Civil War

This Week in the Civil War

00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 738

Texas Public Radio | By Texas Public Radio

Published January 6, 2014 at 12:43 PM CST

Since 1846 white New Mexico Territory settlers had battled the western Indians. During the Civil War from September 1863 to January 1864 Kit Carson led the U.S. military in an effort to round up the Navajo and send them to a reservation at Ft. Sumner, New Mexico.

After resisting direct military confrontation with the Navajo for four months, on Wednesday, January 6, 1864 troops under Kit Carson’s command commenced operations directly against the Navajo stronghold of the Canyon de Chelly.

This left the Navajo, led by the warrior Manuelito, no alternative short of death but to surrender and be confined to the reservation. Carson’s military success against the Navajo and their subsequent harsh “Long Walk” to the reservation has long tainted his name in the history of the American Indian.