Valverde - February 21, 1862 - 3:45 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The History 

After the failed Confederate lancer attack, a stalemate arose until around noon, during which the Confederate soldiers hid behind the riverbank. Canby ordered that troops cross the Rio Grande bank to attack the Confederates. Canby situated Captain McRae to his left and Lieutenant Robert Hall to his right. Seeing this, Confederate Colonel Thomas Green decided to attack head-on. When Major Thomas Duncan’s cavalry prepared for battle, Confederate Major Henry Wynkoop Raguet’s 200 soldiers on horseback approached rapidly with small firearms and cannons. General Kit Carson’s and Duncan’s soldiers abruptly halted the attacking Confederates. Riding the adrenaline of their miraculous response, these Union soldiers set out after the Confederate soldiers in retreat. 

However, the Union flight toward the Confederates caused a schism in the Union line and Confederate Scurry took advantage of this by attacking the left flank of the Union troops and fought their way toward Union McRae’s cannons, who the Confederates beat in a direct soldier to soldier attack. McRae was killed and the Confederates overtook the Union cannon battery. Canby ordered that his men return to Fort Craig, and he asked for a truce.