Battle of Placito
1861 battle in the American Civil War
| Battle of Placito | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War, Apache Wars | |||||||
 Arizona militia during the Civil War. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Confederate States | Apache | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 John Pulliam | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~20 | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 5 killed | ||||||
- v
- t
- e
Apache Wars
- Jicarilla War
- Point of Rocks
- Wagon Mound
- Bell's Fight
- Cieneguilla
- Ojo Caliente Canyon
- Texas–Indian wars
- Diablo Mountains
- Antelope Hills Expedition
- Little Robe Creek
- 1st Adobe Walls
- Chiricahua Wars
- Cooke's Spring
- Bonneville Expedition
- Madera Canyon
- Mimbres River
- Bascom Affair
- Tubac
- Cookes Canyon
- Florida Mountains
- Gallinas Mountains
- Placito
- Pinos Altos
- 1st Dragoon Springs
- 2nd Dragoon Springs
- Apache Pass
- Big Bug
- Mowry
- Mount Gray
- Doubtful Canyon
- Fort Buchanan
- Black Hawk's War
- Pipe Spring
- Yavapai War
- Camp Grant
- Wickenburg
- Burro Canyon
- Tonto Basin
- Salt River Canyon
- Turret Peak
- Sunset Pass
- Victorio's War
- Battle of Ojo Caliente(1879)
- Las Animas Canyon
- Hembrillo Basin
- Alma
- Fort Tularosa
- Battle of Tres Castillos
- Carrizo Canyon
- Geronimo's War
- Cibecue Creek
- Fort Apache
- McMillenville
- Big Dry Wash
- Lordsburg Road
- Devil's Creek
- Little Dry Creek
- Nacori Chico
- Bear Valley
- Pinito Mountains
- Post 1887 period
- Kelvin Grade 1889
- Cherry Creek 1890
- Guadalupe Canyon 1896
The Battle of Placito or Battle of the Placito was an engagement between ethnic Mexican settlers, Confederate soldiers and Apache warriors. It took place at the village of Placitas (present-day Lincoln) in Confederate Arizona. The action is a part of the Apache Wars of the mid to late nineteenth century.
Background
Following the Gallinas massacre, Lieutenant John Pulliam of the Confederate garrison at Fort Stanton returned from his patrol in the Gallinas Mountains where he had searched for the three dead soldiers, massacred a week earlier. He arrived at Fort Stanton on September 8, 1861. That same evening, a dispatch arrived from the Placito, a Spanish-era settlement occupied by Mexican settlers. The dispatch detailed a current Apache assault on the town, ten miles below the fort. Pulliam was ordered to proceed to the village with fifteen men to help protect its citizens.
Battle
Pulliam and his 15 men arrived at Placito that night. The Confederates and an unknown number of Mexican men drove the Apaches out of town and then fought off the Apaches all night at a further range. Eventually, the natives gave up and retreated back into the surrounding desert. Casualties are unknown, except for the Apaches who suffered at least five men killed by Pulliam's squad. An unknown number of Apache wounded escaped the fighting. Pulliam and his men arrived back at Fort Stanton the following afternoon.
See also
References
- Thompson, Jerry Don, Colonel John Robert Baylor: Texas Indian Fighter and Confederate Soldier. Hillsboro, Texas: Hill Junior College Press, 1971.
- Katheder, Thomas, The Baylors of Newmarket: The Decline and Fall of a Virginia Planter Family. New York and Bloomington, Ind., 2009.
- Josephy, Alvin M. Jr. (1986). War on the Frontier: The Trans-Mississippi West. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-4780-0.
External links
- Friends of Fort Stanton historical page
- Fort Stanton, Lincoln County New Mexico
- American Southwest, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
- AERC.org: Fort Stanton Cave (slideshow)
