Was Henry H. Sibley the right general to capture New Mexico, Colorado, and even California?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Sibley had a grand plan was to conquer New Mexico Territory and then on to California, then Colorado, and the northern part of Mexico. Sibley took his plan to President Jefferson Davis who agreed to the plan. Sibley needed to overwhelm the Union forces quickly to accomplish his goals. Sibley did not have the time to establish a proper supply base and believed he could capture enough Union supplies to accomplish his plan. His lack of proper supplies played heavily in the upcoming campaign. Sibley planed on recruiting additional soldiers in the areas he captured was not particularity successful at this and perhaps did not have enough soldiers to support his plans.

So did Sibley over estimate his ability to accomplish his goals or did Lit. Col. Edward R. S. Canby out general Sibley? There is the additional issues of Sibley being sick and not well enough to proper lead his men. Some rumors also exist that Sibley had a drinking problem which effected his leadership of the campaign.

So did President Davis believe Sibley and thus see no need to to provide additional support to the New Mexico campaign? Perhaps Davis saw a great opportunity at almost no cost, and rolled the dice Still Davis was no fool and had to have an inkling that Sibley us up against long odds. Perhaps, Sibley was not the officer to have in command to win the New Mexico campaign.
 
To hear what most soldiers and officers said of "The Walking Whiskey Keg" he was to drunk, (excuse me, ill) to command for much of the Campaign and spent most all of it in an ambulance. It was men like Colonel Tom Green, Lt. Colonel Scurry, and one officer I've many mentions of, Major Shropshire who commanded the "Army of New Mexico" in reality with Sibley's command more less only symbolic most of the time.

So yeah Sibley was not built for it I reckon.

But to the credit of his subordinates, they did pretty well until ONE bad command decision regarding their entire supply train at Glorieta brought it all crashing down.
 
What with all the Confederacy had to do to defend its own territory, it does seem strange that Davis would have agreed to squander troops in a far western campaign. But on the other hand, the Confederacy believed that it had ownership rights to a portion of the territories acquired by the US after the Mexican War. So Sibley's campaign was simply an attempt to assert the Confederacy's territorial rights, a move that the southern leadership felt compelled to undertake at the early stages of the war, despite the fact that it was a strategic blunder.
 
I wouldn't say the Confederacy had no business with the campaign, New Mexico Territory was sparsely populated, sparsely garrisoned, and the ultimate goal was the gold fields of California, and from the Confederacy's standpoint they had a chance at the population being Confederate supporters, (they weren't but with the large amount of Southerners that settled out west it was a logical conclusion, even if wrong).

The Confederacy had a chance to bag New Mexico Territory with 1,200 men and the goal to raise even more troops in New Mexico before taking California, considering the success they had up till the royal screw up at Glorieta and even raising some local troops that got as far west as Tucson all with a drunken commanding general I'd say they did well. I'd also say the plan on the surface and from Confederate territory looked good, just like any campaign for any army and government, until the reality during the campaign happens.
 
I am not too sure the Confederates were being overly successful. They were not capturing the supplies and equipment they needed. The Union troops often burned supplies to keep the Confederates from capturing the supplies. Without sound logistical support, capturing California is doubtful.
 
The New Mexico campaign is my favorite to study, mainly because it's relatively close to my home in California, and I'll say this, enough went right early on to possibly give the Rebs something to accomplish.

There were actually a decent amount of Southern Sympathizers in the states they wanted to campaign through.

"In 1861, when Confederate Gen. Henry Sibley organized his Army of New Mexico to invade New Mexico, Capt. George Madison was commissioned by Sibley to venture into Colorado with a two-fold mission: disrupt federal mail and communication lines, and to help organize Confederate recruitment in Colorado. A rumor started that many southern sympathizers were staying in a mountain hideout near Pueblo and forming a Southern Military Regiment. The rumor was true. Pueblo was a huge “Southern” area and those who wanted to serve the South could get hooked up there. The mountain hideout was called Mace's Hole. Colonel John Heffinger was the Southern commander put in charge of recruiting and readying this Southern force. At this time, Confederate recruits in Colorado were first sent to a camp in the Pikes Peak area, and then sent to the main Confederate encampment at Mace's Hole. Gen. Sibley was working on two objectives for his Army of New Mexico at that time: capture of the state of New Mexico to open a path to the Pacific, and capture Colorado to take the much needed gold mines for the South. At one point, in early 1862, Capt. Madison and his men captured mail en route to Ft. Garland. At the time, they were actively planning a raid on Ft. Garland with Col. Heffinger's regiment (about 600 soldiers) from Mace's Hole. Unfortunately, Federal soldiers learned of the encampment at Mace's Hole and broke up the regiment while many of the Confederates were away. The Federals took those who remained in camp that day prisoner. Following this, Col. Heffinger, his officers, including Capt. Madison and his men, were all ordered to join Sibley in New Mexico."


"These “Muster Documents” show that Private Marion J (M.J.) Diggs of Company D, 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment (also known as the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles) was recruited in Denver City, Colorado Territory by Cpt. Joel McKee on 1 September 1861 and was a carpenter by trade. The following document is a form that entitles Private Diggs’ to a discharge due to a “Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability”:


Colorado, Nevada, and California all had some Southern sympathizers, but alas the NM campaign wasn't to be.
 
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