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Show Ed LEADING 379 FACTS OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY NEW Mexico It had been the purpose of General Sibley to monblane Oki a J on 2° Bliss Fort at still was he but early in the fall of 1861, 1. 1862. Shortly afterward he moved forward at the head of 2,3 large < men, many of them veterans of the Mexican War, and jority experienced Indian fighters. For Colonel Canby S regu a they entertained a wholesome respect, but the Mexican militia an volunteers, as usual, only excited the Texan derision of a foe whom they had been bred to despise. General Sibley was very confident of success, having issued a proclamation to the people of the terri- tory,2°* and, advancing by way of Fort Thorn, found the Union forces under Canby in force at Fort Craig, on the Rio Grande. 295 War of port from ‘i the Rebellion, ser. i, vol. iv, p. 89. Paso (Old Mexico), dated The Colonel Canby received a re January 17, 1862, to the oS General Sibley and staff arrived in El Paso about a month pee staff officers were A. M. Jackson, I. Ochiltree, Captain Dwyer, a 7 ans J . Crosby, assistant quartermaster and ‘‘receiver of property to be con Mannie New Mexico.’’? The report further states that the ‘‘ first and second regi are now between Robledo and Santa Barbara and are now fortifying apse a They have taken only four additional pieces of artillery besides those - ia : to Colonel Baylor’s command (32-pounders). General Sibley and staif w ae leave Mesilla for Fort Thorn on yesterday, the 16th instant. en regiment is expected next week. The troops are badly provisioned a have had about 200 horses stolen since they passed here. Their only to march into New Mexico in quick time, or engage in a war with spb Paso) taken Paso, to procure provisions. They have no money, by the merchants, not by the Mexicans. The Mexico) are much opposed to them, also at aE and their pay (El Mexican eae : Pye: Mesilla and fe a he Yrrisarri and Armijo goods at Mesilla have been confiscated, and t order of the day. S. Hart has done more to aid and assist , balance of the capitalists have, and has gone so far as to give a principal capitalists in New Mexico, to confiscate their property, an their aim.’’ oo : : i hop (El : 7 tie marge: eee lamation was 296 War of the Rebellion, ser. I, vol. iv, pp. 88-90. This prociam well calculated at that particular time to exercise a pernicious pg the least intelligent of the New Mexican people. Colonel Canby says ee ae a ee is no doubt that it was prepared by ex-Secretary A. M. Jackson and bioairnt 27 of a plan arranged before he left the country. Several packages, bagi rey the proclamation, addressed to persons of influence in the ee Canby tercepted, Jackson believing that they still were southern bap apa pe ae immediately took steps to counteract its effect by communicating W1 influential people of the territory. rs The setter Hon was as follows: ‘‘An army under my conte eae: New Mexico, to take possession of it in the name and for the ks ous, Confederate States. By geographical position, by similarity of instit : : sg commercial interests, and by future destinies New Mexico pertain Confederacy. oe ‘“Upon the peaceful people of New Mexico the Confederate Se eee ; war. To them we come as friends, to re-establish a governmenta ee ‘he agreeable and advantageous both to them and to us; to liberate Poa former yoke of a military despotism erected by usurpers upon the ruins 0 ‘eous Hae free institutions of the United States; to relieve them from the iniqu! MEXICO DURING THE CIVIL WAR 373 territorial legislature had authorized Governor Connelly , who had succeeded Governor Rencher, to call into service the whole force of the territory to resist invasion; in a message the governor congratulated the people upon their patriotism and declaréd that the Federal °°” force was sufficient to resist the invader from Texas. and exactions imposed upon them by that usurpatio n; to insure and to revere their religion, and to restore their civil and political liberties. ‘The existing war is one most wickedly waged by the United States upon the Confederate States for the subjugation and oppression of the latter by force of arms. It has already failed. Victory has crowned the arms of the Confederate States wherever an encounter worthy of being called a battle has been joined. Witness the battles of Bull Run, Manassas, of Springfiel d, of Lexington, of Leesburg, of Columbus, and the capture in the Mesilla valley of the whole force of the enemy by scarcely half their number. _ ‘The army under my command is ample to seize and to maintain possession of New Mexico against any force which the enemy now has to place within its limits. It is my purpose to accomplish this objector is able without injury to the peaceful people of the country. Follow, then, quietly your peaceful avocations, and from my forces you have nothing to fear. Your persons, your families, and your property shall be secure and safe. Such forage and Supplies as my army shall require will be purchased in open market and paid for at fair prices. If destroyed or removed to prevent me from availing myself of them, those who so co-operate with our enemies will be treated accordingly, and must prepare to share their fate. ‘It is well known to me that many among you have already been forced by intimidation or inveigled will soon arrive when you by can fraud into the safely abjure throw down your arms and disperse to. your Persist in the service and you are lost. ranks of our and you their service. homes, foes. When are The day it comes, safe. But “When the authority of the Confederate States shall be established in New ®xico, @ government of your best men, to be conducted upon principles with Which you are familiar and to which you are attached, will be inaugurated. Your religious, civil, and political rights and liberties will be re-established and maintained sacred and intact. In the meantime, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the President and Government of the Confedera te States I abrogate and abolish the law of the United States levying taxes upon the people of New Mexico. ‘‘To my old comrades in arms, still in the ranks of the usurpers of their Government and liberties, I appeal in the name of former friendship. Drop at once the arms which degrade you into tools of tyrants, renounce their Service, and array yourselves under the colors of justice and freedom! I am €Mpowered to receive you into the service of the Confederate States; the officers upon their commissions, the men upon their enlistment s. By every Principle of law and morality you are exonerated from service in the ranks of our enemies. You never engaged in the service of one portion of the old Union to fight against another portion, who, so far from being your enemies, have ever been your best friends. In the sight of God and man, you are Justified in renouncing a service iniquitous in itself and in which you never engaged. ‘“‘Done at headquarters of December, A, D. 1861, “" War of. the of the Rebellion, ser. Army I, of New Mexico by me this 20th day H. H. Sibley, ‘‘Brigadier-General, Army C. S.’’ vol. iv, p. 81. Colonel Canby’s entire ee ; |
