Charles Lynn Pyron (1819–1869) was a soldier in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Second Federal Republic of Mexico, Mexico f ...

and a

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

officer in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. He fought at the

Battle of Monterrey In the Battle of Monterrey (September 21–24, 1846) during the Mexican–American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North was defeated by the Army of Occupation, a force of United States Regulars, Volunteers and ...

in the Mexican–American War, and during the Civil War fought in the West, including at the battles of Valverde and

Glorieta Pass Glorieta Pass (elevation 7500 ft.) is a mountain pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. The pass is at a strategic location near at the southern end of the Sangre de Cristos in east central Santa Fe County southeas ...

Biography

Pyron was born in 1819 in

Marion County, Alabama Marion County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 29,341. The county seat is Hamilton. The county was created by an act of the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on February 13, 1818. The coun ...

, the son of Charles Pyron. He served with the

during the

. After the war, he purchased a ranch along the

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and also became married in 1849. During the

, Pyron served in Confederate Brigadier General

Henry Hopkins Sibley Henry Hopkins Sibley (May 25, 1816 – August 23, 1886) was a career officer in the United States Army, who commanded a Confederate cavalry brigade in the Civil War. In 1862, he attempted to forge a supply route from California, in defiance ...

's New Mexico Campaign, an invasion of New Mexico and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

with the goal of capturing the Southwest United States, including the Colorado gold fields and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. He raised a company of cavalry for the Confederates at

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, which served as Company B of John Baylor's Second Texas Mounted Rifles at Fort Lancaster and Fort Stockton. Pyron was a major in the Confederate Army and in March 1862 commanded a Confederate force of 200–300

Texans A Texan is a person associated with Texas, US. Texan may also refer to: Aircraft * T-6 Texan, World War II era training plane * T-6 Texan II, airplane used by the United States Air Force for basic pilot training * Fly Synthesis Texan, an Ita ...

on an advance expedition over the

. The pass was a strategic location on the Santa Fe Trail at the southern tip of the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains ( Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountains run from Poncha Pass in South ...

southeast of Santa Fe. Control of the pass would allow the Confederates to advance onto the

High Plains High Plains refers to one of two distinct land regions: *High Plains (United States), land region of the western Great Plains * High Plains (Australia), land region adjacent to the Great Dividing Range See also * Altiplano (disambiguation) The ...

and to make an assault on Fort Union, the Union stronghold along the invasion route northward over

Raton Pass Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, Ne ...

. After a few small battles, Union forces forced the withdrawal of the Confederates. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel after the New Mexico campaign and was given command of Baylor's Second Texas Mounted Rifles, which was reorganized as the Second or Pyron's Texas Cavalry. He was later promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

. He lived on his ranch in San Antonio, Texas after the war, and died on August 24, 1869.

External links

Handbook of Texas Online

Baylor's Command

Texas Cemetery Records

Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyron, Charles L. 1819 births 1869 deaths Confederate States Army officers American military personnel of the Mexican–American War People of Texas in the American Civil War People of Alabama in the American Civil War