New Mexico’s Role in the Civil War A special program by the National Park Service and Fort Union National Monument

Organized at Fort Union and Albuquerque in the fall of 1861, the 3rd New Mexico Volunteers Infantry  played crucial roles in returning the New Mexico Territory to the Union side during the Civil War. On July 22, from 2-3 pm, re-enactors will present a special program in the Palace of the Governors Courtyard. The event is free with admission; Sundays are free to NM residents, and children 16 and under are free every day.

Part of the National Park Service and Fort Union National Monument, the re-enactors will talk about about who they were, demonstrate drills in Spanish, and describe their weapons and accoutrements. Participants can then become re-enactors-for-a-day by using a wooden musket and joining the volunteers in some drills.

Unlike the majority of Civil War-era New Mexico regiments, the command structure of the 3rd regiment consisted of Hispanic officers. After organizing, the regiment was divided. Company A was sent to Fort Craig, south of Socorro. The other half was stationed at Hatch’s Ranch at Glorieta Pass. Shortly before the regiment was mustered out of service, it and other Union regiments participated in the Battle of Valverde, where Company “A” was tasked to hold the line when Union troops were forced to retreat.

During this engagement, several members of Company A, were wounded and some were captured. The 3rd would go on patrolling and improving trails and military roads, disbanding shortly after the Battle of Glorieta Pass.

In large part, the members of the New Mexico Volunteer Regiments were recruited out of northern New Mexico. The majority volunteers were of Hispanic decent and had been citizens of Mexico 12 years prior to the Civil War, and were thus unfamiliar with slavery and other issues of the Civil War. However, previous incursions by Texan forces into the territory had created enough tensions that thousands of volunteers signed up with the U.S. Army to defend their homes and land.

Like the other New Mexico Volunteer Regiments, the 3rd conducted its  military drills and instruction in Spanish. The volunteers were issued outdated weaponry and equipment, with materials going as far back as the Mexican-American War. Uniforms were issued to in limited quantities; for the most part, the volunteers wore what ever they brought from home. Records have shown that most of them were never paid for their service.

Download images of the the 3rd New Mexico Infantry Volunteers re-enactors by clicking on "go to related images" at the bottom of this page.