La Paz Incident

The La Paz Incident occurred in May 1863 at the ghost town of La Paz in Confederate Arizona and was the westernmost land action of the American Civil War. Confederate minuteman William "Frog" Edwards attacked a pair of United States Army soldiers when they stopped at La Paz to purchase supplies. Though successful in ambushing the federals, Edwards died of exposure while making his escape.

Incident
When Confederate Arizona was created in 1861, the Union California Column was formed to march across Arizona for an occupation and to reinforce the Union Army engaged in the New Mexico Campaign. In 1862 General James H. Carleton arrested several Arizona citizens and detained them at Fort Yuma as political prisoners; Edwards was one of these detainees. By 1863, La Paz and a handful of other American settlements had been established along the Colorado River, which was an important army route since the Yuma War. The army constantly had a presence by steaming up and down the waterway on river steamers, generally in pursuit of supplies to maintain their forts. On the night of May 20, 1863, the army steamer named Cocopah arrived at La Paz. A small group of soldiers, under the command of Lieutenant James A. Hale of the 4th Infantry, disembarked the ship to visit Cohn's Store. There they were to purchase some supplies before returning to Fort Mohave.

Waiting in the shadows was William Edwards, or the 'Frog", a name the Union troops later called him. As the soldiers were gathering in front of the store, Edwards opened fire with his revolver and shot several rounds off into the crowd. Both Private Ferdinand Behn and Private Thomas Gainor of Company H were hit and killed instantly. One bystander was also struck by a bullet and suffered a serious wound. Lieutenant Hale immediately searched the town with his remaining men but he could not find Edwards, who had already made his escape. The Union troops were forced to return to base where the lieutenant informed his commander what had happened. In response a troop of forty men were deployed to hunt the "Frog". Edwards was found lying in the desert a few days later; apparently he had no water and died of thirst.