Colonel Edward Canby won the Battle of Albuquerque by losing it on purpose. In April 1862, with Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley's battered Army of New Mexico occupying Albuquerque for the second time during their long retreat from Glorieta Pass, Canby marched his Union forces north from Fort Craig not to capture the town but to take the measure of his enemy. What followed was one of the Civil War's strangest engagements: two days of artillery fire, a ceasefire triggered by a civilian's plea, and a deliberate Union withdrawal under cover of night - all part of a calculated strategy to herd the Confederates out of the territory without a costly pitched battle.
By early April 1862, Sibley's grand campaign to claim the American West for the Confederacy was in ruins. The Battle of Glorieta Pass on March 28 had destroyed his supply wagons, and his Texan volunteers were starving, demoralized, and a thousand miles from home. On April 8, the 4th, 5th, and 7th Texas Mounted Volunteers occupied Albuquerque for a second time as they retreated southeast toward Texas. The town offered little comfort - Union sympathizers had already removed or destroyed most supplies before the Confederates arrived. Sibley himself was reportedly incapacitated for much of the campaign, leaving his colonels to manage the disintegration. Colonel Tom Green still held Santa Fe to the north, but the Confederate position in New Mexico was crumbling from every direction.
Canby positioned his artillery at the edge of town and opened fire at long range. For two days, Union guns hammered the Confederate positions. Then a local citizen approached the Union lines with an urgent message: the Confederates were refusing to let Albuquerque's civilians leave their homes to seek shelter from the bombardment. Canby immediately ordered his guns to cease firing. The gesture was both humane and tactical - Canby had already learned what he needed to know. The Confederates were still willing to fight, still capable of putting up resistance, but they were also clearly using civilians as shields, a sign of desperation rather than strength. The artillery demonstration achieved a second objective too: the sound of Union cannons outside Albuquerque panicked Colonel Tom Green in Santa Fe, who hastily abandoned the territorial capital and force-marched south to reinforce Sibley, hoping to mount a counterattack at dawn.
Canby had no intention of being there at dawn. Under cover of darkness, Union forces slipped away from Albuquerque without the Confederates knowing. It was a deliberate retreat that looked like incompetence but was anything but. Canby understood a critical problem: he lacked the resources to take several thousand Confederate soldiers prisoner. Feeding, guarding, and transporting that many captives across the New Mexico wilderness would strain his own supply lines to the breaking point. His strategy was elegant in its restraint - keep enough pressure on the Confederates to prevent them from regrouping or reestablishing control, but leave them a clear path of retreat toward Texas. Let them solve his problem for him by leaving.
The gamble worked. The Confederates ended their occupation of Albuquerque on April 12, just days after the engagement. Sibley consolidated his forces and began the long, painful march back to Texas. Before leaving, he made a telling decision: he buried eight mountain howitzers near the edge of town, too heavy to carry but too valuable to hand over. He also left behind his sick and wounded soldiers, unable to transport them. These abandoned men and buried guns told the real story of the New Mexico Campaign's collapse more eloquently than any battle report. Sibley's army had arrived in New Mexico with ambitions of continental conquest. It left having lost roughly half its strength, with nothing to show for the effort but graves scattered across the territory. Canby's patient, unglamorous strategy - avoiding decisive battle while steadily squeezing the Confederates toward the exit - proved more effective than any charge.
Located at 35.11N, 106.61W in central Albuquerque, New Mexico. The battle took place on the outskirts of Old Town Albuquerque, near the Rio Grande. From altitude, the historic Old Town plaza is visible southwest of the modern downtown. The Rio Grande runs north-south through the city, with the Sandia Mountains rising dramatically to the east. Canby's artillery positions were on the eastern edge of town, firing toward the Confederate positions closer to the river. Nearest airport is Albuquerque International Sunport (KABQ), just south of downtown. Recommended viewing altitude: 3,000-6,000 feet AGL. The contrast between the green river valley and the surrounding desert mesa is striking from the air.