Colorado Volunteers Company 'A' and 1st Colorado Regiment, Colorado City - Colorado Springs, CO - U.S. Civil War Sites on Waymarking.com

During the U.S. Civil War, the Colorado Territory provided the largest number of volunteers to the Union than any other territory. However, a great number of people in the territories supported the Confederacy. This monument marks the recruitment, staging and march of Colorado Volunteers Company 'A' who was part of the 1st Regiment who marched to Glorieta Pass (in New Mexico Territory) to repel the Confederate invasion of the territory. The Confederate goal was to secure the rich gold mine areas for gold and silver to help support the Confederacy. The second goal was to gain access to the California coastline which would allow the Confederacy to circumvent the Union naval blockade.

"The Battle of Glorieta Pass, fought from March 26 to 28, 1862 in northern New Mexico Territory, was the decisive battle of the New Mexico Campaign during the American Civil War. Dubbed the "Gettysburg of the West" by some historians, it was intended as the killer blow by Confederate forces to break the Union possession of the West along the base of the Rocky Mountains. It was fought at Glorieta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in what is now New Mexico, and was an important event in the history of the New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War.

There was a skirmish on March 26 between advance forces from each army, with the main battle occurring on March 28. Although the Confederates were able to push the Union force back through the pass, they had to retreat when their supply train was destroyed and most of their horses and mules killed or driven off. Eventually, the Confederates had to withdraw entirely from the territory back into Confederate Arizona and then Texas. Glorieta Pass thus represented the "high water mark" of the campaign." (excerpted from (visit link) ) Also see (visit link) , (visit link) and (visit link) .

The Battle of Glorietta Pass would propel Major John Chivington (visit link) into important roles in the development of the State of Colorado, but also lead to his downfall as the leader of the Sand Creek Massacre (visit link) .

The engraving reads:

1861-1864 Civil War
Texas Confederates tried to invade Colorado in 1862. Company "A" recruited in Colorado City. The 1st Regiment marched south and defeated the rebels at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico. All encamped here.

Related Website: [Web Link] Terrain Rating:

Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this waymark a photo of you, the sign at the waymark with your GPS in view must be uploaded.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   06/23/2019 LLYN-lhvwn50 visited it 09/05/2018 Casper&Aero visited it 09/22/2015 Sissyta visited it 07/20/2015 tamiuron visited it 08/01/2014 geckl69 visited it 07/05/2014 Team gEco Friendly visited it 12/04/2010 ArmyFamily4 visited it

View all visits/logs