Apache Scouts
| Apache Scouts | |
|---|---|
 Apache scouts at Fort Apache, Arizona, in the 1880s | |
| Active | 1860s - 1947 |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Indian scouts |
| Role | Cavalry tactics Charge Close combat Desert warfare Force protection Guerrilla warfare Hand-to-hand combat Maneuver warfare Patrolling Raiding Reconnaissance Tracking |
| Engagements | Chiricahua War Yavapai War Victorio's War Geronimo's War Border War |
The Apache Scouts were part of the
Apache Scouts by band
The
Tonto Apache scouts were recruited to assist General Crook find Chief Delshay's band who fled the Fort Verde reservation. Crook's Chief of Scouts, Albert Sieber always seemed to have his Tonto scouts with him through the Apache Wars.[citation needed]
Service history
Mescalero Apache scouts served with the army during the Navajo War in 1863 and 1864. One of the last
Yavapai War
Apache scouts were employed by the United States Army throughout most of the Apache Wars but it wasn't until about 1870 when General George Crook introduced the idea of enlisting entire
Small bands of Yavapai and Apache raiders continued to harass the army and the settlers in and around Tonto Basin for two more years. After the war ended, General Crook departed Arizona for Dakota Territory in 1876. Colonel Augustus P. Kautz took over the command of the scouts and he formed a third company in early 1877 and a fourth in 1878. Upon taking command of the scouts, Kautz wrote; "These scouts supported by a small force of cavalry, are exceedingly efficient, and have succeeded, with one or two exceptions, in finding every party of Indians they have gone in pursuit of. They are a great terror to the runaways [renegades] from the Reservations, and for such work are more efficient than double the number of soldiers. (sic)" [4]
Border War
Following Geronimo's surrender in 1886, there was little need for Apache scouts so their ranks were thinned down to just fifty men by 1891. In 1915 there were only twenty-four left. However, after
The first battle involving the scouts was fought at Ojo Azules Ranch. On May 5, a small group of scouts joined up with a troop from the 11th Cavalry to attack about 150 Villistas. In all sixty-one Mexicans were killed and another seventy were captured, all without sustaining any casualties. [citation needed]
After the expedition ended in February 1917 the army disbanded about half of the force, leaving twenty-two scouts for duty. Their war-time service was not completely over though. Conflict between the United States and Mexican armies continued until 1919 and Mexican raids across the border were a frequent occurrence into the 1920s.[5]
See also
- Traditional Apache scout
- Navajo Scouts
- Pawnee Scouts
- Crow Scouts
- Black Seminole Scouts
- Chatto (Apache)
- Crawford Affair
- Arikara scouts
Further reading
- Record of Enlistments in the United States Army. Vol. 150-151 (1866โ77) Indian Scouts. Washington D.C.: National Archives. 1956.
Microcopy 233
- Beede, Benjamin R. (1994). The War of 1898, and U.S. interventions, 1898โ1934: an encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8240-5624-8.
- Bourke, John G. (1980). On the Border with Crook. Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-3585-3.
- Thrapp, Dan L. (1995). Al Sieber: Chief of Scouts. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2770-8.
- Thrapp, Dan L. (1979). The Conquest of Apacheria. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1286-7.
Notes
- ^ Michno 2003, p. 128-129.
- ^ Michno 2003, p. 262-264.
- ^ Braatz 2003, p. 138.
- ^ Michno 2003, p. 289.
- ^ a b "Fort Huachuca, AZ". The United States Army. Archived from the original on 2014-02-14.
- ^ Boot 2003, p. 205-207.
References
- Michno, Gregory (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian wars: western battles and skirmishes, 1850โ1890. Mountain Press Publishing. ISBN 0-87842-468-7.
- LCCN 2004695066.
- Braatz, Timothy (2003). Surviving Conquest: A History of Yavapai Peoples. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803222427.
