteer Infantry
and five companies of the First Cavalry were being well drilled
and disciplined at Camp Downey when the news was received at Department
Headquarters that Secessionists in the southern part of the state
were becoming turbulent and more outspoken, and on September 17th
General Sumner ordered Colonel Carleton's command to Southern
California.
The First Infantry, under Colonel James
H. Carleton since July 26, 1861, and the First Cavalry, under
Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Davis, arrived at San Pedro and
marched some eighteen miles north to lay out a camp for fifteen
companies near a small creek (Ballona Creek in present Culver
City). They named it "Camp Latham"
in honor of one of the California senators. When the order came
for regular Army troops to transfer to the East Coast, Major Edwin
A. Riggs of the First California Infantry was sent with several
companies to replace those leaving Fort Yuma. Other regulars from
Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego were soon assembled
at San Pedro for shipment to New York.
On the 20th of October, 1861, General Sumner
was replaced as commander of the Department of California by Colonel
George Wright of the Twelfth U.S. Infantry. Colonel Sumner, shortly
thereafter, was drowned on his way to take command of the Department
of Oregon when the steamer "Brother Jonathan" sank off
the mouth of the Columbia River. (Note: Lieutenant Pettis appears
to have mistaken which commander went down on the "Brother
Jonathan". In fact is was Brigadier General Wright who drowned)
On November 20th, Colonel Carleton was called to San Francisco
to take command of California troops heading east by the overland
route through Salt Lake City. But these orders were superseded
when news was received of the successful invasion of New Mexico
and Arizona by a force of Texans under Confederate General H.H.
Sibley. Within a few days, Wright and Carleton developed a plan
to proceed with a command through Arizona and attack Sibley on
his flank and rear. General Wright submitted this plan to the
War Department on December 9, 1861, and received immediate approval
from General McClellan.
It was decided that Fort
Yuma, on the California side of the Colorado River, should
be the jumping off point for the expedition, and advance units
were sent with all promptitude to prepare for the increased activity
which would take place in a few months, and to strengthen its
defenses in case Confederates arrived there before the main force
of California Volunteers. A small camp at Warner's Ranch (near
present Warner's Springs), named Camp
Wright, was enlarged to serve as an intermediate supply and
staging point halfway between Wilmington and Fort Yuma. Supplies
started moving forward, both by Phineas Banning's teams across
the desert and by steamship to the head of the Gulf of California
and then up the Colorado by river steamboats of the Colorado River
Navigation Company.
The "California Column" originally
consisted of ten companies of the First California Infantry, five
companies of the First California Cavalry, one company of the
Second California Cavalry and Light Battery A of the Third U.S.
Artillery. This command contained 1500 men, well drilled, well
disciplined, and eager to show what stuff they were made of. Later
on, Lieutenant Colonel George W. Bowie's Fifth California was
added, bringing the total strength to 2350 rank and file. It should
be pointed out here that never did the entire column move as one
unit. Advance parties, some quite large, were sent ahead to scout,
to strengthen fortifications at camping points, and to collect
what food and forage was available for the large groups to follow.
Another reason for breaking the column into smaller units was
to conserve the water supply at springs and water holes, many
of which only had enough water for a few hundred men with their
mounts and mule teams at one time.
Before these advance movements and training
of the California troops were being made, Union forces in New
Mexico under the command of General Canby had not fared well.
Confederate Colonel John R. Baylor had arrived in New Mexico,
proclaimed him self Provisional Governor of New Mexico and Arizona,
and started up the Rio Grande on July 1, 1861. On July 25th, Major
Isaac Lynde, 7th U.S. Infantry, in command of Fort Fillmore, about
three miles east of Mesilla, proceeded to attack Baylor's
"Second Texas Rifles", a partial regiment of less than
300 poorly armed men. After a weak assault with his more than
500 well equipped and armed troops headed by capable officers,
Lynde ordered a retreat to the adobe walls of Fort Fillmore with
three men killed and four wounded. On the 27th, Lynde attempted
to start a march to Fort Stanton, some one hundred miles to the
northeast to escape the "superior" Rebel army. He was
overtaken by the Texans before he had gone fifteen miles and surrendered
without firing a shot.
Further Union setbacks followed Lynde's
surrender. A major battle at Valverde on February 21, 1862, between
General Canby's 2500 New Mexico volunteers and a force of 3000
Confederates under General H.H. Sibley, who had replaced Colonel
Baylor, resulted in a victory for the Texans. After the Union
troops retreated behind the thick adobe walls of Fort Craig, Sibley
continued his march north. Albuquerque and Santa Fe surrendered
with little resistance, marking the high water mark of Confederate
operations.
A Union force made up of Colorado volunteers
under Colonel J.P. Slough, with some regular U.S. troops from
Fort Lyon and Fort Union won a major victory at Apache Canyon
and Glorieta, a few miles east of Santa Fe. In three days of fighting,
the Union forces had 25 killed, 64 wounded and 30 missing; Confederate
losses were 82 killed, 155 hounded and 96 taken prisoner. (this
fight, from March 25th to 28th, was the last major combat in New
Mexico).
Sibley started his long retreat back to
Texas, aware that any delay would find him trapped between the
Colorado troops to the north, General Canby with a still effective
force at Fort Craig and the Californians approaching from the
west. Sibley reached Fort Bliss at Franklin (now El Paso) late
in April.
About this time, General Sibley ordered
a Confederate company under Captain Sherod Hunter to proceed west
through Tucson and then along the Gila River as far as Yuma if
possible, the same route which would be used by the California
Column on their way to the Rio Grande. At White's Mills, near
the Pima Villages,about twenty miles south of present Phoenix,
Captain Hunter met and captured a scouting party under Captain
William McCleave and nine men of his A Company. When this news
got back to Fort Yuma, a larger party under Captain William Calloway
was dispatched along the same route with orders to find and free
Captain McCleave and his men. Calloway reached the Pima Villages,
the main supply point between Fort Yuma and Tucson, with no sign
of the rebels other than a number of burned haystacks, and after
a short rest , set out for Tucson. As they approached Picacho
Pass, Indian scouts brought in information that Confederate pickets
were just ahead. Lieutenant James Barrett and a small group of
his Company A, First Infantry were ordered to make a wide detour
to strike them on the flank, while Calloway would make a front
al attack with the main party. After traveling several miles,
Calloway heard firing on his front and soon came upon a bloody
scene. Barrett had found and attacked the rebel pickets, and in
the short encounter, had been killed along with Privates George
Johnson and William Leonard. Two other Union soldiers were wounded.
One Confederate was killed, four were wounded, three were taken
prisoner and one of the nine pickets escaped. This "battle"
between fewer than a dozen troops on each side was the only time
that members of the "California Column" engaged Confederate
troops in combat. The graves of Lieutenant Barrett and his men
may be seen within twenty feet of the tracks of the Southern Pacific
Railroad as it goes through Picacho Pass. (Just off U.S. 10 below
Picacho, a monument erected by the Arizona Pioneers marks the
graves.)
Captain Calloway returned to Pima Villages
and started work on a permanent camp, throwing up earth works
around the flour mill of Ammi White, who had been taken away by
the rebels a few weeks before. This earth work was named "Fort
Barrett" in honor of their comrade. It required several weeks
for the main elements of the "Column" to get to Pima
Villages, as only detachments of less than four companies could
move over the desert routes within twenty four hours of each other
because of the scarcity of water. On the 15th of May, Colonel
West and his advance detachment moved out of the Pima Villages
for Tucson, going through the "Casa Grandes" and Rattlesnake
Springs to old Fort Breckenridge (later named Fort Grant), where
the American flag was run up again on the flagstaff of the fort
amid the hurrahs of the men and the field music playing "The
Star Spangled Banner".
The command camped that night in the "Canon
de Oro". The next day, May 19th, a short march of fifteen
miles was made, and the party encamped within ten miles of Tucson.
An early reveille on the morning of the 20th, and the command
moved forward with a light step. When it had arrived within two
miles of the town, Captain Emil Fritz, Company B, 1st Cavalry,
was ordered take his first platoon to make a detour and come in
on the east side of the town; the second platoon, under Juan Francisco
Guirado, was to charge in on the north side, while the four companies
of infantry were to come in on the road
from the west. The three parties arrived at the plaza at the same
moment, the cavalry at the charge and the infantry at the double
quick, but found no enemy. The rebels, before they left, had publicly
announced that the "Abs" (abolitionists ?) would soon
take the fair city, which would then be given over to the ravages
of a brutal soldiery, and the population, mostly Mexican, had
started southward for the Sonora line.
Good quarters were found for the troops,
who would be in Tucson for the next two months, until July 20th,
while the "Column" was being assembled here, with food
and forage enough to start on the final leg to the Rio Grande,
still almost 250 miles away. Everything, except for a small quantity
of wheat which was purchased from the Pima Indians,was brought
by Banning's teams from Southern California. Military equipment
and supplies came from the Wilmington Depot after arriving there
by ship. No forage or food could be had in or about Tucson, and
the hearty appetites of the thousands of young Californians consumed
the rations nearly as fast as the wagon trains arrived.
No news had been received from the Rio Grande
since the column had commenced its march from California. Several
express parties had been sent forward to open communications with
General Canby, but none had ever returned. On June 15, 1862, Sergeant
William Wheeling of Company F of the 1st Infantry, expressman
John Jones, and a Mexican guide named Chaves left Tucson with
dispatches for General Canby. It was afterwards learned that this
party was attacked by Apache Indians at Apache Pass, about seventy
five miles east of Tucson, on June 18th. Chaves was killed by
the first exchange of shots and Sergeant Wheeling was seriously
wounded, falling off his horse and being dispatched. Both bodies
were found badly mutilated later. Jones escaped by a miracle,
and after a ride of over 200 miles, he reached the Rio Grande
at a point five miles above Mesilla. He was taken prisoner by
the rebels, who still held Mesilla. He was taken before Colonel
Steele, the Confederate commander, who questioned him, took his
dispatches, and threw him in jail. But he managed to get word
to General Canby that he was there, and that the "California
Column" was really coming. How he did it is still not clear.
On the 21st of June, a strong reconnoitering
party of cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel Eyre left Tucson. After
a hard march, they arrived at Fort Thorn on the Rio Grande about
seventy miles above present El Paso, on July 4th. It had been
abandoned by the rebels. Eyre was reinforced by a squadron of
the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, and would have attacked the rebels at Mesilla,
but was forced to forego that pleasure by peremptory orders from
Colonel Chivington of the 1st Colorado Volunteers at Fort Craig,
who under General Canby's orders was in command of the southern
military district of New Mexico. Meanwhile, Colonel Steele greatly
feared he would be overtaken by the California troops, and in
his hurried retreat burned a number of his wagons and destroyed
a large amount of ammunition. The rebel forces were so disheartened
by their defeats upriver and weakened by loss of supplies that
had they been attacked by even a small force, they would have
surrendered at once.
On July 9th Captain Thomas L. Roberts with
his Company E of the 1st Infantry and Captain Cremoney's Company
B of the 2nd Cavalry and with two mountain howitzers under the
command of Lieutenant William A. Thompson,left Tucson for the
Rio de Sauze (probably today's San Simeon River), where they were
to establish a camp, having rations
and forage for Colonel Eyre's command in case they were forced
back by the Texans. When this command reached Apache Pass (now
Fort Bowie), they were attacked by a large force of Apache warriors
under the leadership of "Cochise". After a stubborn
contest, the Indians were forced to retire with a loss of nine
killed, while the troops suffered a loss of two killed and two
wounded.
On July 20th, Colonel West left Tucson for
the Rio Grande with five companies of infantry. On the 21st, Captain
Edward P. Willis left with two companies of infantry and Battery
A of the 3rd U.S. Artillery. On the 23rd, Lieutenant Colonel Edwin
A. Rigg, with a third command consisting of five companies of
the 1st Infantry followed. Each of these detachments had subsistence
for thirty days, with a full supply of entrenching tools. Up to
the time of arrival of the troops at Tucson, the infantry had
carried their full fifty pound packs the entire march, a notable
achievement considering the nature of the country through which
they had marched in woolen uniforms, and the fearful heat and
thirst they had encountered.
General Orders, No. 10, "Headquarters of the Column from
California, dated Tucson, July 17th, 1862", contained the
following paragraph: "l0.That every soldier may move forward
with a light, free step, now that we approach the enemy; he will
no longer be required to carry his knapsack" (There must
have been a sigh of relief from 2000 throats, and a simultaneous
murmur "General, it's about time!") (Though a respected
commander, Carleton did not have the best of relations with at
least one of his officers, Lieutenant George H. Pettis, the author
of this story, who inserted the following statement in the middle
of what was otherwise an objective and factual report:)
"I have always believed that General
Carleton wanted me killed, for he put this detachment under my
command to escort them ( a group of Tucson desperados) to the
Pima Villages, a distance of nearly two hundred miles, and gave
me a cavalry detachment of ten men, the worst disciplined ones
I have ever met. The first night out, when I was encamped at
the "Point of Rocks", an express arrived from Colonel
West, then in command at Tucson, in which I was informed that
my prisoners had stated before we left that point, that they
would never be taken through alive, and cautioning me to be ever
on the alert, or I would not get through. Carleton did not send
me for the honor. He was much surprised when I returned safe,
but not as much as I was. (signed) G.H.P.
General Carleton, with headquarters of the
"California Column" arrived at Fort Thorn on August
7th, 1862, and immediately communicated with General Canby. The
balance of the column arrived on the Rio Grande in detachments
as they had left Tucson, one day apart, and by the 15th, Mesilla
was made the headquarters of the district of Arizona. The Southern
Overland Mail Route had been opened and the and the United States
military posts in Arizona, New Mexico and Northwestern Texas had
been reoccupied by troops composing the "California Column".
On the 18th of September, 1862, General
Carleton assumed command of the Department of New Mexico, General
Canby having been ordered east by the War Department. The "Column"
was soon distributed throughout the Department, and active operations
commenced against the hostile Indians, the Apaches and the Navajos.
Three days after his appointment, Carleton issued the following
order:
Headquarters of the Department of New Mexico,
Santa Fe, N.M., Sept.
21st, 1862
Gen. Orders No. 85
In entering upon the duties that remove him from immediate association
with the troops constituting the "Column from California",
the Commanding General desires to express his grateful acknowledgement
of the conduct and services of the officers and men of that command.
Traversing a desert country that had heretofore been regarded
as impracticable for the operations of large bodies of troops,
they have reached their destination and accomplished the object
assigned them, not only with out loss of any kind, but improved
in discipline, in morale, and in every other element of efficiency.
That patient and cheerful endurance of hardships, the zeal and
alacrity which they have grappled with, and overcome obstacles
that would have been insurmountable to any but troops of the
highest physical and moral energy, the complete abregation of
self and subordination of every personal consideration to the
great object of our hopes and efforts give the most absolute
assurance of success in any field or against any enemy.
California has reason to be proud of
the sons she has sent across the continent to assist in the great
struggle in which our country is now engaged. The Commanding
General is requested by the officer who preceded him in the command
of this department, to express for him the gratification felt
by every officer and soldier of his command at the fact that
troops from the Atlantic and Pacific slope, from the mountains
of California and Colorado, acting in the same cause, inspired
by the same duties, and animated by the same hopes, have met
and shaken hands in the center of this great continent.
(signed)
JAMES H. CARLETON
Brigadier General U.S. Volunteers
Commanding Department
During the years of 1863 and 1864, troops
of the column were kept busy against the Apaches. Skirmishes
were numerous and the duty very hard on account of the long distances
between water. Among the memorable events of 1863 was the taking
of the celebrated Apache chief "Mangas Coloradas" (The
Red Sleeve), who was killed in an escape attempt. Members of
the column, including Lieutenant Pettis, fought Apaches and Navajos,
escorted immigrant and government wagon trains as far east as
Fort Dodge, Kansas, and in general, maintained peace in the region
for the remainder of their three year enlistments. During this
time, twenty four California soldiers, including four officers,
were killed, while fifty, including six officers, were wounded.
Nine companies of the 1st California Volunteer
Infantry and the five original companies of the 1st California
Volunteer Cavalry were discharged in August and September of
1864, their three years of service having expired. On February
15th, 1865, Lieutenant George H. Pettis was mustered out at Santa
Fe, New Mexico, officially closing the record of the "California
Column". When Lieutenant Pettis wrote this story in 1907
at age 73, he was working as an inspector of weights and measures
for the State of Rhode Island.
