Battle of Picacho Pass - Aftermath

Aftermath

A Confederate patrol had actually reached the California border during the foray to burn hay at the stage stations in order to delay the Union advance from California. However, the goal of expanding Confederate influence to the Pacific Ocean never materialized. About the same time as the skirmish at Picacho, a larger force of Confederates was thwarted in its attempt to advance northward from Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the Battle of Glorieta Pass. By July the Confederates had retreated to Texas, though pro-Confederate militia units operated in some areas until mid-1863. The following year, the Union organized its own territory of Arizona, dividing New Mexico along the state's current north-south border, extending control southwards from the provisional capital of Prescott. The encounter at Picacho Pass may have been only a minor event in the Civil War, but it can be considered the high-water mark of the Confederate West.