Valverde - February 21, 1862 - 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The History

On February 21, General Sibley ordered that troops go ahead to the ford at Valverde to secure a position for the rest of the troops. In response, Canby quickly sent forces to meet the Confederates in battle. Sibley wanted to make Canby’s Union forces vulnerable to attack, but he failed; instead, Union troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Roberts pushed the Confederates about one half of a mile away from the river, while Confederate lancers from Texas attacked the left side of the Union troops. This lancer attack was unsuccessful because the Colorado volunteer soldiers under the leadership of Dodd ferociously thwarted this advance.