The Battle of the Gallinas Mountains
Date: September 2, 1861
Location: Gallinas Mountains, Confederate-occupied New Mexico Territory
By September 1861, Confederates had occupied the abandoned Fort Stanton in the former New Mexico territory (USA), originally the destination of Major Lynde's ill-fated and desperate march through the Organ Mountains earlier that summer after his defeats at Mesilla and Fort Fillmore.
Fort Stanton, c. 1866
Worried about a potential Union assault to recapture the fort, the commander of Fort Stanton, Lieutenant John Pulliam, sent a squad out into the nearby Gallinas Mountains to survey the surrounding area for any advancing Union forces.
Setting up camp near a creek, the next morning the Confederates were ambushed by Apaches sending a rain of arrows flying toward their camp as they were eating breakfast. The Confederates fell back behind pine trees and opened fire with their revolvers, as the damp weather had made it impossible for their muskets to function.
The fight lasted for hours, and soon all but one Confederate, Floyd Sanders, was dead.
Sanders quickly mounted a horse and frantically rode the ten miles back to Fort Stanton, the Apaches hot on his heels, barely making it safely inside the fort before being killed or captured.
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