OLD
FORT
DAVIS
C o n fe d e ra te Sta tes of Ame rica
Photo courtesy National Park Service: Fort Davis National Historic Site, Texas
A sketch of the first Fort Davis probably done in the late 1850s or 1860 and published in Harper’s. This
is how the fort would have looked during the early part of the Civil War when Confederate troops were
occupying it. (Apart from the dramatically exaggerated mountains!)
by Bob Miles
T
he Civil War started 150 years
ago this month, but had little
effect on Far West Texas. Texas
seceded on March 4, 1861 and joined
the Confederate States of America on
March 23, l861. Lt. Col. John R. Baylor
of the 2nd Regiment of the Texas
Mounted Rifles was given the responsi-
bility for overseeing the removal of all
federal troops in Far West Texas. A small
detachment was sent ahead of the main
force, arriving at Fort Davis on April 25
as the federal troops were abandoning
the post. They found the Mesca lero
Apaches in the area quite friendly at
first, with leaders Espejo and Nicholas
and their bands visiting often at the fort.
Some of the troops re mained at Fort
Davis after the arrival of Gen. H.H.
Sibley and the main force for the push
into New Mexico. Confederate
Commissioner James McCarthy, then at
Fort Davis, conceived a plan to secure
peace with the local Apaches. He invited
Nicholas to accompany him to El Paso
to meet with Col. Baylor. There they
feasted with Baylor, James W. Magoffin
and others amid vows of eternal friend-
ship. (Given Baylor’s known feelings
toward the natives, there must have been
18
Old Fort Davis
Confederate supply point and frontier outpost on Great Military Road from San Antonio to
El Paso 1861-1862. After surrendered by U.S. Army, occupied by detachment 2nd Texas
Mounted Rifles. Apaches ambushed patrol from Fort 1861. Used by Texas Confederate troops
en route to and from New Mexico-Arizona campaign to stop flow of gold to North and gain
access to Pacific. Two cannons buried nearby on return have never been found. Occupied briefly
California Union Cavalry August 1862. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy.
Erected by the State of Texas, 1963
much gritting of his teeth!)
On the return trip by stagecoach, as
they approached Barrel Springs,
Nicholas grabbed McCarthy’s pistol,
jumped from the coach and vanished
into the brush. A short time later, the
horse herd at the fort was stolen and
some cattle killed. Lt. Ruben Mays with
seven soldiers and seven civilians went
after the Apaches. They trailed them
into the rugged Big Bend until the
Apaches caught them on Aug. 11, 1861.
Only one of the guides survived. The
location of the incident is not known.
When Gen. Sibley’s ill-fated grand
plan ended with the loss of the
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2011
Confederate supply train at Glorieta
near Santa Fe in March of 1862, a long
and brutal retreat began back to San
Antonio.
Fort Davis served for a time as a way
station and hospital for the retreating
Confederates. Some of the starving
troopers remembered feasting on fresh
beef and bread made from the flour at
the fort, which was soon abandoned.
Diedrick Dutch over was left to look after
the post, but he and three or four men
and one woman soon found themselves
hiding for two days on the roof of one of
the buildings while the Apaches sacked
the place.
On the second night, they escaped
and made their way on foot to Presidio
del Norte, leaving one badly wounded
man behind. In late August, a scouting
party of the Union First California
Volunteers found the post abandoned
and re turned to El Paso. A local tale
claims two cannons and some other
equipment were buried in the vicinity of
Wild Rose Pass by the retreating Texans.
For the remainder of the war, the fort
lay abandoned to the Apaches, the occa-
sional bold traveler or courier and
Henry Skillman’s spy company, which
kept the Yankees in El Paso on their toes
with rumors of new Confederate inva-
sions.
This month begins the sesquicentennial of
the Civil War, and while many events are being
planned nationwide for the next four years, none
are yet scheduled for our area.