Battle of Valverde

Battle of Valverde
Part of the American Civil War
Date February 20–21, 1862 Location Socorro County, New Mexico 33°38′00″N 107°00′41″W / 33.63333°N 107.01139°W / 33.63333; -107.01139 Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Edward Canby Alexander McRae †	Henry Hopkins Sibley Thomas Green
Units involved
1st and 3rd U.S. Cavalry 5th, 7th and 10th U.S. Infantry McRae's Battery (Artillery) 2nd Colorado Infantry 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th New Mexico Infantry Graydon's Independent Cavalry Company 1st and 2nd New Mexico Militia	2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th Texas Cavalry
Strength
Department of New Mexico: 3,000[1]	Army of New Mexico: 2,590[2]
Casualties and losses
68 killed 160 wounded 204 captured or missing (mostly deserters) 6 artillery pieces captured Total: 432[3]	36 killed 150 wounded 1 missing Total: 187[4]

The Battle of Valverde, also known as the Battle of Valverde Ford, was fought from February 20 to 21, 1862, near the town of Val Verde^[5] at a ford of the Rio Grande in Union-held New Mexico Territory, in what is today the state of New Mexico. It is considered a major Confederate success in the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War, despite the invading force abandoning the field and, eventually, retreating from the territory entirely. The belligerents were Confederate cavalry from Texas and several companies of Arizona militia versus U.S. Army regulars and Union volunteers from northern New Mexico Territory and the Colorado Territory.