Desert Empire: The 1862 New Mexico Campaign Summary
In late July 1861, Lieutenant Colonel John Baylor and 258 Texas cavalrymen thundered into the small village of Mesilla, tucked along the Rio Grande River in the New Mexico Territory. They skirmished with U.S. Regulars seeking to retake the town and quickly forced them to retreat. It was a small victory that fueled visions of something much larger.
These Texans were the vanguard of the newly formed Confederacy, seeking to fulfill long-held Southern dreams of expanding their influence westward to the gold fields of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean ports of Southern California: A Confederate version of Manifest Destiny from “sea to shining sea.”
The fighting at Mesilla was the opening act of one of the least-studied campaigns of the Civil War. For the next year, troops from Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and California would fight for control of the Southwest, its gold, and a route to the Pacific. The campaign would comprise hard miles of marching, much of it through scorching desert and mountainous terrain, struggles within the Southern ranks, confrontations with local tribes, and important battles and skirmishes while the fate of the region (and some thought, the Confederacy) hung in the balance.
In Desert Empire, Emerging Civil War historians Patrick Kelly-Fischer and Phillip Greenwalt tackle the overlooked New Mexico Campaign of 1862 by exploring the men, battles, and politics that shaped the course of the war in the Southwest and the future of the region.
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Desert Empire: The 1862 New Mexico Campaign
Emerging Civil War Series
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The Great Battle Never Fought: The Mine Run Campaign, November 26-December 2, 1863
Emerging Civil War Series
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A Fine Opportunity Lost
Longstreet's East Tennessee Campaign, November 1863–April 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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Hell Itself
The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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Strike Them a Blow: Battle Along the North Anna River, May 21-25, 1864
Emerging Civil War Series
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Fight Like the Devil: The First Day at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863
Emerging Civil War Series
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Stay and Fight It Out
The Second Day at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, Culp’s Hill and the North End of the Battlefield (Emerging Civil War Series)
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A Season of Slaughter
The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 8-21, 1864: Emerging Civil War Series
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That Furious Struggle
Chancellorsville and the High Tide of the Confederacy, May 1-4, 1863 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862
Emerging Civil War Series
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Grant's Last Battle
The Story Behind the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (Emerging Civil War Series)
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Attack at Daylight and Whip Them
The Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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Bloody Autumn
The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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Battle Above the Clouds: Lifting the Siege of Chattanooga and the Battle of Lookout Mountain, October 16 - November 24, 1863
Emerging Civil War Series
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Let Us Die Like Men
The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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Call Out the Cadets
The Battle of New Market, May 15, 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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A Grand Opening Squandered: The Battle for Petersburg: June 15-18, 1864
Emerging Civil War Series
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Don't Give an Inch
The Second Day at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863 (Emerging Civil War Series)
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To the Bitter End: Appomattox, Bennett Place, and the Surrenders of the Confederacy
Emerging Civil War Series
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A Long and Bloody Task: The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton Through Kennesaw to the Chattahoochee, May 5-July 18, 1864
Emerging Civil War Series
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