New Mexico Entertainment

Commanding Officer's Quarters: The first commanding officer's quarters, in 1854, were located across the parade ground, but by 1869, the official ground plan shows that the post commander resided here.  This may be the location in February 1862, where Colonel Edward R. S. Canby was able to stand on his porch to watch Confederate troop movements along the escarpment to the east in preparation of Valverde.  The rank of Colonel was not often required to command the post, and Majors, Captains (often with temporary Brevet ranks), and sometimes Lieutenants found themselves in charge.   While many of the commanders went on to superior service for their country, few would be widely recognized by name today.  For a brief period following the Battle of Valverde, while Canby marched north in pursuit of the Rebels, Colonel Kit Carson and his New Mexico Volunteers held Fort Craig, and Colonel Carson occupied these quarters.  By the 1880s, one post commander complained of the quarters, "...nothing can be seen in any direction excepting the parade and interior of the garrison in front, and... the storehouses and enlisted men's sinks (latrines) in the rear."  The building, however, included a kitchen and servants' quarters added in 1867, so life was not without some advantage.

April 2000

Back Next

Fort Craig Photographs Page