New Mexico Honors Latino Hero of Civil War Battle

By Tom Sharpe, Santa Fe New Mexican

The state Senate paused briefly this week to recognize a little-known New Mexico native whose bushwhacking skills helped pull a Union victory from the jaws of defeat 151 years ago at the Battle of Glorieta Pass.

The certificate of recognition says Manuel Antonio Cháves was “affectionately known to the people of New Mexico as El Leoncito de Sudoeste, or The Little Lion of the Southwest, befitting an authentic Spanish-American hero.”

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