The Battle of Glorieta Pass, fought from March 26–28, 1862, in the northern New Mexico Territory, is the decisive battle of the New Mexico Campaign during the American Civil War.
Dubbed the "Gettysburg of the West", it is intended as the decisive blow by Confederate forces to break the Union possession of the West along the base of the Rocky Mountains.
It is fought at Glorieta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in what is now New Mexico, and is an important event in the history of the New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War.
There is a skirmish on March 26 between advance elements from each army, with the main battle occurring on March 28.
Although the Confederates are able to push the Union force back through the pass, they have to retreat when their supply train is destroyed and most of their horses and mules killed or driven off.
Eventually the Confederates have to withdraw entirely from the territory back into Confederate Arizona, then Texas.
Glorieta Pass thus represents the climax of the campaign.
