The Civil War battle fought at Glorieta Pass is often called the "Gettysburg of the West." Union forces thwarted a Confederate strategy to seize the Southwest's major supply base at Fort Union, with Colorado and California to be next. A Texas vanguard captured Santa Fe on March 10, 1862, but after two days of battle here, U.S. troops and Colorado Volunteers burned a poorly guarded Confederate supply camp and slaughtered hundreds of their horses and mules on March 28. Rebel troops retreated from New Mexico within two weeks.
