Spymaster of the Pecos

 

Mule-Driven Freight Wagon Leaving San Antonio

During the summer of 1862, the Trans-Pecos Region of Texas was left wide open to Union occupation.  After the Confederacy’s disastrous retreat from New Mexico, fifteen-hundred troops from California, under the command of Brigadier General James H. Carlton, occupied El Paso del Norte (now modern day El Paso) and the surrounding area.  The lack of manpower, limited supplies, hostile Indians, and a tortuous climate kept Carlton’s men – the California Column - from invading the Texas interior.  Nevertheless, a threat existed – made worse by Union threats along the Texas coast and overland from Louisiana.  After Major General Nathaniel Banks occupied Brownsville in 1863, he encouraged Carlton to advance into Texas and join him.  The Confederate Commander of the Department of Texas, the flamboyant Major General John Bankhead Magruder, needed a close eye on West Texas.  A number of Texas residents in the region, with Confederate sympathies, offered their services.  Among them was a former scout for the U.S. Army – John Skillman.

Born in New Jersey, Skillman grew up in Kentucky before coming to Texas.  He served as a scout, interpreter, and mail contractor for the Butterfield Overland Mail.  In 1851, the U.S. Postmaster General awarded him the first contract for mail delivery between Santa Fe and San Antonio.  To secure his mail delivery from marauding Comanches and Apaches, Skillman deployed armed, 18 man escorts for his mule-driven freight wagons.  Utilizing canvas-topped farm wagons and charging a flat twenty-five dollar fee, he also offered passenger service along the same route.   Waterman L. Ormsby, a reporter for the New York Herald, offered a colorful, albeit inflated, description of Skillman.  He wrote that Skillman “carries several revolvers and Bowie knives, dresses in buckskin, and has a sandy head of hair and a beard.  He loves hard work and adventures, and hates ‘injuns’ and knows the country about here pretty well.”

Needless to say, Skillman’s previous occupations made him uniquely qualified for setting up a Confederate intelligence network in the Trans-Pecos Region.  To avoid Carlton’s troopers, he set up his base of operations in the Mexican border town of Presidio Del Norte (now present day Ojinaga).  Across the Rio Grande in Texas, intelligence was gathered in the town of La Junta (now present day Presidio) through cryptic letters and clandestine meetings with informants.  To avoid detection, Skillman traveled the backcountry, using little known trails and river crossings. In addition to collecting intelligence, he planted misinformation among Carlton’s troops, leading to a widespread fear of a rebel attack.

In January, 1864, Magruder summoned Skillman to his Houston headquarters for instructions. The instructions were to compile a map of the Trans-Pecos Region for a possible Confederate advance when, or if, the needed troops became available.  In addition, he was to continue his observations of Carlton’s troops for any movements toward the east.  “I have no doubt that they will come sooner or later,” said Magruder, “probably this Spring [1864].”

To finance Skillman’s operations, cotton was provided to be sold in Mexico for $500 in specie.  To assist him in his mapping, Skillman recruited a company of 10 men, mostly associates from Skillman’s stagecoach days.  On April 3, 1864, they set out from San Antonio for Presidio del Norte in Mexico.  They set up camp at Spencer’s Ranch near the Rio Grande border. In addition to gathering data on the surrounding region, the company demanded custom duties from Mexican wagon trains carrying salt harvested from Lake Cordona in Texas.   

Carlton was aware of Skillman’s operations through his own informants, mainly Hispanic residents that hated the Anglo Texans.  On April 13, 1864, a scouting party of twenty-five troopers, led by Captain Albert A. French, departed San Elizario in search of any rebel activity.  Following mule and horse tracks, they discovered Skillman’s camp at Spencer’s Ranch amidst a brush thicket.  Early on the morning of the 15th, French attacked Skillman’s sleepy camp.  Two of the Texans were killed, including Skillman.  Four were taken prisoner, while the rest escaped across the border to Mexico.  Though Skillman’s death dealt a severe setback to Confederate intelligence operations, information on Carlton’s activities continued to filter out of the Trans-Pecos.  Luckily for Magruder, Carlton’s troops never left the Trans-Pecos.