In August 1861, Confederate Colonel John R. Baylor proclaimed the Confederate Territory of Arizona and sent forces to occupy Tucson, prompting Union officials in Southern California to respond strategically. The region faced a critical security situation: the majority of Southern Californians favored the Confederacy, with pro-Confederate demonstrations occurring in Los Angeles and El Monte, raising fears that Confederate forces might seize Southern California, gain control over gold being mined near San Bernardino, and use San Pedro Bay as a base for privateers to raid gold ships. The withdrawal of regular troops to confront Confederate advances in Arizona created a threefold crisis for Los Angeles. In response to these threats and the need to maintain Union control of Southern California and New Mexico, Drum Barracks was established as the Union Army's headquarters for the region during the Civil War. The facility consisted of 19 buildings on 60 acres in what is now Wilmington, with an additional 37 acres near the waterfront, providing the necessary infrastructure to coordinate Union military operations across the vast southwestern territory. Drum Barracks served as the operational center from which Union forces, organized as the California Column, marched east to confront Confederate forces at Picacho Pass, Arizona. The barracks represented a crucial Union presence designed to prevent Confederate expansion into California and to protect vital economic resources, particularly the gold shipments that were essential to the Union war effort.
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.
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