Part Two: The Civil War in the West Two of the tablets affixed to the Soldiers’ Monument commemorate the “heroes” who died who died fighting with “rebels” at the battles of “Valverde,” “Cañon del Apache,” “Pigeon’s Rancho (La Glorieta),” and “Peralta.” For most observers, the meaning of these texts is utterly opaque. Few have any … More Making Sense of Santa Fe’s Soldiers’ Monument: Part Two
Part Five: Controversies and Interventions The first controversy that engulfed the Soldiers’ Monument arose not from the reference to “savage Indians,” but rather from the word “rebels.” In 1909 a resolution was introduced in the New Mexico territorial legislature to replace the words “rebels” with the terms “confederates,” on the basis that “the time has … More Making Sense of Santa Fe’s Soldiers’ Monument: Part Five
There are few examples of right triumphing over wrong more unambiguous than the Union Army’s defeat of the Confederate Army of the West in the first year of the Civil War. The Confederate Army invaded the Territory of New Mexico in February of 1862 to extend slavery through the Rocky Mountains and to the Pacific … More The Lost Cause Finds a Home at the Glorieta Battlefield