5 b.-COPIES OF ORDERS OF THE GENERAL OF THE ARMY TO GENERAL MCDOWELL CONCERNING USE OF MACKENZIE'S RE-ENFORCEMENT. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Major-General MCDOWELL, Presidio of San Francisco, Cal.; Having communicated to the General of the Army your 11.30 dispatch of yesterday, I have received the following in reply: "Telegraph General McDowell he may use his Indian auxiliaries as he pleases, only that I think that the troops must whip and punish the Apaches, or the effect will be bad. Every Indian who aided in the attack of General Carr's party must be killed or arrested and held for trial, the sooner the better. Then, if he has not troops enough, General Mackenzie will enter Arizona from the direction of Wingate or Craig, when every Indian outside of the San Carlos Reservation will be treated as hostile. There must be no half measures." General McDowEEL, R. C. DRUM, HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, Presidio, San Francisco, California : Your dispatch of last night is received, and on the theory that all of General Willcox's troops are in the field beyond the reach of the telegraph, converging on the hos tiles, I will await results. General Mackenzie is concentrating at Fort Wingate prepared to enter Arizona via Apache, and General Hatch is also at Fort Craig prepared to move toward San Carlos, and I await a call from you to give the orders to advance. I want this annual Apache stampede to end right now, and to effect that result will send every available man in the whole Army if necessary. But of course it will be far better if General Willcox can do this without extraneous help. I must go to Chattanooga next Monday, and would like to act before I go, as it is confusing to have telegrams follow me for answer away from the records. I reiterate that no dispatch or message went from me to General Willcox direct, and will not till the troops from New Mexico are called on to help, when I may indicate a common commander for all the forces employed against the Apaches. W. T. SHERMAN, General. General I. MCDOWELL, HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, Commanding Division, Presido, San Francisco: Your dispatch of yesterday is received, and I will instruct General Sheridan to cause Mackenzie's force to advance near to Fort Apache, to supply it amply with provisions and ammmnnition, and to hold his force ready to assist General Willcox, who willbe allowed to punish the hostiles in his own way, and by his own troops if he can. In like manner General Hatch will have an auxiliary force at Craig. Let Willcox know these facts, and that the Apaches must receive such chastisement now that a repetition of the Carr affair will be impossible. Our accounts from that quarter are very meager. W. T. SHERMAN, General. Major-General MCDOWELL, Presidio of San Francisco, Cal.: HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., September 28, 1881. The Secretary of War directs that you order at once Colonel Mackenzie's command and all other troops belonging to the Department of the Missouri, now in the Depart ment of Arizona, to return to their respective stations in the Department of Missouri. Acknowledge receipt. By command of General Sherman : Major-General I. MCDOWELL, Presidio of San Francisco, Cal.: C. MCKEEVER, Acting Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, The General of the Army is this minute back from Cleveland and has seen my dispatch of this morning and insists that General Mackenzie and his command remain at Apache, not limited to a district or post command, but held ready to act according to circumstances. He wants you to ascertain and report to him (General Sherman) if all the Apaches have surrendered and are in custody. Have they delivered up the horses and mules they gained, and the saddles and equipments left by Colonel Carr on the ground. General Willcox to remain in command of the department and see that General Mackenzie is supplied for vigorous action. As soon as General Sherman is satisfied that the Apaches are in fact subjugated and punished adequately he will order that command back to the Department of the Missouri. The Secretary of War has heard read the above dispatch, confirms it, and modifies his orders of this morning accordingly. Copy of this dispatch has been furnished General Sheridan. Acknowledge receipt. General I. MCDOWELL, C. MCKEEVER, Acting Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, Commanding Division, Presidio of San Francisco, Cal.: Your dispatch of 7.10 p. m. last night is received and your instructions to General Willcox are exactly right. Mackenzie's command has been hurried a long distance and must need rest. At Apache he is in good position for any eventualities. After he has had fair time to rest, and I am satisfied the hostile Apaches are prisoners, and that the moral effect intended by sending Mackenzie there has been fully accomplished, I will order him through you to return at leisure to his proper post. It would be well for the Apaches at the San Carlos Agency to realize that at any time the troops in Arizona can promptly be re-enforced from the north and east. Sooner or later some considerable number of these Apaches will have to be killed by bullets rather than by the rope. W. T. SHERMAN, General. General WILLCOX, Grant, Ariz.: HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Telegram yesterday received. The General of the Army says your dispatch shonid have been addressed to the adjutant-general of Division of the Pacific. He further desires me to say that he is awaiting an answer from General McDowell to a dispatch inquiring about the actual condition of affairs in Arizona; when he has that answer from General McDowell he will give orders to Mackenzie quick enough. General I. MCDOWELL, C. MCKEEVER, Acting Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, Commanding Division, San Francisco, Cal.: Your dispatch of last night embodying several from General Willcox, in Arizona, is received. Colonel Mackenzie, with his specific command, was ordered to Arizona to punish the Apaches for their attack upon Colonel Carr's command. The dispatches from General Willcox, department commander, were then so conflicting that I ordered Mackenzie's command to be marched to Fort Apache, and held entire so as to be promptly returned to New Mexico when called for, as it has been earnestly by General Pope, and approved by General Sheridan. New eomplications, as expected, have now arisen in Arizona, which make the presence of Mackenzie's command still more necessary, although his troops belong to another division. It is my office alone to make the necessary orders which are: Colonel Mackenzie will report to and receive orders from the department cammander, General Willcox, in Arizona, while serving in that department. General Willcox will be ordered and instructed by you to give immediate command of the operations in the field against the hostile Apaches to Colonel Mackenzie, ard of the necessary stores in that quarter, and will support him by all the means at his command to subdue the hostiles in that region, and the moment this is done to relieve Colonel Mackenzie, by an order in writing, when the latter will return to his proper command by easy marches. W. T. SHERMAN, General. 5 C.-REPORT OF MAJ. GEORGE B. SANFORD, FIRST CAVALRY. Major ARNOLD, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General : WILLCOX, ARIZ., October 5, 1881. SIR: I have the honor to report that in obedience to telegraphic instructions received from your headquarters I left the San Carlos Agency Saturday, October 1, with 47 Apache prisoners belonging to the bands engaged in the Cibicu fight. The command marched the first day to Camp Thomas, 35 miles. On the morning of October 2, the command left Camp Thomas and moved toward Fort Grant; when about 4 miles from Cedar Springs a message was received from the department commander, General Willcox, who had gone on in advance, to bring up the command as rapidly as possible as the Indians had attacked a train close by Cedar Springs. One company (Carr's) was left to guard the prisoners, and the other (Bernard's) was moved at a gallop to Cedar Springs, and thence out on the trail of the Indians. Two companies of the Sixth Cavalry, under Lieutenant Overton and Lieutenant Glass, who had been following the trail, came up at this moment and joined the column. About five miles south of Cedar Springs Lieutenant Overton's companies were moved to the front with a view to making a rapid march to Fort Grant, which was believed to be in danger. He had, however, only just passed to the front, when he came upon the bodies of several soldiers, evidently just killed, and almost immediately after, at about 3 p. m., was rapidly fired on by the Indians concealed in the rocks and brush close by. Lieutenant Overton at once deployed his command as skirmishers and moved to the front dismounted. Captain Bernard at the same time deployed on the left and moved forward mounted. The firing became very rapid, the troops slowly driving the Indians, until at length the right of Bernard's and left of Overton's command connected, when the Indians abandoned their position in the lower rocks and took to the side of the mountains. The fighting commenced with great severity from this time until about 9 p. m., the bright moonlight greatly favoring the Indians, who were in shadow themselves, but could see every movement on the side of the troops. About 8 p. m. Lieutenant Haden, Eighth Infantry, arrived from Grant with a small party of mounted recruits which had been sent at once by Captain Porter, Eighth Infantry, when the news of the fight was received. With this party also came Lieutenants Blocksom, Sixth Cavalry, and Hubert, Eighth Infantry. At a few minutes before 9 the Indians were discovered to have moved off in the darkness of the cañous, and the command slowly withdrew to the plain bringing with them the dead and wounded. Lieutenants Pitcher and Brown, with Dr. Adler, came up at this time with 20 men of Carr's company, bringing the welcome intelligence that General Willcox and his staff, with the Apache prisoners, had taken the Eureka Springs road and were on their way into Grant. Great anxiety was still felt for their safety, as the Apache trail was found to strike in the direction they were traveling. This was relieved on the arrival of the command at Fort Grant by couriers from General Willcox, and later by the arrival of the whole party about 3 a. m. of the 3d. The loss of the command was one man, Sergeant Buford, Company F, Sixth Cavalry, killed; Private John Hunt of F Company, Sixth Cavalry, wounded; Privates William H. Humphreys and Isaac C. Reneard, Company G, First Cavalry, wounded. Twelve horses, G Company, First Cavalry, killed and wounded, and two horses, F Company, and one horse, A Company, Sixth Cavalry. The Indian loss is not known, but there is reason to believe that they were badly hurt. Parties visiting the field have brought in two mules packed and other articles which they had abandoned in their hurried retreat, and signs of blood have been found on their trail. The command reached Fort Grant after having traveled 80 miles in two days, guarded a large band of hostile Indian prisoners, and fought a very severe engagement, lasting six hours. The Indians fought with great boldness and desperation, being evidently determined to hold their position long enough to get off their stock. On one occasion, about 8 p. m., they charged down on to Bernard's line, firing seven volleys, and approaching within 10 feet of the men. They were, however, finally driven back by the continued efforts of the officers and men, and from that time contented themselves with firing at longer range. The officers engaged were, Capt. R. F. Bernard, First Cavalry; Lieut. G. E. Overton, Sixth Cavalry; Lieut. J. N. Glass, Sixth Cavalry; Lieut. A. S. Bailey, Sixth Gavalry, and Lieut. S. C. Mills, Twelfth Infantry, commanding Indian scouts, all of whom are deserving of the highest commendation, as also the men of their command. I would have rendered this report earlier, but my illness prevented. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO. B. SANFORD, Major, First Cavalry. [First indorsement.] HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF ARIZONA, IN THE FIELD, Tucson, Ariz., October 11, 1881. Respectfully forwarded to headquarters military division of the Pacific as a part of my supplementary annual report. The Chiricahuas broke from the reservation on the night of the 29th and 30th ultimo. On the 30th Overton's and Glass's troops, Sixth Cavalry, were sent in pursuit, and next morning I started south, in which direction the hostiles were moving. I took with me Sanford's command to guard prisoners en route, and to be available in the southern part of the Territory, now stripped of all cavalry. As soon as we arrived at Cedar Springs and found the Indians in that vicinity, I ordered Bernard, of Sanford's Battalion, to move out and attack with his troop, and while he was examining trails, Overton and Glass arrived, when I ordered Sanford to assume command of the three troops and push in. The result is shown in this, Major Sanford's, report. Great praise is due Sanford, officers, and men for their gallantry, zeal, and persistent energy, which resulted in such a complete discomfiture of the Chiricahuas that they have not made another stand. Their own killed were concealed or carried off in the night, but bloody clothes dropped on the trails, and the large number of horses and mules found killed on the mountain side (twenty-three in number), proved how severely they must have suffered. O. B.. WILLCOX, Brevet Major-General, Commanding Department. 5 A, 1.-REPORT OF BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL WHEATON. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE COLUMBIA, Vancouver Barracks, W. T., August 2, 1881. GENERAL: I have the honor to report that in compliance with War Department General Order No. 84, of 1880, I assumed command of the Department of the Columbia, and that I, to-day, relinquished the command of this department, pursuant to paragraph 6 of the same War Department order, to Brig. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, U. S. Army, submitting the following report of changes that have occurred since I assumed command: During my temporary command of the department (from January 3, 1881, to date), the composition and stations of the personnel have remained substantially as at date of last report of my predecessor. The exceptions are the abandonment of Camp Howard, near Mount Idaho, and the transfer of its garrison (Company K, Second Infantry) to Camp Spokan. The transfer of Company E, First Cavalry, from Fort Lapwai to Fort Walla Walla, replaced by Company D, same regiment, from the latter named post. The exchange of Batteries G and M, Fourth Artillery, from Fort Canby, at the mouth of the Columbia, to the harbor of San Francisco, replaced by Batteries F and K, same regiment, and the transfer of Company H, Twenty-first Infantry, from Fort Canby to Fort Stevens, also at the mouth of the Columbia. No extended operations of the troops have occurred during the period of my command; minor ones worthy of note are as follows: Captain Parnell's company, F, First Cavalry, is now absent from Boisé Barracks, on a scout into the Payette Lake region. No report has been received from it, but it is believed his command will not encounter any hostile Indians. The commanding officer, Fort Townsend, has recently been instructed at the request of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, to cause a reconnaissance to be made under the direction of Captain Jocelyn, Twentyfirst Infantry, of the country between Port Townsend and Cape Flattery, looking to the future construction of a line of military telegraph between those points; a line which, when constructed, will give valuable results, both in the interests of mineralogy and commerce. Captain Bendire, First Cavalry, with a detachment of his Company (K), has been ordered, on the request of Professor Spencer F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, favorably indorsed by the General of the Army, to make an examination of the celebrated "fossil-beds" in the valley of the John Day River, Oregon. Captain Bendire is now absent on that duty. No report has been received from him as yet, but when made it will doubtless be full of interest in a scientific direction. On the 2d of May last, Capt. John A. Kress, Ordnance Department, chief ordnance officer of the department, assisted by Second Lieut. F. J. Patten, Twenty-first Infantry, left heré en route to make an examination of and report upon the newly discovered Wood River mining region in Idaho, regarding which there was considerable excitement and desire for definite knowledge in this section of country. Captain Kress returned in June and rendered his report, a copy of which has been transmitted to you, and which I beg to commend as a valuable paper. First Lieut. T. W. Symons, Corps of Engineers, chief engineer of the department, has been furnished with all requisite facilities, and engaged since the latter part of May last upon the determination telegraphically of the longitude of three prominent points in this department, viz, Spokane Falls, and Colfax, Wash. T., and Lewiston, I. T. His work, now just being completed at Lewiston, will be of great value in the future of this great section of the continent. Captain Hunter, First Cavalry, with his company (H), is now engaged in the work of opening a new military wagon road from Fort Colville to Spokane Falls. This will be done at no, or inconsiderable, expense to the government, and will result in shortening the line of supply of that post some 30 miles, with a better road than the one now in use. On the 17th of July, a detachment from Fort Cœur d'Aléne, under a commissioned officer, was detailed as directed by the General of the Army, and ordered to continue the work commenced last year in repairing the Mullan wagon road between Forts Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Missoula, Montana. In winter months it is not unusual to learn of 15 feet of snow on this road, and the melting of this body of snow in the spring months severely |