Major Teel’s War

	If you go WHAT: “Major Trevanion T. Teel and the Civil War in Albuquerque” WHEN: Today through April 15. A reception will be held from 1-3 p.m. March 25. The museum is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday and also 5 p.m.-8:30 p.m. the third Thursday of each month. WHERE: Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain NW HOW MUCH: $3 New Mexico residents, $2 seniors, $4 non-New Mexico residents, $1 children 4-12. Free 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays and 5-8:30 p.m. the third Thursday of each month.

Though focused on Teel, the exhibit honors Confederate and Union soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War in New Mexico 150 years ago, according to Deb Slaney, the museum’s curator of history.

After winning the Battle of Valverde, the Confederates under Gen. H.H. Sibley headed to Albuquerque, raised the Confederate flag and sang “Dixie.”

They occupied Albuquerque for about a month in 1862.

Teel, who had received a field promotion from captain to major after Valverde, was placed in charge of the artillery in Sibley’s brigade.

Maj. Teel remained in Albuquerque during the occupation, while Sibley took soldiers north toward Fort Union, Slaney said.

En route, they battled Union forces at Glorieta and Apache Canyon, southeast of Santa Fe. With the destruction of their supply trains, the Confederates retreated, first to Santa Fe and then back to Albuquerque.

In Albuquerque, Confederate troops skirmished a large Union force, and with their supplies dwindling, the Rebels retreated from the Duke City south along the Rio Grande to Texas.

Before retreating south, Maj. Teel ordered eight howitzers buried under an Old Town corral so they wouldn’t fall into Union hands. (The howitzers had originally been in a Union arsenal in San Antonio, Texas, which the Confederates had captured in 1861.)

The howitzers’ carriages went with the retreating Confederates, who probably used them to transport needed supplies, Slaney said.

The hidden howitzers weren’t unearthed for another 27 years.

In 1889, Teel, now an El Paso lawyer, happened to meet poet-scout “Capt. Jack” Crawford on a train between El Paso and Albuquerque, Slaney said.

Crawford told Teel he was looking for Civil War artifacts for an exposition in Missouri. Teel told him about the howitzers and where they were buried.

The weapons were dug up a few days later in what was now a chile patch. It’s unknown if Crawford took any of the howitzers to the exposition, Slaney said.

One of the eight buried howitzers is in the Teel exhibit along with a number of other artifacts, many provided by Teel’s descendants. These are some of the artifacts:

♦ Portraits of Teel and other family members.

♦ An artillery officer’s saber and scabbard with strap, circa 1848.

♦ A foot artillery sword and scabbard, circa 1860. The Confederate-made copy of a Roman “gladius” or short sword was issued to every artilleryman and was considered his weapon of last resort, according to the accompanying exhibit text.

♦ A presentation case that includes matched Navy Colt revolvers circa 1854. There are also a bullet mold, nipple wrench, powder flask, paper cartridges, cap box, key and bullets that belonged to Maj. Teel, circa 1861.

The exhibit text said that Teel probably used these revolvers and accessories in the Battle of Valverde on Feb. 20-21, 1861. The revolvers are engraved “T.T. Teel.”

♦ A saddle and cinch, circa 1861, that Maj. Teel owned. Though an artillery officer, Teel rode and commanded from a horse, according to the exhibit text.

Another howitzer from the same buried eight is in the current history exhibit located in the museum’s North Gallery and in the Transition Gallery. That exhibit is called “Albuquerque: Along the Rio Grande.”

Descendants of Teel and Crawford are to attend a March 25 public reception at the museum. Civil War re-enactors are expected to answer questions.