Qualla: Fort Fillmore https://qualla.com/fort-fillmore 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/fort-fillmore-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Fort Fillmore https://qualla.com/fort-fillmore Fort Fillmore: Introduction https://qualla.com/fort-fillmore/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. Fort Fillmore rose from the sand hills above the Rio Grande in September 1851, a collection of adobe walls and wooden posts designed to protect the steady stream of settlers and traders heading west to California. The trails that converged here between El Paso and Tucson ran through some of the most dangerous territory in the American Southwest, where Apache warriors had long controlled the mountain passes. For a decade, the fort served its purpose, housing dragoons and infantry who patrolled the Sacramento Mountains and escorted mail coaches along the Butterfield route. But Fort Fillmore would be remembered not for its successful defense against Apaches, but for the July day in 1861 when its garrison marched out, set it ablaze, and surrendered to the Confederacy without firing a shot.

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/fort-fillmore-wp/9tsp-fort-fillmore-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Fort Fillmore: Adobe on the Sand Hills https://qualla.com/fort-fillmore/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner established Fort Fillmore to guard a critical chokepoint where several major emigrant routes converged. The Upper and Lower Emigrant Trails met at El Paso before continuing west through Apache territory; the Butterfield Overland Mail would later use the ...

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/fort-fillmore-wp/9tsp-fort-fillmore-adobe-on-the-sand-hills.mp3 0:06 2 full Fort Fillmore: Famous Soldiers and Forgotten Campaigns https://qualla.com/fort-fillmore/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. The roster of soldiers who served at Fort Fillmore reads like a preview of Civil War fame. Captain George Pickett, who would achieve immortality leading the doomed charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, was stationed here in the 1850s. General Ambrose Burnside used the fort as a s...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/fort-fillmore-wp/9tsp-fort-fillmore-famous-soldiers-and-forgotten-campaigns.mp3 0:06 3 full Fort Fillmore: The Humiliating Retreat https://qualla.com/fort-fillmore/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. When Confederate Lieutenant Colonel John Baylor rode into Mesilla on July 25, 1861, and repulsed a Union attack, the fate of Fort Fillmore was sealed. Major Isaac Lynde commanded the garrison, and after his failed assault on Mesilla, he found himself trapped. Confederate forces c...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/fort-fillmore-wp/9tsp-fort-fillmore-the-humiliating-retreat.mp3 0:06 4 full Fort Fillmore: Last Days and Long Silence https://qualla.com/fort-fillmore/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. The Confederates occupied Fort Fillmore briefly before Union forces returned to the region in 1862. On August 7 of that year, Federal troops near the fort skirmished with Confederate soldiers retreating from Santa Fe and defeated them. The fort was officially closed in October 18...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/s/p/fort-fillmore-wp/9tsp-fort-fillmore-last-days-and-long-silence.mp3 0:06 5 full