No. 214.
Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Morgan.

No. 297.]

Sir: I transmit herewith, for your information, a copy of a letter of the 10th instant from the Secretary of War, concerning a memorandum, compiled from official sources, concerning the movements of the American troops and the co-operation of the Mexican forces against the Chiricahua Indians from the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona Territory, previous to the almost total destruction of the remnant of those renegades by the troops of General Fuero of the Mexican army, as appears from a recent note to the Department from the minister of Mexico here, to whom I have appropriately communicated a copy of the memorandum only, as of probable interest to himself and his government.

I am, &c.,

FRED’K T. FRELINGHUYSEN.
[Page 393]
[Inclosure 1 in No. 297.]

Mr. Lincoln to Mr. Frelinghuysen.

Sir: Referring to previous correspondence respecting the incursions of the Chiricahua Indians into Mexican territory, particularly to your letters dated, respectively, May 3, and June 24, 1882, each inclosing a copy of a note upon the subject from the minister of Mexico here, I have the honor to inclose herewith a “memorandum” compiled from official telegrams and reports, showing the action taken by the military authorities in regard to the subject in question, the same having been submitted to this department by the General of the Army.

Very respectfully, &c.,

ROBERT LINCOLN,
Secretary of War.

Memorandum of the recent escape of Loco’s band of Chiricahua Indians from the San Carlo Reservation, Arizona, and their pursuit into Mexico.

On the 17th of April last, Juh (the chief of the band of Chiricahuas which broke out in September, 1881) returned secretly from Mexico with some 60 of his band to the San Carlos Reservation and compelled the remainder of the Chiricahuas under Loco, consisting of about 40 men and 300 women and children, to leave the reservation.

They left on the night of April 18, 1882, killing the Indian chief of police, Sterling, and the police sergeant. They proceeded towards Fort Thomas, killing ten men, women, and children on Eagle Creek, and the murder of other citizens in the same valley was reported.

Lieutenant-Colonel Schofield, Sixth Cavalry, with two troops of his regiment from Fort Thomas, pursued the band, and part of the command under Lieutenant Sands overtook the fugitives and pursued them for three miles, but getting out of ammunition returned.

On the 20th of April, Captain Gordon, Sixth Cavalry, with 119 men (including an Indian scout company), left Fort Grant to intercept the band should they go out by Eagle Creek or Clifton.

The commanding officer District of New Mexico (Colonel Mackenzie) having been advised of the trouble, Lieutenant-Colonel Forsyth, with four troops of the Fourth Cavalry, at Sepor, N. Mex., were on the alert to co-operate.

General McDowell ordered Harris’s troop of the First Cavalry to report to General Willcox, and immediate steps were taken to use all the troops in the Department of Arizona available.

On the 25th of April the General of the Army, then in San Francisco, telegraphed suggesting that a regiment of infantry from Texas might be ordered to report to Colonel Mackenzie to patrol the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, so as to leave the troops in Arizona and New Mexico free to take the field.

The General also instructed General McDowell that Loco’s band should be attacked wherever found, without regard to relative numbers.

Alarming reports were received of the loss of life, &c., from the depredation of the Chiricahuas, but many of the reports proved to be considerably exaggerated.

On the 24th of April, Lieutenant-Colonel Forsyth, with his command, found the hostiles in an impregnable position in Stein’s Peak Range, New Mexico, where he attacked and fought them with a loss of 5 men killed and 5 men wounded, killing 2 Indians and wounding a number.

On the 26th April, General McDowell repeated a dispatch from General Willcox stating that Captain Overton, Sixth Cavalry, reported the Indians had killed many people along the Upper Gila, and that he was pushing forward on trail of main body towards Doubtful Cañon in Stein’s Peak Range.

On the 26th, General Sheridan reported that Colonel Forsyth had a force of about 500 men (Fourth Cavalry and scouts) with him, and that he and Captain Tupper, with two troops Sixth Cavalry, was close on trail of the Indians. General Sheridan said he could send Third Cavalry at any moment.

April 28, General Willcox repeated by telegraph that the actual outbreak could be handled with the force in the department, but that as there were indications of fresh outbreaks reported, an additional regiment of cavalry and one of infantry should be sent. He also, on the same day, gave the strength of the troops in the Department of Arizona as 613 cavalry and 487 infantry.

On the 28th April, Captain Tupper, with Troops G and M, Sixth Cavalry, struck the Indians about 35 miles east of Cloverdale, and had a desperate fight with them, killing [Page 394] 12 or 15 Indians, including Loco’s son, and capturing 70 head of stock. The fight lasted from daybreak till noon. Captain Tupper lost 1 man killed and 2 wounded.

Colonel Forsyth and Captain Tupper united; then continued the pursuit of the Indians towards Mexico.

May 2, General McDowell telegraphed that the governor of Arizona had called upon General Willcox for protection for the settlements, and that he therefore thought that General Willcox would need the additional troops asked for.

The First Infantry and Third Cavalry were thereupon definitely ordered to Arizona (General Orders of April 29 and May 1, from District of Missouri), and the Seventh Infantry, in Department of Dakota, was ordered to be held in readiness.

May 3, 1882, General Sheridan telegraphed that 13 Indians were killed in Captain Tupper’s fight; that the Indians had crossed into Mexico and that Colonel Garcia with a column of Mexican troops had attacked the Indians, killing 78 and capturing 33. Colonel Forsyth returned to Sepor, N. Mex., from the pursuit of the Indians on the 4th of May, having kept up the pursuit of Loco’s band until he received reliable intelligence of the practical annihilation by the Mexican troops under Garcia.

Colonel Forsyth reported the number of Indians killed from April 25 to 29 as 98 (including the 78 killed by the Mexicans).

June 3, General Sheridan telegraphed that a dispatch from General Fuero (commanding the Mexican forces in Chihuahua) to General Pope informed him that Juh’s band of Apaches were defeated by the Mexican forces at Bosque de Santiago, May 25, with loss of 37 Indians killed and 10 captured, and this, with the losses of Loco’s band in previous fights, practically finishes up the renegades from San Carlos.

June 5, General McDowell telegraphed that it was reported that various small parties of Indians were in the Whitestone, Dragoon, Huachuca and Chiricahua Mountains, and that troops from Forts Huachuca, Bowie, and Camp Price have been hunting them, while the San Pedro Valley and crossing of the Gila towards the San Carlos Reservation was guarded by troops from Forts Grant and Thomas.

No further disturbances at the San Carlos Reservation have been reported.

Upon the arrival of the First Infantry and Third Cavalry, they were distributed to the most exposed posts in Arizona.

On the 2d May (in response to a House resolution) the aggregate number of troops available in the Department of Arizona, after the arrival of the First Infantry and Third Cavalry, was stated to be 2,377 (approximate).

GEO D. RUGGLES,
Acting Adjutant-General.