Battle of Apache Pass
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Apache Pass was fought in 1862 at Apache Pass
, Arizona
in the United States
, between Apache
warriors and the Union
volunteers of the California Column
as it marched from California
to capture Confederate Arizona and to reinforce New Mexico
's Union
army. It was one of the largest battles between the Americans and the Chiricahua
during the Apache Wars
.
James H. Carleton's force set out from Fort Yuma
for Tucson, Arizona
which had recently been occupied by a Confederate
force, Company A, Arizona Rangers
. After a small engagement known as the Battle of Picacho Pass
just north of Tucson between a detachment of Carleton's cavalry
and Confederate pickets, Carleton advanced on Tucson in three columns. His troops arrived in Tucson on May 20, 1862, forcing the heavily outnumbered Confederate garrison
to withdraw without a fight.
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 Captain Thomas L. Roberts of Company E, 1st California Infantry
, accompanied by two 12-pounder mountain howitzer
s, a twenty-two man cavalry escort from Company B, 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry
led by Captain John C. Cremony
, and twenty-one wagons plus 242 mules and horses.
After Roberts reached the San Pedro River
, it became necessary to learn whether Dragoon Springs, twenty-eight miles further east, could supply both companies with water, or whether they would be forced to separate into smaller detachments. Captain Roberts led the advance detachment with his infantry
company, joined by three wagons, the howitzers and seven of Cremony's best horsemen to serve as scouts and couriers. Captain Cremony remained behind with fifteen cavalry and ten of Roberts' infantrymen, including the detachment left as a garrison at the river, where an adobe stage station building provided shelter and a defensive position to guard the remaining wagons and animals.
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.
and Cochise
. (Geronimo
claimed to have fought in this battle but this has never 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 spring
at Apache Pass, which was now blocked to them by the well armed Chiricahua warriors.
Low on water, and realizing a retreating back to Tucson without water could cost his many men, Roberts chose to fight. The Apaches had thrown up defenses, which consisted of several breastworks
made of stone. They also had also surprised the invaders with an ambush
, waiting until the soldiers came within thirty to eighty yards of their positions before opening fire.
Behind almost every mesquite
tree and boulder
hid an Apache with his rifle, six-shooter and knife. At first the Union troops could barely see their attackers. After a few minutes of intense combat Roberts ordered retreat, and his force withdrew to the mouth of Apache Pass. His men regrouped and unlimbered the mountain howitzers for an advance against the Apaches.
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 foot 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 Apaches riflemen behind the breastworks on the hills were delivering a deadly fire against the attackers.
Roberts advanced with his howitzers forward and had them open fire. Their effective was limited by the fact that they were 300 to 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.
on September 20, 1862, about 10 Apaches were killed.
According to Captain Cremony, however, a prominent Apache who was present in the engagement had said that sixty-three 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 wagon
s by the Apaches, who were unfamiliar with artillery tactics
. Mangas Coloradas himself was wounded in the action, receiving a bullet wound in the chest
when attempting to kill one of Roberts' cavalry scouts.
One day after the battle, on the New Mexico side of Apache Pass, the bodies of nine murdered and scalped white civilians were found dead. 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 July 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 5th California Infantry
was ordered to build a fort in Apache Pass, calling it Fort Bowie
in honor of their colonel, George Washington Bowie
. Carleton was placed in command of the Union's Department of New Mexico
, and he continued to campaign against the hostiles in that area.
Today the battlefield and fort are preserved in Fort Bowie National Historic Site. The engagement was portrayed somewhat inaccurately in the 1952 film The Battle at Apache Pass
.
Apache Pass
Apache Pass is a historic passage in the U.S. state of Arizona between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains, approximately 32 km E-SE of Willcox, Arizona.-Apache Spring:...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, between Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
warriors and the Union
Union
Union may refer to:* Trade union or labor union, an organization of workers that have banded together, often for the purpose of getting better working conditions or pay...
volunteers of the California Column
California Column
The California Column, a force of Union volunteers, marched from April to August 1862 over 900 miles from California, across the southern New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and then into western Texas during the American Civil War. At the time, this was the longest trek through desert terrain...
as it marched from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to capture Confederate Arizona and to reinforce New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
's Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
army. It was one of the largest battles between the Americans and the Chiricahua
Chiricahua
Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
during the Apache Wars
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States and Apaches fought in the Southwest from 1849 to 1886, though other minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The Confederate Army participated in the wars during the early 1860s, for instance in Texas, before being...
.
Background
In early 1862, ColonelColonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
James H. Carleton's force set out from Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma is a fort in California that is located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Fort Yuma Indian School and a...
for Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
which had recently been occupied by a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
force, Company A, Arizona Rangers
Company A, Arizona Rangers
Company A, Arizona Rangers was one of the Confederate military units raised in the Confederate Arizona Territory.- Origin of the Arizona Rangers :...
. After a small engagement known as the Battle of Picacho Pass
Battle of Picacho Pass
The Battle of Picacho Pass or the Battle of Picacho Peak was an engagement of the American Civil War on April 15, 1862. The action occurred all around Picacho Peak, northwest of Tucson, Arizona...
just north of Tucson between a detachment of Carleton's cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and Confederate pickets, Carleton advanced on Tucson in three columns. His troops arrived in Tucson on May 20, 1862, forcing the heavily outnumbered Confederate garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
to withdraw without a fight.
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 Captain Thomas L. Roberts of Company E, 1st California Infantry
1st California Infantry
The 1st Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States.-History:...
, accompanied by two 12-pounder mountain howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
s, a twenty-two man cavalry escort from Company B, 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry
2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry
The 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry was a cavalry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States, with most of its companies dispersed to various posts.-History:...
led by Captain John C. Cremony
John C. Cremony
Major John C. Cremony was an American newspaperman who enrolled in the Massachusetts Volunteers in 1846, serving as a lieutenant....
, and twenty-one wagons plus 242 mules and horses.
After Roberts reached the San Pedro River
San Pedro River (Arizona)
San Pedro River is a northward-flowing stream originating about ten miles south of Sierra Vista, Arizona near Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. It is one of only two rivers which flow north from Mexico into the United States. The river flows north through Cochise County, Pima County, Graham County, and...
, it became necessary to learn whether Dragoon Springs, twenty-eight miles further east, could supply both companies with water, or whether they would be forced to separate into smaller detachments. Captain Roberts led the advance detachment with his infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
company, joined by three wagons, the howitzers and seven of Cremony's best horsemen to serve as scouts and couriers. Captain Cremony remained behind with fifteen cavalry and ten of Roberts' infantrymen, including the detachment left as a garrison at the river, where an adobe stage station building provided shelter and a defensive position to guard the remaining wagons and animals.
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.
Battle
At noon on July 15, Roberts detachment had just entered Apache Pass. After travelling about two-thirds through, Roberts' force was attacked by about 500 Apache warriors led by Mangas ColoradasMangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas, or Dasoda-hae , was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Eastern Chiricahua nation, whose homeland stretched west from the Rio Grande to include most of what is present-day southwestern New Mexico...
and Cochise
Cochise
Cochise was a chief of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache and the leader of an uprising that began in 1861. Cochise County, Arizona is named after him.-Biography:...
. (Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
claimed to have fought in this battle but this has never 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 spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
at Apache Pass, which was now blocked to them by the well armed Chiricahua warriors.
Low on water, and realizing a retreating back to Tucson without water could cost his many men, Roberts chose to fight. The Apaches had thrown up defenses, which consisted of several breastworks
Breastwork (fortification)
A breastwork is a fortification. The term is usually applied to temporary fortifications, often an earthwork thrown up to breast height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position...
made of stone. They also had also surprised the invaders with an ambush
Ambush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
, waiting until the soldiers came within thirty to eighty yards of their positions before opening fire.
Behind almost every mesquite
Mesquite
Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...
tree and boulder
Boulder
In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....
hid an Apache with his rifle, six-shooter and knife. At first the Union troops could barely see their attackers. After a few minutes of intense combat Roberts ordered retreat, and his force withdrew to the mouth of Apache Pass. His men regrouped and unlimbered the mountain howitzers for an advance against the Apaches.
This was one of the first times the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
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
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
station. The foot 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 Apaches riflemen behind the breastworks on the hills were delivering a deadly fire against the attackers.
Roberts advanced with his howitzers forward and had them open fire. Their effective was limited by the fact that they were 300 to 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.
Aftermath
Two of Captain Roberts men were killed and three wounded in the battle for the spring. According to a report Colonel Carleton made to to Colonel Richard C. DrumRichard C. Drum
Richard Coulter Drum was Adjutant General of the United States Army from 1880 to 1889. He was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Jefferson College before entering the printing business...
on September 20, 1862, about 10 Apaches were killed.
According to Captain Cremony, however, a prominent Apache who was present in the engagement had said that sixty-three 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 wagon
Wagon
A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float....
s by the Apaches, who were unfamiliar with artillery tactics
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...
. Mangas Coloradas himself was wounded in the action, receiving a bullet wound in the chest
Chest
The chest is a part of the anatomy of humans and various other animals. It is sometimes referred to as the thorax or the bosom.-Chest anatomy - Humans and other hominids:...
when attempting to kill one of Roberts' cavalry scouts.
One day after the battle, on the New Mexico side of Apache Pass, the bodies of nine murdered and scalped white civilians were found dead. 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 July 4, the first units of the California Column reached Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla is a town in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,180 at the 2000 census...
, along the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. At the same time, the last remnants of the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
army withdrew to Texas.
The 5th California Infantry
5th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry
The 5th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States, attached to the Department of the Pacific and Department of New Mexico....
was ordered to build a fort in Apache Pass, calling it Fort Bowie
Fort Bowie
Fort Bowie was a 19th century outpost of the United States Army located in southeastern Arizona near the present day town of Willcox, Arizona.Fort Bowie was established in 1862 after a series of engagements between the U.S. Military and the Chiricahua Apaches. The most violent of which was the...
in honor of their colonel, George Washington Bowie
George Washington Bowie
George Washington Bowie, was a Civil War Union officer, commander of 5th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry, brevetted Brigadier General of Volunteers....
. Carleton was placed in command of the Union's Department of New Mexico
Department of New Mexico
The Department of New Mexico was a department of the United States Army during the mid-19th century. At first a part of the Department of the West, it was created as an independent department following the breakup of that Division into various departments during the Civil War...
, and he continued to campaign against the hostiles in that area.
The Battle at Apache Pass
The Battle at Apache Pass is a 1952 Universal-International western film starring Jeff Chandler as Cochise, the Apache chief of Broken Arrow....
.