Fort Bliss Monitor

Guardians of the Pass – the story of the U.S. Army in El Paso

An artist’s representation of the Army’s experiment with the “ship of the desert” in America’s Southwest. A total of 75 camels were imported for military use from the Middle East. The Army camel train passed through Fort Bliss on its way from Camp Verde, Texas to Fort Tejon, Calif.

Editor’s note: The birthday of Fort Bliss is approaching and The Monitor will feature a multipart series taken from “Guardians of the Pass, The story of the U.S. Army in El Paso.” We hope the series informs our readers to the longstanding history and friendship Fort Bliss and the El Paso community has shared over the years.

Chapter 4 - Civil War

By 1860, the communities on the American side of the Rio Grande were prospering. The county of El Paso had been organized, the southern route to California through the Pass was well traveled, and a railroad project was being discussed. However, on the national scene, storm clouds were gathering that also darkened the local conscience. Abraham Lincoln’s election and his opposition to the extension of slavery into the territories caused tensions to come to a head. As the Southern states acted, so did Texas, voting to secede from the Union Feb. 1, 1861. A similar vote in the El Paso area found only two opposing votes, Anson and W.W. Mills, brothers who played a prominent role in developing El Paso. The Mexican-American population showed little interest in the debate, and only a few slaveholders lived at the pass, Simeon Hart most notable among them, but most of the Anglo residents were from the South and therein their sympathies lay.

In January of 1861, only Company I under Lt. Jackson was present at Fort Bliss. The other companies of the 8th Infantry Regiment did not close until Feb. 22. Feb. 25, Company E proceeded enroute to Fort Davis. This left Brevet Lt. Col. I.V.D. Reeve in command of post with Company I commanded by Jackson, Company B by 1st. Lt. T.M. Jones, and Company K by 2nd. Lt. Lafayette Peck. Lt. Henry M. Lazelle was also present - assigned to Company I.

The division of the country caused the Army of the United States to divide along sectional lines as well. In response to orders given by the commander of the Department of Texas, Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs, to surrender all military posts and other government and public property to local Confederate commissioners, Reeve turned Fort Bliss over to Magoffin, Hart, and Josiah Crosby March 31, 1861. The same day, Jones resigned his commission, an action repeated in the following days by the other officers of the Regiment with the exception of Reeve and Lazelle. Those troops remaining with the Union were to be allowed to march to the Texas coast and returned to the North. May 9, Reeve, leading the four companies from Fort Bliss and two additional companies of the 8th Infantry was forced to surrender by Brig. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, near San Antonio at San Lucas Springs. The majority of these soldiers were imprisoned until February 1863.

July 14, 1861, Maj. Edwin Waller leading three companies of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles, occupied Fort Bliss. Lt. Col. John R. Baylor arrived a few days later with two additional companies from the 2nd and a battery of the 2nd Texas Light Artillery and assumed command. Baylor occupied Mesilla July 25, and moved on Fort Fillmore causing the post to evacuate. He caught up with the fleeing garrison at St. Augustine Springs on the east side of the Organ Mountains Julty 27, and in a short battle took the surrender of seven companies of the 7th Infantry Regiment commanded by Col. Issac Lynde. Company A of the Mounted Rifles also stationed at Fort Fillmore, had their horses stolen by a Simeon Hart sponsored gang, and left Fort Fillmore as a dismounted escort for a wagon train following the Rio Grande bound for the safety of Santa Fe.

Southern New Mexico was firmly in the hands of the Confederacy. Former Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, now Confederate President, ordered a campaign in the west to bring the rest of New Mexico and Arizona under Southern control. Newly commissioned Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley, before secession a colonel stationed in Santa Fe, arrived at Fort Bliss with a company of Texas Rangers and assumed command of the Confederate Army of New Mexico. Going on the offensive early in 1862, Sibley’s forces defeated a combined force of United States Regulars led by Col. Edward R.S. Canby and New Mexico Volunteers led by Col. Kit Carson, at Valverde Feb. 21. They occupied Albuquerque and Santa Fe in March, and were enroute to attack Fort Union.

At this point the 1st Colorado Volunteers led by Col. John M. Chivington, and detachments from the 5th Infantry Regiment, fell on the Confederates at Apache Canyon driving them back. The next day, March 28, would prove disastrous for Sibley, as the Coloradans were able to flank and destroy his supply train in the narrow gorge while the battle was being fought at the head of the Glorieta Pass. Without supplies, Sibley ordered a withdrawal that turned into a route, as the weather, lack of supplies, and pursuing Union troops pressured the Confederates back down the Rio Grande to Fort Bliss. Thirty-seven hundred Texas Volunteers had went North with Sibley, 1,500 were lost, the remainder were dispirited much like the Mexican forces had been after the Battle of Brazito, and like the Mexicans, the Texans ravaged the countryside in their retreat, to include burning the post at Magoffinsville on their way back east.

Col. James H. Carleton’s California Column comprised of volunteers and a regular Army battery from the 3rd Artillery garrisoned posts in Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas. The 1st and 5th California Regiments setup outposts at Hart’s Mill and Franklin. Action for the remainder of the war was mainly against the Apache and Navajo, who took advantage of the “white man’s war” to resume raiding and to try and regain their lost land.
The Civil War slowed growth in the West, very notably around the communities at the Pass, as their most prominent citizens were driven into exile, or deprived of their holdings for supporting the Confederacy. It would take a Presidential pardon for Magoffin, and a long court battle for Hart to regain their land, both dying shortly after regaining their previous enterprises – Magoffin in 1868, and Hart in 1874. Mills would contend years later in his autobiography that the greatest blow to progress in the region was the delay the war caused in building the railroad through the Southwest.

Chapter 5 - Still needed at the Pass

Returns from Fort Bliss resumed in October of 1865, when Capt. David H. Brotherton, acting regimental commander of the 5th Infantry, Company K commander, assumed command of Fort Bliss. Company G, commanded by Capt. Samuel Ovenshine, added to the garrison’s numbers, bringing the total to 88 Soldiers and two officers, with five officers attached to assist in rebuilding the fort.

This proved futile as serious flooding in 1867 and 1868, undermined the buildings, washed away the corrals, and covered the parade field. A new location on higher ground was leased from the Hugh Stephenson estate at Concordia, one mile northeast of Magoffinsville. The post here was also built from adobe and consisted of two large barracks on one side of a rectangular parade ground, with six sets of officer’s quarters directly across from them. Camp Concordia, as it was called, looked more like a military post than its predecessors at Coon’s Ranch and Magoffinsville and March 1, 1868, two companies of the 35th Infantry under Brevet Brig. Gen. Edwin C. Mason occupied the new post. March 23, 1869, the Secretary of War authorized the camp to be renamed Fort Bliss.

The Army downsized after the Civil War and the garrison at Fort Bliss was reduced to one company. The 35th Regiment had merged with the 15th Infantry and was replaced by Brevet Col. Henry C. Merriam commanding one company of the 41st Infantry. Then in October, one company of the 38th Infantry arrived from Fort Bayard and was also absorbed, forming one company of the 24th Infantry. Brevet Brig. Gen. Frederick M. Crandal assumed command in 1870 and was relieved by Brevet Lt. Col. Charles Bentzoni with one company of the 25th Infantry and one cavalry troop from the 9th Cavalry. The 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments were units composed of black enlisted soldiers and white officers, as was the 9th Cavalry. Companies of the 25th Infantry rotated duty at Fort Bliss, commanded by Brevet Col. Frank M. Coxe from 1872-1874, and by Brevet Lt. Col. Zenas R. Bliss from 1875 until the post was closed in 1876.

Fort Bliss at Concordia was situated at the intersection of three main roads coming into El Paso (as the town of Franklin had been renamed in 1873). One came down the Tularosa Basin running roughly the same route as Dyer Street and Highway 54 does today. The other two were the upper and lower roads from San Antonio, first surveyed in 1849, running through the Guadalupe Mountains on to Hueco Tanks along the route that is now Montana and Highway 62, and the lower road which follows the Mission Trail along the Rio Grande to Presidio, then eastward through the Big Bend country. Although, tactically well placed, the location was not a healthy one. Malaria and dysentery were common. There was a favorite dance hall for the soldiers called the Bucket of Blood that also served as a bordello and saloon. The incidence of venereal disease was high, as was the number of soldiers killed or disabled from the deadly fights that were a staple there.

Fort Bliss was ordered closed in January 1877, in an effort to curb government expense. The Indian Wars were far to the west and north at this point and a post at El Paso seemed expendable. As an Indian fighting post its usefulness had been outlived; but, as a symbol of stability and law enforcement it had long kept the power hungry and growing lawless element in check.

Trouble had been brewing for years over the salt deposits near the Guadalupe Mountains. Salt had been taken from this location from the time of its discovery. Even after becoming part of the United States, people from both sides of the border continued to haul salt back to their homes, or to sell. It was considered public domain until enterprising members of the El Paso community filed claims on the area and sought to charge a tax on the salt. These actions created ill feelings in the local communities.

The tensions flared into violence when two former associates, Judge Charles Howard and State Representative Luis Cardis, fell out over Howard’s claim to the salt. Cardis championed the Mexican side and gained tremendous political and personal support. Howard became enraged and beat Cardis savagely on several occasions. Cardis supporters in San Elizario and Mexicans from across the river united in their hatred of Howard for his efforts to enrich himself at their expense and for his abuse of their champion, Cardis, and sought to kill him. The Salt War became deadly when Howard shot Cardis in El Paso. News of the killing spread, and the Anglo minority along the Rio Grande were frightened that a Mexican backlash was imminent.

Camp Concordia, 1868-1878, the third U.S. Army post at the Pass of the North and the second to be named Fort Bliss.

Maj. John B. Jones, Texas Ranger, was sent to El Paso from the state capital in November 1877, to assess the situation. He met with leaders in San Elizario of what had become a violent mob, formed a local Ranger company, and returned to Austin thinking the situation was in hand. Howard, not showing good sense, went to San Elizario Dec. 12 to prosecute those who had continued to haul salt without paying the tax. He was escorted by a detachment from the newly formed Ranger company and made it inside their adobe headquarters before the mob attacked. The Rangers held out until the 17th when Howard decided to give himself up to stop the bloodshed. Many of Howard’s associates in San Elizario had already been killed, and he was made short work of, too, first being shot then hacked to pieces with machetes. The Rangers also surrendered, were disarmed, locked up, and watched helplessly as the out-of-control mob looted and burned homes and businesses.

Soldiers from Fort Bayard under Capt. Blair were in El Paso to monitor the situation and responded when summoned by a Ranger messenger. Upon reaching the outskirts of San Elizario they were met by one of the mob leaders and told that it was a civil matter and their assistance wouldn’t be needed. Word of the violence reached Col. Edward E. Hatch, commander of the Military District of New Mexico, who ordered troops from Fort Davis and Fort Bayard to respond. Hatch led Troop L of the 9th Cavalry and Companies A, G, and I of the 15th Infantry into San Elizario and the Salt War came to a screeching halt. The leaders of the mob were indicted by an El Paso County grand jury but never brought to trial. In the report Hatch filed, dated Jan. 11, 1878, he stated that even a force of a hundred men at Fort Bliss could have prevented this tragedy and could keep events like it from happening again. A congressional investigation consisting of a four man board also met in El Paso Jan. 22, 1878, and in their final report filed March 16, recommended Fort Bliss be reestablished. Their recommendation was followed and in 1879 the Army purchased land along the Rio Grande for that purpose.

New Year’s Day 1878, L Troop and Company C, commanded by Major Nathan W. Osborne, reoccupied the Camp Concordia site of Fort Bliss and tried to repair it. The old post was too far gone, but, because of the recent unrest in the area many buildings in town were vacant. The Army rented a number of these buildings in the downtown area and for the next three years drilled in the public square, and marched down El Paso streets until their new site was completed in December 1880.

“Guardians of the Pass – The story of the U.S. Army in El Paso” will continue in next week’s edition of The Monitor.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	October 28, 2004

	Guardians of the Pass – the story of the U.S. Army in El Paso An artist’s representation of the Army’s experiment with the “ship of the desert” in America’s Southwest. A total of 75 camels were imported for military use from the Middle East. The Army camel train passed through Fort Bliss on its way from Camp Verde, Texas to Fort Tejon, Calif. Editor’s note: The birthday of Fort Bliss is approaching and The Monitor will feature a multipart series taken from “Guardians of the Pass, The story of the U.S. Army in El Paso.” We hope the series informs our readers to the longstanding history and friendship Fort Bliss and the El Paso community has shared over the years. Chapter 4 - Civil War By 1860, the communities on the American side of the Rio Grande were prospering. The county of El Paso had been organized, the southern route to California through the Pass was well traveled, and a railroad project was being discussed. However, on the national scene, storm clouds were gathering that also darkened the local conscience. Abraham Lincoln’s election and his opposition to the extension of slavery into the territories caused tensions to come to a head. As the Southern states acted, so did Texas, voting to secede from the Union Feb. 1, 1861. A similar vote in the El Paso area found only two opposing votes, Anson and W.W. Mills, brothers who played a prominent role in developing El Paso. The Mexican-American population showed little interest in the debate, and only a few slaveholders lived at the pass, Simeon Hart most notable among them, but most of the Anglo residents were from the South and therein their sympathies lay. In January of 1861, only Company I under Lt. Jackson was present at Fort Bliss. The other companies of the 8th Infantry Regiment did not close until Feb. 22. Feb. 25, Company E proceeded enroute to Fort Davis. This left Brevet Lt. Col. I.V.D. Reeve in command of post with Company I commanded by Jackson, Company B by 1st. Lt. T.M. Jones, and Company K by 2nd. Lt. Lafayette Peck. Lt. Henry M. Lazelle was also present - assigned to Company I. The division of the country caused the Army of the United States to divide along sectional lines as well. In response to orders given by the commander of the Department of Texas, Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs, to surrender all military posts and other government and public property to local Confederate commissioners, Reeve turned Fort Bliss over to Magoffin, Hart, and Josiah Crosby March 31, 1861. The same day, Jones resigned his commission, an action repeated in the following days by the other officers of the Regiment with the exception of Reeve and Lazelle. Those troops remaining with the Union were to be allowed to march to the Texas coast and returned to the North. May 9, Reeve, leading the four companies from Fort Bliss and two additional companies of the 8th Infantry was forced to surrender by Brig. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, near San Antonio at San Lucas Springs. The majority of these soldiers were imprisoned until February 1863. July 14, 1861, Maj. Edwin Waller leading three companies of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles, occupied Fort Bliss. Lt. Col. John R. Baylor arrived a few days later with two additional companies from the 2nd and a battery of the 2nd Texas Light Artillery and assumed command. Baylor occupied Mesilla July 25, and moved on Fort Fillmore causing the post to evacuate. He caught up with the fleeing garrison at St. Augustine Springs on the east side of the Organ Mountains Julty 27, and in a short battle took the surrender of seven companies of the 7th Infantry Regiment commanded by Col. Issac Lynde. Company A of the Mounted Rifles also stationed at Fort Fillmore, had their horses stolen by a Simeon Hart sponsored gang, and left Fort Fillmore as a dismounted escort for a wagon train following the Rio Grande bound for the safety of Santa Fe. Southern New Mexico was firmly in the hands of the Confederacy. Former Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, now Confederate President, ordered a campaign in the west to bring the rest of New Mexico and Arizona under Southern control. Newly commissioned Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley, before secession a colonel stationed in Santa Fe, arrived at Fort Bliss with a company of Texas Rangers and assumed command of the Confederate Army of New Mexico. Going on the offensive early in 1862, Sibley’s forces defeated a combined force of United States Regulars led by Col. Edward R.S. Canby and New Mexico Volunteers led by Col. Kit Carson, at Valverde Feb. 21. They occupied Albuquerque and Santa Fe in March, and were enroute to attack Fort Union. At this point the 1st Colorado Volunteers led by Col. John M. Chivington, and detachments from the 5th Infantry Regiment, fell on the Confederates at Apache Canyon driving them back. The next day, March 28, would prove disastrous for Sibley, as the Coloradans were able to flank and destroy his supply train in the narrow gorge while the battle was being fought at the head of the Glorieta Pass. Without supplies, Sibley ordered a withdrawal that turned into a route, as the weather, lack of supplies, and pursuing Union troops pressured the Confederates back down the Rio Grande to Fort Bliss. Thirty-seven hundred Texas Volunteers had went North with Sibley, 1,500 were lost, the remainder were dispirited much like the Mexican forces had been after the Battle of Brazito, and like the Mexicans, the Texans ravaged the countryside in their retreat, to include burning the post at Magoffinsville on their way back east. Col. James H. Carleton’s California Column comprised of volunteers and a regular Army battery from the 3rd Artillery garrisoned posts in Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas. The 1st and 5th California Regiments setup outposts at Hart’s Mill and Franklin. Action for the remainder of the war was mainly against the Apache and Navajo, who took advantage of the “white man’s war” to resume raiding and to try and regain their lost land. The Civil War slowed growth in the West, very notably around the communities at the Pass, as their most prominent citizens were driven into exile, or deprived of their holdings for supporting the Confederacy. It would take a Presidential pardon for Magoffin, and a long court battle for Hart to regain their land, both dying shortly after regaining their previous enterprises – Magoffin in 1868, and Hart in 1874. Mills would contend years later in his autobiography that the greatest blow to progress in the region was the delay the war caused in building the railroad through the Southwest. Chapter 5 - Still needed at the Pass Returns from Fort Bliss resumed in October of 1865, when Capt. David H. Brotherton, acting regimental commander of the 5th Infantry, Company K commander, assumed command of Fort Bliss. Company G, commanded by Capt. Samuel Ovenshine, added to the garrison’s numbers, bringing the total to 88 Soldiers and two officers, with five officers attached to assist in rebuilding the fort. This proved futile as serious flooding in 1867 and 1868, undermined the buildings, washed away the corrals, and covered the parade field. A new location on higher ground was leased from the Hugh Stephenson estate at Concordia, one mile northeast of Magoffinsville. The post here was also built from adobe and consisted of two large barracks on one side of a rectangular parade ground, with six sets of officer’s quarters directly across from them. Camp Concordia, as it was called, looked more like a military post than its predecessors at Coon’s Ranch and Magoffinsville and March 1, 1868, two companies of the 35th Infantry under Brevet Brig. Gen. Edwin C. Mason occupied the new post. March 23, 1869, the Secretary of War authorized the camp to be renamed Fort Bliss. The Army downsized after the Civil War and the garrison at Fort Bliss was reduced to one company. The 35th Regiment had merged with the 15th Infantry and was replaced by Brevet Col. Henry C. Merriam commanding one company of the 41st Infantry. Then in October, one company of the 38th Infantry arrived from Fort Bayard and was also absorbed, forming one company of the 24th Infantry. Brevet Brig. Gen. Frederick M. Crandal assumed command in 1870 and was relieved by Brevet Lt. Col. Charles Bentzoni with one company of the 25th Infantry and one cavalry troop from the 9th Cavalry. The 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments were units composed of black enlisted soldiers and white officers, as was the 9th Cavalry. Companies of the 25th Infantry rotated duty at Fort Bliss, commanded by Brevet Col. Frank M. Coxe from 1872-1874, and by Brevet Lt. Col. Zenas R. Bliss from 1875 until the post was closed in 1876. Fort Bliss at Concordia was situated at the intersection of three main roads coming into El Paso (as the town of Franklin had been renamed in 1873). One came down the Tularosa Basin running roughly the same route as Dyer Street and Highway 54 does today. The other two were the upper and lower roads from San Antonio, first surveyed in 1849, running through the Guadalupe Mountains on to Hueco Tanks along the route that is now Montana and Highway 62, and the lower road which follows the Mission Trail along the Rio Grande to Presidio, then eastward through the Big Bend country. Although, tactically well placed, the location was not a healthy one. Malaria and dysentery were common. There was a favorite dance hall for the soldiers called the Bucket of Blood that also served as a bordello and saloon. The incidence of venereal disease was high, as was the number of soldiers killed or disabled from the deadly fights that were a staple there. Fort Bliss was ordered closed in January 1877, in an effort to curb government expense. The Indian Wars were far to the west and north at this point and a post at El Paso seemed expendable. As an Indian fighting post its usefulness had been outlived; but, as a symbol of stability and law enforcement it had long kept the power hungry and growing lawless element in check. Trouble had been brewing for years over the salt deposits near the Guadalupe Mountains. Salt had been taken from this location from the time of its discovery. Even after becoming part of the United States, people from both sides of the border continued to haul salt back to their homes, or to sell. It was considered public domain until enterprising members of the El Paso community filed claims on the area and sought to charge a tax on the salt. These actions created ill feelings in the local communities. The tensions flared into violence when two former associates, Judge Charles Howard and State Representative Luis Cardis, fell out over Howard’s claim to the salt. Cardis championed the Mexican side and gained tremendous political and personal support. Howard became enraged and beat Cardis savagely on several occasions. Cardis supporters in San Elizario and Mexicans from across the river united in their hatred of Howard for his efforts to enrich himself at their expense and for his abuse of their champion, Cardis, and sought to kill him. The Salt War became deadly when Howard shot Cardis in El Paso. News of the killing spread, and the Anglo minority along the Rio Grande were frightened that a Mexican backlash was imminent. Camp Concordia, 1868-1878, the third U.S. Army post at the Pass of the North and the second to be named Fort Bliss. Maj. John B. Jones, Texas Ranger, was sent to El Paso from the state capital in November 1877, to assess the situation. He met with leaders in San Elizario of what had become a violent mob, formed a local Ranger company, and returned to Austin thinking the situation was in hand. Howard, not showing good sense, went to San Elizario Dec. 12 to prosecute those who had continued to haul salt without paying the tax. He was escorted by a detachment from the newly formed Ranger company and made it inside their adobe headquarters before the mob attacked. The Rangers held out until the 17th when Howard decided to give himself up to stop the bloodshed. Many of Howard’s associates in San Elizario had already been killed, and he was made short work of, too, first being shot then hacked to pieces with machetes. The Rangers also surrendered, were disarmed, locked up, and watched helplessly as the out-of-control mob looted and burned homes and businesses. Soldiers from Fort Bayard under Capt. Blair were in El Paso to monitor the situation and responded when summoned by a Ranger messenger. Upon reaching the outskirts of San Elizario they were met by one of the mob leaders and told that it was a civil matter and their assistance wouldn’t be needed. Word of the violence reached Col. Edward E. Hatch, commander of the Military District of New Mexico, who ordered troops from Fort Davis and Fort Bayard to respond. Hatch led Troop L of the 9th Cavalry and Companies A, G, and I of the 15th Infantry into San Elizario and the Salt War came to a screeching halt. The leaders of the mob were indicted by an El Paso County grand jury but never brought to trial. In the report Hatch filed, dated Jan. 11, 1878, he stated that even a force of a hundred men at Fort Bliss could have prevented this tragedy and could keep events like it from happening again. A congressional investigation consisting of a four man board also met in El Paso Jan. 22, 1878, and in their final report filed March 16, recommended Fort Bliss be reestablished. Their recommendation was followed and in 1879 the Army purchased land along the Rio Grande for that purpose. New Year’s Day 1878, L Troop and Company C, commanded by Major Nathan W. Osborne, reoccupied the Camp Concordia site of Fort Bliss and tried to repair it. The old post was too far gone, but, because of the recent unrest in the area many buildings in town were vacant. The Army rented a number of these buildings in the downtown area and for the next three years drilled in the public square, and marched down El Paso streets until their new site was completed in December 1880. “Guardians of the Pass – The story of the U.S. Army in El Paso” will continue in next week’s edition of The Monitor.