Inside the Fort Union Visitor Center is a display on the New Mexico Volunteers...
Transcribed from the display...

Over 3,500 New Mexicans served in the Federal Army during the Civil War.
Most were unschooled Hispanic laborers and farmers from the northern towns of
Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Mora, Taos, and other small villages.

Often armed and equpped with out-dated materiel, the New Mexico regiments were initally mistrusted by many senior Federal officers.
General E.R.S. Canby blamed them for his defeat at the Battle of Valverde early in 1862.
But reorganization, training, and experience eventually made these units into high-caliber outfits and assumed the bulk of military duties in the Southwest.
Joseph Pratt Allyn, traveling the Santa Fe Trail in 1863, observed Captain Rafael Chacon's company of the 1st New Mexico Cavalry near Albuquerque and noted them as
'...most thoroughly disciplined, and seemed possessed of all the requisites for fine soldiers'.

Ignored by most historians, the New Mexico Volunteers played a crucial role in American history during a time of National emergency.

Septemeber 30, 2015