Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes

After coming across the grave of Edward Richard Sprigg Canby over the weekend, I pulled out an old copy of a P.G. Nagle book, Glorietta Pass. It is what is called an historical novel, so there are some fictional characters thrown in with the truth, but it is a very well written book that is an enjoyable read. For my Royal friends out in New Mexico, the Glorietta Pass battlefield is part of the Pecos National Historical Park.

Canby was a fellow West Point alum from the Class of 1839 and he was opposed in New Mexico during the Civil War by Henry Hopkins Sibley, who had graduated in 1838. Sibley was quite an interesting character prior to the Civil War. He had been the subject of a court martial as a Captain and Canby had even sat on his review board. He had fought in the Seminole War, the Mexican War, and the Utah War and had even seen service in Kansas during the fighting after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

As a youngster, Sibley was sent to live with his Aunt Mary and Uncle George in St. Charles, Missouri. (Right across from where I narrowly escaped death in the famous Harrah's fire in 2008.) Sibley's aunt and uncle were the founders of Lindenwood University in St. Charles. (That rings a bell doesn't it?) If you remember a previous article on Martin Van Buren, I wrote of the home he built in Kinderhook that he named Lindenwald, which was Dutch for Linden Wood. In both instances they were named so because of the preponderance of linden trees in the area, these are also called basswood or lime trees, if you are thinking about landscaping your yard with linden trees and calling your place Linden Wood.

Sibley also invented the Sibley tent, which was similar to an Indian Tipi (or TeePee). It had been adopted by the U. S. Army prior to the Civil War . His patent and the subsequent contract called for him to receive $5 per tent and the Union Army purchased 40,000 of these tents during the Civil War. Unfortunately for poor Henry, he chose to fight for the Confederacy and missed out on all of that money.

His choice to fight for the South put him in direct confrontation with Colonel Canby in the campaign for the western States. Although, Sibley outmaneuvered Canby initially at the Battle of Valverde, he completely overextended his command, with the enemy still in his rear. At Glorietta Pass, Sibley's troops took a beating that they were unable to recover from and retreated to Texas. This effectively ended the Confederate Campaign in New Mexico. Upon his return to Louisiana, he was the subject of another court martial, this time for cowardice and he was censured for his actions.

The movie, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was based on the Confederate New Mexico campaign. General Sibley's name is mentioned several times and he is portrayed in the movie for just a few seconds.

There you go Ginny, put Glorietta Pass on your travel itinerary now and stop in and see TC and Terry while you're out there.