Location Description and History

When Colonel Canby realized he was being bypassed, he became concerned for the military stores at the Albuquerque post. He sent his quartermaster, Maj. James Donaldson, to slip through the lines and warn the small forces in Albuquerque and Santa Fe to remove or destroy the supplies stored in both places.

The governor also slipped quietly out of Fort Craig and rode north. Concerned that Albuquerque was defenseless and would soon be taken by rebels, he advised ranchers and small farmers to gather their sheep and cattle and conceal them in the Manzano Mountains. The citizens of Albuquerque collected their valuables and took them out of town or buried them.

In Albuquerque Capt. Herbert M. Enos, the assistant quartermaster and ranking officer, moved as many supplies as possible from the military depot and destroyed the rest.

On March 1 Enos sent six wagons to the Sandia Mountains to gather firewood. The wood cutters spotted the approaching enemy, and a rider galloped into the plaza with the news that the rebel army was only 20 miles away at Los Lunas.

Enos ordered some army wagons, already filled with arms and ammunition, to leave immediately for Santa Fe, guarded by a few regular soldiers. He also had the volunteer militia load the several remaining wagons with baggage, which he would lead north to Santa Fe. At dawn the lookout reported that the Confederate Army was south of town near what would become the South Valley neighborhood of Barelas. So at 6:30 a.m. on March 2, Enos ordered his men to burn the buildings that held military equipment, along with neighboring stables and corrals.

Watching from the shadows, some of the town’s poor people scrambled into the burning buildings to carry away molasses, vinegar, soap, candles, a few saddles, carpenter’s tools and even some office furniture, as Captain Enos led his caravan of loaded wagons out of town.

The approaching Confederates saw three columns of smoke rising over the town with sinking spirits. They were cold and hungry, and their horses were thin from fast marching and short supplies of grass. They proceeded to occupy Albuquerque.

Within an hour of arriving, a rider from the small village of Cubero, west of Albuquerque, reported that four Confederate sympathizers had demanded the urrender of the supplies from a small Union outpost whose volunteer captain had no orders to follow. Four days later a badly needed supply wagon arrived.

When Sibley arrived after March 6, he moved into the adobe home of Rafael Armijo and his younger brother Manuel, which became his headquarters. The Armijo brothers, who were store owners, turned over $200,000 in goods.

The Confederates marched north, expecting to capture Fort Union . Unknown to them, Colorado volunteers, led by Maj. John Chivington , had hurried from Denver to shore up the thin Union forces in New Mexico and discourage an invasion of their state.

Lt. Col. Manuel Antonio Chaves, a seasoned member of New Mexico 's militia, was asked to join the Confederates but chose to be loyal to the Union . He led a spy company into Santa Fe and informed Chivington of the rebel troop strength and their movement toward Glorieta Pass. On March 28 Chivington, reinforced by troops from Fort Union , engaged the Confederates in a hard battle. Sibley remained comfortably in Albuquerque .

In a flanking action the Union forces also slipped behind the Confederate lines, led by Manuel Chavez, and burned 61 wagons in Sibley's supply train. It was a decisive strategy. The Battle of Glorieta Pass was over. Without supplies the rebels had no hope of taking Fort Union .

Manuel Chaves is a little known hero of the Battle of Glorieta Pass.

The Texas army retreated to Santa Fe and then to Albuquerque , where they commandeered Franz Huning's flour mill at what is now Laguna and Central. The mill was named, ironically, La Glorieta. On April 8, Canby, then at the small farming settlement of Barelas, south of what is now downtown, ordered four Union cannons to fire on Albuquerque . The colonel had decided to make a noisy show of strength by his small army. The cannons of the rebel army, located at the mill near present-day Old Town , returned fire.

The “Battle of Albuquerque ” lasted several hours. It was only an artillery shelling, with no casualties. As the cannon balls flew back and forth, a worried group of citizens approached Canby and told him the Confederate Army would not allow the women and children who had remained in their homes to leave and find a safe refuge. Canby ordered his men to stop firing. The Battle of Albuquerque had ended.

Eight brass howitzer cannons were also behind, buried at a corral behind San Felipe Neri Church. Sibley wanted to be sure the cannons would not be used against the Confederacy in the future. They were later recovered, and two are preserved in The Albuquerque Museum.

On the morning of April 12, the rebel army began its retreat southwest of town, crossing to the opposite bank of the Rio Grande .

This is a condensed report covering several ghost hunts and investigations from 2001 to 2006. It was also one of the major sites selected for the Ghost Patrol Project in 2003 (site #5).

According to various sources, a ghost of a confederate soldier is seen on San Felipe Street, sometimes on horseback, sometimes not. The sightings appear to be within the boundaries of Old Town proper. The ghost is believed to be guarding two cannons that were buried in Old Town during the Civil War and was one of the eight Rebels buried under the gazebo in the plaza. According to the story, eight cannons were found, but two are still missing from the inventory of Sibley's campaign.

Sighting #1 (June 2000):

A city street sweeper claims that he was driving north on San Felipe when a man on horseback suddenly appeared in the road in front of him. He honked the horn but the rider and horse refused to move. Disgruntled, he drove up on the curb to go around them.

After passing the rider, the city employee became angry. After all, there was no one else on the road at that time, so obviously, the rider was doing this to just to mess with him. He stopped the street cleaner and climbed out of the cab only to discover that the rider and horse had disappeared.

Sighting #2 (May 2001):

A city police officer was responding to a call in Old Town. As he drove down San Felipe street, a black shadow crossed in front of him. The patrol car went through the "cloud" causing the officer to believe that he had run over something. The Officer stopped the car and got out to look. After searching the area and the car there was no evidence that he had hit anything.

Sighting #3 (May 3rd, 2003):

A Confederate re enactor had just finished having dinner at the Melting Pot and was walking back through Old Town with his wife to where they had parked their car. As they walked south on San Felipe street, he noticed a man in a Confederate uniform carrying a 69 caliber model 1842 musket, walking with a brisk stride, heading north. Curious as to where the man had obtained the musket, the re enactor crossed the street and yelled out, asking the other "re enactor" to stop.

Apparently the other re enactor didn't hear him, so the witness started to run after him. According to the witness, the "Confederate Soldier" turned a corner. The witness reached the area six seconds later only to discover that no one was in or around the area.

Sighting #4 (June 2004):

A tourist visiting Old Town e-mailed SGHA claiming that he had heard the sounds of a horse following him while walking back to his car. He stated that he could hear the horse but was not able to see actually see it. He also noted that the sound seemed to change in direction as if the horse was coming at him from different directions.

Despite multiple investigations and the numerous ghost hunts performed for the Ghost Patrol Project, not a single picture, EVP or significant EM reading was found or recorded.

Historical Inaccuracies:

The plaque on the gazebo in Old Town that indicates that eight Confederate Soldiers were buried there is incorrect. The State Archeology Department confirms that there were no Confederate troops buried in Albuquerque during the war.

During the Civil War, the Texas Mounted Volunteers attempted to conquer New Mexico for the Confederacy. The historical record shows the Texans fought with a fair amount of fire power with several batteries of artillery. On Feb. 21, 1862, these artillery units inflicted great damage to the Union soldiers at Valverde, including the capture of McRae's Union Battery. This gave the Texans an additional five guns: three 6-pounders and two 12-pound howitzers.

Gen. Sibley made the decision to abandon about half of his artillery in Albuquerque to lighten their load and to use the carriages for hauling the few supplies they had left.

Late Friday night, April 11, the Texans dug a hole in a corral northeast of the Albuquerque Plaza , and secretly buried eight cannons of Reily's and Wood's artilleries. This was to ensure the discarded cannons would not fall into Union hands.

The following morning, they began their trek to San Antonio , Texas , with the four 6-pound guns of Teel's Light Artillery and the five cannons of the captured McRae's Battery , now Capt. Sayers Valverde Battery. The Texans ran into the Union forces at Peralta. Teel's 6-pounders, and a couple of the Valverde cannons, were used against Canby's men in the day-long skirmish.

After leaving the La Jencia, the Texans marched across the plains and camped at Ojo del Pueblo, near present day Magdalena . Hauling the artillery along the route of the sandy and mountainous retreat was becoming cumbersome, as expressed by Peticolas: "Sunday, 20 April 1862. Some talk of spiking the artillery and leaving it; 2nd Regt. And Green have gotten tired in one day of helping their battery along, but it was not done. Scurry undertakes to take them through and will not consent to leave behind us the only trophies we have been able to keep of our victories."

From this diary entry, it was clear that the McRae cannons, the "trophies," were with Scurry's command (Peticolas' regiment) and Teel's Battery assigned to Lt. Col. Green. This also seemingly proves that none of McRae's five cannons were buried in Albuquerque , as some historians believe.

From Ojo del Pueblo (Magdalena), the Texans marched along the western edge of the Magdalena Mountains to Texas Springs, then south along the San Mateos, roughly following what is now N.M. 107. On April 21, Peticolas wrote: " ... passed in sight of Ft. Craig ... Climbed a high steep hill, dragging up the 8 heavy guns ... " Historians have struggled with this entry for years. If the Texans had nine cannons on April 19, what happened to one of them by April 21?

The answer is not relevant for this report but the historical record clearly shows that there are not any other cannons buried in Albuquerque.

Finally it should be noted that there were no casualties during the Battle of Albuquerque.

These historical facts debunk the "purpose" of the haunting in Old Town. There is simply no reason for a ghost to be haunting that area.

Skeptical Review of Sighting #1:

Police records from this time show an arrest of a intoxicated man riding a horse on Central and Rio Grande blvd at 2:30am. This was 15 minutes after the sighting by the city employee.

Skeptical review of Sighting #2:

This sighting comes from an interview with a single witness who was not able to identify the Police Officer in question. This makes the "sighting" a second hand story and without knowing the name of the Officer involved, it is not possible to verify the story.

Skeptical review of Sighting #3:

More than likely this sighting was actually another Confederate re enactor. Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups were demonstrating Confederate and Union camp life that day. Artillery and marching demonstrations as well as reenactments of the historic battles in New Mexico were at the museum on this date.

"Six seconds" is more than enough time for the Confederate Re enactor to have reached the back gate at a "brisk stride". We also confirmed that the museum gate in this area was open at the time of the sighting.

Skeptical review of Sighting #4:

The sound of the horse was replicated in 2005. After a rain storm, water dripping into a gutter on Church Street creates the sound of a horse's hoofs. The sound directional change is caused by the echo and the listener's position in Old Town. We were able to hear the rain dripping down the gutter as far away as the plaza when traffic noise from Rio Grande Blvd was minimal.

Other Arguments:

Interviews with Old town residents reveal that there have been no sightings of this ghost by the locals. Additionally, no photographs have ever been taken by tourists that have anything unusual in them.

Urban legend/folklore created by unsustainable facts and myth building.

Based upon the lack of any evidence typically used to indicate a possible haunting and the results of the skeptical analysis, SGHA does not believe that this location is haunted or that this particular ghost exists.