Customer Reviews

Sibley's New Mexico Campaign

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

General Sibley was in charge of the Confederate Army that invaded New Mexico in 1862. This book is very informative and is very good reading from the same author of Sibley's biography. General Sibley drank a bit! On the field he actually won the battle, but being pre-occupied he stretched his forces too thin and got his supplies severed. He eventually lost the campaign. If he had been sober he had a good chance of real victory. The battle, which took place between Confederate and Union forces at Glorietta Pass, has the distinction of the Civil War battle fought at the highest altitude. This bit of Civil War history never makes it into the books. In "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" directed by Sergio Leone and featuring Clint Eastwood this is the Civil War campaign that the film is based around. General Sibley's name is mentioned in the film.

I purchased this as part of my overall collection of books on the American Civil War in the Southwest. I had heard it also was fair in discussing Sibley's role as a commander and inventor before the ACW broke out. What I discovered were specific details on the formation and allocation of each regiment on its way out into the campaign.

What stands out most are the muster rolls of Sibley's Brigade, along with the county that each Company was raised. Not just fantastic for Reenactors, but also for Wargamers.

Beyond this though, it has become my new favorite book about Sibley and his intentions in the Southwest. It is a more Scholarly resource and lacks much of the pictures and diagrams of other works - but it is much more down to craming as many facts into each page for the reader as possible. It takes great heed to note as many dates and figures as possible during both the build up and wind down of the campaign.