The Battle of Pinos Altos
Date: September 27, 1861
Location: Pinos Altos, Confederate-occupied New Mexico Territory
In reaction to thousands of people from the eastern US flooding the Pinos Altos Mountains after the discovery of gold in 1860 and the Bascom Affair in early 1861, infuriated Apaches led by Mangas Coloradas and Cochise went on the offensive. By September 1861, they had fought settlers and Confederates encroaching on their land in multiple battles. However, their greatest victory was Tubac, where they had successfully besieged the entire village and sought to replicate such a victory at Pinos Altos.
The Apaches stealthily approached Pinos Altos and without warning, launched concurrent attacks on Pinos Altos and the nearby mining camp, taking the town and camp's occupants completely by surprise. Panic ensued as Apaches ran through the camp and the outskirts of the town, fighting their way further into town.
Shortly after the battle began, Confederates under the command of Captain Thomas J. Mastin, a participant in the Battle of the Florida Mountains earlier that August, were returning back to their base in Pinos Altos and witnessed the ongoing battle.
The Confederates rode into the fighting, storming into the town, with Mastin rallying the survivors and his men to defend the town center.
The firing continued until noon when the Apaches launched a mass assault with brutal hand-to-hand combat ensuing. With the fate of the battle hanging by a thread, Mastin ordered that a rusty, antique cannon sitting in front of a dry goods store be loaded with a gunpowder charge and filled with nails, metal bits, and buckshot. The cannon was moved to the front line, pointed at the oncoming wave of Apache warriors, and fired. Scores of Apaches dropped dead and wounded.
With the cannon fire taking the Apaches by surprise, they called off their assault and began retreating back through the town, all the while being sniped at by townsfolk and miners from their windows. Mastin and his Confederate cavalry mounted their horses and gave chase, skirmishing with the Apaches as they retreated. It was during this skirmishing that Captain Thomas J. Mastin, having just accomplished an almost impossible victory, was mortally wounded by an Apache bullet and died a few days later at Pinos Altos.
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