Indian War Engagements Involving Troops from Fort Davis
Despite Fort Davis’s strategic positioning astride the all-important San Antonio - El Paso Road and near the Great Comanche War Trail, combat with Apache and Comanche Indians was the exception rather than the rule. Most instances of conflict were a result of Indian raiding parties bent on stealing livestock from the post herds or civilian ranches. Fort Davis soldiers logged thousands of miles, mostly in futile pursuit, in attempting to apprehend their adversary. For a brief description of some of the more important battles between soldier and Indians, select from the following menu options:
1 Mays’s Fight, August 11, 1861
4 Tinaja de Las Palmas, July 30, 1880
1. Mays’s Fight - August 11, 1861
In August 1861, Mescalero Apaches under war leader Nicolas ran off the livestock from the post and the nearby Musquiz ranch. An inexperienced lieutenant, Reuben Mays, leading a pursuit party of six men from Company D, 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles, and seven civilians followed the Apache trail into Big Bend country. Mays partially succeeded in recapturing most of the stolen herd only to fall into a trap in which all of his men except the Mexican guide perished.
Horsehead Hills - September 14, 1868
On September 14, 1868, Lt. Patrick Cusack with 60 men from Companies C, F, and K, 9th Cavalry, and a volunteer party of Mexicans, attacked and destroyed a Mescalero village of about 200 in the Horsehead Hills about 80 miles south of present-day Alpine. The Fort Davis troopers were pursuing Apaches who had attacked and captured stock from a wagon train near Fort Stockton. Cusack’s Buffalo Soldiers killed 25 Indians and wounded another 25, with only three soldiers wounded. The soldiers recovered 200 head of stolen cattle and a pony herd, and set free two Mexicans captured by the Apaches.
Guadalupe Mountains - January 12, 1870
Captain Francis S. Dodge, 9th Cavalry, with a command of 200 men composed of Companies A, C, D, H, I, and K, 9th Cavalry, attacked a Mescalero Apache village near the headwaters of Delaware Creek in the most inaccessible region of the Guadalupe Mountains. The attack on January 12 drove the warriors from the field. Dodge placed Indian casualties at 10 dead while suffering 2 soldiers killed and 1 wounded. The next day, the soldiers destroyed a large quantity of winter supplies, robes, bows, arrows, and ammunition in addition to capturing 25 horses and mules.
Tinaja de las Palmas - July 30, 1880
On the morning of July 30, 1880, Colonel Benjamin Grierson with his teenage son Robert, and one officer and six enlisted men of the 10th Cavalry occupied a rocky ridge at the east end of Quitman Canyon overlooking the San Antonio - El Paso Road. The site was known as Tinaja de Las Palmas. Grierson posted his small force along the rocky outcropping, anticipating that Victorio’s Apaches would arrive in search of water. He was not disappointed. At about 9 a.m., Victorio and approximately 100 warriors approached, only to be rebuffed by the well-directed fire of Grierson’s troopers. The battle lasted more than four hours, with the Apaches finally retreating towards the Rio Grande when two other 10th cavalry companies approached the field. One private was killed, with one private and one officer wounded. Grierson reported killing 7 Indians and wounding many others.
Rattlesnake Springs - August 6, 1880
After receiving word that Victorio’s Warm Springs Apaches had recrossed the Rio Grande and entered Texas southwest of present-day Van Horn, Texas, Col. Benjamin Grierson raced to intercept Victorio before he could reach sanctuary in the Guadalupe Mountains. From a supply camp near Van Horn’s Well, Grierson marched 65 miles in less than 21 hours to take up a position at Rattlesnake Springs north of Van Horn. There, on the morning of August 6, he concealed two companies of the 10th Cavalry near the all-important water hole and posted two more companies in Rattlesnake Canyon, waiting for Victorio to arrive. At 2 p.m., the Indians approached only to be greeted by the firepower of the Buffalo Soldiers. Victorio’s warriors recoiled under the attack to the nearby Baylor Mountains, where they saw a military supply train approaching. Victorio attacked the wagons but found it heavily guarded by elements of the 24th Infantry, one of the two all-Black infantry regiments in the U.S. Army. Thwarted again by the soldiers and unable to reach water, Victorio retreated to Mexico, where he remained until killed by Mexican soldiers in October 1880. Grierson reported killing four Indians while losing no one at Rattlesnake Springs.
Ojo Caliente - October 28, 1880
On October 26, 1880, a 14-man detachment of the 10th Cavalry marched to Ojo Caliente (Hot Springs), Texas, near old Fort Quitman for picket duty. Sergeant Charles Perry of Company B led the detachment. At daybreak on October 28, the detachment was surprised by a party of approximately 30 Apaches, probably survivors of Victorio’s group, who had been routed only two weeks before by a Mexican army at Tres Castillos. The Apaches approached the soldiers from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. The warriors killed seven troopers, scattering the rest and capturing the balance of clothing, arms, horses, and equipment.
