Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion Page: 71
xv, 255 p. : ill., ports. ; 26 cm.View a full description of this book.
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A BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA CARR
low Hand was slain by the famous scout. Carr chose that
moment to launch his charge, and four hundred cavalry-
men thundered toward the startled Indians. The Cheyennes
fled before the onslaught. Two braves were killed, but the
rest escaped back to the reservation.
September 9, 1876; Slim Buttes, Dakota. The Fifth had
become part of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Expedition.
Weeks of hard campaigning had produced no contact with
the elusive hostiles, and the column finally turned back.
But on the morning of September 9 word reached General
Crook that Indians were clashing with a supply party
ahead. Carr was directed to move forward with all Fifth
Cavalrymen who were still effective, and he promptly rode
south through mud and rain.
He arrived at the scene of action shortly before noon.
Chief American Horse, four warriors, and about fifteen
women and children were pinned down in a cave near a
Sioux village which had been jumped by the supply party.
American Horse was resisting stubbornly, and Carr felt
that if other Indians were nearby they would attack. Carr
posted a guard detail near the cave, then stationed the rest
of his men along nearby ridges.
Crook soon arrived with the balance of the force. After
another flurry of firing, American Horse, mortally wounded
and out of ammunition, surrendered. Crook's force began
to pitch camp.
Suddenly a Sioux counterattack commenced just west
of Carr's position. He ordered his bugler to sound to arms,
then braved a heavy fire to ride at the head of his skirmish
line. Facing some two hundred warriors, Carr sat his mount
calmly while volleys were exchanged. Soon the Second
and Third Cavalry units advanced, followed by the infan-
try, and the badly outnumbered Indians retreated.
When the column moved out the next morning about
eighty braves sniped at the soldiers from the hills. Carr and
the rearguard were detailed to burn the village. After they
finished the job and rode away, they were engaged in light
skirmishing for about two miles.
August 30, 1881; Cibicu Creek, Arizona. At the urging of
Indian Agent J.C. Tiffany, General Orlando Willcox or-
dered Carr to "capture or kill" an Apache medicine man
named Nock-ay-del-Klinne. Carr considered the order ill-
advised; Nock-ay-del-Klinne was a charismatic leader
who apparently was nurturing an uprising under religious
auspices, but a move against him might trigger, rather than
subdue, the explosive Indians.
Reluctantly, Carr marched out of Fort Apache with
more than one hundred men: Companies D and E of theSixth, two dozen Apache scouts, and Carr's fifteen-year-
old son, Clark. Though the scouts were rumored to be
under the medicine man's influence, Carr considered it
unsafe to leave them behind because Fort Apache was
defended by only a handful of infantrymen under Major
Melville Cochran.
Nock-ay-del-Klinne lived on Cibicu Creek, about thirty
miles northwest of the post. Apaches were numerous along
the trail, and one old chief greeted Carr, then slyly passed
down the column, calculating its strength. Nock-ay-del-
Klinne was taken into custody with no real trouble, but as
Carr marched back toward Fort Apache, one hundred of
the medicine man's people followed the column. When
Carr halted to camp for the night, a number of warriors
closed in.
"Here!" snapped Carr. "Those Indians mustn't come
into camp!"
Captain Edmund C. Hentig had been ordered to transfer
to Jefferson Barracks, but he had persuaded Carr to let him
ride along for a final western adventure. Hentig moved
toward the braves, exclaiming, "Ucashay! (Go away!)"
The Apache scouts loaded their carbines in unison,
threw the weapons to their shoulders, and when Sergeant
Dead-Shot shouted a war whoop, fired a volley at the
soldiers. Hentig dropped dead, and his orderly was riddled
with eight bullets. The Apaches near the camp opened fire,
but the troopers of Company D quickly seized their weap-
ons and began delivering a deadly hail of lead. Eight of the
mutinous scouts and several warriors were felled, and the
Indians fled for cover in the creek bottom. More braves
quickly materialized, until the hostiles numbered nearly
five hundred. Bullets hummed into the camp, some from as
close as fifty feet. Nock-ay-del-Klinne hugged the ground
and crawled toward his comrades. His guard, Sergeant
John MacDonald, was down with a leg wound. But
MacDonald and Trumpeter William Benites began firing
and shot the medicine man in the head.
Ignoring the bullets whining around him, Carr calmly
directed the defense. "Well," shouted one officer, "if the
old man isn't afraid, I guess the balance of us need not be."
Breastworks began to be thrown up. Supply boxes, logs,
and rocks formed a barricade, but not before two privates
were shot while erecting it. Carr noticed that Lieutenant
Edwin Stanton's Company E had not yet dismounted when
the action erupted, and the lieutenant was forming them
into line of battle. Carr shouted at them to sweep the nearby
creek bottom, but he could not be clearly heard. Lieutenant
William Carter sprinted through the gunfire to Carr's side,
then relayed the order to Stanton. Stanton struck the
Apaches, cleaned out the creek bed, and drove the hostiles71
A BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
CARR
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Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion (Book)
This book "is a compendium of America's Indian Wars and the mountain men, soldiers, cowboys and pioneers who took part in them" (dust-jacket). It includes information about all the major American Indian battles, the lives of notable men who fought in the battles, and the combat techniques employed. The index begins on page 247.
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O'Neal, Bill. Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion, book, 1991; Stillwater, Oklahoma. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151417/m1/91/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Panola College.