|
|
|
|
The Fight at Rattlesnake Springs
A Moment in History
by Trooper John P. Ryan
June, 1997
ln July of 1880. General William T. Sherman, commanding the Military Division of
the Missouri, decided to transfer the Tenth Cavalry to New Mexico to deal with the
Mescalero Apaches who, led by Victorio, had been ravaging through New Mexico
virtually unchecked. Colonel Benjamin Grierson, commanding the Tenth, had devised a
plan to catch Victorio in Texas, before he could raid in New Mexico. Arguing that
transferring the Tenth to New Mexico would leave West Texas virtually undefended,
General Edward O. C. Ord interceded in Grierson's behalf and convinced Sherman to
leave the Tenth in Texas. At liberty to execute Grierson's plan, troops of the Tenth
Cavalry demonstrated their superior skills of march and maneuver and assured the
Tenth’s standing as one of the most effective regiments in the Army.
Grierson's plan was simple. He believed that pursuing Victorio was an exercise in
wearing down troops and horses. He argued that it would be more effective to intercept
Victorio and force him to fight. In Nineteenth Century West Texas, an arid region,
watering places, called water holes, were few and widely dispersed. Grierson planned to
trap Victorio at one of the water holes, forcing him into a decisive fight.
Upon receiving orders to remain in Texas, Grierson put his plan into effect He
left Fort Quitman for Eagle Springs, about a hundred miles to the south-east, on July 29,
hoping to intercept Victorio at the springs. Meanwhile, Captain Nicholas Nolan, on the
river near Fort Quitman, Iearned that Victorio had crossed the river. Nolan dispatched
couriers. led by Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, to Eagle Springs to warn Grierson that
Victorio had already crossed into Texas and was moving north. Flipper made the ninety-
eight mile trip in just twenty-two hours. At Eagle Springs, Captain John C. Gilmore,
commanding company H, Twenty-Fourth Infantry, dispatched couriers to meet Grierson
on the trail and warn him of Victorio's presence. Upon receiving the news, Grierson
decided to camp at a small watering hole called Tinaja de Los Palmos, fifteen miles
west of Eagle Springs and directly in Victorio's path. Grierson had only eight men with
him, including his teen age son Robert, who was spending the summer vacation from
school with his father. The small band dug in on the side of a ridge near the road and
Grierson sent word to Gilmore with a passing stage coach to send reinforcements.
|
|
Back Next |
|
|