Stanwix Station, in western Arizona, was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach line built in the 1850s near the Gila River about 80 miles east of Yuma, Arizona. The station was the site of the westernmost engagement between Union and Confederate troops during the American Civil War. It has been suggested that Arizona Governors Mansion be merged into this article or section. ... The Butterfield Stage, also known as Butterfield Overland Stage and Butterfield Overland Mail was a precursor to todays Information Superhighway in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. ... The Gila River, a tributary of the Colorado, is shown highlighted on a map of the United States The Gila River (Oodham [Pima]: Hila Akimel) is a tributary of the Colorado River, 630 mile (1,014 km) long, in the southwestern United States. ... Yuma Crossing and RR bridge in 1886. ... In this map:  Union states prohibiting slavery  Union territories  Border states on the Union side which allowed slavery  Kansas, which entered and fought with the Union as a free state after the Bleeding Kansas crisis  The Confederacy  Confederate claimed and sometimes held territories During the American Civil War, the Union... For the fictional documentary about alternative history, see C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

The engagement took place on March 30, 1862, when Capt. William P. Calloway and a vanguard of 272 troops from the California Column discovered a detachment of Confederates led by 2nd Lt. John W. Swilling burning hay, which had been placed at Stanwix Station for the California Column's animals. After exchanging fire with the larger Union force, the Confederates retreated to Tucson, the capital of the western district of the Confederate Territory of Arizona. The brief skirmish resulted in the wounding of a German born Union private named William Semmilrogge, who subsequently recovered from his wound. There appear to have been no other casualties. March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in a leap year). ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: The Old Pueblo Location in Pima County and the state of Arizona Coordinates: Country United States State Arizona Counties Pima Mayor Bob Walkup (R) Area    - City 505. ... Territories in Arizona and New Mexico in 1863. ...

The significance of the incident was two fold. First, the burning of hay, not only at Stanwix but at other former stagecoach stations, slowed the California Column's advance considerably and prevented them from arriving at Mesilla, the territorial capital of Confederate Arizona, before the Confederates had evacuated almost all of their forces and removed or destroyed their supplies. Secondly, and of more immediate importance, Swilling was able to reach Tucson and warn Capt. Sherrod Hunter, district military commander of western Confederate Arizona, of the approaching California Column. This led Hunter to place pickets at strategic locations, leading to the Battle of Picacho Pass where ten Confederate pickets were attacked by a Union cavalry detachment of about twelve. This "battle" was actually also only a skirmish, distinguished from the Stanwix Station fight simply by the comparatively more severe casualties (three dead and three wounded Union soldiers). Mesilla is a town located in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. ... The Battle of Picacho Pass (also known as the Battle of Picacho Peak) was fought on April 15, 1862 near Picacho Peak, 50 miles northwest of Tucson, Arizona, USA. It was fought between a Union cavalry patrol from California and a party of Confederate scouts from Tucson, and 3 Union...

References

• The Confederate Arizona Campaign of 1862, Col. Sherrod Hunter Camp 1525, SCV, Phoenix, Arizona.
• Hunt, Aurora, James Henry Carleton, 1814-1873, Frontier Dragoon, Frontier Military Series II, Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1958. (Hunt states that John Swilling led the Confederates at Picacho Pass, but this is persuasively contradicted by the other source above, who show that Swilling was actually elsewhere guarding Union prisoners at the time.)