The First Battle of Tucson was a confrontation at Tucson

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...

, 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...

 on December 6, 1779, as part of the Apache-Mexico Wars. Captain Pedro Allande y Saabedra with a force of only fifteen men defeated an army of around 350 strong.

Battle

Not much is known about the first battle at Tucson. An 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...

 force, which Captain Allande estimated as 350 warrior

Warrior

A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...

s, approached the Spanish post of Fort Tucson

Presidio San Augustin del Tucson

Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón or Fort Tucson was a presidio located within Tucson, Arizona. The original fortress was built by Spanish conquistadors during the 18th century and was the founding structure of what became the city of Tucson...

 itself. The captain formed a command of fifteen men and engaged the enemy. The Spanish lancer

Lancer

A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...

s defeated the Apaches in a long running battle. Allande cut off and brought back the head of a slain chieftain

Chieftain

Chieftain may refer to:The leader or head of a group:* a tribal chief or a village head.* a member of the 'House of chiefs'.* a captain, to which 'chieftain' is etymologically related.* Clan chief, the head of a Scottish clan....

 and carried it on a lance

Lance

A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...

 as a trophy

Trophy

A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics...

. After waving the head at the surviving Apaches they fled the battlefield, abandoning their plunder of stolen livestock. The Spaniards reportedly killed and wounded several Apache men, including a brother of Chief Quilcho. Exact numbers of casualties are unknown.

See also

• Siege of Tubac
  Siege of Tubac
  The Siege of Tubac was a siege of the Apache Wars, between settlers and militia of Confederate Arizona and Chiricahua Apaches. The battle took place at Tubac in the present day southern Arizona...
  
  
• American Indian Wars
• 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...
  
  
• Navaho Wars
• Capture of Tucson (1846)
  Capture of Tucson (1846)
  The Capture of Tucson was a United States attack on the Mexican city of Tucson, Sonora, now the present day Tucson, Arizona. The would be combatants were provisional Mexican Army troops and the American Mormon Battalion. Tucson fell in December of 1846 without resistance.-Capture:The...
  
  
• Capture of Tucson (1862)
  Capture of Tucson (1862)
  The Capture of Tucson was a United States attack on Tucson in Confederate Arizona on May 20, 1862. A Union force of 2,000 took the city from ten Tucson militiamen without a shot fired.-Background:...