San Agustín Pass
Early in the Civil War, Union forces under the command of Major Isaac Lynde surrendered to a numerically inferior Confederate force under Lt. Col John R. Baylor. The historical marker, located in San Agustín Pass between Las Cruces, and White Sands Missile Range, serves as a reminder of the events.
On July 25, 1861, the Union forces attempted to dislodge the Confederates in the town of Mesilla, but gave up after suffering three fatalities. The following night Lynde and his troops abandoned Fort Fillmore in hopes of reaching Fort Stanton on the opposite side of the Organ Mountains. With their water supply depleted, the Union Army marched towards San Agustín Springs. It was at this site that Baylor and the Confederates caught up with the parched Union soldiers, and Lynde surrendered his force without resistance.
The Union forces at Fort Fillmore faced a much more difficult situation than the Confederate presence alone. The local population of Mesilla tended to sympathize with the Confederates and many went so far as to join their ranks. Fort Fillmore had also been the target of Apache war parties that raided livestock. Still, the problems were not limited to hostile Indians and a local population that sided with the enemy. The Mesilla Times regularly reported Union troop movements and published dispatches that fell into Confederate hands through a network of spies at the fort.
According to a report issued by Major Lynde, the Union defeat near Mesilla was inevitable. Rather than fight a losing battle or surrender outright, Lynde opted to march his troops to Fort Stanton, 150 miles to the North-East, in the hopes of joining a Union detachment.
Sources differ on why Lynde surrendered what, by all accounts, was a numerically superior force. Many of his peers accused him of cowardice and some went so far as to charge him with treachery. They called for severe punishment for the man that was considered the worst traitor in the Union.
Isaac Lynde was relieved of his command, in disgrace, by President Lincoln and Congress without a trial. A debate remains today over whether Lynde acted out of prudence or cowardice.
Inscription on historical marker at San Agustin Springs:
“Here on July 27, 1861, less than 300 Confederate troops intercepted 500 Union soldiers retreating from Fort Fillmore to Fort Stanton. Exhausted from the heat and famished for water, the Union troops straggled across the desert in a five-mile evacuation train. Unable to fight, Major Isaac Lynde surrendered his command without firing a single shot.”
Research by Joshua Swanson, New Mexico State University
