Battle of Sunset Pass

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Battle of Sunset Pass
Part of the Yavapai War, Apache Wars
Rescue of Lt. Charles King.jpg
The rescue of Charles King by Sergeant Bernard Taylor at Sunset Pass.
DateNovember 1, 1874
Location
Sunset Pass, Coconino County, Arizona
Result Apache victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States (1867-1877).svg  United States Apache
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the United States (1867-1877).svg Charles King unknown
Strength
≈40 unknown

The Battle of Sunset Pass was fought in November 1874 during the Yavapai War. Following the theft of livestock by a band of Tonto Apaches, a troop of United States Army soldiers was dispatched to track the natives and recover the stolen property. The Americans found the raiders at Sunset Pass, in Coconino County, Arizona, where a small skirmish ensued.

Contents

Battle

In October 1874 a Tonto band stole some livestock from a settler in the Tonto Basin so on the morning of November 1, 1874 about forty men of the 5th Cavalry, including some Apache scouts, left Camp Verde to pursue the hostiles. The patrol reached Sunset Pass, near the Little Colorado River, that same day so the commander, First Lieutenant Charles King, decided that the spot would be a good place to make camp for the night. However, shortly after the Americans stopped, King took a few men with him on a hike up a nearby mesa in order to have a better view of the surrounding terrain. [1] [2] [3] Unbeknown to King, the Tontos he was looking for were waiting to ambush the party while they climbed up the mesa. King and his men were about a half a mile away from camp when suddenly a volley or arrows and bullets was fired from the Tontos hiding behind rocks and boulders. King was badly wounded within the first few minutes of the fight, having been hit in the head twice by arrows and one by a bullet to his right arm.

Under a heavy enemy fire, Sergeant Bernard Taylor raced forward and rescued King who was almost unconscious. Sergeant Taylor then carried the wounded King all the way back to camp. By which time the remainder of the patrol moved in to engage. Second Lieutenant George O. Eaton assumed command at that point and he fought the Apaches for some time before disengaging. In the end, King's probe was regarded as a failure though Sergeant Taylor, George Deary, and Rudolph von Medem later received the Medal of Honor for their conduct in this battle and other engagements. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Aftermath

Because the pursuit of the Tonto Apaches failed, the garrison of Camp Verde launched another expedition on November 17 of 1874. In it, Second Lieutenant Eaton led a detachment of the 5th Cavalry which was accompanied by the famous frontiersman Al Sieber and his Apache scouts. The expedition first headed east from Camp Verde along West Clear Creek before heading roughly northeast above the Mogollon Rim. Several days later, on November 24, Eaton and his command encountered a patrol under Captain Robert H. Montgomery who had been patrolling farther to the east. Though Eaton had no orders to proceed further east, he continued on and found the Apache's trail which Captain Montgomery had missed. The expedition followed the trail and two hours before sunset they found the hostiles. Another skirmish ensued and it resulted in the deaths of two warriors and the capture of six women and children, the Americans suffered no casualties. [12] As for First Lieutenant King, he later became a captain only to retire from the regular army shortly afterwards, due to his wounds sustained at Sunset Pass. King then became a well known novelist before volunteering to fight in the War of 1898 and the Philippine–American War as a general. One of King's works was the book Sunset Pass , published in 1890. [13]

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Apache Wars Conflicts between the U.S. Army and native Apache tribe (1849–1924)

The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache nations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The United States inherited conflicts between American settlers and Apache groups when Mexico ceded territory after the Mexican–American War in 1846. These conflicts were continued as new United States citizens came into traditional Apache lands to raise livestock, crops and to mine minerals.

Tonto Apache Group of Western Apache people

The Tonto Apache is one of the groups of Western Apache people. The term is also used for their dialect, one of the three dialects of the Western Apache language. The Chiricahua living to the south called them Ben-et-dine or binii?e'dine'. The neighboring Western Apache ethnonym for them was Koun'nde, from which the Spanish derived their use of Tonto for the group. The kindred but enemy Navajo to the north called both the Tonto Apache and their allies, the Yavapai, Dilzhʼíʼ dinéʼiʼ – “People with high-pitched voices”).

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The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts. Most of their service was during the Apache Wars, between 1849 and 1886, though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States military and sometimes the cultural translators for the various Apache bands and the Americans. Apache scouts also served in the Navajo War, the Yavapai War, the Mexican Border War and they saw stateside duty during World War II. There has been a great deal written about Apache scouts, both as part of United States Army reports from the field and more colorful accounts written after the events by non-Apaches in newspapers and books. Men such as Al Sieber and Tom Horn were sometimes the commanding officers of small groups of Apache Scouts. As was the custom in the United States military, scouts were generally enlisted with Anglo nicknames or single names. Many Apache Scouts received citations for bravery.

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John Nihill

John Nihill was an Irish-born soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 5th U.S. Cavalry during the Indian Wars. A participant in the Apache Wars, he received the Medal of Honor for bravery when he single-handedly fought off four Apache warriors in the Whetstone Mountains of Arizona on July 13, 1872. At the time of his death, he was the only enlisted man to be admitted as a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

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Bernard Taylor (Medal of Honor)

Sergeant Bernard "Barney" Taylor was an American soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 5th U.S. Cavalry during the Apache Wars. He was one of three men received the Medal of Honor for gallantry, Taylor rescuing wounded commander Lieutenant Charles King, while battling the Western Apache near Sunset Pass in Arizona on November 1, 1874. He died two days after receiving the award.

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Victorios War

Victorio's War, or the Victorio Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Apache followers of Chief Victorio, the United States, and Mexico beginning in September 1879. Faced with arrest and forcible relocation from his homeland in New Mexico to San Carlos Indian Reservation in southeastern Arizona, Victorio led a guerrilla war across southern New Mexico, west Texas and northern Mexico. Victorio fought many battles and skirmishes with the United States Army and raided several settlements until the Mexican Army killed him and most of his warriors in October 1880 in the Battle of Tres Castillos. After Victorio's death, his lieutenant Nana led a raid in 1881.

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References

  1. ↑ Rodenbough, Theo F., ed. Uncle Sam's Medal of Honor: Some of the Noble Deeds For Which the Medal Has Been Awarded, Described By Those Who Have Won It, 1861–1866. New York and London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1886. (pp. 254–264)
  2. ↑ Rodenbough, Theo F., ed. Sabre and Bayonet: Stories of Heroism and Military Adventure. New York: G.W. Dillingham & Co., 1897. (pp. 260–270)
  3. 1 2 Beyer, Walter F. and Oscar Frederick Keydel, ed. Deeds of Valor: From Records in the Archives of the United States Government; how American Heroes Won the Medal of Honor; History of Our Recent Wars and Explorations, from Personal Reminiscences and Records of Officers and Enlisted Men who Were Rewarded by Congress for Most Conspicuous Acts of Bravery on the Battle-field, on the High Seas and in Arctic Explorations. Vol. 2. Detroit: Perrien-Keydel Company, 1906. (p. 195)
  4. ↑ Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863–1973, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1973. (p. 981)
  5. ↑ Hannings, Bud. A Portrait of the Stars and Stripes. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Seniram Publishing, 1988. (p. 400) ISBN   0-922564-00-0
  6. ↑ O'Neal, Bill. Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion. Stillwater, Oklahoma: Barbed Wire Press, 1991. (p. 29) ISBN   0-935269-07-X
  7. ↑ Hedren, Paul L., ed. Campaigning with King: Charles King, Chronicler of the Old Army. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991. (p. 78) ISBN   0-8032-3877-0
  8. ↑ Stallard, Patricia Y., ed. Fanny Dunbar Corbusier: Recollections of Her Army Life, 1869–1908. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003. (p. 282) ISBN   0-8061-3531-X
  9. ↑ Nunnally, Michael L. American Indian Wars: A Chronology of Confrontations Between Native Peoples and Settlers and the United States Military, 1500s-1901. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2007. ISBN   0-7864-2936-4
  10. ↑ Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "MOH Citation for Bernard Taylor". MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns. HomeofHeroes.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Military Times Hall of Valor: Bernard Taylor". Military Times. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  12. ↑ Michno, p. 289
  13. ↑ "Sunset Pass by Charles King". www.freefictionbooks.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17.
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