History Overview Of The Buffalo Soldiers In New Mexico Territory & 1880 Battle With Victorio EL...

8/14/2019 History Overview Of The Buffalo Soldiers In New Mexico Territory & 1880 Battle With Victorio EL PALACIO MAGAZIN

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By Gharles Bennett

TENrs Cavarny cAMp NsA.n Curonros, Nnw Mnxrco. Puoro nv Hrunv A. Scnutor, 1892. MNM Nnc No. 58556midden dating to circa 1638 A.D., with several nearby panels ospectacular pictographs and petroglyphs depicting ApachMountain Spirit dancers and mounted warriors. The third sithad long been associated with an engagement betweeApaches and the U.S. Army Cavalry during the Indian WarsScrutinizing the ground with trained eyes for any trace of cutural material, the archaeologists found spent cartridge shelclustered on the ground and lined among the rocks, alongridge, and at other spots which seemed to offer cover thanks tlimestone outcrops.

Subsequent research revealed that Laumbach and BurtoCharles Bennett is CtLrator of History and Assistant Director at thMuseum of New Mexico's Palace of the Goaernors in Snnta Fe.

1\ N A SUNNY, COOL FALL MORNING IN OCTOBER 1994,s*\--l two archaeolosists examined first from a distance, andthen from inches, the rock ledges of a formation in remoteHembrillo Canyon in the San Andres Mountains. What theyfound was the site of a fight between African American cavalrytroopers known as "Buffalo Soldiers" and the forces of the war-rior called Victorio, the indomitable leader of a renegade forceof Mimbres (Eastern Chiricahua) and Mescalero Apaches'Karl Laumbach and Robert Burton were with F{umanSystems Research, a contract archaeology firm with headquar-ters in Tularosa and Las Cruces. They were in the field at WhiteSands Missile Range as they conducted archaeological surveysof three Apache sites in the area. One, Victorio Peak, is thefabled site of a golden treasure; the second is a fire-cracked rock'tt Er Peracro


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, t'# ry:#.',4'1 k*did not want blacks in the peacetime army and argued vehe-mently against the idea. Nevertheless, in 7866, when it passedan act to reorganize the army, Congress authorized six regi-ments of black troops: two of them cavalry regiments, the Ninthand Tenth, each wiih twelve companies; and four infantry reg-iments, the Thirty-Eighth, Thirty-Ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-First, each with ten companies. (It also decreed that the com-missioned officers for the new black regiments were to bewhite, while the non-commissioned officers were black. Manywhite officers, George A. Custer among them, refused to servein the black regiments.) Three years later, Congress reduced thearmy's enlisted personnel, consolidating many units, includingthe Thirty-Eighth and Forty-First into the Twenty-FourthInfantry, and the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth into the TWenty-Fifth Infantry. The black horse-and-foot soldiers of the Ninthand Tenth Cavalry and those assigned to the Twenty-Fourthand Twenty-Fifth Infantry became known as the BuffaloSoldiers. Later they would become known for their valor.t6 Er Peracro

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Bes6sarr rnlu, Tnoop L, Nrrvrn Cevernv, Fonr Wrncarn, Nlw Mrxrco, c,+. r899-19oo. MNM Nnc. No. 98374These infantry troops were the first African Americans to

be assigned to the New Mexico Territory. It is a mark of theiability to get the job done that by the time they left the territory in July 1890, almost 4,000 biack cavalry and infantry soldiershad served served at eleven of the sixteen military posts in NewMexico. When they first arrived, the black troops were quicklyput to work helping to build the newly established Fort Seldenand Fort Bayard and repairing buildings at other forts in tharea. They were hardly settled, however, before they wercalled upon to protect settlers and their property and deal withIndian-related problems. Among their duties were chasindown Indian raiders and oihers who had ieft their reservationspursuing cattle and horse thieves, watching out for travelersscouting the countryside, and escorting government suppltrains, wagon trains, stagecoaches, mail trains, and railroad antelegraph workers. When they weren't protecting people anlivestock, they dug wells, cut and hauled wood, quarried stonecooked, clerked, nursed the sick, and generally did anything


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that had to be done at their postsof duty. Then, in September andOctober 7869, +he 488 enlistedblack soldiers of the Thirty-Eighth Infantry were marchedout of New Mexico to other posts,and other infantry units werebrought in.

The next six years were rel-atively peaceful in southernNew Mexico. In fact, it was sopeaceful that during this periodthere were no black troops sta-tioned at any of the forts in theterritory. The leaders of theEastern Chiricahua Apachebands indicated that they werewilling to move to reservatlon

NrNrrr CA.varnv B-lNo oN THE Praza ru Saura Fr,Jurv r88o. Prroro ev BnN Wrrrrcx. MNM Nrc

land near their homeland.The Mescalero Apaches alsoaccepted their reservation neaFort Stanton. Then, in 1875, theprospects for a lasting peacewith the Apache people dissolved because the U.S. government unwisely decided tojoin all of the Apaches of western New Mexico and easternArizona on one reservation aSan Carlos, which was inArizona Territory. The Apachegroups found that plan totallyunacceptable, and trouble beganagain.

To deal with the increasedconflicts between NativeNnw Muxrco,No. 5o887

48 Et, Perecto

Americans and soldiers, the governmentbolstered the white troops still stationed inNew Mexico with the entire Ninth Cavalry,still commanded by the decorated andrespected Colonel Hatch. The blond, blue-eyed native of Maine began his militarycareer in August 1861 when he was appoint-ed captain of the Second Iowa Cavalry.During the Civil War, Hatch earned citationsfor gallantry and meritorious service follow-ing the Battles of Franklin and Nashville,and at war's end was brevetted a major gen-eral of volunteers. He was an able, decisive,ambitious and personable officer withoutracial prejudice and with highly regardedmilitary skills. When called upon for thisNew Mexico assignment, Hatch moved hiscommand from Texas to New Mexico andestabiished his headquarters in Santa Fe (ina building at the corner of Palace and

Dnsan, AracuE scour wrru rHr TENrnCnvlrnv, 1892. MNM Nrc. No. r33r4

ten military posts, and for the next sixyears, almost a quarter of the U.S. Army'sblack iroops-b70-800 men-were servingin New Mexico.

Overall, the African American troops inthe trans-Mississippi West racked up animpressive service record, and they did sowhile coniending with obstacles often moreobdurate than their white counterpartsfaced on similar frontier duty. Despite unfa-miliar and often seasonally hostile environ-ments, inferior housing and equipment,poor cavally mounts, backbreaking workIndian dangers, loneliness, bad food, andracial prejudice, the Buffalo Soldiers stilwere considered among the steadiest andmost reliable soldiers. They fought hardand frequently, deserted far less often thanwhite soldiers, and showed a discipline andhigh morale at times when white soldiers

Lincoln Avenues where the Museum of Fine Arts now stands).Eventually, a1l twelve companies under Hatch v,'ere dispersed to

faltered. Because of their extraordinary acts of heroism duringbattles with Indians in the late nineteenth century, eighteen


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Buffalo Soldiers received the Medal of Honor. For eight of them itwas for deeds of valor while on duty in New Mexico Territory.

In the late 1870s, Buffalo Soldiers were involved in two of themore famous civil disfurbances in New Mexico's territorial histo-ry: the Colfax County War and the Lincoln County War. Withouta doubt, however, their most notable contribution in New Mexicooccurred during the Victorio War. Some regarded Victorio as thegreatest of all Apache military strategists. He had been called byone historian "America's greatest guerrilla hghter," ranking withFrancis Marion, the Swamp Fox of the American Revolution;William Quantrill, the Confederate guerrilla leader; John Mosby,called the Confederate Ranger; and Charles Merrill, the BurmaMarauder. The difference between Victorio and these figures wasthat Victorio was driven to hostility as he defended his people, hishomeland, and the Apache way of life from encroachments byAmerican and Mexican citizens.

Ninth Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers spent most of their time in1879 looking for the Apache leader who was reported to havecrossed back over the border from Mexico. In January of thatyear, two companies left Fort Bayard and combed the ruggedarea along the New Mexico-Arizona boundary for a band ofChiricahua Apaches who had jumped their reservation. By thetime the companies returned in February, the men had bravedsevere weather and covered 256 miles "over country neverbefore traveled by troops," according to one of the soldiers.

There were numerous other scouting expeditions dis-patched from southern New Mexico forts that year, all in searchof Victorio and other "renegade" bands of Apaches branded"hostiles," who allegedly were responsible for countless acts oftheft and violence throughout southern New Mexico Territory.When the expeditions crossed paths with Victorio, the outcomealways was bloody, and soldiers often were honored for valor.]une 1879: One column of Buffalo Soldiers from FortBayard met Victorio and his band in the Gila Mountains. AsCaptain Charles D. Beyer and Victorio tried to establish groundrules for a parley, their men prepared for a fight. Talks neverhappened, but the battle did, and after about thirty minutes ofgunfire during which two Apache warriors and two BuffaloSoldiers were seriously wounded, the Apaches fled. Beyerordered their camp burned. In his report of the incident, Beyernoted that seven of his men displayed gallantry and bravery;one cavalryman, Sergeant Thomas Boyne, was awarded theMedal of Honor for rescuing a white officer who had been sur-rounded by Indians after his horse had been killed.

June 30, 1879: Victorio surrendered to the government andwas cordially welcomed by a government agent, who gave hisassurances that the Mimbres Apache women and childrenwould be moved from the hated San Carlos Reservation.


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TrNrrr Cavarny Tnoops wt:rtt Ixorau scours ar Srvrn MoNluMsNt MrNn Caup, CHronron CnrsxryEST oF CHLonron, Nrw Mnxrco, cl. r89r. Puoro sy Hnnny A. ScHnlror. MNM Nnc. No. rz8z8

Victorio seemed to have found a home at last. Howeveq he bolt-ed in early September, convinced that he was about to be arrest-ed and brought up on charges of horse stealing and murder.And again the Ninth Cavalry tracked him.

September 4, 1879: Victorio and sixty of his men surpriseda company of Buffalo Soldiers at Ojo Caliente (in present-daySocorro County), killed five men and three civilians, and stoleeighteen muJ.es and fifty horses; shortly after, another nine civil-ians were killed by the Apache band. In swift response to thefirsi affront, Colonei Hatch put all available Ninth CavalryBuffalo Soldiers into the field to find Victorio. By late 1879, asmany as 550 Ninth Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers were on assign-ment in New Mexico, and other Buffalo Soldiers from the TenthCavalry of Texas joined in the search. In all there were more5o Er Paracro

than a thousand troops in the field looking for Victorio.September 16-17 , 1879: A column of Buffalo Soldiers from

Fort Stanton tracked Victorio to the Black Range Mountains. Inthe fight that followed-known as the "Battle of Las Animas"-five black troopers and three army Indian scouts died. Thecasualties would surely have been greater because the battlewas going badly for the soldiers until another column oBuffalo Soldiers heard the firing and came to the rescue. Aftethis action, two more Buffalo Soldiers received Medals oHonor, one, Sergeant John Denny of the Ninth Cavalry, for mosconspicuous gallantry when he rescued a wounded private inihe face of heavy enemy fire.

Late September 1879: Victorio and fifty to seventy warriors, mounted on stolen cavalry horses, attacked a mail trai


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Er Paracro 5rand its Buffalo Soldier escort. The fighting was short, furious andmight have been fatal to the escort had not a hunting party ledby a Ninth Cavalry sergeant arrived just in time to heip theircomrades escape. The next day, a detachment caught upwith Victorio and began a batile that went from mid-afternoon until 10 p.m. The next morning, as thecavalq..rnen were eating breakfast, an Apache shot

'?an army sentinel, and the fighting resumed. The -oi;lack troopers drove the Apache warriors awayonly after a running, two hour fight.October 1879: For more than a monthBuffalo Soldiers relentlessly pursued Victoriothrough the mountains of southern New Mexico,before he crossed into Mexico and holed up in theCandelaria Mountains; five troopers were singledout for special praise from their commander duringthe long pursuit. For the next two months, theAfrican American cavalrymen did picket dutyin southern New Mexico, watching for the

Events in January 1880 promised another year of thsame death, destruction and border-crossings: Victorioresumed his raids in New Mexico; Colonel Hatch agai

ordered the Ninth Cavalry into the field, and in thnext two months the soldiers fought the warrior

six more times.Then came Hembrillo Canyon, and the sodiers' urgent search for water that put themin mortal danger.Intending to catch Victorio in a pincers move

ment, Hatch had organized his men into ththree battalions that would pressure him fromthree directions into a final fight. Captain Carroand his battalion of Ninth Cavalry Buffal

Soldiers (from Companies A, D, R and G) formeone of the three columns in Hatch's plan. Their dir

need to find water threw the plan out of kilterCarroll's troopers remained pinned down anhard pressed by the Apaches for the rest of thTrxrrr CevernY

EMBLEMMNM Nnc. No. 657o6return of Victorio. They did not have long to wait. Mexicantroops chased him back over the U.S. border after Victorio killedsome Mexican citizens.

day and through the night of April 7,1.880. The Apaches hathe high ground-and the only water. Several Buffalo Soldierand Carroll himself were wounded during the night. Th


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Tnool H, NrxrH Cavarnv, Fonr WrNcarn, Nrw Mnxrco, r899-t9oo. MNM Nrc. No. 98372troops were vulnerable, and the Apaches knew it. They startedto move, one by one, down the slopes toward the beleagueredsoldiers, from their positions that but for 90 degrees surround-ed the troopers.

To see the archaeological evidence of the warriors' movingskirmish line, discovered by archaeologists Laumbach andBurton at the battleground (since nominated to become aNational Historic Site), is to understand the certain despair feltby the soldiers. Using metal detectors, the archaeologists foundthe standard .45-70 caftridges (.45 caliber with seventy grains ofgunpowder) that they determined were fired by the soldiers,and also smaller caliber cartridge cases presumed to be fromtroopers' personal pocket pistols. The fighting was that close. Inthe face of a disaster similar to that of the l876Battle of the LittleBighorn-i.e., the annihilation of a body of troops-the BuffaloSoldiers valiantly fought on; the Apache warriors closed in.

Then, as though a yet-to-be-written script for a HollywoodWestern were guiding the action, there came the distant sound ofa bugle, and then rifle shots from the cavalry coming to the res-cue. For the Buffalo Soldiers facing certain death, the bugle call,the rifle shots and the help came mid-morning from a detach-ment of troops from one of the other two columns that were partof the pincers movement. Led by Captain Curwen B. Mclellan,5z Er Paracro

the detachment of 125 members of the Sixth Cavalry and armyIndian scouts wasted no time attacking and driving Victorio andhis men out of the canyon. At the end of the eighteen-hour siege,seven enlisted men were wounded, Carroll was hit by gunfire inthe chest and leg, and lived to fight again-in the Victorio Watin other skirmishes in the West, and in the Spanish AmericanWar. Captain Carroll retired in 1899 with the regular rank ofcolonel and the brevet rank of brigadier general, this honor inpart because of his gallantry during the action at HembrilloCanyon. Carroll said that three Apache warriors were killed;however, only one body was found after the battle, referred to as"the fight where the soldiers were sick" in the only publishedApache account of the incident.

Though Victorio's band dispersed after this encounter, itregrouped and continued its marauding ways, with ColonelHatch and his cavalry in pursuit. There were several skirmish-es before Victorio moved into Texas in late July 1880, pursued byBuffalo Soldiers of the Tenth Cavairy, who pushed him back intoMexico. This time the MexicanArmy cornered him and his bandin the Tres Castillos Mountains of Chihuahua. Victorio andsixty-two of his 120 men were killed; the rest were captured.

The work of the Buffalo Soldiers in New Mexico was not{inished, and for another year they were assigned to protect


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railway crews, miners, telegraph construction workers, andothers who would bring more Americans to a land that hadbelonged to those still ready to fight for it. Among them was afollower of Victorio called Nana. Following a series of attacksied by Nana, Colonel Hatch again took the lead and calledupon the troops of New Mexico, placing every available man inthe field. For six weeks nearly 1,200 men, including eight com-panies of Buffalo Soldiers, hounded Nana. In time, they weredirectly responsible for pushing his band into permanent hid-ing in the mountains of Mexico.

Although the Ninth Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers left the terri-tory at the end of 1881, there would be other New Mexicoassignments {or them and for other Buffalo Soldiers. At varioustimes betweenl887 and1.896, units of the Tenth Cavalry and alarge portion of the TWenty-Fifth Infantry were stationed atFort Bayard. From 1888 to 189I, small detachments of theTWenty-Fourth were stationed at Fort Selden, and for a three-month period at Fort Stanton. Finally, companies of theTwenty-Fifth Infantry and the Ninth Cavalry served at FortsBayard and Wingate during the last two years of the century.Then, in July 1900, the last of the Ninth Cavalry left FortWingate, and no more black troops were to serve in NewMexico until after it became a state in 1912.Given the accomplishments of the Ninth Cavalry andother African American units active in the New MexicoTerritory, it is no wonder that an editorial in the Santa FeWeeklyNew Mexican extolled the attributes of the Ninth CavalryBuffalo Soldiers, in general, and in particular for their service inthe Victorio War:

"The history [of the Ninth Cavabyl," the editor wrote, "is arecord of forced marches, endurance and bravery such as only afine regiment in Indian counky could experience and come outof with credit. There has never been the slightest disposition toslight duty or avoid danger. Whenever called upon they haveresponded with remarkable energy and faithfulness." I

The seroice of New Mexico's Buffalo Soldiers has been acknowledgedin recent years by the book New Mexico's Buffalo Soldiers, writtenby New Mexico State Uniaersity Professor of History MonroeBillington and published in 1.991. by the Uniztersity Press of Colorado;a 12|th anniztersary reunion at Fort Selden Strte Monument in 1994of the Ninth and Tenth Caaalry Association, the fficial army unitassociation consisting of aeterans of the Ninth and Tenth who seraedthroughWorldWar lI (when the units were allblack), and the unaeil-ing at that reunion of a seaen-foot bronze statue of a Buffalo Soldierby sculptor Reynnldo ("Sonny") Rioera.

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