# Sherod Hunter
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{{Short description|Confederate Army officer}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sherod Hunter
|birth_date= March 5, 1834
|death_date= Unknown (c. 1870)
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_place= [Lincoln County, Tennessee](/source/Lincoln_County%2C_Tennessee)
|death_place= Unknown (possibly [Mexico](/source/Mexico))
|allegiance= {{flag|Confederate States of America}}
|branch= {{army|CSA}}
|service_years= 1861–1865
|rank= 35px [Colonel](/source/Colonel)
|unit= [Company A, Arizona Rangers](/source/Company_A%2C_Arizona_Rangers)
|battles= [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War)
[Arizona Campaign](/source/Arizona_Territory_(Confederate_States_of_America))
* [Battle of Picacho Pass](/source/Battle_of_Picacho_Pass)
* [Second Battle of Dragoon Springs](/source/Second_Battle_of_Dragoon_Springs)
* [Second Battle of Mesilla](/source/Second_Battle_of_Mesilla)
[Second Bayou Teche Campaign](/source/Bayou_Teche_Campaign)
[Red River Campaign](/source/Red_River_Campaign)
|awards=
|relations=
|other_work=
}}
'''Sherod Hunter''' (March 5, 1834 – ?) was the commander of the [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_Army) unit operating against [Union Army](/source/Union_Army) forces in present-day [Arizona](/source/Arizona) during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War). He later commanded various Confederate cavalry units elsewhere in the [Trans-Mississippi Theater](/source/Trans-Mississippi_Theater).
==Early life==
Sherod Hunter was born on March 5, 1834, in [Lincoln County, Tennessee](/source/Lincoln_County%2C_Tennessee), but was orphaned in 1840 and raised by various relatives.[L. Boyd Finch, CONFEDERATE PATHWAY TO THE PACIFIC: MAJOR SHEROD HUNTER AND ARIZONA TERRITORY, C.S.A., Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Historical Society, 1996, pp 6-8.] In November 1855, Hunter married the daughter of his business partner, Thomas Goodrich, with whom he operated a grocery business. On March 3, 1857, a son was born to Hunter and his wife. However, weakened by the hard childbirth, his wife died ten days later, on Friday, March 13, 1857;[Finch, PATHWAY, pp 14-15.] his son died soon afterward on July 6.[Finch, PATHWAY, p.19.]
Following this double tragedy, Hunter sold his interest in his business to his father-in-law and left Tennessee.[Finch, PATHWAY, pp. 19-20.] About 1858 or 1859, he settled and began to farm land beside the [Mimbres River](/source/Mimbres_River), near [Mowry City](/source/Mowry_City%2C_New_Mexico) in [Doña Ana County](/source/Do%C3%B1a_Ana_County%2C_New_Mexico) (now [Luna County](/source/Luna_County%2C_New_Mexico)), [New Mexico Territory](/source/New_Mexico_Territory).[L. Boyd Finch, "Sherod Hunter and the Confederates in Arizona," JOURNAL OF ARIZONA HISTORY, Spring 1969, pp 141-142.]
==Civil War==
Hunter began his service with the [Confederacy](/source/Confederate_States_of_America) in May 1861, after local [Apache](/source/Apache)s drove him from his farm in southwestern New Mexico.[Josephy, p. 58.] He joined Captain George Frazer's Company of Arizona Rangers and was promoted Lieutenant of the unit on August 1, 1861.[Martin Hardwick Hall,''The Confederate Army of New Mexico''. Austin, Texas: Presidio Press, 1978, p. 361.] The company was part of a battalion of Texas troops under Colonel [John R. Baylor](/source/John_R._Baylor), which had recently occupied the town of [Mesilla, New Mexico](/source/Mesilla%2C_New_Mexico). In January 1862, Hunter, having risen to the rank of captain, was sent west at the head of [Company A, Arizona Rangers](/source/Company_A%2C_Arizona_Rangers) by General [Henry Hopkins Sibley](/source/Henry_Hopkins_Sibley), who was preparing an invasion of New Mexico from Texas. Hunter's destination was [Tucson, Arizona](/source/Tucson%2C_Arizona), and his mission was to protect its pro-Confederate citizens from Apache raids and to watch for any Union forces advancing from California.
Hunter's 54-man detachment, along with Colonel James Riley and a small escort traveling to [Mexico](/source/Mexico) on Sibley's behalf, arrived in Tucson on February 28, 1862, and established Confederate occupation of the town. Hunter's men fought engagements against the [California Column](/source/California_Column) at [Stanwix Station](/source/Stanwix_Station) and [Picacho Pass](/source/Battle_of_Picacho_Pass) before retreating east to Texas in May 1862. During the retreat, four of Hunter's men were killed by Apaches in the [Dragoon Mountains](/source/Dragoon_Mountains) at the [First Battle of Dragoon Springs](/source/First_Battle_of_Dragoon_Springs).[Josephy, p. 273.] Hunter retaliated four days later at the [Second Battle of Dragoon Springs](/source/Second_Battle_of_Dragoon_Springs). The Confederate retreat from Arizona was followed by the [Union reoccupation of Tucson](/source/Capture_of_Tucson_(1862)) on May 20.
Hunter rejoined Sibley's army after its failed New Mexico invasion, seeing further service in Texas and Louisiana. On June 23, 1863, Hunter, now a major in the Confederate Army, took part in a successful attack on Union troops at [Brashear City](/source/Morgan_City%2C_Louisiana), Louisiana; the Union force surrendered to Hunter after a brief resistance.[Josephy, pp. 175–176.]
==See also==
* [Jack Swilling](/source/Jack_Swilling)
==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}
;Sources
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Josephy Jr. |first=Alvin M. |title=The Civil War in the American West |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1991 |isbn=0394564820 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/civilwarinameric00jose }}
* Frazier, Donald S. ''Blood & Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest.'' College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0890966397}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
* [https://azrebel.tripod.com/page6.html Robert Perkins, ''Colonel Herod Hunter, A Biography of Our Camp's Namesake'', 2000 by the Colonel Sherod Hunter Camp 1525, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Phoenix, Arizona.]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Sherod}}
Category:1834 births
Category:1870 deaths
Category:Confederate States Army officers
Category:People from Lincoln County, Tennessee
Category:People of New Mexico in the American Civil War
Category:People of Arizona in the American Civil War
Category:People from Luna County, New Mexico
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sherod Hunter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherod_Hunter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherod_Hunter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.