Battle of Apache Pass
Battle of Apache Pass | |
---|---|
Part of the Arizona Territory (CSA) Present Day: Cochise County, Arizona | |
Result | United States victory |
Cochise
22 cavalry
2 artillery pieces
3 wounded
- Nine civilians were killed before the battle just outside Apache Pass, prompting Colonel Carleton to build Fort Bowie.
The Battle of Apache Pass was fought in 1862 at
Background
The 2500 men of the California Column traveled across the arid Southwest in staggered groups to allow water sources to replenish. In early 1862
After capturing Confederate Arizona's western outpost, Carleton prepared to march east with his main body in July, intending to enter New Mexico through Apache Pass in southeast Arizona. To prepare for the advance of his main force, he sent a column ahead as he had on his march from Yuma to Tucson. The column was led by
After Roberts reached the
Roberts found the water at Dragoon Springs was enough to support the entire force, and Cremony joined with him the next day. Together they advanced on the springs at Apache Pass in the same manner, leaving Cremony with the guard detachment.[4]
Battle
At noon on July 15, Roberts' detachment had just entered Apache Pass. After traveling about two-thirds of the way through, his force was attacked by about 500 Apache warriors led by Mangas Coloradas and Cochise (Geronimo claimed to have fought in this battle but this has not been confirmed).
The Union soldiers were not in a good situation. The infantrymen had walked dozens of miles across the hot Arizona desert, heading for the
This was one of the first times the United States Army had been able to use artillery against the Indians in the Southwest. Roberts ordered his infantry to take the hills overlooking the pass, while he remained in the pass to direct the artillery support. The skirmishers moved forward, where they were able to take cover in an abandoned Butterfield Overland Mail station. The soldiers were now about 600 yards from the spring. Overlooking the spring were two hills, one on the east, the other on the south. The Apache riflemen behind the breastworks on the hills were delivering a deadly fire against the attackers.
Roberts advanced with his howitzers and had them open fire. Their effectiveness was limited by the fact that they were 300–400 feet below the Apache defenses. Roberts moved his guns ahead to a better position, all the time under heavy fire. Once the guns were in effective range, the artillery opened fire in earnest. The Apaches held their positions until nightfall, when they fled, allowing the Union troops to reach the spring. After allowing his tired men to enjoy a meal, Roberts retreated to bring up Cremony's detachment. The next morning the Apaches returned, but they fled once the artillery opened fire on them.[5]
Aftermath
Two of Capt. Roberts' men were killed and three wounded in the battle for the spring. According to a report Col. Carleton made to Col. Richard C. Drum on September 20, 1862, about 10 Apaches were killed.
From the hostile attitude of the Chiricahua, I found it indispensably necessary to establish a post in what is known as Apache Pass; it is known as Fort Bowie, and garrisoned by one hundred rank and file of the Fifth Infantry, California Volunteers, and thirteen rank and file of Company A, First Cavalry, California Volunteers; this post commands the water in that pass. Around this water the Indians have been in the habit of lying in ambush, and shooting the troops and travelers as they came to drink. In this way they have killed three of Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre's command, and in attempting to keep Captain Roberts' company, First Infantry, California Volunteers, away from the spring a fight ensued, in which Captain Roberts had two men killed and two wounded. Captain Roberts reports that the Indians lost ten killed. In this affair the men of Captain Roberts' company are reported as behaving with great gallantry.[6]
According to Capt. Cremony, however, a prominent Apache who was present in the engagement had said that 63 warriors were killed by the artillery, while only three died from small-arms fire. Said the unnamed Apache, "We would have done well enough if you had not fired wagons at us." The howitzers, being on wheels, were called
One day after the battle, on the New Mexico side of Apache Pass, the bodies of nine scalped white civilians were found. Carleton decided that it was necessary to establish a post at the pass to prevent settlers from being ambushed as they passed through it. On August 4 the first units of the California Column reached Mesilla, New Mexico, along the Rio Grande. At the same time the last remnants of the Confederate army withdrew to Texas.
The
Today the battlefield and fort are preserved in
See also
- New Mexico Campaign
- Bear Spring House, Guardhouse, and Spring
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-7864-7470-7. Archivedfrom the original on 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
- from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
- ^ "Death of J. D. Monihon". The Arizona Republican. Phoenix, Arizona Territory. September 3, 1904. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
- ^ Cremony, John Carey (1868). Life among the Apaches. – San Francisco: A. Roman & Company. – pp. 155–158.
- ^ Cremony. pp. 159–167.
- ^ Records of California men in the war of the rebellion 1861 to 1867. Adjutant General's Office. 1890.
Apache Pass.
p. 64. - ^ Cremony. – pp. 159–160.
References
- Josephy, Alvin M. Jr. (1986). War on the Frontier: The Trans-Mississippi West. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-4780-0.
- Fort Bowie National Historic Site Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
- Apache Indian War and Warriors
- Copeland, Peter F. – Southwest Indians Coloring Book. – Dover Publications. – ISBN 0-486-27964-2.