Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New Feature -- Arizona Trivia Tuesdays

Little-known fact: the western-most battle of the Civil War was fought in Arizona, near Picacho Peak, which is a smallish mountain (2000 ft elevation) between Tucson and Phoenix, south of Casa Grande, Arizona.






The battle took place on April 15, 1862, and was a skirmish between a Union cavalry patrol consisting of 13 men and their commander from California and a party of 10 Confederate pickets from Tucson. (A "picket" is a group of troops placed forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance).

Accounts of the action vary depending on who you consult, so I won't try to give you a "play by play" of this very short (approximately two hour) battle, or even declare a winner.

Nevertheless, the consensus seems to be that three Union soldiers were killed; three were wounded; and three Confederate soldiers were captured.

3 comments:

John D. said...

Being a Civil War buff, I had an idea, but no real knowledge of, any combat occurring west of the Mississippi. In April of '62, Stonewall Jackson's famous Shenandoah Valley campaign (where I'm from) was taking place. : )

Scope said...

Wow! I would have guessed "east Texas" if asked.

SkylersDad said...

I had no idea the war went that far west.