Mid-June of this year saw dedication of the new Glorieta Battlefield Overlook Trail within the Pecos National Historical Park, 15 miles east of Santa Fe.

For the first time, the public was given access to the sprawling field where the bloody Civil War Battle of Glorieta took place March 28, 1862.

The state's largest newspaper titled its story of the opening ceremony with this curious headline: "Glorieta Defenders Mostly Hispanic." Those words startled me, because they were simply untrue.

Native New Mexicans had been much in evidence at the Battle of Valverde a month earlier. There, 30 miles south of Socorro, many of them had fought gallantly for the Union in a bid to repel a Confederate invasion from El Paso.

At Glorieta, however, there were no Hispanic companies, much less regiments, participating in the fray.

At the outbreak of war, New Mexico's military commander, Col. Edward R.S. Canby, had called for the organization of volunteer units to defend the territory. These were meant to bolster federal troops that were now in short supply.

In addition, Gov. Henry Connelly, head of the territorial militia, was asked to bring his ranks to full strength and be prepared to cooperate with the regular army and volunteer forces.

This, and rumors of a pending Confederate invasion, set off a flurry of activity among recruiters who moved through New Mexico's towns and villages drumming up enlistments.

The rank and file was composed mainly of farmers and day laborers, but also peones, men held in debt servitude. For them, the main attraction to joining up was not patriotism, but Army pay. That amounted to $13 a month, more than double what one could earn on the labor market.

The Santa Fe New Mexican editorialized: "A large number of peones have extricated themselves from their thralldom as servants, by going into the U.S. volunteer regiments."

Prominent members of the wealthy class, not only remained loyal to the Union, but moved into the officers' positions available in both the volunteers and the militia.

Spanish-speaking Col. Kit Carson, although not rich, was popular and influential. He headed the First Regiment of New Mexico Volunteers and Lt. Col. José Francisco Chaves, who later became a famous politician, was second in command. Col. Miguel Pino served as the commander of the Second Volunteer Regiment, Col. Nicolás Pino, the Second New Mexico Militia, and so on.

When word was received that a large rebel army under Gen. Henry H. Silbey was marching up the Rio Grande, Canby concentrated most of his forces at strategic Fort Craig to oppose them.

On Feb. 21, 1862, occurred the bitterly fought Battle of Valverde, up river from the fort. Although many of the New Mexicans had clashed with Indians, none of them had experienced combat against a massed-enemy charge supported by artillery.

Thus Carson was unsure how his green volunteer troops would hold up under fire. He needn't have worried. As his junior officer Capt. Rafael Chacón wrote afterward: "The men fought full of courage, driving the enemy back through blood and fire."

In fact, the First Regiment from the center of the Union line repulsed 10 cavalry charges and captured a cannon. One of the volunteers, Pvt. Doming Salazar, managed to penetrate the Texan line, capture a Confederate battle flag, and return with it in triumph.

Col. Miguel Pino's regiment, held in reserve on the west bank of the Rio Grande, did not fare as well. Late in the day, as the tide of battle turned against the federals, Canby ordered Pino to cross the river and support the general retreat that he had ordered.

Capt. José D. Sena allegedly led two companies across the bloodied waters, but the remaining companies held back despite pleadings and threats of Pino and his officers.

At day's end, the Confederates claimed victory. Canby's men, those not listed as casualties or deserters, tried to regroup inside Fort Craig.

Sibley's army quickly moved northward in pieces, seizing all the country between Socorro and Santa Fe. The bulk of U.S. soldiers in New Mexico, plus Native volunteers and militia, however, stayed bottled up at the fort, at least for the time being.

Therefore, when an advance body of Confederate soldiers stumbled into the Battle of Glorieta on March 28, they faced Colorado Volunteers, down from Denver, who had united with Army regulars from Fort Union east of Las Vegas, N.M.

One military historian describes Glorieta as the decisive battle of the Civil War in the Far West. But New Mexicans, upon whose ground it was fought and who had immense interest in its outcome, ironically were not participants, through no fault of their own.

Historian Marc Simmons is author of numerous books on New Mexico and the Southwest. His column appears Saturdays.