Siege of Pueblo de Taos

In the final major battle of the Taos Rebellion, Colonel Sterling Price confronted a much larger New Mexican force at the strongly fortified Pueblo de Taos. American troops surrounded the rebels who took refuge in the Pueblo church of San Geronimo de Taos. Ignoring the church’s sanctity, the Americans virtually destroyed the building with artillery fire. As the rebels fled the burning building many were killed. Captain John Burgwin, First U.S. Dragoons, was among the handful of Americans killed in the fighting. 

Vengeful Americans captured fleeing insurgents, including rebel leader Pablo Montoya, who faced a drumhead court-martial on one day and was hanged the next. Other jailed rebels were charged with murder and treason. In one trial, sixteen of twenty defendants were found guilty and denied appeal. The execution of at least twenty-eight New Mexicans for their role in the Taos Rebellion led to some criticism. Lewis Hector Garrand, one American eyewitness, questioned hanging men whose only crime was defending “to the last their country and their homes.”