Qualla: Battle of Picacho Pass https://qualla.com/battle-of-picacho-pass en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/c/battle-of-picacho-pass-wp/civil-war-battle-re-enactment.jpg Qualla: Battle of Picacho Pass https://qualla.com/battle-of-picacho-pass Battle of Picacho Pass: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-picacho-pass/ Photo credit Joekoz451. Original uploader was Joekoz451 at en.wikipedia, CC BY 3.0. Lieutenant James Barrett was under strict orders not to engage. Wait for the main column, his commanders had instructed. But on that April afternoon in 1862, with Confederate pickets within reach and glory beckoning, the young cavalry officer from California led his dozen men single file into a mesquite thicket near Picacho Peak. Minutes later, a bullet struck his neck as he sat remounting his horse, and the westernmost fatal battle of the American Civil War claimed its first victim. His disobedience would cost three Union lives and extinguish any hope of a surprise attack on Tucson.

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Image: Joekoz451. Original uploader was Joekoz451 at en.wikipedia | CC BY 3.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/c/battle-of-picacho-pass-wp/9tbc-battle-of-picacho-pass-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Picacho Pass: The Confederacy's Pacific Dream https://qualla.com/battle-of-picacho-pass/ Photo credit JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD, CC BY-SA 3.0. The war that tore apart the nation reached even into the Sonoran Desert. When 120 Confederate cavalrymen rode into Tucson from Texas on February 28, 1862, they proclaimed it the capital of the western district of Confederate Arizona Territory. Their ambitions stretched all the wa...

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Image: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/c/battle-of-picacho-pass-wp/9tbc-battle-of-picacho-pass-the-confederacys-pacific-dream.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Picacho Pass: Ninety Minutes in the Mesquite https://qualla.com/battle-of-picacho-pass/ Photo credit Eagle Mtn Mike, CC BY-SA 4.0. The skirmish unfolded near Picacho Pass Station, a stop along the now-abandoned Butterfield Overland Stagecoach route. Thirteen men, including scout John W. Jones, swept the area looking for the small Confederate force commanded by Sergeant Henry Holmes. Barrett spotted them and ...

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Image: Eagle Mtn Mike | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/c/battle-of-picacho-pass-wp/9tbc-battle-of-picacho-pass-ninety-minutes-in-the-mesquite.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Picacho Pass: The Retreat and Aftermath https://qualla.com/battle-of-picacho-pass/ Photo credit CC BY 2.0. The surviving Arizona Rangers mounted up and raced toward Tucson carrying warning of the advancing Union army. The Union troops fell back to the Pima Indian Villages, where they hastily constructed Fort Barrett, named for their fallen commander. But Confederate Captain Sherod Hun...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/c/battle-of-picacho-pass-wp/9tbc-battle-of-picacho-pass-the-retreat-and-aftermath.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Picacho Pass: The High-Water Mark of the Confederate West https://qualla.com/battle-of-picacho-pass/ Photo credit Bill Morrow, CC BY 2.0. While just a minor engagement in the vast scope of the Civil War, Picacho Pass represents something larger: the furthest effective reach of Confederate power in the West. Around the same time, a larger Confederate force attempting to advance north from Santa Fe was stopped at the...

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Image: Bill Morrow | CC BY 2.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/c/battle-of-picacho-pass-wp/9tbc-battle-of-picacho-pass-the-high-water-mark-of-the-confederate-west.mp3 0:06 5 full