The Battle of the Diablo Mountains was an October 1854 engagement between the U.S. Army and the

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people, who have lived in the Oasisamerica, Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European ...

. A small force of

Mounted Rifles Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. Unlike cavalry, mounted infantry dismounted to fight on foot. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Editio ...

attacked a much larger force of Lipan Apaches at the base of the Diablo Mountains in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Battle

Setting out from

Fort Inge Fort Inge was a frontier fort in Uvalde County, Texas, United States. History Established as Camp Leona on March 13, 1849, Fort Inge was garrisoned intermittently until March 19, 1869. The fort served as a base for United States Army troops ass ...

South Texas South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of th ...

on October 1, 1854, Captain John G. Walker, in command of around 40 men of the Mounted Rifles, headed for the Diablo Mountains region along the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

border with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Their mission was to investigate the reports from local settlers of stolen livestock, taken by

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

warriors. On the third day out, in the morning of October 3, 1854, Captain Walker and his men encountered well over 200 Lipan warriors near a herd of captured farm animals. Immediately Walker ordered an attack which surprised the Apaches significantly. A brief skirmish ensued and the Apaches quickly fled, leaving most of the stolen livestock. Casualties are unknown, except for Second Lieutenant

Eugene Asa Carr Eugene Asa Niel Carr (March 20, 1830 – December 2, 1910) was a soldier in the United States Army and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Pea Ridge. E ...

who was wounded by an arrow and subsequently commended by General Persifor F. Smith for his "''gallantry and coolness''" and promoted to first lieutenant. This was the future general's first combat action.

References

* Lowe, Richard G.,''Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi'', Louisiana State University Press, 2004, . * Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, . * Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders'', Louisiana State University Press, 1964, .
Texas History site for Carr
: * Kaywaykla, James (edited Eve Ball) "In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache" Tucson: University of Arizona Press 1970 *Lavender, David. The Rockies. Revised Edition. N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1975. *Limerick, Patricia Nelson. The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. N.Y.: W.W. Norton, 1987. *Smith, Duane A. Rocky Mountain West: Colorado, Wyoming, & Montana, 1859-1915. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992. * *Williams, Albert N. Rocky Mountain Country. N.Y.: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1950.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diablo Mountains Battles involving the Apache Battles involving the United States History of United States expansionism 19th-century military history of the United States History of Texas Conflicts in 1854 1854 in Texas Apache Wars October 1854 Lipan Apache

Battle

See also

References

External links