Apache Campaigns - Fort Huachuca - U.S. Army

handling of the pursuit.
Col. Forsythe [sic] had attacked the band [at Stein’s Peak] in a place where he could
have held them as long as he might wish. If he could not handle the band to any purpose, why
did he not send for more troops, as plenty of them were near and he could have had as many
as he wanted inside of twelve hours. If the hostiles had withdrawn they could have gone
nowhere but into a valley, and in that case what better could he wish.
Capts. Tupper and Rafferty performed their duty well as United States officers, and
infinitely better than could have possibly been expected and at a time when they did not know
there were any troops nearer than 125 miles. Col. Forsythe’s own guides say that they saw
the dust of Tupper’s command at different times for two days, and yet failed to overtake it. Be
it remembered also that Col. Forsythe made a dry camp on the 26th only five miles in
Tupper’s rear, and on the 27th left Tupper’s trail, went twelve miles to Miners creek, watered
his stock, went back twelve miles, took the trail and then after following it a short distance,
went into camp again. Col. Forsythe, it is said, got lost when he was only five miles in
Tupper’s rear. If a man cannot follow a fresh trail, well beaten by a large body of Indians, a
command of cavalry and four pack trains, would it not be better for him to stay at home?
The band of Warm Spring Indians will be heard of no more since the old bucks and
nearly all of the squaws have been killed. The young bucks will unite with Juh and form one
of the strongest bands of Indians that has existed for years in this part of the Territory. The
time will come when we will have to fight again. Many a poor man will fall at their hands
before their final destruction. No small command of troops will ever be able to do anything
with them and nothing but a small command will ever be able to catch them. If Col Forsythe
had shown the same energy as Capts. Tupper and Rafferty he could have overtaken us before
the fight, and the entire band of Indians would have been good, in other words dead, Indians.
Major D. Perry so distributed his troops in small commands that it was actually impossible for
the Indians to escape without striking one of them. His commands were necessarily small
because he had but few troops, but, by placing them within supporting distance of each other,
he saw that he could annihilate the entire band. But Col. Forsythe’s Cavalry, on reaching
Arizona, took possession of every command, or tried to, that Major Perry had started in
pursuit of the band. He thus upset every arrangement that Maj. Perry had made. He is the
sole cause of two commands of the 6th Cavalry...not overtaking us in time for the fight, and
thus, instead of destroying the whole band, we were only able to cripple them. If Tupper had
not fought them on the 28th, the Mexicans would never have seen them.
No one can truthfully deny anything I have said, because I have not deviated in the least
from actual facts. 87
There was some grumbling in other 6 th Cavalry accounts about Forsyth showing up and
appropriating credit for Tupper’s fight, probably the inevitable result of inter-regimental rivalries.
Forsyth did get Tupper off the hook for crossing into Mexico against orders by assuming command
of and responsibility for the entire force now in Mexico. As for Forsyth’s disobedience of
orders not to enter the Mexican republic, he wrote in later years:
This article is, as a matter of fact, the first public report of my movements across the
Mexican line, my district commander, the late General Mackenzie, returning my official report
to me, saying in substance that owing to the peculiar state of feeling existing just at that time in
Mexico, it was not unlikely I might find myself in trouble for my action. However, if the
Mexicans did not make a direct complaint to the State Department, he should not take action,
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HUACHUCA ILLUSTRATED