Qualla: Capture of Tucson (1862) https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862 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/9/p/capture-of-tucson-1862-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Capture of Tucson (1862) https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862 Capture of Tucson (1862): Introduction https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862/ Photo credit unknown, uploaded by: Az81964444, Public domain. Lieutenant James Henry Tevis had been watching the wrong road. For days, the young Confederate officer and his ten-man observation force expected Union troops to approach Tucson from the west, following the Butterfield Overland Mail route from Fort Yuma. Instead, on the morning of May 20, 1862, Lieutenant Juan F. Guirado and his California Volunteers appeared suddenly from the north, riding down through the Cañada del Oro canyon. The surprise was complete. Tevis barely escaped capture, spurring his horse south and then east toward Mesilla, while Captain Emil Fritz and Company B of the 1st California Cavalry Regiment entered Tucson from the east. After 80 days under the Confederate flag, the Stars and Stripes returned to Tucson without a single shot fired. The Civil War had come to Arizona and departed with a whimper, but the consequences would reshape the Southwest.

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/9/p/capture-of-tucson-1862-wp/9t9p-capture-of-tucson-1862-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Capture of Tucson (1862): Caught Between Wars https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862/ Photo credit unknown, uploaded by: Az81964444, Public domain. Before the Confederates or the Californians arrived, Tucson faced a different enemy. Apache warriors had fought a grinding war across the region, leaving the small settlement surrounded by hostile territory. The old Spanish presidio walls offered the only protection for the few h...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/9/p/capture-of-tucson-1862-wp/9t9p-capture-of-tucson-1862-caught-between-wars.mp3 0:06 2 full Capture of Tucson (1862): An 80-Day Nation https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862/ Photo credit unknown, uploaded by: Az81964444, Public domain. The Confederate occupation of Tucson lasted just over two months, but it represented something larger than a military garrison. The Confederate Territory of Arizona, established in February 1862 with an east-west boundary, fulfilled a dream that Anglo-Arizonans had pursued for ye...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/9/p/capture-of-tucson-1862-wp/9t9p-capture-of-tucson-1862-an-80-day-nation.mp3 0:06 3 full Capture of Tucson (1862): The California Column https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862/ Photo credit unknown, uploaded by: Az81964444, Public domain. Colonel James Henry Carleton led over 2,000 California Volunteers on an epic march across the desert from Fort Yuma. These were not regular Army soldiers but volunteers who had joined to fight a war being waged thousands of miles away. Instead, they found themselves crossing some...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/9/p/capture-of-tucson-1862-wp/9t9p-capture-of-tucson-1862-the-california-column.mp3 0:06 4 full Capture of Tucson (1862): The Retreat That Never Ended https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862/ Photo credit unknown, uploaded by: Az81964444, Public domain. Captain Hunter's withdrawal to Mesilla marked the beginning of the end for Confederate Arizona. His company joined Lieutenant Colonel Philemon Herbert's battalion of Arizona Cavalry, officially transitioning from militia to Confederate Army soldiers. But the Battle of Glorieta Pa...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/9/p/capture-of-tucson-1862-wp/9t9p-capture-of-tucson-1862-the-retreat-that-never-ended.mp3 0:06 5 full Capture of Tucson (1862): Arizona Born from Conflict https://qualla.com/capture-of-tucson-1862/ Photo credit unknown, uploaded by: Az81964444, Public domain. The Confederate occupation achieved what years of petitioning had not. The Union created Arizona Territory in 1863 with Tucson as its capital, using the north-south boundary that persists today. Mesilla, Pinos Altos, and other towns that had been part of Confederate Arizona remai...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/9/p/capture-of-tucson-1862-wp/9t9p-capture-of-tucson-1862-arizona-born-from-conflict.mp3 0:06 6 full