Qualla: First Battle of Mesilla https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla 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/s/p/first-battle-of-mesilla-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: First Battle of Mesilla https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla First Battle of Mesilla: Introduction https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla/ Photo credit Creator:Leon Trousset, Public domain. The Civil War came to the desert Southwest in the summer of 1861, and it arrived with all the chaos and improvisation that marked the conflict's earliest days. On July 25, a Confederate battalion from Texas rode into the dusty crossroads town of Mesilla and was greeted with cheers by residents who saw themselves as southerners trapped in Union territory. Two days later, the same Confederates would capture an entire Union garrison without firing a shot -- not through superior tactics or overwhelming force, but because the Federal troops had drunk themselves into dehydration during a summer march across the Organ Mountains.

Read more: First Battle of Mesilla on Qualla

Image: Creator:Leon Trousset | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/first-battle-of-mesilla-wp/9tsp-first-battle-of-mesilla-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full First Battle of Mesilla: The Crossroads of Empire https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla/ Photo credit Creator:Leon Trousset, Public domain. Mesilla in 1861 was no ordinary frontier town. It sat at the intersection of the two most important routes across the American Southwest: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the ancient north-south Royal Road connecting Mexico City to Santa Fe, and the east-west Butterfield Overlan...

Read more: First Battle of Mesilla on Qualla

Image: Creator:Leon Trousset | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/first-battle-of-mesilla-wp/9tsp-first-battle-of-mesilla-the-crossroads-of-empire.mp3 0:06 2 full First Battle of Mesilla: Baylor's Gambit https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla/ Photo credit Carl Schuchard, Public domain. Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor led a battalion of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles into New Mexico with orders that gave him remarkable discretion: attack the Union forts along the Rio Grande if circumstances warranted. Convinced that the garrison at Fort Fillmore was preparing to...

Read more: First Battle of Mesilla on Qualla

Image: Carl Schuchard | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/first-battle-of-mesilla-wp/9tsp-first-battle-of-mesilla-baylors-gambit.mp3 0:06 3 full First Battle of Mesilla: The Whiskey Retreat https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla/ Photo credit Creator:Leon Trousset, Public domain. What happened next became one of the most embarrassing episodes in Union Army history. That night, Confederates captured 85 of the fort's horses. Fearing an overwhelming attack, Lynde ordered Fort Fillmore abandoned the following day, setting fire to supplies and ammunition befor...

Read more: First Battle of Mesilla on Qualla

Image: Creator:Leon Trousset | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/first-battle-of-mesilla-wp/9tsp-first-battle-of-mesilla-the-whiskey-retreat.mp3 0:06 4 full First Battle of Mesilla: A Territory Is Born https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla/ Photo credit Creator:Leon Trousset, Public domain. The Confederate victory at Mesilla had consequences far beyond a single skirmish. On August 1, 1861, Baylor proclaimed the creation of the Confederate Arizona Territory, encompassing all land south of the 34th parallel from Texas to California. He installed himself as military go...

Read more: First Battle of Mesilla on Qualla

Image: Creator:Leon Trousset | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/first-battle-of-mesilla-wp/9tsp-first-battle-of-mesilla-a-territory-is-born.mp3 0:06 5 full First Battle of Mesilla: Desert Crossroads Today https://qualla.com/first-battle-of-mesilla/ Photo credit Creator:Leon Trousset, Public domain. Modern Mesilla survives as a historic district south of Las Cruces, its central plaza largely unchanged from 1861. The adobe buildings that witnessed Baylor's arrival still stand, now housing restaurants and art galleries. Fort Fillmore is gone, leveled sometime after a failed at...

Read more: First Battle of Mesilla on Qualla

Image: Creator:Leon Trousset | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/first-battle-of-mesilla-wp/9tsp-first-battle-of-mesilla-desert-crossroads-today.mp3 0:06 6 full