Prior to the American Civil War in the late 1850s, the cities of Tucson and Mesilla in southern New Mexico Territory petitioned the United States government to create a separate Territory of Arizona. This proposal was defeated because representatives from Northern "free" states and Southern "slave" states could not agree on how to divide New Mexico Territory, with Southerners favoring an east–west division and Northerners preferring a north–south division. After the war began, the Confederacy established the Arizona Territory in February 1862 using the east–west boundary. The strategic importance of Tucson was heightened by the region's vulnerability: Apaches had been fighting a bloody war in the area, leaving Tucson surrounded by occupied Apache land, with only the old presidio walls protecting the population from harm.
Union forces entered Tucson on May 20, 1862, with a force of 2,000 men. The capture occurred without any military resistance, as the Union troops were able to take control of the city without firing a shot. This bloodless occupation represented a significant shift in Union control of the Arizona Territory.
The capture of Tucson by Union forces in 1862 had important consequences for territorial control during the Civil War. Subsequently, the United States created Arizona Territory in 1863 using the current state boundary, effectively solidifying Union authority over the region. Anglo-Arizonans had hoped that the creation of a new territory would strengthen their communications with the east and allow for more military aid, though the article does not specify the extent to which these goals were achieved.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
Content adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the US, drawing on NRHP records, battlefield archives, census history and geological data to tell the full story of a place.