The Apache can endure fatigue and famine and can live without water for periods that would kill the hardiest mountaineer ... In fighting them we must of necessity be the pursuers and unless we can surprise them by sudden and unexpected attack, the advantage is all in their favor ... You rarely see an Indian; you see the puff of smoke and hear the whiz of his bullets, but the Indian is thoroughly hidden in his rocks ...
Scholar Dan Thrapp wrote of Victorio's War that "never again were [Apache] fighters in such numbers to roam and ravage that country, nor were they again to be so ably led and managed."[4] Victorio, according to scholar Robert N. Watt, "is widely acknowledged as being one of the best guerrilla leaders of the Apache Wars."[5]
Background
In 1879, Victorio was about 55 years old. He was a veteran warrior and leader of the Warm Springs (Ojo Caliente in Spanish) or Chihenne band of Apaches. The homeland of the Warm Springs band was north of present-day Monticello, New Mexico, in the Cañada Alamosa. A reservation at Ojo Caliente was established for Victorio and his band, and a census in 1876 recorded 916 Apache men, women, and children in residence.[6]
In the late 1870s, the U.S. government pursued the policy of concentrating all Apache bands at the San Carlos Indian Reservation in the Arizona desert. Victorio and the Warm Springs Apache opposed the move, both peacefully and violently. Some of the Apaches at San Carlos were enemies of the Warm Springs band, the management of the reservation by government agents was corrupt,[7] and San Carlos was characterized by overcrowding, little grass for livestock to graze or game to hunt, bad water, and hot temperatures. Deaths of Apaches at the reservation were numerous, especially from malaria, a disease previously almost unknown among them.[8]
A memorial to Victorio's opponents, the African-American Buffalo Soldiers
The commander of the U.S. army in New Mexico, Colonel Edward Hatch, and the local commander at Ojo Caliente, Lt. Charles W. Merritt, of the 9th Cavalry (made up of African-Americans, the Buffalo Soldiers as they were called by the Apache) unsuccessfully petitioned the government in Washington, D.C. to allow Victorio a reservation at Ojo Caliente.[9]
Early skirmish
Victorio's Apaches attacked settlers near Silver City beginning in April 1879. 9th Cavalry began its almost constant pursuit of Victorio's band. Captain Beyer and Lieutenant Wright's C Troop, along with some men of I troop, two Navaho scouts, and John R. Foster, a local guide, left Fort Bayard in pursuit on May 25, 1879. Following a tip from local settlers, and finding dead animal carcasses nearby, the 9th Cavalry encountered Victorio's band on May 29, 1879 in a canyon in the Mimbres Mountains. Negotiation broke down, the Apache band moved their women and children to safety, and shooting broke out. I Troop flanked the right side, climbing the mountain toward the Apaches and the Apaches fled on foot without leaving a trail. The cavalry destroyed the Apache camp equipment. Apache losses were unknown, the 9th Cavalry lost one man, and Beyer's force patrolled for 14 more days before returning to Fort Bayard. Victorio would not be encountered again until August 1879. Sergeant Thomas Boyne would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions on May 29, 1879.[10]
In July 1879, Victorio and others were charged by a civilian court in Silver City, New Mexico, with murder and horse theft. Victorio, Nana, and other Warm Springs Apaches were then at the Mescalero reservation in New Mexico. Fearing arrest, Victorio left the reservation on August 21, 1879, to escape both possible punishment and removal from his homeland by the U.S. government.[11] Fleeing with him were approximately 80 warriors and their wives and children. His band was soon augmented by additional followers from the Mescalero and other Apache bands.[12] However, he never had more than 200 warriors under his command—and rarely, if at all, were they concentrated in one place at one time.[13]
Victorio's chief lieutenants were his sister Lozen and Nana, reputed to be more than 70 years old in 1879.
Battles, skirmishes, and raids
1879
Ojo Caliente, 33°34′N107°36′W / 33.57°N 107.60°W / 33.57; -107.60, September 4, 1879. From the Mescalero reservation, Victorio and his followers headed for their homeland at Ojo Caliente. Victorio needed horses and he stole about a dozen near Tres Rios. Arriving at Ojo Caliente, 40 of Victorio's men attacked a company of the 9th Cavalry, killing 5 soldiers and 3 civilians and capturing 68 horses and mules.[14]
McEvers Ranch, 32°43′N107°34′W / 32.72°N 107.57°W / 32.72; -107.57, September 11, 1879. Victorio ambushed an armed group of civilian volunteers searching for him. The Apaches killed ten armed civilians near McEvers Ranch (Lake Valley) and stole livestock from ranches in the area, also killing a family living nearby at Jaralosa Creek. The survivors of the ambush said the Apache force consisted of 100 men.[15]
Las Animas Canyon, 33°03′N107°45′W / 33.05°N 107.75°W / 33.05; -107.75, September 18, 1879. From McEvers Ranch, Victorio headed north to the Black Range. Four companies (more than 100 men) of the 9th Cavalry found Victorio's trail and were lured into Las Las Animas Canyon. Victorio and 150 men[16] ambushed the soldiers and from the heights above the canyon pinned the soldiers down for the remainder of the day. Late in the afternoon, First Sergeant John Denny and another soldier, while under fire, carried Private A. Freeland to safety across four hundred yards of open ground. Lieutenant Day also rescued a soldier while under fire. The cavalry was able to withdraw after dark, leaving much of its camp gear to be captured by Apaches.[16] Five or six soldiers and two or three Navajo scouts were reported killed—although a cemetery at the site of the battle has at least 32 graves. The canyon where the battle took place is called "Massacre Canyon" and a nearby flat area is called Victorio Park.[17] Lieutenant Day received the Medal of Honor for his actions eleven years later, and First Sergeant John Denny received his Medal of Honor almost sixteen years later.[16] Lieutenant Robert Temple Emmet also received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Las Animas Canyon.
Cuchillo Negro, 33°27′N107°43′W / 33.45°N 107.71°W / 33.45; -107.71 (approximate), September 29–30, 1879. A two-day running fight in which 200 soldiers of the 9th Cavalry and 36 Indian scouts attempted to find and defeat Victorio in the northern Black Range. Two soldiers were killed and Victorio suffered what were probably his first casualties of the war.[18]
Lloyd's Ranch, 32°34′N107°26′W / 32.57°N 107.44°W / 32.57; -107.44, October 10–12, 1879. Victorio raided the ranch, present day Nutt, New Mexico, and killed four armed civilians in a rescue party; on October 12 he killed five of another rescue party (among its members was gunfighter Johnny Ringo). The civilians abandoned the goods in a wagon train to the Apaches.[19]
Guzman Mountains, Mexico, 31°22′N107°44′W / 31.36°N 107.74°W / 31.36; -107.74 (approximate), October 27–28, 1879. Victorio crossed the border into Mexico and was followed by Major Morrow and 81 men of the 9th Cavalry and Charles B. Gatewood's Apache scouts. Morrow attempted to dislodge Victorio from the mountains, but gave up because of lack of water and exhaustion. The official death toll was one soldier, but Gatewood recalled several soldiers and one Apache scout killed.[20]
Candelaria Mountains, Mexico, 31°07′N106°57′W / 31.117°N 106.950°W / 31.117; -106.950, November 9, 1879. An armed force of 18 Mexican civilians searching for Victorio was ambushed and killed. A relief force of 35 men sent out to look for the missing men was also ambushed with fifteen killed. Victorio did not bother to collect the antique arms of the dead Mexicans, indicating that he had sufficient and better arms. This battle stimulated cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico to hunt down Victorio. After these battles, Victorio moved through northern Mexico, raiding and accumulating supplies. Efforts by the government of Mexico to find and defeat him were unsuccessful.[21]
Percha Creek, 32°55′N107°37′W / 32.92°N 107.62°W / 32.92; -107.62 (approximate), January 12, 1880. Victorio evaded U.S. efforts to block him at the border and slipped back into New Mexico in early January. Major Morrow and a strong force of the 9th Cavalry with artillery caught him at Percha Creek on the eastern slopes of the Black Range, west of Hillsboro, New Mexico. Morrow had one man killed and Nana later said the Apaches had 6 killed. Victorio continued on northward.[22]
San Mateo Mountains, 33°33′N107°26′W / 33.55°N 107.43°W / 33.55; -107.43, January 17, 1880. Returning to his old home in Ojo Caliente, Victorio attempted to negotiate terms of surrender that would allow him and his followers to remain at Ojo Caliente. Failing that, he fought the 9th cavalry in the San Mateo Mountains, probably near Vicks Mountain (named after him), killing one American officer and eluding capture or defeat.[23]
Caballo Mountains, 33°08′N107°13′W / 33.13°N 107.21°W / 33.13; -107.21, January 30, 1880. Captain Rucker and a 9th cavalry contingent crossed the Rio Grande river and approximately one mile east of the river the Apache lured him into an ambush. The army had several horses killed and one soldier wounded before they were able to withdraw.[24]
Aleman, 33°00′N106°54′W / 33.00°N 106.9°W / 33.00; -106.9 (approximate), February 3, 1880. Victorio entered the Jornada del Muerto pursued by Major Morrow with 5 companies of cavalry (~150 men) and Indian scouts. He had a skirmish with the 9th Cavalry which cost the soldiers one dead, and Victorio many of his horses. Morrow reported several Indians killed. The 10th Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers was called in from Fort Bliss, Texas to assist in the hunt for Victorio.[25]
San Andres Mountains, 32°55′N106°33′W / 32.92°N 106.55°W / 32.92; -106.55, February 9, 1880. The Apache routed a company of the 9th Cavalry in Hospital Canyon, driving them from the mountains, and capturing supplies.[26] Major Morrow and much of the 9th Cavalry retired from the field, exhausted and short of horses after chasing Victorio for the previous month.[27]
Rio Grande Valley, 32°52′N107°17′W / 32.86°N 107.29°W / 32.86; -107.29 (approximate), March 1880. War parties sent out by Victorio raided with impunity settlements along the Rio Grande for livestock, supplies, and ammunition, killing at least 20 civilians. The cavalry, having lost many horses, rested and resupplied during the month and prepared to take on an expanded campaign against Victorio.[28]
Hembrillo Basin, 32°55′26″N106°38′42″W / 32.924°N 106.645°W / 32.924; -106.645 (approximate), April 5–8, 1880. In the largest battle of the war in numbers engaged. More than 500 soldiers and Indian scouts attempted to encircle Victorio's camp. Not all the U.S. troops found their way to the battlefield and after skirmishing at long distance Victorio withdrew successfully. The U.S. had two dead and three Apache bodies were reported found on the battlefield.[29]
Mescalero Reservation, 33°10′N105°46′W / 33.16°N 105.77°W / 33.16; -105.77, April 16, 1880. In the aftermath of the Battle of Hembrillo Basin, 1,000 U.S. soldiers descended upon the Mescalero reservation. In an effort to cut off Victorio from men and supplies provided him by the Mescaleros, the soldiers imprisoned many of the men and killed 14 who resisted or attempted to flee.[30]
Palomas Creek, 33°08′N107°48′W / 33.14°N 107.80°W / 33.14; -107.80, May 24, 1880. A force of approximately 60 Apache scouts headed by Chief of Scouts Henry K. Parker surrounded and surprised Victorio and a large number of his followers. They killed about 30 men, women, and children before running out of ammunition and withdrawing. Victorio was wounded. This was the first major defeat of Victorio, and it was accomplished by Apache scouts rather than soldiers. After this defeat, Victorio divided his followers into several groups and fled toward Mexico.[33]
Deming, 32°14′N107°26′W / 32.23°N 107.43°W / 32.23; -107.43 (approximate), June 5, 1880. Tracking Victorio's forces south to Mexico, Parker's Apache scouts found a group of Apaches and killed 10 of them, including Victorio's son Washington, who had a reputation as a fierce warrior.[34]
Northern Mexico, June and early July 1880. Victorio raided ranches and settlements in northern Mexico to gather supplies and livestock, with the apparent intention of driving the livestock to New Mexico, especially the Mescalero Reservation, to trade for arms and ammunition.[35] In July, several Mexican soldiers and Apaches were killed in clashes between Victorio and Mexican military forces.[36]
Artist's depiction of the Battle of Quitman Canyon, also called Tinaja de las Palmas
Tinaja de las Palmas (or Quitman Canyon), 31°01′N105°14′W / 31.01°N 105.24°W / 31.01; -105.24, July 30, 1880. Victorio crossed the Rio Grande into Texas and encountered the 10th Cavalry of Colonel Benjamin Grierson. Rather than chasing Victorio, Grierson's strategy was to station soldiers at strategic locations, such as the infrequent waterholes in the deserts of Trans-Pecos Texas. Grierson and three companies of African-American soldiers prevented Victorio and 125 warriors from accessing the Tinaja (waterhole) de las Palmas. One soldier was killed. Grierson claimed to have killed 7 Apaches.[37]
Rattlesnake Springs, 31°21′N104°52′W / 31.35°N 104.86°W / 31.35; -104.86, August 6, 1880. Badly in need of water and probably attempting to return to New Mexico, Victorio headed north from Mexico toward Rattlesnake Springs, Texas. After a grueling march, Grierson beat him to Rattlesnake Springs. Victorio made several attempts to reach the water in the springs, but was fended off by the soldiers. Grierson had 3 dead, but estimated that he had killed or wounded 30 Apaches. Victorio turned back to Mexico after the battle, unable to reach territory familiar to him in New Mexico.[38] A mountain and canyon in the area are named for Victorio.
Apache prisoners and Mexican soldiers after the Battle of Tres Castillos
Tres Castillos, 29°58′N105°47′W / 29.97°N 105.78°W / 29.97; -105.78, October 14–15, 1880. Victorio took refuge in the desert of northern Mexico, sending out two raiding parties in search of badly needed ammunition and horses. A Mexican force of 250 men encircled his encampment and killed 62 men and boys, including Victorio, and 16 women and children, taking 68 women and children prisoners. Three Mexicans were killed. Nana was leading a raiding party and was not present during the battle. Victorio's sister, Lozen, was one of the few Apaches to escape the battle. Author Dan L. Thrapp called the battle a "massacre" as Victorio had little ammunition to resist the attack.[39]
Ojo Caliente (Texas), 31°04′N105°35′W / 31.06°N 105.58°W / 31.06; -105.58 (approximate), October 28, 1880. Thirty-five Apaches en route to reinforce Victorio ambushed and killed 5 soldiers of the 10th Cavalry near the Rio Grande and Fort Quitman, Texas. This would be the single worst day (in terms of deaths) for the 10th Cavalry until June 21, 1916 at the Battle of Carrizal.[40][41]
1881
Carrizo Canyon, August 12, 1881. Nineteen soldiers and Captain Parker from K Troop of the 9th Cavalry, from Fort Wingate chased Nana's band of about forty to sixty Apaches into the Carrizo Canyon. Five Apaches were killed, two Privates from the 9th Cavalry were killed, and Nana escaped. Sergeant Thomas Shaw was awarded the Medal of Honor.[42]
Battle of Cuchillo Negro Creek, August 16, 1881. Lieutenant Gustavus Valois and I Troop of the 9th Cavalry, on patrol from Fort Craig, encountered an exhausted Mexican who informed the cavalry that Nana's Apaches killed his family at his nearby ranch. Lieutenant George R. Burnett and 15 soldiers from I Troop along with Mexican volunteers (a combined force of about 50 men) searched for Nana's warriors and found the mutilated family. The soldiers followed the Apache trail and found Nana's group of about 40 to 60 warriors disguised as Mexicans near the foothills of the Black Range at Chuchillo Negro Creek. The Apaches opened fire and a prolonged engagement followed, with the Apaches retreating into the mountains. At one point, the soldiers thought their commanding officer was retreating (his horse ran away) and began to retreat, but were brought back to the fight. At dark, Nana and his warriors dispersed into the mountain. Two of the 9th Cavalry were wounded and six of the cavalry's horses were killed. Private Augustus Walley, First Sergeant Moses Williams, and Lieutenant George Burnett all received the Medal of Honor for their actions on this day.[43]
Gavilan Canyon, August 19, 1881. Lieutenant George W. Smith and B Troop of the 9th Cavalry, on patrol from Fort Cummings were ambushed by Chief Nana and his Apache band in the Gavilan Canyon (a stream bed between the Mimbres Mountains and the Mimbres River, to the south of Carrizo Canyon). Smith and three troopers were immediately killed. Sergeant Brent Woods took command after a brief period of confusion and led a charge up the canyon wall against the Apaches. Nana and his warriors retreated. Reinforcements arrived to give chase, but Nana and his band escaped back to Mexico. Sergeant Woods received the Medal of Honor for his actions.[44]
Bibliography
Karl W. Laumbach, Hembrillo, an Apache Battlefield of the Victorio War, 2000
Kendall D. Gott, In Search of an Elusive Enemy: The Victorio campaign, 1879-1880, Combat Studies Institute Press
John Wilson, Victorio's War, Orca Book Publishers, 2012
Victorio was a warrior and chief of the Warm Springs band of the Tchihendeh division of the central Apaches in what is now the American states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua.
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-central New Mexico.
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexican–American War in 1846, the United States annexed conflicted territory from Mexico which was the home of both settlers and Apache tribes. Conflicts continued as American settlers came into traditional Apache lands to raise livestock and crops and to mine minerals.
Lozen was a warrior and prophet of the Chihenne Chiricahua Apache. She was the sister of Victorio, a prominent chief. Born into the Chihenne band during the 1840s, Lozen was, according to legends, able to use her powers in battle to learn the movements of the enemy. According to James Kaywaykla, Victorio introduced her to Nana, "Lozen is my right hand ... strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy. Lozen is a shield to her people".
Gouyen, was a 19th-century Apache woman noted for her heroism.
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.
Thomas Boyne was a Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army and a recipient of America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Indian Wars of the western United States.
Thomas Shaw was a Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army and a recipient of America's highest military decoration – the Medal of Honor – for his actions in the Indian Wars of the western United States.
The Battle of Fort Tularosa occurred in May 1880 near the present-day town of Aragon in Catron County, New Mexico. In an ongoing campaign to keep from being forced to live on reservations, Chiricahua Apache warriors led by Victorio attacked Fort Tularosa north of San Francisco Plaza. Buffalo Soldiers from the United States Army's 9th Cavalry, led by Sergeant George Jordan, repulsed the attack.
Kas-tziden or Haškɛnadɨltla, more widely known by his Mexican-Spanish appellation Nana, was a warrior and chief of the Chihenne band of the Chiricahua Apache. A trusted lieutenant to Cuchillo Negro and Mangas Coloradas, in the 1850s and 1860s he was one of the best known leaders of the Chihenne (Tchiende), along with Tudeevia, Ponce and Loco. He was a nephew of Delgadito, and married a sister of Geronimo.
Loco was a Copper Mines Mimbreño Apache chief who was known for seeking peace at all costs with the US Army, despite the outlook of his fellow Apaches like Victorio and Geronimo.
The Battle of Fort Apache was an engagement of the Apache Wars between the cavalry garrison of Fort Apache and dozens of mounted White Mountain Apache warriors. The battle occurred in eastern Arizona Territory on September 1, 1881.
The Battle of Cookes Canyon was a military engagement fought between settlers from Confederate Arizona and Chiricahua Apaches in August 1861. It occurred about 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Mesilla, in Cookes Canyon. The exact date of the battle is unknown. The battle occurred in the larger context of both the Apache Wars and the American Civil War.
The Battle of Ojo Caliente Canyon, or simply the Battle of Ojo Caliente was an engagement of the Jicarilla War on April 8, 1854. Combatants were Jicarilla Apache warriors, and their Ute allies, against the United States Army. The skirmish was fought as result of the pursuit of the Jicarilla after the Battle of Cieneguilla just over a week earlier.
The Battle of Hembrillo Basin was fought April 5–8, 1880 between the United States Army against a combined band of Chiricahua and Mescalero Apaches led by Chief Victorio. Hembrillo Basin was the largest battle of Victorio's War, although casualties were light on both sides. Victorio held off an attack by superior numbers of army soldiers and Indian scouts, evacuated his women and children from the battlefield, and withdrew successfully. Hembrillo Basin is located on the White Sands Missile Range and access by the public is strictly regulated.
Canada Alamosa, an Americanized version of the Spanish Cañada Alamosa, is a term historically applied to five geographical features, all in the same immediate area in southwest Socorro and northwest Sierra Counties, New Mexico. In historical texts the name, Canada Alamosa is applied inter-changeably to the five features, and it is often only the context that distinguishes one feature from the other.
Alsate, also known as Arzate, Arzatti, and Pedro Múzquiz, was the last chief of the Chisos band of Limpia Mescalero Apaches.
Carnoviste was a southern (Guadalupe) Mescalero chief, his band—presumably Tsehitcihéndé or Niit'ahénde—lived in the Texan Big Bend Country, ranging on both sides of the Rio Grande from the Guadalupe Mountains towards east of the Limpia Mountains onto the edge of the Southern Plains.
The Battle of Tres Castillos, October 14–15, 1880, in Chihuahua State, Mexico resulted in the death of the Chiricahua Apache chieftain Victorio and the death or capture of most of his followers. The battle ended Victorio's War, a 14-month long odyssey of fight and flight by the Apaches in southern New Mexico, western Texas, and Chihuahua. Mexican Colonel Joaquin Terrazas and 260 men surrounded the Apache and killed 62 men, including Victorio, and 16 women and children, and captured 68 women and children. Three Mexicans were killed. Victorio had little ammunition to resist the attack.
↑ Gott, Kendall D. In Search of an Elusive Enemy: The Victorio Campaign. Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press. p.17.
↑ Clodfelter, Micheal (2017), Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and other Figures, 1492-2015, Jefferson, NC: McFarland, p. 268
↑ Thrapp (1974), pp. 237–240; Bowser, David (2012), Massacre In Las Animas Canyon", Livestock Weekly, ; , accessed 2 Jun 2018
↑ Thrapp (1974), pp. 239–244; Annual Report of the Secretary of War, Vol. 1, United States War Department, U.S.Government Printing Office, p. 520
↑ Johnson, David D. (2008), John Ringo: King of the Cowboys: His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone, Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, pp. 114–116
↑ Watt, Robert N. (2015), "A Reevaluation of Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson's Trans-Pecos Campaign against Victorio, July–August 1880", Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 118 (3), p. 245. Downloaded from Project Muse.
↑ McChristian, Douglas C. (August 1, 1995). "Tinaja de las Palmas, Battle of". Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on Aug 3, 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
↑ Michno, Gregory F. (2003), Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890, Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, pp 335-335
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