When we think about battles in the Civil War, most of us will think of locations like Antietam, Bull Run, or Gettysburg. But the encounters at Peralta, Valverde, and Glorieta Pass were also important. But we don’t usually hear much about the Western theater of the war. Part of that may have to do with the smaller numbers of combatants, compared to the Eastern battles, and also the slowness of communication in that time period. And most of the population was still located in the Eastern part of the country. While the Confederacy was ultimately unsuccessful in the Western states, the Union still had to counter their troops in Arizona and New Mexico, or it might have had an impact on the rest of the war.
The subtitle of this book is “The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West”. One aspect of the war in the west that was not a factor in the rest of the country was the presence, and activities, of various tribes of Native Americans. The United States at the time of the Civil War was also engaged in the process of removing Native Peoples from their ancestral lands, and moving them to reservations, where they were out of the way of westward expansion, and could be “civilized”. Needless to say, there was resistance to this among most of the various tribes. Although some of the tribes would fight with either side, on occasion, they were also known to attack and steal animals and supplies from soldiers and inhabitants alike.
An interesting feature of this book is that the author uses the experiences of several different people, on various sides of the conflict, to tell the stories of the battles and other aspects of the time period. Some people have several chapters focused on their experiences. And while she includes a few soldiers, she also examined the impact the war had on the lives of the wife of one of the Union leaders, a surveyor for the United States government, and a couple of Native people. This keeps the book from being a dull recitation of battle strategies and casualty numbers. While no book can tell the story of everyone impacted, this book balances the various viewpoints.
If this was your family, how would you research them? The Soldiers and Sailors database is still your friend, if you had ancestors who lived in Texas or points west during this era. Managed by the National Parks Service, you can find it at https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm. Of course, if your ancestors lived in any of the areas impacted, you should search local historical or genealogical societies to see if they have any information, even if it is about other people who were in the area at the same time.