Battle at Picacho - Battlefields on Waymarking.com

Twelve Union cavalry troopers and one scout, commanded by Lieutenant James Barrett of the 1st California Cavalry, were conducting a sweep of the Picacho Peak area, looking for Confederates reported to be nearby. The rebels were commanded by Sergeant Henry Holmes. Barrett was under orders not to engage them, but to wait for the main column to come up. However, their patrol surprised and captured three Confederate pickets. It failed to see seven other Confederate soldiers before they opened fire. During the bloody skirmish that followed, Barrett and two of his men were killed and three others wounded. Aside from the mistake of not waiting for the main force under Captain William P. Calloway to arrive, Barrett erred in ordering a cavalry charge on the Confederates, who had taken cover in a thicket. The Union cavalrymen thus made easy targets. After a brisk engagement that lasted about ninety minutes, the Confederates watched the California cavalry retreat, then the rebels fell back to Tucson themselves, to finish their picket mission by warning Tucson's garrison of the approaching Union army. Rebel reinforcements failed to be sent to Tucson so the commanding Confederate officer, Sherod Hunter and his garrison retreated without fighting, leaving the Union army to capture the desert town.

The remains of the two Union privates buried at Picacho were later removed to the presidio in San Francisco, California, but Lieutenant Barrett's grave, near the present railroad tracks, remains unmarked and undisturbed. Union reports indicate two Confederates may have been wounded, but there is no confirmation of this.

The Confederate participants reported the engagement to Capt. Sherod Hunter, commander at Tucson, who in his official report made no mention of any Confederate casualties aside from the three men captured.

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Name of Battle: Battle of Picacho Pass Name of War: Civil War Entrance Fee: 6.00 (listed in local currency) Parking: N 32° 38.772 W 111° 24.109 Date(s) of Battle (Beginning): 04/15/1862 Date of Battle (End): 04/15/1862

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