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The First Battle of Dragoon Springs was a minor skirmish between a small troop of Confederate dragoons, of Governor John R. Baylor's Company A, Arizona Rangers, and a band of Apache warriors during the American Civil War. It was fought on May 5, 1862, near the present-day town of Benson, Arizona, in the Confederate Arizona Territory. ==Background== Creation of a separate Arizona Territory in the late 1850s was thwarted over disagreement in Congress on the new territory's boundary-Northern representatives argued for a north-south division along the present Arizona-New Mexico boundary, whereas Southern representatives pushed for an east-west division along the 34th parallel. With the coming of the Civil War, the new Confederate government was free to establish the boundary as it saw fit.〔Kerby, Robert Lee. ''The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona, 1861–1862.'' Tucson, Arizona: Westernlore Press, 1958, pp. 25–26.〕 Shortly after the arrival of Confederate forces from Texas, secessionists met at Mesilla to adopt an Ordinance of Secession March 16, 1861. 〔Sonnichsen, Charles Leland. ''Tucson: The Life and Times of an American City.'' Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982, p. 61〕 This aim became a reality following the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Mesilla on July 25, 1861.〔Horn, Calvin P., and William S. Wallace, Editors. ''Confederate Victories in the Southwest: Prelude to Defeat.'' Albuquerque, New Mexico: Horn and Wallace, 1961, pp. 17–40, hereafter cited as Horn and Wallace. See also Finch, L. Boyd. ''Confederate Pathway to the Pacific: Major Sherod Hunter and Arizona Territory, C.S.A.'' Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Historical Society Press, 1996, pp. 74–85. Hereafter cited as Finch.〕 On August 1, 1861, Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor, commanding the victorious Confederate troops at Mesilla, issued a proclamation declaring the creation of a provisional Confederate Territory of Arizona, to include all of the former United States Territory of New Mexico south of the 34th parallel north. He named himself as governor and set up a territorial government that would continue in operation until the Confederates were forced out of New Mexico in July 1862.〔Proclamation of John R. Baylor to the People of Arizona, reprinted in Horn and Wallace, pp. 37–39. See also Walker, Charles S. "Confederate Government in Dona Ana County As Shown in the Records of the Probate Court, 1861–1862," ''New Mexico Historical Review'', Vol. VI (1931), pp. 253–302.〕 This Territory of Arizona was officially declared by Confederate President Jefferson Davis on February 14, 1862,〔Rodgers, Robert L. "The Confederate States Organized Arizona in 1862." ''Southern Historical Society Papers'', Volume 28 (1900), pp. 222–227.〕 and shortly thereafter Confederate forces were deployed on the ambitious New Mexico Campaign to gain control of the Southwest. In order to make good the Confederacy's claim to the western portion of their new Arizona Territory, Confederate soldiers, commanded by Captain Sherod Hunter were ordered to occupy Tucson, arriving there on February 28, 1862.〔Report of Captain Sherod Hunter, April 5, 1862, reprinted in Horn and Wallace, pp. 200–201.〕 They occupied the town until May 14, 1862,〔Finch, p 153〕 and it was a detachment of these troops which were involved in the fight at Dragoon Springs on May 5. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「First Battle of Dragoon Springs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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