<P> After a Confederate force of about 120 cavalrymen arrived at Tucson from Texas on February 28, 1862, they proclaimed Tucson the capital of the western district of the Confederate Arizona Territory, which comprised what is now southern Arizona and southern New Mexico . Mesilla, near Las Cruces, was declared the territorial capital and seat of the eastern district of the territory . The property of Tucson Unionists was confiscated and they were jailed or driven out of town . Confederates hoped a flood of sympathizers in southern California would join them and give the Confederacy an outlet on the Pacific Ocean, but this never happened . California Unionists were eager to prevent this, and 2,000 Union volunteers from California, known as the California Column and led by Colonel James Henry Carleton, moved east to Fort Yuma, California, and by May 1862 had driven the small Confederate force back into Texas . </P> <P> Like most of the Civil War era engagements in Arizona (Dragoon Springs, Stanwix Station and Apache Pass) Picacho Pass occurred near remount stations along the former Butterfield Overland Stagecoach route, which opened in 1859 and ceased operations when the war began . This skirmish occurred about a mile northwest of Pichaco Pass Station . </P> <P> Twelve Union cavalry troopers and one scout (reported to be mountain man Pauline Weaver but in reality Tucson resident John W. Jones), commanded by Lieutenant James Barrett of the 1st California Cavalry, were conducting a sweep of the Picacho Peak area, looking for Confederates reported to be nearby . The Arizona Confederates were commanded by Sergeant Henry Holmes . Barrett was under orders not to engage them, but to wait for the main column to come up . However, "Lt. Barrett acting alone rather than in concert, surprised the Rebels and should have captured them without firing a shot, if the thing had been conducted properly ." Instead, in midafternoon the lieutenant "led his men into the thicket single file without dismounting them . The first fire from the enemy emptied four saddles, when the enemy retired farther into the dense thicket and had time to reload...Barrett followed them, calling on his men to follow him ." Three of the Confederates surrendered . Barrett secured one of the prisoners and had just remounted his horse when a bullet struck him in the neck, killing him instantly . Fierce and confused fighting continued among the mesquite and arroyos for 90 minutes, with two more Union fatalities and three troopers wounded . Exhausted and leaderless, the Californians broke off the fight and the Arizona Rangers, minus three who surrendered, mounted and carried warning of the approaching Union army to Tucson . Barrett's disobedience of orders had cost him his life and lost any chance of a Union surprise attack on Tucson . </P> <P> The Union troops retreated to the Pima Indian Villages and hastily built Fort Barrett (named for the fallen officer) at White's Mill, waiting to gather resources to continue the advance . However, with no Confederate reinforcements available, Captain Sherod Hunter and his men withdrew as soon as the column again advanced . The Union troops entered Tucson without any opposition . </P>

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