Most people believe the Civil War was ultimately won at Gettysburg, and that the entire war was fought east of the Mississippi. History proves the latter to be wrong and suggests the former may be as well. In fact, there is mounting evidence that the outcome of the war may have been decided-or at least heavily impacted-by a bloody little campaign fought in the backwaters of civilization, 2,000 miles from Gettysburg. A small Confederate army, led by a drunken career military man, invaded New Mexico. His goal was to capture ...
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Most people believe the Civil War was ultimately won at Gettysburg, and that the entire war was fought east of the Mississippi. History proves the latter to be wrong and suggests the former may be as well. In fact, there is mounting evidence that the outcome of the war may have been decided-or at least heavily impacted-by a bloody little campaign fought in the backwaters of civilization, 2,000 miles from Gettysburg. A small Confederate army, led by a drunken career military man, invaded New Mexico. His goal was to capture gold fields in Colorado and California, seaports along the Pacific coast, and all the land in between-an easy victory, since no enemy army existed in the West to resist. This was the Confederate "grand scheme" that could produce victory over the North. The Rebel army would be met by an even smaller one, ultimately commanded by a charismatic preacher and a tiny group of volunteers, recruited in Colorado. These two enemies would meet in a series of deadly but indecisive and mostly unreported battles along the Rockies. Victory would come because one of the leaders got lost, wandered around while most of his army was locked in combat miles away, and finally literally stumbled on a way to destroy the enemy. These battles were not reported by the press, which was focused entirely on the East. They were not even reported by the two governments-one for strategic reasons and the other out of ignorance. Yet from the perspective of nearly 150 years, one might well say the war was decided at this Gettysburg of the West.
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