after, he spent his time in various garrisons
throughout New Mexico and campaigned
against the Apache Indians under Maj. Ed-
ward R.S. Canby. Shortly after the outbreak of
the Civil War, Sibley resigned his commission
the same day he gained a promotion to major.
In May 1861, Sibley ventured to Richmond,
Virginia, to confer with Confederate President
Jefferson Davis. He prevailed upon him for
a brigadier general’s commission and the au-
thority to raise an expedition to conquer the
American West for Dixie. It was anticipated
that this expedient, once successful, would
grant Confederate access to the goldfields of
Colorado—and a steady source of revenue.
Furthermore, ports seized in California were
not subject to Union blockade. Although a
grandiose scheme, it would have materially
assisted the Confederacy, but Sibley, in poor
health and drinking heavily, was scarcely up
to such a demanding task. He nonetheless ar-
rived in San Antonio that fall to raise the “Sib-
ley Brigade” of three regiments. In January
1862, he embarked on his quixotic dream of
conquest by marching out of El Paso and
westward into New Mexico.
From the onset, several factors militated
against Confederate success. First, although
Sibley commanded a force of some 2,000 men,
mostly experienced frontier fighters, his logis-
tical arrangements were slapdash at best. Un-
able to gather sufficient supplies, he hoped to
survive by foraging in the barren New Mexico
countryside and living off of captured Union
stocks. Second, Sibley also anticipated a gen-
eral uprising by the large Hispanic population,
but given their traditional antipathy for Texans,
such an outburst never occurred. The third fac-
tor was Sibley’s drinking. He was almost con-
stantly inebriated due to renal pain, and the
only leadership came from his colonels and
other staff officers. Hence the Army of New
Mexico remained unsupplied, unsupported,
and generally bereft of strategic direction.
On February 21, 1862, Sibley’s expedition
got off to a promising start when it engaged a
larger Union force under Canby at Valverde.
After a stiff fight and considerable losses to
both sides, Canby withdrew to the security of
nearby Fort Craig. However, Sibley lacked ar-
tillery and resources for a protracted siege, so
he bypassed Canby and marched up the Rio
Grande River toward Albuquerque. This left a
large enemy garrison astride his lines of com-
munication, a major strategic mistake. Having
occupied Santa Fe, the Confederate column
pressed on to its next objective, Fort Union,
where a large cache of supplies was stored.
However, logistical problems mounted as the
retreating federals destroyed everything they
could not carry off. Sibley’s men then defeated
a Union force of Colorado militia, the so-called
Pike’s Peakers, at Glorieta Pass in the Sangre
de Cristo Mountains on February 28, 1862. Un-
fortunately, another Union force successfully
attacked and captured Sibley’s entire supply
train at Apache Canyon. This unexpected re-
verse proved decisive. Lacking food and ammu-
nition, Sibley had no recourse but to retrace his
steps back to Texas, before the California col-
umn under Col. James H. Carleton arrived. The
Confederates then withdrew while Canby’s sol-
diers shadowed their every move. The gray-
clad soldiers finally trudged into San Antonio in
July 1862, minus a third of their number. No fur-
ther expeditions were ever mounted from
Texas, so the West remained securely in Union
hands for the remainder of the war.
Sibley had no sooner arrived than he was
summoned to Richmond to answer charges of
intoxication. He was subsequently cleared by
a court of inquiry and restored to the com-
mand of a brigade in Gen. Richard Taylor’s
army in Louisiana. However, Sibley mishan-
dled his men during the April 1864 Battle of
Fort Bisland—on account of drinking—and
Taylor had him arrested and court-martialed.
Acquitted once again, Sibley’s reputation was
ruined, and he spent the final months of the
war without a command.
After the war Sibley ventured to New York
City, where in 1869, along with former Gen.
William Wing Loring, he was recruited into
the army of Khedive Ismail I as a brigadier gen-
eral. He served several years in Egypt con-
structing coastal fortifications before he wasSIBLEY, HENRYHOPKINS