Marking the 150th anniversary of The Battle of Glorieta Pass

Last month, soldiers from New Mexico and Colorado commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Glorieta Pass. As the furthest advance of Confederate troops in the West - the high water mark - it is also known as "The Gettysburg of the West."

It is a shame that so little is known about this battle, which was fought in response to the Confederate invasion of New Mexico. While most of the attention goes to the battlefields in the East, there was also a vast conspiracy to take over California and control its ports, and a Confederate military thrust to seize the mineral riches of the West, which, if successful, would have financed the Southern war effort indefinitely.

It would be a challenge for today's Civil War re-enactors to follow in the footsteps of the Colorado troops. They marched 400 miles in 14 days to reinforce the New Mexico forces, then went almost immediately into battle. 

They were sent on a 16-mile flanking movement, but found that they had overshot their target when the Confederates advanced earlier and faster than expected. Instead they discovered the supply train left lightly guarded. So while under fire from the few remaining troops they descended a 200-foot cliff with ropes and straps, and destroyed all of the supplies. 

This in effect turned a military defeat into a resounding victory. Though the Confederate forces had gained the battleground up on the top of the pass, they lost the means to continue their advance. They were forced to retreat back to Texas.

I discovered an excellent painting by Peter de la Fuente that depicts this key moment in the Civil War, with an essay underscoring its importance.

With the Glorieta Pass commemoration behind us, we are now coming up on the sesquicentennial anniversaries of the many activities of the Third California Volunteers.

John Murray is author of "The War of Constitutional Stewardship: The 2012 Presidential Election and The Civil War in the West."

My Top 10 Favorite Historical Facts About the Mormons

As an American, I have always been fascinated that our nation has spawned its own home-grown world religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The history is rich and interesting, and my favorite parts are during the Utah years, especially the Civil War era. Here is my personal list of top ten favorite historical facts about LDS History.

1. The Mormons believed it was their charge to establish the literal Kingdom of God on earth. 


2. The governor of Missouri issued an extermination order for Mormons.


3. After moving west to the Great Basin, the Mormons originally called their state "Deseret." It contained most of what is today Utah and Nevada, with parts of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California, including a sea port near San Diego. 


4. The Mormons had their own written alphabet, their own private army, and engaged in a series of communitarian economic experiments. Election ballots typically featured only one candidate. 


5. The Mormons have long tried to micro-manage their image in the media. It started early, and included the destruction of the printing press of the Nauvoo Expositor, the newspaper that revealed their practice of polygamy.


6. In 1844, Joseph Smith predicted that the Civil War would start in South Carolina. He believed it would escalate into a World War that would destroy all nations, and that the neutral Mormons would emerge to restore the U.S. Constitution. 


7. The Republican Party got its start with an anti-Mormon platform. The earliest party platforms of the Republican Party in 1856 and 1860 called for the end of "the twin evils of slavery and polygamy."


8. Two American presidents sent forces to occupy the Utah Territory. In 1858, President James Buchanan sent a massive army under Gen. Sidney Albert Johnston. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln sent a smaller force under Col. Patrick Edward Connor to protect the mail and telegraph lines. 


9. In response to conditions on the ground, Connor expanded his mission to become a major counterinsurgency effort aimed at bringing the Mormons into the American mainstream. He created his own newspaper, sent his soldiers out prospecting in hopes of creating a mining boom, and eventually helped develop a second political party. 


10. After the Civil War, the Mormons fought for their religious, political, and economic liberty for another 30 years, giving up polygamy in 1890 only after Congress threatened legal dissolution of their church.

There is a lot more too that didn't make the top ten list (#11: Joseph Smith ran for President of the United States). Every one of these facts deserves a book of its own to tell the tale.


John Q. Murray is author of The War of Constitutional Stewardship: The 2012 Presidential Election and The Civil War in the West.